A squall of rain hit them. He dropped to his knees, went for the gun, snagged it expertly, and whipped it out, intending to shoot the young cop.
She shot first and hit Franks square in the chest. He staggered back in disbelief but still tried to aim at her. She shot him twice more.
He fell on his back, dying.
Franks’s last vision was of the cop standing over him, aiming at him.
“No rookie mistake, man,” she said, her voice taunting and quivering both. “No rookie mistake at all.”
Chapter 60
Roughly two hours after President Hobbs was shot, Mahoney and I lifted off the roof of FBI headquarters in a helicopter bound for Joint Base Andrews, which used to be known as Andrews Air Force Base.
Looking down on the nation’s capital, I saw tanks flanking the bridges and armed soldiers amassing on every corner. There were cops and FBI agents searching every vehicle trying to leave Washington. In all my years in DC, I had never seen this level of military presence, not even after 9/11.
The media was painting the mood of the country as bordering on panic. There were reports of runs on grocery stores and on guns and ammunition. People were frightened and desperate to know what was happening.
“We’ll catch him,” Mahoney said, breaking into my thoughts. “With or without professional footage of the actual shooting.”
“Krazy Kat said he thought he could do something,” I said.
Ned cringed. “Did we have to bring him in?”
“Rawlins is the best there is,” I said. “I figure he’s our only chance of getting a look at the killer anytime soon.”
Mahoney grunted and looked at his phone screen. We flew within sight of my home, and I looked toward it, wondering when I’d return. For a moment, I shut my eyes and prayed it would happen sooner rather than later.
We landed on a helipad at Andrews, not far from Marine One, the president’s helicopter. Air Force One was there, but it looked different to me. There were three other planes just like it, all unmarked, all Boeing E-4s, sitting on the tarmac along with ten fighter jets and half a dozen private jets.
Armed airmen inspected our FBI identifications. Everywhere we looked, we saw battle-ready soldiers and airmen.
For the first time, it felt to me like we really could be a nation at war.
My generation of Americans had never experienced political assassination. And nothing of this magnitude had ever happened in U.S. history.
That shook me. It really did. I understood why people might feel on the verge of panic. No one knew who or what was behind the attacks or what might be coming next. That dread and uncertainty were enough to push people right to the edge psychologically, and I expected to hear about looting and civil unrest before too long.
A soldier led us into an open hangar, and we entered a space big enough to hold a C-130 cargo jet or two. As we crossed the hangar floor, I looked down at my casual clothes and felt underdressed to meet the president, even given the circumstances. Nana Mama would have been appalled.
The soldier stopped and stood aside, and I followed Mahoney into a large room with six long rectangular tables.
Around the tables sat perhaps twenty people, several of whom I knew at a glance. Samuel Larkin, the acting president, was huddled at the far end of one table with FBI director Sanford, General Hayes, and Homeland Security director Elaine Monroe as well as CIA director Felix White.
I recognized the upset faces of enough other people at the table to realize they were the surviving members of the cabinet. John Watts, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was there as well. So were the leaders of both parties in both houses of Congress.
“What in God’s name am I doing in this room?” I whispered to Mahoney.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Mahoney said.
“Mahoney, Cross,” FBI director Sanford said, waving us toward the president.
We shook hands with Larkin.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Dr. Cross,” he said in a grave voice. “Director Sanford said you and Special Agent Mahoney were the people he wanted involved in the investigation immediately.”
“Well,” I said, taken aback. “I’m honored to be here to help in any way I can, and please excuse the clothes.”
Larkin put his hand on my shoulder and gazed at me evenly. “We’ve got more dire things to deal with.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
He held my gaze a moment and then nodded and said softly, “Good. Take a seat, Dr. Cross. And keep your eyes and ears open.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll do that.”
Chapter 61
As Mahoney and I took seats, we saw members of the cabinet, one of the congressional leaders, and several others I did not recognize sizing us up. My first inclination was to ignore them, but then I realized that all of the people in the room feared for their lives but were also probably jockeying for position in the power vacuum created by the assassinations.
The killings were an act of war or a coup, something huge and sinister — I was in such a deep state of shock that for the moment I couldn’t do anything but heed Larkin’s advice to sit down, listen, and watch.
The acting president said, “The purpose of this meeting is twofold. All members of the current cabinet are to serve through the period of martial law at least. You will be separated, however, and flown with your families aboard one of the E-fours, the advanced airborne command posts, to secure locations.”
Several of them started to protest. Larkin held up his hand and said, “There is no discussion. This is being done for your own safety and for the good of the country. I will be doing the same thing in the near future.
“In any case, we will stay in close contact via secure satellite transmission. You will be involved in all major policy debates and made aware of decisions in real time.
“Chief Justice Watts and leaders of the majority and minority parties, I ask that you remain readily available in the coming days. In an emergency like this, I will need clear legal guidance on what I can and cannot do to try to defend the nation.”
The chief justice hesitated but then said, “It’s highly unorthodox, but I think in this time of crisis, it’s a smart idea, Mr. President.”
Larkin nodded, leaned forward, and looked around the table.
“Let me be clear about something,” he said. “In this case, no one is above the law or outside our jurisdiction. I am instructing Director Sanford and all intelligence agency leaders to follow the investigation wherever it leads.
“If this is the work of a hostile nation, we will declare war. If this is the work of any ideological group, domestic or foreign, we will root them out and bring them to justice. I will not have these heinous acts wreck the country, not on my watch.”
Many at the table nodded and voiced their approval.
Larkin started signing executive orders that put the Justice Department’s assassination-contingency plan into effect. In line with that plan, he sought and received approval from the congressional leaders and from the chief justice to temporarily amend the rules of Congress to limit members’ access to classified information as the investigation rolled forward.
The plan also called for a rapidly deployed investigative group answering to the FBI director, the AG, the president, and those gathered in the room. Larkin asked the majority leaders of both houses to form select committees on the assassinations that would provide independent oversight and reports.
“I will not allow this to be like the JFK investigation,” Larkin said. “I will not have some future panel judge us deficient in our investigation. This is no lone gunman. These coordinated assassinations are clearly the result of a massive conspiracy, the most outrageous attack on our democracy since Pearl Harbor, and I plan to tell the nation just that when I address them later in the day.”