This Week: Coward or a Patriot?
'48 STATES.' Chapters 26 & 27
TWENTY SIX
RIVER AND FINN followed Richard out of the kitchen, into a hallway, and down a musty staircase that led under the house. Finn looked genuinely perplexed as Richard took out a set of keys and opened several locks on a door that led to an apartment.
The furnishings were nothing like the main house above. It was sparse, a cliché–the divorcee’s apartment. Short on furniture, long on stuff. There were teeming shelves and ancillary piles of books stacked nearby. It was a tremendous distraction from the immediate situation. River tried to keep her focus on Richard.
“You’re wondering if I’m a coward or a patriot?” Richard asked as he took a seat on a couch in the living room. “I’ve posed this question to myself many times.”
“I vote for coward,” River said.
“I don’t think you know me well enough yet to be that critical,” Richard said.
“Oh, I feel like I do,” River said, arching a brow.
She detected a message implicit in his inscrutable countenance. He did not want her to mention their encounter at the gas station.
“Why did you disappear?” Finn asked, redirecting the conversation. “When you told me you weren’t returning to Washington, I thought you would stay away for a few weeks.”
“I was foolish,” Richard said. “I was angry. I thought the Territories were a terrible mistake. I regretted it almost immediately, but as time passed, I couldn’t find the words to approach your mother and apologize.”
“We’ve all done things that make it difficult to face the people we love,” Finn said. “But two years? Where have you been?”
“I think we should all have a drink before the interrogation begins,” Richard said.
“I could use a shot of something, actually,” Finn said, glancing over at River.
“Fine,” she said.
Richard walked over to a small table in the corner that was set up as a bar. There was a silver tray with three lowball glasses, a small glass pitcher that probably was used for water, and a collection of various hard alcohols, including gin, whisky, and rum. Richard opened the bottle of Jack Daniel’s and poured the dark brown liquid into the glasses, handing one to River and one to Finn before sitting back down on the couch.
“To answer your question, I traveled everywhere and yet nowhere particularly far away. I crisscrossed the country, sometimes staying with friends or colleagues, other times I camped in National Parks,” he said. “I don’t have a passport with a Western Alliance/NATO security chip, so I can’t travel abroad. I always planned to return to Wyoming. My initial idea was to enter the Territory to protest Universal’s occupation, but it turned out to be unnecessary. Imagine my surprise when I realized there was no real security guarding the perimeters. At least not the west side of the state that borders Utah and Idaho.”
“Where are we?” River asked. “Is this some kind of bomb shelter?”
Richard nodded. “The shelter came with the house; the original owners were big believers in the nuclear deterrent and built this two-bedroom space complete with a bathroom. It’s several feet below ground and has its own heating and cooling system. I added a solar battery when I moved down here to run some basic appliances, including a small refrigerator. We decided not to use the space when we lived here as a family. Finn, I don’t think we even showed it to you when you were growing up. After I came back, I thought it prudent to keep a low profile just in case troops decided to return to the area. Occasionally, a drone flies over, but they don’t waste much time over here.”
“You’ve been living here in this apartment the whole time?” River asked.
“Mostly,” Richard said.
“I can’t believe you didn’t try to call Mom,” Finn said. “Or me. She’s been alone all this time.”
“I gave up my mobile phone so the secret service wouldn’t be able to trace me,” Richard said. “And I don’t use email regularly for obvious reasons. But I did give you the hat. I hoped it would lead you to me eventually.”
“You gave him the hat as a road map back to what?” River asked. “You had no way of knowing what you would find when you returned, but you were willing to send him here? So he could find you and then be arrested and detained for treason? If you wanted to be a patriot, why not go back to the White House and raise hell instead of living as a recluse? What makes you so special that you get to disappear?”
“That’s my right as a person,” Richard said. “What change was I going to make in Washington? Those fascists were determined to undermine our country’s law. What makes you so certain I could have done something?”
“I’m not certain, but your wife is the President,” River said. “And, for the record, I didn’t spend months slogging my way through Syria so you could just opt out. The Territories were created so that people like me could come home. Who are you to complain? What inconvenience have you had to endure lately?”
Finn watched his father closely. Normally, this was where Richard would have unleashed his sharp tongue, but to Finn’s surprise, he didn’t.
“There was a period in my life when I would’ve argued with you until we were both exhausted,” Richard said. “But I’ve been alone with my own voice for a long time and come to understand its shrillness. Maybe we did establish the Territories to protect our people, but the consequences are so much greater than just that one idea. We altered our landscape and the country’s history with one swipe of the pen. I’m not sure it was worth it.”
