Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty - One

     Hidden Cove didn’t seem to be a subtle name for a secluded town. This town was intended to hide the nation’s capital and the name would probably make it obvious to an enemy where the town is. Olive felt like they should be going up the mountains to go camping instead. They were surrounded by a forest that never seemed to end.

     She rode in the back seat of a brown Land Rover. As they approached the town on the GPS map, Olive began to feel overwhelmed. She tapped Thomas’s shoulder.

     “Won’t they notice a bunch of strange vehicles showing up out of the blue?” she asked him.

     Thomas thought for a moment, “I think this car could fit in. I have clearance.”

     “You missed Wolfe's’ firing spree?” Janice smirked.

     “I might be fired yet soon,” said Thomas

     They approached a large black, iron fence. Beyond the fence were large houses. They reached this suburban city made for the rich. At the entrance was a stoic man in a booth.

     He peered into the window of the Land Rover, “Identification, please.” Thomas flashed his identification. “I thought you were supposed to be retiring soon.”

     “Oh, I’m just looking for my future retirement home,” quipped Thomas.

     The man smirked, “I don’t think he even paid us enough to retire here. For all we know our retirement home is in ground zero.”

     “Better there than here, I guess,” he said.

     “Well, hopefully he doesn’t have us working past retirement,” he sighed and looked at the town behind him. He leaned against the car. “Are you here for the New Year’s party?”

     “We are here for the party,” stated Thomas. “Lena sent for us.”

     The guard nodded his head, “Simone is going to lead you to the new Wolfe tower. This place is a fortress. There is supposed to be a huge New Year’s party going on here tonight.”

      Thomas nodded and watched the Iron Gate open. A shiny, black SUV pulled up to the gate. A woman stepped out of the car and walked up to them.

     “Hello, I’m Simone,” she said. “Everyone is to remain in the vehicle until we make it to the parking garage.”

     Thomas nodded and she went back to her car. Simone turned her car around and they followed her through town. They arrived at a large dark square building surrounded by a black stone wall.

     They watched Simone punch in some numbers from her car window. The gates opened and they entered. They drove down a long driveway to a garage around the back of the building.

     “Thomas?” Olive tapped his shoulder again. “How are we going to alert more people to come when there is all of this security?”

     “Most of the security is aware that you are here; they are leading us inside,” he parked his car next to Simone’s. “We got this far.”

     “This has been way too easy,” said Matthew. He jabbed Dr. Simplot with his elbow. “You should have told us so you wouldn’t have been on this adventure.”

     Simplot glared at him, “How do I know you people were not going to ambush me? I never know where he is going to be. He is always being relocated to a different building. I typically speak with Lena.”

     “We are here and trying to carry out a plan can you two give it a rest?” asked Janice.

     Cautiously, they exited the car. They followed Simone through a dark corridor to a large door. They walked through a large hallway with grey walls and a white marble floor.

     “This is the kitchen here,” Simone pointed at one door. “Up ahead is the dining hall. The New Year’s party is going to be in there tonight. There is some event going on in there right now.”

     They passed the door to the dining hall. Olive stopped and peaked through the door. Inside were people dressed to the nines lounging around after a huge meal or passed out.

     The rest of the group stopped and gathered around the door. Simone reached through them silently and closed the door. The group looked at her.

     “Where’s Wolfe?” Olive asked in a whisper.

     “None of us know where he is,” Simone whispered. An angry whisper rose up from the crowd. Simone held up her hand, “He is here, but we don’t know where he is in this building.”

     “Supposedly,” said Janice.

     “Calm down; there is a reason why Dr. Simplot is with us,” said Matthew.

     “At this point we need to find out where exactly he is,” said Thomas.

     “Are any of the other family members here?” Olive asked.

     “Yes,” said Simone. “Lena is hosting this party.”

     “Where is she?” asked Matthew.

     Simone cracked open the door and peeked inside, “She just went back into the kitchen. There she is. She just came back in here. Do you see her?”

     Matthew peaked inside, “Yeah, she is over there talking to a couple of people.”

     Simone closed the door again, “We need to keep walking before we are caught here.”

     “Why don’t we all go into the kitchen and meet Lena there?” Matthew asked.

     The group looked at each other and nodded at the idea. Simone paused to digest the idea. She sighed and waved at them to follow her.

     As they entered the kitchen the staff stopped what they were doing. Simone held up her palms telling the group to stay put. She walked past the staff and told them to continue working.

     Simone continued to the dining hall. The group congregated next to the door. The kitchen staff continued to work while they watched the group with an uncertain eye.

     Simone entered the kitchen and looked shocked that they were gathered at the door. She waved the group away from the door. Lena entered the kitchen oblivious to the extra people inside.

     She looked up and saw Thomas and Dr. Simplot, “I didn’t know that you two were here. Didn’t you resign, doctor?”

     The door closed behind her. Before she knew what was happening she heard a click of a gun behind her. She froze and saw that Thomas was not alone.

