Former Secretary of State Kent Foster Dead.
Sean read a little farther. The article said Foster committed suicide while in protective custody.
"That's gruesome," Sean said.
"What is?" Tommy asked.
Sean showed his friend the screen. "Foster committed suicide in protective custody." Sean thought for a moment in silence. "I guess he was right about never going to prison."
"You think that's true?"
"No," Sean said, "but the public will believe it. Who knows? It might be true. He was being kept at a military base. Easy enough for a double agent to sneak him a razor blade or a special pill and give him the option to go out on his own terms."
Dawkins caught the last bits of what Sean and Tommy were saying. "You talking about the Foster suicide?"
"Yes. Bizarre turn of events."
"It's a shame." Dawkins's eyes lowered to the floor as he drifted away in thought for a second. "You think you know someone, and then you find out they're trying to undermine everything you're doing. And then they try to kill you on top of that. I guess that's a lesson to us all. Keep your eyes open."
"Indeed," Tommy said. He didn't mention the fact that the president had completely ignored the conspiracy theory.
"Well, I'd better get out there. Lots of questions to answer."
"We've included all the notes you need for almost every conceivable question you could get in regards to the history of the pyramid. Information is still coming in, but we wanted to get you what we have in case anyone brought it up."
Sean and Tommy stood, beaming with pride.
The president eyed both of them as he would his own sons. "I can't thank you both enough for this. For everything."
The two friends blushed.
"Well, you did get us our money back in the banks," Sean said.
"Yeah, and I think we're okay to fly on normal airlines again," Tommy added.
"Not that you would with your private jet and all."
"Oh, because you hate using it so much? What about that trip to Thailand you took last year?"
"That was for an assignment."
"Gentlemen," the president interrupted the spat. "I'll see you after the press conference. Try not to kill each other while I'm on the air."
The president turned and walked out of the room.
"Yes, sir," the two said at the same time.
They eased back into a couple of seats and looked over to the corner of the room where a flatscreen television displayed a podium with the presidential seal. A moment later, Dawkins appeared from behind the curtain and stepped in front of the podium.
"Hello and thank you for taking the time to attend this historic announcement." He paused and allowed more cameras to flash before beginning again.
"As many of you already know, some of my friends at the International Archaeological Agency have made an incredible discovery, one that will change the future of humanity.
"A few days ago, they uncovered an ancient Egyptian pyramid under the mountains of Denali."
Some of the reporters in the room gasped at hearing the information for the first time.
The president reached over to his right where an easel was covered by a dark blue drape. He pulled the cover back and revealed an image of the underground pyramid.
"This pyramid is believed to date back to around 3200 BC. Information is still coming in on that as we speak. One thing we do know, however, is that this ancient structure is capable of producing massive amounts of energy. We have scientists and engineers on site at this moment trying to understand how this generator works and how we can make it better."
Sean turned to his friend as the president continued talking in the background. "Yuri get out okay last night?"
"I think so," Tommy said. "It was no easy task trying to get him and $160 million in gold bullion past the reporters."
"How'd you do it?"
Tommy shrugged. "Stuffed it in some old maintenance vans and drove right by them."
"Huh."
"Yeah. We figured they wouldn't think much of a maintenance vehicle going by. He should be home soon, if not already. It's not that far to Russia from here."
Sean stared at the screen. The president was talking about the clean energy implications of the new discovery.
"I suppose Yuri's president will be happy," Tommy said, staring at the television the same as his friend.
"Oh sure. He'll probably get a medal or some piroshkis."
"Piroshkis?"
"It's a small pie dish." Sean stared at his friend in surprise. "You've been to Russia."
"I didn't realize you were such a connoisseur."
Sean sighed. "Anyway, it was awfully cool of Dawkins to let him take it. I'm sure there were some members of Congress who wouldn't have approved that move."
Sean smirked. "That's probably why he didn't tell them."
"Good point."
"What are you doing this weekend?" Sean asked.
"Flying back to Atlanta. Going to spend some time with June before she heads back to work. You?"
"May head down to Seattle, catch some music and fresh salmon while I'm there."
"Oh. That sounds really good. You think June will wait an extra day?"
Sean chuckled, and his friend laughed, too.
"No, I think she'll dump you before you get back."
They shared another laugh, and then the room fell silent — except for the sound of the president talking about an economic boost of historic proportions.
"What do you think about what Foster said?" Tommy said after a moment of reflection.
"What part?"
"The part about having people everywhere. Dawkins just mentioned the different levels this thing could impact. Made me think about all the various positions that must be occupied by Foster's people."
Sean drew in a slow breath. "Yeah, it can drive you crazy if you think about it too much. The president told me he's going to use an infiltrator to start weeding out some institutions and agencies, but he'll need several if he wants to have an impact."
"Infiltrator?"
"Yep. Someone who gets behind the lines, gets embedded with the threat, and then neutralizes it."
"Who's he got in mind for that job?" Tommy asked.
"I don't know," Sean said. "But it won't be me. I guess we'll learn more about that eventually. For now, think about the fact that we just discovered a pyramid underneath the base of Denali. So, I say we celebrate our success."
Tommy's face scrunched in a frown. "Actually, we didn't really discover it. That thing was found 150 years ago."
Sean groaned. "Fine. We brought it to the public after more than a century of being hidden. Not to mention the fact that we shed new light on the Lincoln assassination."
Tommy thought for a second. "You're right. We should celebrate. Let's—" Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by his phone ringing. He looked at the caller ID. It read The Kids.
He hit the green button and put it to his ear while Sean looked on with a curious look.
"Hello? Oh hey, Alex. Yeah, it's okay. I'm free. What's going on?"
Tommy listened intensely for a minute before saying anything else. "Wow. Okay. You're sure about this?" He waited for confirmation. "Yeah, absolutely we'll tackle that. Tell them I'm on my way."
He ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. He stood up from his seat and put his hands out with palms up.
"The celebration will have to wait, my friend. Duty calls."
"Another big project?" Sean asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Always."
Thank You
Writing a book is a heck of a thing.
It takes an incredible amount of time, research, energy, and mental focus. That last one is extremely difficult for me.
When I say thank you for reading my work, I truly mean it and I cannot express how much I appreciate you choosing to spend your time with my words.