“I think I’m going to stick with coward,” River said, abruptly popping up from her seat. “I’m going to lie down.”
“Take the second door,” Richard said. “That’s the guest room."
Finn watched her leave, admiring her courage. He loved his father, but he did think him a coward, too, although he would be hard pressed to say so aloud. How did you tell the man who helped you catch your first fish and pitch a tent that you were disappointed in him? That had been Finn’s curse all along, not being able to express himself. And look where it had gotten him, he reflected. He was going to have to change.
“I wasn’t sure if I would find you here,” Finn said. “Your big clue wasn’t all that obvious until I got into a spot of trouble. If things had been different, I might still be wondering.”
“Trouble?” Richard asked.
Finn recounted his saga inside the Territory for his father, including their trek through Wyoming, emphasizing how River had risked her own life to save his.
“Is she your girlfriend?” Richard asked.
“After everything I just said, that’s what you kick off with?” Finn asked.
“I don’t know. A lot of what you told me is pretty self-explanatory,” Richard said. “But she’s the mystery, right? By the way, I don’t think she likes me very much.”
Finn, who had remained standing, came over to the couch and sat beside his father. The moment their bodies touched, he felt the connection of blood and bone, sinking into the cushions to rest against him. Richard lifted his arm and brought it around Finn and the two sat there, wordlessly, allowing some of the hurt and sadness to dissipate. It was yet another new gesture from a man who’d never been all that effusive in the past.
“I think the girlfriend thing is sort of up in the air,” Finn said. “She’ll probably leave me the second this is all over.”
“Why do you think that?” Richard asked.
“She has a daughter back in Idaho,” he said. “I’ve managed to keep her away from her family and tie her up in my mess.”
“I don’t know. After everything I’ve heard, I’d say she’s perfectly capable of making her own choices. If she didn’t want to be a part of ‘your mess,’ as you put it, I think she would have left you for dead,” Richard said.
“Maybe,” Finn said. “I’ve been talking to Mom, trying to keep her informed.”
“She must be chagrined that her business partners tried to kill you,” he said.
“What are you talking about?” Finn asked.
“Universal, the people who shot at you,” Richard said.
“That’s not fair,” Finn said.
“Your mother went into business with them,” Richard said.
“No,” Finn said. “That’s not really true. I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. The United States created the Territories, not Elizabeth, the woman who made us cookies in the oven upstairs. She didn’t have a moment to think about what she wanted. She was sworn in and forced to deal with this as the President of the United States of America, and neither of us stood by her. I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t seen her for almost as long as you.”
Richard adjusted his arm and pivoted so he could face his son. “I wish it was as black and white as that. I regret leaving your mother, but I’m also furious with her for agreeing to the Territories. One of the things I love about being married to her is that she never asked me to change, never asked me to subvert my values.”
Finn winced at his father’s selfishness. River was right. He was a coward, running away from things he found unpleasant. They both were. “No, she never asked you to change,” he said. “But Mom didn’t have a choice about what happened to her. She needed us, and we both walked away. We have to do better.”
Richard felt the blunt end of the truth stab him in the heart. He hung his head. “I’ll think about what you’ve said. To be honest, I don’t care who’s right anymore. I miss my family. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I want an opportunity to repair the damage I’ve caused.”
Finn looked at the man sitting in front of him and tried to reconcile all that had happened.
How does forgiveness work, he wondered?
It starts with belief. Did he believe his father was truly sorry? How do we know if the people who wrong us are telling the truth? In the end, Finn didn’t think he had a choice. He wanted his father back. For his own selfish reasons, he would forgive him and hope that his trust was not misplaced. He needed to forgive him to survive, to find his mother, and to hold on to the woman he was falling in love with.
“We have to get out of here and get to Mom. She’s the only person who can protect us,” Finn said. “She’s going to be in Denver in a few days to give a speech to announce the resumption of national elections. Come with us.”
“My God, elections already?” Richard asked. “Already?” Finn said. “It’s been two years.”
“Denver,” Richard repeated, suddenly feeling like time had collapsed on him. “Are you certain I should come with you?”
Finn looked at him like he had three eyes. “Didn’t you just tell me you wanted to make things right between you and Mom? What are you waiting for? I was almost killed in North Dakota. What if I had been? Would you have known your only son was gone? You’re running out of time to put your family back together again.”
Richard nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “We’ll all go together, and I’ll, umm, face your mother. Why don’t you go and get some rest? We’ll leave first thing tomorrow. My car is already packed with supplies.”
