THE PRESIDENT 2 (10 page)

“Oh,” LaLa said, understanding immediately.
 
Then she frowned.
 
“But I still don’t see why you would need to be in a meeting with her just because of that.
 
I’m sure it was before he hooked up with you.”

“It was.
 
But . . . there’s a little more to the story.”

“Like what?”

Gina didn’t normally tell her business like this, but living in DC and dealing with so much, she felt she had to tell somebody.
 
And besides Dutch, LaLa was really the only person on earth she could talk to about something like this.
 
“She may have been married at the time,” she said.

“Married at the time of what?”
 
LaLa asked, still confused.
 
Then she understood.
 
“Oh.
 
The president and a married woman?
 
Really?
 
That’s actually surprising.”

“I know.
  
I guess that’s why it’s so disturbing to me.
 
I would have never believed it if he hadn’t admitted it to me himself.
 
So now I’m wondering what else don’t I know about him?”

Knocks were heard on the door of the room.
 
“Yes?” Gina called out.

The door opened and one of the household staff stepped in.
 
“Mrs. Caswell has arrived ma’am,” she said.

Gina looked at LaLa, this was unexpected, and then she looked back at the aide.
 
“Please notify the president of her arrival,” Gina said.
 

“Yes, ma’am,” the aide said and stepped back out of the room, closing the door.
 

Gina walked over to the sofa.
 
“Didn’t expect her to come before Dutch arrived,” she said as she sat down.
 

“I’m saying,” LaLa said, and then stood to leave.
 
“I’d better get away while I can.
 
Go find out what Demps is up to.
 
It could get ugly in here tonight,” she added with a smile as she left.
 

Dutch arrived shortly after LaLa’s departure, and as soon as he had come out of the bathroom after freshening up, Jennifer Caswell, escorted by Max Brennan, walked in.
 
Only Jennifer didn’t just walk in, she swept in.
 
Her, the billionaire’s wife, in her mink coat, mink hat, and mink-laced gloves.
 
You’d think she just stepped off of a plane from Siberia the way she was dolled up, Gina thought.
 
And that grand entrance surprised her too.
 
She expected a worried, terrified wife, but instead this woman came across as rather fearless.
 
Beautiful and fearless.
 
Formidable even.
 

She walked up to Gina and Dutch, removing her gloves as she came.
 
Her assistant, a tall, thin, nervous-looking young man, close behind her.

“Hello, Dutch,” she said, handing her gloves to her aide, her narrow blue eyes seemingly fixated on Gina.

Dutch exhaled.
 
He hated that she was somebody he’d been intimate with, hated that she had to be exposed to his wife.
 
“Hello, Jennifer,” he said.
 
“Say hello to the First Lady.”

Although Jennifer maintained her fierce look, Gina caught a quick glimpse of storminess within those eyes.
 

“Yes, of course,” Jennifer said, extending her hand.
 
“How are you?”

“I’m very well, thank-you,” Gina replied, shaking her hand.
 
“I’m sorry to hear about your husband.”

“Oh?” she asked.
  
“And what have you heard?”

“I mean about the kidnapping.”

“I know what you meant,” Jennifer said in an almost accusatory tone.

“Why don’t we all just sit down,” Max suggested.

Jennifer didn’t bulge.
 
“Thank-you, but no,” she said, now turning her full attention to Dutch.
 
“I’m here for answers.”

“We’re doing everything in our power,” Max assured her, “to secure your husband’s release.”

“What specifically are you doing, Dutch?” Jennifer asked the president, her blue eyes blazing as she looked into his green ones.
 
And Gina could just feel what she was thinking.
 
Any woman who’d spent time in bed with Dutch and was no longer his woman, had to have regrets.

“The Defense Secretary,” Max started, “has made it clear---”

“I’m speaking to the president,” Jennifer made herself clearer.
 
“What are
you
, Dutch Harber, leader of the free world, doing to secure my husband’s safe return?”

That was one tough cookie, Gina thought.
 
She was a woman to be reckoned with.
 
And beautiful to boot, with that yesteryear, kickass, Farrah Fawcett vibe going for her.
 
Gina understood Dutch’s attraction to her, and she also understood why he wanted her to be here when they met again.
 
Jennifer Caswell was a force of nature, something to be witnessed to be believed.

