"I have to tell Emily," Adriana said, her voice nearly drowning in urgency. "We need to warn the president. If Foster really is the one behind all this, the president is still in danger."
She thanked the kids and June for their assistance and ended the call. Adriana couldn't walk fast enough back to Emily's office.
Adriana burst through the door, holding her phone at her side. Emily was on the phone, listening to someone else, and saw the intense look in Adriana's eyes.
"I'm going to have to call you back in a minute. Yes, I know this is important, but I have a national security issue to deal with."
She ended the call and waited for Adriana to speak.
"I just got off the phone with June and the kids."
"Did their hacker find anything?"
"Yes. And it's worse than we thought."
"Worse?" Emily asked.
"Much worse. We think Kent Foster was behind the assassination attempt."
"Foster? But he's the secretary of state. He's been one of the president's biggest allies over the years. What would he stand to gain by getting Dawkins out of the way? Secretary of state is fourth on the list to take over if the president dies."
Adriana's head slowly moved side to side. "I don't think he wants the presidency."
"Then what does he want?"
"They didn't have any theories on that, and — at the moment — neither do I. However, the kids were able to track down the deposits into Kendricks's offshore accounts. They came from several different other accounts. Tara said the people behind it took extreme measures to cover their tracks."
"As they should if they're doing something illegal."
"Correct, but their guy managed to figure it out. He traced the deposits back to a company called Transcorp."
"Transcorp?" Emily asked. It was apparent in her tone that she'd heard of the company.
"Yes. You've heard of them?"
Emily's eyes stared at the wall to the right of her guest. Her face took on a vapid, blank look. "Yes, I know who they are. Big energy company out west. Last I heard, they were trying to get into the East Coast."
"Did you know Foster is the largest shareholder?"
Emily's eyes widened with surprise. "That part I didn't know. I knew Foster was wealthy but never had much reason to investigate where his money was coming from."
"Does Dawkins know?" Adriana asked, the urgency continuing to build in her voice.
"I have no idea. What I do know is Foster has been bugging Dawkins for years about breaking apart Tennessee Valley Authority," Emily said. "He wanted to privatize it. Said that it's not right the government controls an energy company like that."
"Foster wants to break up TVA?"
"Yes. In spite of having some of the lowest energy costs per consumer across the nation, Foster suggested that it was corrupt and that privatizing it could lower consumer costs even more. Now, it seems his real motives might have been of a more personal nature."
Adriana connected the dots. "If TVA was picked apart, it would open up the entire Southeast for Transcorp."
"Absolutely. Once they're in that region, the entire East Coast is ripe for the picking."
"So, what's our next move?" Adriana asked.
"First thing we have to do is warn the president. If Foster is behind all of this, he needs to be taken in for questioning, and Dawkins needs to get somewhere safe."
"Safer than that bunker we were in?"
Emily nodded. "Foster would have access to nearly everywhere, including that bunker. If he gets alone with the president, he may well try to take matters into his own hands."
"That would be a desperate move. He has too much to lose."
"True. But rage and greed make people do crazy things."
The room fell silent for a second as Emily considered what to do next. She picked up her phone and started dialing. After several rings and no answer, she set it down with a frustrated sigh.
"No answer?" Adriana asked.
Emily shook her head. "We were just there," she said, frustrated. "We have to get word to him that Foster might be the man behind the assassination plot."
"How?"
"I know we just got here, but we're going to have to go back to Washington."
"First things first," Adriana said. "We need to check the security cameras and see if we can figure out who redirected the calls. Get your people on that. I can fly back to Washington and warn the president. Give him a call, and tell his people to make sure they let me in."
"He knows you. Most of his team does. That shouldn't be a problem."
"I'd rather be safe than sorry," Adriana said. "With all that's going on right now, I don't want to take any chances."
Emily thought hard about the plan. She didn't like the idea of sending Adriana back up to Washington on her own. There was no reason to take any chances with something as dire as this.
"My people can handle things here and report back to me. I'm coming with you."
Chapter 27
Porter let his phone ring four times before he answered. He recognized the number on the screen and wanted to make the man on the other end wait, mostly because of their previous exchange.
He picked up the device and tapped the green button. "Yes, sir?" he answered with a thick layer of snark.
"I sincerely hope you didn't have anything to do with what just happened."
Porter's lips stretched out to one side of his face. Of course, he knew what had happened. He was the one who'd orchestrated it.
He'd heard there was a shootout at the place formerly known as Mary Surratt's boarding house. He also heard one man was severely injured and had been apprehended. Reports said one man was dead. Porter assumed the dead man was the hitter his employer sent to take care of Wyatt and Schultz. Who'd been arrested, though, was still a mystery.
Porter hadn't reached out to his connections yet to get that information. At this point, he didn't care. If Schultz and Wyatt had somehow managed to escape, it was just as well with him. That meant they could still lead him to whatever treasure they were seeking.
"I'm sorry?" Porter said. "I don't know what you're talking about, sir. What happened?"
"The shootout in the Chinese restaurant. The man I sent to take out Wyatt and Schultz is dead. I was told a large man with tattoos came in and started shooting up the place. Before he went in, he cut my asset's throat and stuffed him in the back of his own car."
For some reason, the macabre thought nearly caused Porter to chuckle. He bit back the laughter, though, and defended himself. "Your man was killed? Any leads?"
His former employer remained silent for a moment. The only sound Porter heard coming through his phone's earpiece was an occasional breath.
"The man they arrested will not be a problem again. When the police arrived, they found him with two dislocated knees, which I'm certain would make it difficult to swim."
Porter didn't have to ask what the man meant by that. He knew. The cops on payroll must have taken their new prisoner to the nearest lake or river and dropped him in, probably with cuffs on just to make sure. Anhur would have sunk to the bottom like a lead balloon.
The thought didn't bother Porter. He had no personal affiliation with Anhur other than using him for the occasional assignment. His employer's disposal of the man actually made things easier for Porter, a fact he would keep to himself.
"Can't have loose ends, can you, sir?"
If his boss thought he was going to pry a confession out of Porter, the guy was dead wrong.
"Precisely. I would hate to think you may have had something to do with what happened."
There it was: the bold accusation. Porter expected the man to lead with that and not beat around the bush. Then again, he was a politician. It was in their nature to waste time, dancing around a subject.