Finn and his father made arrangements for each of them to take a shift to watch for intruders. After saying good night, Finn crawled onto the air mattress beside River and felt her body relax as he enveloped her.
“I was worried you’d be angry with me for criticizing him,” she whispered.
“You’re entitled to your opinions,” Finn said. “For me, it’s a bit more complicated.”
“I did it so you wouldn’t have to,” she said.
“You don’t have to stick up for me,” Finn said. “I can take care of myself.”
“We’ll see about that,” she mumbled, burrowing closer to him.
Finn smiled as he drifted off. It was nice to have someone on his side, someone to defend him. He also liked the feel of River in his bed. Just for a moment, sleeping in his home, his father next door, life felt almost normal.
TWENTY SEVEN
ELIZABETH SAID goodbye to the local party officials and watched through a window as two secret service agents escorted them down a small set of portable stairs, away from the train car, and into waiting sedans with actual drivers. They were parked on the outskirts of Philadelphia’s train station. Autonomous vehicles were prohibited near presidential compounds, vehicles, or convoys, a necessary precaution after several serious hacking incidents.
So far, the first stop on the tour was going well. Her initial meetings had been productive; it was perhaps the first time in a long while the two main political parties had agreed on something. They would both initiate voter registration programs and other election-related activities. The new, smaller political coalitions made up of the relocated and digital privacy advocates did not have quite the same machinery in place, but they would also be contacting voters. Normally, her duties would fall to party leaders, former members of the House and Senate charged with raising money and marshaling the forces, but this was no ordinary election year. Sending surrogates wouldn’t do.
As she returned to her desk inside the coach, a shudder racked her body, a reminder from her nervous system that it had been two days since she’d slept more than a few hours. She was worried about Finn, of course, but the nightmare had also returned with a vengeance.
For months, she’d been plagued in her dreams with the sensation of being surrounded by fire. Flames steal the air from the room. The hair on her arms begins to singe, the searing heat creeping over her skin. The whine of steel collapsing is always the last sound before she wakes, her breath coming in gasps. Such horrible images, but it wasn’t a memory of something she’d seen, of that she was certain.
She knew Red’s visit was likely the trigger for their reoccurrence. She’d been at the cusp of too many tragedies not to sense the change in the air. Trouble was coming, and Red was the delivery boy.
A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts and sent her skyward out of her seat.
“Sorry to disturb you, Madam President,” a secret service agent said. “FBI Director Robert Gray is here to see you along with Cooper Smith.”
“Send them in,” she said.
The two men walked in. “Good afternoon,” Gray said. “We’ve completed our final security checks.”
Elizabeth mustered a weak smile. “Thank you,” she said. “And Red? Where is he now?”
“On his way,” Cooper replied.
“Listen, I know you will think I’m crazy, but I want you to leave me alone with Red when he arrives.”
Cooper let out a piercing whistle. “It’s a big risk,” he said. “Why would you knowingly put yourself in danger?”
Haven’t I been in danger from the start? Elizabeth thought to herself. From the moment I walked off the plane? But there was nothing to be done. A man like Red would run circles around the authorities unless someone put themself in his way. She didn’t have a death wish, far from it, but deep in her heart, she knew she was their only chance to try to catch him.
“He won’t say or do anything with a room full of security,” Elizabeth said. “He’s too smart for that. This room is wired, isn’t it? I want him to confess, maybe boast a bit, do something that will allow the Attorney General to charge him with treason. Bring me a bulletproof vest to put under my clothing, just in case. I won’t do anything crazy, I promise.”
“Lord above,” Gray said. “I don’t like it, but it does make sense. Try to get him talking, Elizabeth, and quickly. I don’t want to put you in danger for any longer than is necessary. I’ll post sharpshooters and undercover agents around your train car and in the yard.”
“Oh, it won’t be difficult to get him talking,” Elizabeth said bitterly. “He and silence have never been introduced. Cooper? Where will you be?”
“In an adjacent train car,” he said. “Red doesn’t know I’m here, and it would be better if it stayed that way so I can continue to monitor his activities. If I have to come out of hiding, though, I will.”
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” the President said. “Your agents will come immediately if he threatens me?”
“Of course,” Director Gray said as he and Cooper headed for the door. “We’re almost there, Madam President. Try to hang on.”
Elizabeth nodded. They were certainly on the verge of being someplace, but whether it was hospitable territory remained open for debate.
Another twenty minutes elapsed before Red arrived at the rail yard, and agents escorted him inside. Upon entering, he took a seat in one of the brown leather chairs set up next to a small coffee table.
“Thank you for seeing me,” he said in a tone that lacked sincerity.
