“Is everything all right, Mr. President? I saw the vice president in tears.”
“She’s resigning.”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“You heard me correctly. She’s gotten us into a situation that I’ll need your assistance and discretion to address.”
“Of course, sir. Whatever I can do.”
Nick outlined the challenge of getting Sergei Ivanov out of the United States as soon as possible. “I want him gone immediately. Put him on a commercial flight to anywhere in the world as quickly as humanly possible.”
“We’ll take care of it right away, sir.”
“Put Agent Hill on it and ask him to handle it personally. I trust him implicitly.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll let you know when it’s been handled.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you viewing this as a criminal matter, sir?” Sally asked.
“We’ll need a full investigation overseen by Acting AG Conrad and the Justice Department.”
“I’ll notify AG Conrad of the situation,” Terry said.
For a long time after Sally and Terry left the Oval, Nick stared out the window at the Rose Garden, thinking about his next move.
Terry returned with Teresa a few minutes later.
“What else can we do for you, Mr. President?” Terry asked.
“Please ask Trevor and Christina to join us.” He needed guidance from his communications team.
“Yes, sir.”
When the others arrived, they took seats on the sofas and upholstered chairs in the center of the room.
Press Secretary Christina Gonzales cast a nervous glance at him. “What’s going on with the vice president?”
“She’s been fired.” Nick relayed the story to his stunned staffers. That they had no immediate comment indicated their level of shock matched his. What could even be said about such a thing? “I think we need to come clean before the Russians tell the story for us. They certainly know where Ivanov has been hanging his hat, and I’m sure they’re taking much delight in coming up with ways to blackmail me or publicly try to run me out of office.”
Christina exchanged glances with Trevor Donnolly, the communications director. “What’re you saying, Mr. President?”
“We have to go public with this before the Russians take control of the narrative.”
The four staffers looked as distressed as he felt.
“I understand that when we woke up this morning, Gretchen was a valued member of our team, but that’s no longer the case, and the reason for that is her own doing. She provided shelter, counsel and who knows what else to a man trying to orchestrate a coup of the Russian government. If we don’t condemn that in the strongest-possible language, that makes us complicit.” He glanced at Terry. “Please tell the Secret Service that she’s not to leave the White House until we say she can.”
* * *
As they pulled up to the strip mall that housed Thelma Robinson-Bingham’s office, Sam checked the BlackBerry to find Nick hadn’t responded to her message and returned the device to her pocket. “Is the backup here?” Sam asked Freddie.
“Standing by.”
“Let’s bring two of them in with us and send the other two around the building to keep her from slipping out the back door.”
Freddie got out to convey her instructions to the Patrol officers.
