page13 (2/2)
Chapman adjusted her cuffs and whipped back a stray bit of hair She ot myself into?”
“I was thinking the sa,” commented Stone
CHAPTER 15
FROM THE ANTEROOM THEY WERE ADMITTED into the office of the vice president He was a tall, white-haired and well-fedhandshake, no doubt built up over thousands of can stops The chief of staff was short and ith eyes that continually swept the space around him, like a radar array
It suddenly occurred to Stone that the VP being here ravitas He was on the president’s National Security Council Still, Stone was actually surprised the h an underling But then again, it was hard to refuse your president
The pleasantries were made and quickly dispensed with Alex Ford stood by the door, a security presence now and not a friend
The VP said, “The president asked that we meet with you” He nodded in Chapet to the bottom of this, uh, delicate matter as quickly as possible”
In his lish What the VP had actually just co somewhat loyal to my president I won’t take the blame if it blows up That’s why the chief of staff is here My boss o down, but not me”
Stone wondered if either inal plan to ship Stone off to Mexico to help deal with the Russian cartel nightmare American vice presidents often had been kept in the dark by the chief executive Chiefs of staff typically knew everything the president did
The VP inclined his head at the chief of staff, who held out a black leather card case to Stone “Your credentials,” said the man
Stone slowly took the offered ite back at him from the depths of the official photo that was part of his new commission He wondered when they had taken his picture Perhaps when he was sitting in the room at the NIC, which meant that Riley Weaver knew all about this He had to smile when he saw his typed name:
Oliver Stone
Next to the photo was his ID card On it, he had officially becoent of the national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorisht The national coordinator worked within the National Security Council and reported to the president through the national security advisor There was a link to the White House, but with one step in between The president was covering all the bases Just as his savvy VP was now doing He flipped to the next sleeve in the case and there was his shiny badge with the agency insignia
He said, “Interesting choice of agencies”
The VP s and inscrutable smile “Yes, isn’t it?”
Yet Stone had ed to read a thousand such inscrutable faces And the VP’s was no exception
He believes this is all insane, and he’s probably right
The chief of staff added, “It carries the saht as DHS and the FBI If not a bit more, actually There are few doors that won’t open And ”
Well then, let’s hope I won’t have to try and open any doors here, thought Stone He said to the chief of staff, “You serve at his pleasure” Before the startled , Stone turned to the VP “And you obviously trust your runninga seriousthis authority on me”
Both ht
The VP nodded “He’s a good man So I hope that his trust is justified when this is all said and done I assume you feel the same way”
Stone pocketed his new credentials without answering
The chief of staff said, “You will be sworn in after thisby a representative of the national coordinator’s office Thus you will also have arresting authority You are also entitled to a sidearm If you so choose,” he added in a dubious tone
It was clear the chief of staff too thought it wasover this much authority to athe chief of staff had argued with the president over this decision before the latter had won out
Stone glanced at Chapman “My friend from MI6 here has a very nice Walther PPK I think that will do for now”
“All right” The VP rose, signaling an end to thehours were measured in fifteen-minute increments and he had added incentive to have this particular encounter over
Wait ht permanently attach to you, sir
They all shook hands The VP said, “Good luck, Agent Stone”
As they followed Alex back down the hall, Chapman said wryly, “Hell, if I kneas this easy to becoo”
“It did go a bit too smoothly,” said Stone as he eyed Alex