“Your people said it was urgent,” Elizabeth said, choosing to remain standing near one of the windows. “What’s so critical that I need to take time away from my trip?”
Red didn’t reply. Instead, he rose from the chair and joined her at the window. “Are you looking for something?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “Just trying to avoid sitting down for hours at a time.”
“As accommodations go, this isn’t too terrible,” he said. “It’s small, but then after a submarine, you’re probably used to tight quarters.”
“I’ve learned to live with a great many hardships in the last two years, Red,” she said. “Now, are you going to tell me why you’re here? You may have noticed I have a rather packed schedule trying to restart national elections.”
“To what end?” Red asked, wrinkling his nose. “Haven’t you preferred making decisions without waiting for an ill-informed public to issue their opinion? Before the attacks, Congress was frozen, paralyzed by partisan disputes. Such a tiny percentage of the country voted, and they sent idiots to govern. Your beloved State Department rarely had its budget renewed on time–why would you want to return to that?”
“You have a very low opinion of your fellow man,” she said, grimacing. “I’m surprised a self-professed patriot like yourself would be so quick to abandon the founding principles of this country: one citizen, one vote. We’re a secular democracy, Red; we elect our representatives–for better or worse–and let them govern. The National Pause was implemented to prevent politicians from capitalizing on a national tragedy, not to rob people of their birthright. We have an obligation to restore things to their rightful order.”
“What if that order is no longer relevant, practical, or suitable?” Red asked. “What if we’ve learned that certain decisions should remain in the hands of an informed few?”
“That’s the same excuse used throughout the ages to justify all kinds of horrors,” Elizabeth said. “Who are we to rewrite the rules in our favor?”
“After everything that has happened, why can’t you just admit that the American people are clamoring for certainty?” Red said. “Giving them so many choices again will only scare them. They’re desperate for a leader with the courage to tear down old systems and bring order to the chaos of our times.”
“The country may be desperate, but I don’t think it’s for what you’re suggesting,” Elizabeth said. “Some may want more control over their lives, but quite a few are worried their country is becoming unrecognizable.”
“Why? Because we don’t allow anarchists and women with headscarves to roam our streets?” Red asked.
“That’s a bit of an over-simplification, don’t you think?” Elizabeth said.
“Hardly,” he said. “We were complacent before the attacks, in love with the idea of our country as a melting pot and thought the world was, too. Of course, they weren’t–a lesson we learned the hard way.”
“You want to keep the US in a state of emergency so you can justify bullying me into making Pennsylvania another energy Territory,” Elizabeth said. “But I’m not convinced that what you’re proposing is necessary.”
“It’s not necessary to have an unlimited supply of crude at our disposal? It’s not necessary to export oil and dominate the world markets? It’s not prudent to offer Russia’s satellite countries fuel at a better price and draw them into our sphere? You’re a former Secretary of State. I would’ve thought these benefits would be obvious to you.”
“In a vacuum, what you suggest would be ideal, but as President, I don’t have the luxury of such one-dimensional thinking. I have to think about the cost of those decisions, the displacement, the upheaval of lives. The first two energy Territories have more than met the goals we outlined. But…”
“But what?” Red asked.
“You knew that I wouldn’t agree to a third Territory, at least not in Pennsylvania. And by now, you must also suspect that I know you tried to kill my son. So, I’ll ask again: why did you come here today?”
“Justifiable cause,” Red said. “Cause for what?” Elizabeth asked.
“Removing you as an obstacle,” Red said. “The world must operate on a simple maxim: the good of the many at the expense of the few. Your timidity is going to cause a national tragedy.”
“Hardly,” Elizabeth said. “Your silly affirmations cannot govern the world. Life is not a poster in a golf shop, Red. You should really seek some help. You’re obviously coming unhinged.”
“Me?” Red replied. “I have never been more certain about things in my life. It’s you who excels at making excuses to avoid doing difficult things. Honestly, it’s sad.”
“You know, I’m really going to enjoy ending this conversation,” Elizabeth said, just as the door to the train car opened. “The Secret Service and FBI are here to arrest you for treason and, after an investigation, I’m sure, a host of other crimes.”
Red stood stock-still as a group of agents entered, followed by Director Gray.
“Redmond Pierce, please raise your hands above your head and keep them where I can see them,” an agent said as she approached. “I am placing you under arrest.”
Just as Red raised his hands, shots rang out. A bullet hit the Director in the head. He collapsed to the floor. The agents grabbed the President and Red, taking each in opposite directions. Elizabeth was ushered into an adjacent safe room while Red was dragged outside.