“I’m doing everything that can be done at this point to get all of the hostages released,” Dutch told her.

“I offered them ten million dollars,” Jennifer said without blinking an eye, “and they said no.
 
They don’t want my husband’s money.
 
They want the release of that prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, that terrorist, and they want him released now, or they will start killing hostages.”

“We know what their demands are, Jen,” Dutch said.
 
“But what I want to know is why are you negotiating with them outside of the parameters that we’ve set up for all of the hostages?
 
When my administration met with the families, my people made clear that there was to be no outside interference.”

“Interference, hell, Dutch!
 
They’ve had my husband for six days---”

What in the world was she talking about, Dutch thought?
 
“What six days?” he asked.
 
“He was captured yesterday---”

“No, he was not,” Jennifer said.
 
“But see?
 
This is exactly the problem.
 
You, the President of the United States, don’t even know what your own administration is up to.
 
And you can’t say they didn’t know about it because I notified the State Department myself as soon as I got that ransom note.
 
The State Department told me to tell no-one, to sit tight, that they were already working on it.”

Dutch looked at Max, which caused Gina to look at him too.

“It’s true,” Max admitted.
  
“I just found out today myself.”

Dutch frowned.
 
“They why the hell did Gary tell me that cockinbull story about just getting the facts yesterday morning?”

“Apparently there was a communications glitch from the time Jennifer called, that’s what the secretary told me.
 
He said after Mrs. Caswell phoned, his chief of staff decided to keep it at the aide level until more Intel could be obtained.”

“So it’s the fault of his chief of staff?”

“I know,” Max said, agreeing with Dutch.
 
“That’s the secretary trying to save his hide.”

“I want him in my office as soon as this meeting is over.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What did the ransom note say?” Gina asked Jennifer.

Jennifer looked at her, looked her up and down, in fact, and then looked back at Dutch.
 
“Again,” she said, “what are you going to do to secure my husband’s release?”

“What did the ransom note say?” Dutch asked her.

Jennifer almost glanced at Gina to see if she was gloating, but proved too much of a pro to show her hand that easily.
 
“It said that my husband has been captured, and that I was to notify the State Department.
 
If I was to notify any entity other than the State Department, he would be killed.
 
That was six days ago.
 
I requested a meeting with you only after the State Department kept dragging its feet, and then after those students were abducted I began to get seriously concerned.
 
I called Gary; I called the secretary of state, that’s how concerned I was.
 
But when he wouldn’t even return my phone calls, I asked for this meeting with you.
 
Now, again, what are you going to do?”

“We are not going to release any terrorist,” Dutch said point blank.
 
“I can tell you that right now.”

“Then here’s what I’m going to do,” Jennifer said.
 
“I am going to hire a group of mercenaries.
 
Your government will allow these men access to Gitmo, where they will take that terrorist my husband’s captors are demanding, and give him to them in exchange for my husband and the other hostages, if they care to release the others.”

This woman was nuts, Gina thought.
 
She looked at Dutch.

“You know that’s out of the question, Jennifer,” Dutch said to her.
 

“Oh, I wouldn’t speak so fast, Dutch.”

Dutch stared at her.
 
He once couldn’t get enough of her.
 
Now he couldn’t stand the sight of her.
 
“Are you threatening me?”

“Yes,” she said.
 
“And here’s the threat: If your administration doesn’t secure my husband’s release, or at least allow me to secure it, I will expose you.
 
And you know what I’m talking about.”

There was a long hesitation in Dutch, which concerned Gina.
 
Then he spoke.
 
“Do what you have to do,” he told Jennifer.

“A Family Values president who sleeps with married women could lose his moral authority, especially when I get through with him.
 
And all of those millions of dollars Caswell Industries had planned to give to further all of those Democratic candidates and Democratic causes will go straight to Republican candidates and Republican causes if you drop the ball on this one, Dutch.
 
There may even be cries for your impeachment when all is said and done, if you blow this one.”

Dutch continued to give her his assessing eye.
 
“Do what you have to do,” he said again.

“Okay,” she said, retrieving her gloves from her aide.
 
“Don’t take me seriously.
 
But if anything happens to my husband,” she said, putting on her gloves, “your time in office, if you even remain in office, will give new meaning to the term ‘lame duck presidency.’”

And she and her aide were gone.
 

“She’s broke you know,” Max said and Dutch looked at him.