Cooper, who had been monitoring the conversation, heard the gunshots and picked up one of the radios the Secret Service agents used to communicate.
“This is Cooper Smith,” he said. “What’s the situation?”
There was no reply as more shots rang out, including a bullet Cooper would later learn felled one of the agents guarding Red.
“We’ve got another agent down,” someone screamed. “We need backup!”
“Looks like you’ve been compromised,” Cooper yelled into the radio. “Let the CEO go, I repeat, cut him loose. Your primary objective is the safety of the President.”
Cooper listened as more chaos unfolded, trying to bide his time while Red escaped. He wanted to help but knew many more lives would be spared if his involvement could remain a secret. Forty minutes later, the wounded had been taken away by ambulance, and the compound secured. Cooper walked into the Presidential train car to find Elizabeth sitting on the floor, her blouse covered in blood. She looked up, her face a grim mask. “Somehow, he knew and brought his soldiers,” she said.
“Looks that way,” Cooper replied. “I’m sorry. I asked you to trust me, but I let you down. Red is farther along in this thing than he’s let me see. Your agents did manage to shoot and capture one of his sharp-shooters: he’s Russian, heavily armed. Although for the record, the shooter was just lucky: this train is outfitted with bulletproof glass. Whoever killed the director maneuvered their shot through the open train window. Red’s troops neutralized most of your perimeter security, which made such easy shooting possible.”
“The Russians are willing to help overthrow the US government?” Elizabeth said, rising from the floor. “They killed our men? That seems extreme, even for them.”
“I don’t think the Russians expect Red to be successful,” he said. “But they will enjoy the bloody mess it creates along the way and make some money in the process.”
“I’ll call the ambassador directly in a few minutes,” the President said.
“If I might make a suggestion,” Cooper said. “Calling the Russians will only reward Red’s megalomania. I would stay silent and let them, let him wonder what you’re going to do next.”
“You don’t think his insanity has already reached peak proportions?” the President asked. “He just killed my FBI director.”
“Maybe you should cancel the trip,” Cooper suggested.
“No,” she said. “We need to get this train moving and be in Denver in time for my speech. The American people are depending on me.”
“There’s one more thing I need to tell you,” Cooper said. “It’s about your son.”
“If you tell me he is dead,” Elizabeth said. “I will wish that Red had succeeded in putting me out of my misery.”
“No,” he said. “He’s very much alive and traveling with a woman named Jennifer Peterson. She goes by the name River. I think I know where they are…it involves Wyoming.”
“Wyoming?” Elizabeth asked, butterflies forming in her stomach. “How long has your husband been living there?” Cooper asked.
Elizabeth waited a second to speak, amazed that the issue hadn’t come up sooner. “About a year, maybe more,” she said.
Cooper lost his ability to maintain a poker face and just stared at her for a second.
“Ever been married?” she asked. “No, ma’am,” Cooper said.
“One day you might be,” she said. “And God forbid a tragedy strikes. In the terrible moments afterward, you’ll understand that the truth is more malleable than you suspect. You’ll come to see that it’s sometimes helpful to give your spouse some space rather than force them to make a choice. How did you figure it out?”
“I did a few focused drone sweeps of the Territory and picked up on some human bio stats–just a faint heart rate,” Cooper said. “We don’t usually use such sophisticated equipment in that region. No one would have detected him. Had I not been looking for something specific, I wouldn’t have noticed. A few hours ago, I managed to get a visual of Finn and River in front of a home, which I assume was yours. Before I could get a message to them about a possible rescue, River shot the drone to pieces.”
“She shot it?”
“Yes, ma’am. River is a former soldier who did two tours in the Middle East,” he said. “She’s been working inside the Territory as a truck driver. I don’t yet have all the details about how they met, but I can tell you that she saved his life, injuring two of my best men in the process. She is formidable.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me if she’s with Finn,” she said. “He must have figured out his father was living there.”
“Yes, and they are no doubt heading straight toward you,” Cooper said. “I want to reiterate, it might be a good idea to cancel the speech for the safety of everyone.”
“They’re coming to Denver,” Elizabeth said. “Finn called me after they’d escaped from the Territory. He also told me he was going to look for his father, but he didn’t mention going home. If he had, I would have warned him against entering another Territory.”
“I don’t like it, but it makes sense,” he said. “They need to get to you to be truly protected.”
“Then why are you reacting as if it were a bad idea?” Elizabeth asked.
“Because it puts all of his enemies in one place,” Cooper said. “It’s never a good idea to make things easy for Red.”
Thanks for reading 48 States! Please follow me on social media and check out The Council Trilogy, my latest urban fantasy series.