     “I’m paying a visit,” he said.

     “Where is President Wolfe?” Matthew moved so she could see who was holding the gun.

     “He’s indisposed,” Melanie whispered. “I’m an old lady and you are pointing a gun at me?”

     “What do you mean he is indisposed?” Matthew asked her.

     “Please put the gun away,” Thomas tried to de-escalate the situation.

     “Please,” she pleaded. “Bianca will be here at any moment.”

     Dr. Simplot looked at Matthew and shook his head. Matthew put the gun down. Simplot looked at Lena, “Can you tell us where he is? Is he in his room?”

     Lena nodded her head. Matthew put his gun away. Lena took a deep breath.

     She looked back at the staff, “You keep working. Tell Bianca I went to the restroom.” She looked at the group. “Follow me.”

     They followed her through a different door in the kitchen. They walked through a long hallway with elegant light fixtures. The walls were dark red and the carpet was red and gold.

     At the end of the hall were dark brown double doors. Lena peeked into the door and looked around. She opened the door and there was a cool white light that greeted everyone in the hallway.

     Wolfe was lying in a bed and was surrounded by clear plastic curtains and monitors. The group silently entered the room. Lena stood by the bed with her hands together.

     “What happened to him?” Thomas asked her.

     “He got very sick and went into a coma,” she said. “We couldn’t get far enough away from the radiation.”

     “How long has he been like this?” he asked.

     Lena shrugged, “I think it’s been a couple of years.”

     “How is he still president?” asked Janice. “How did this go on for so long?”

     “When we were bombed everyone was affected. Even any potential candidate died or became too ill to run,” she explained. “There were elections, but people were too sick to run. People were too sick to go out and vote. Wolfe paid off so many people so he could remain president. He knew that most of the people he bribed were either greedy or had someone to take care of because of the attack.”

     “So, each election was rigged,” said Matthew.

     “Eventually, Wolfe ran out of people to bribe,” Lena continued. “He also had to take care of his own medical expenses. He asked Bianca to step in to manage everything. She has been talking to outside agencies to rig the elections.”

     “Was Russia involved?” asked Thomas.

     “I don’t know who all is involved. Bianca has been in charge,” said Lena. “She has been in charge for a long time. She made it possible for him to be here past four years.”

     “We had our first female president after all,” Olive crossed her arms.

     “What in the hell is this?” a woman’s voice roared and made everyone turn around.

     Bianca was standing at the door. Matthew grabbed Lena and placed a gun against her head. Bianca smirked and shook her head.

     “Go ahead,” Bianca snorted. “Blow my stepmom’s brains out.”

     “You’ve been behind this all along,” said Thomas.

     “You idiots are breaking the law by threatening the commander in chief,” she said. “This was all clearly planned which will make the penalty more harsh. I’ll see to it that you all get the death penalty.”

     Someone in the group inched over to Wolfe’s bedside. Bianca’s gaze went over to him. She moved her hand to a button next to the door.

    “You do realize that there are secret service agents in here don’t you?” Thomas asked her.

     Bianca seemed to panic, but she held a straight face, “You are ungrateful and a disgrace to our country!”

     “You are inconsiderate and the laughing stock of this country!” said Thomas.

     “He’s a vegetable,” said the person next to Wolfe’s bed. “There is no brain activity.”

     “You’ve been keeping him alive while dictating our country?” Matthew glared at Bianca. “We didn’t even vote for you! Who the hell do you think you are?”

     “You’re just a spoiled brat!” said Janice.

     “Isn’t it a federal offense to pose as the president?” Matthew asked.

     Simone and Thomas glanced at each other. They then looked at Bianca who continued to look at the group with a smug look.

     “Are you serious?” she said. “My father appointed me. We have money; there’s no way they would touch a Wolfe.”

     A high pitch noise came from one of the monitors. Someone had pulled the plug on President Wolfe. Bianca screamed and charged at the individual next to the bed. Simone and Thomas tackled her and placed handcuffs on her.

     “Daddy!” Bianca continued to scream. “You just killed the president, you sick b*****d!”

     “He’s already dead according to this monitor!” he yelled back at her.

     “He became the very thing he made fun of,” Janice commented.

     “Freeze right there!” a voice shouted from nowhere.

     Everyone stopped in their tracks. Another secret agent had entered the room. He had his gun out. Simone muttered profanity under her breath.

     “Jackson, Bianca was posing as the president,” said Simone.

     “What are you guys doing with the president then?” asked Jackson.

     “That man pulled the plug!” yelled Bianca.

     Jackson pointed his gun at the person next to Wolfe, “Step away from the president!”

     The man grinned at him and raised his hands. Jackson appeared to be lost. The monitor continued to go off through all of the chaos.

     Jackson approached the monitor and searched for a way to fix what was happening. Lena stood there looking helpless through the entire ordeal. She walked over to Jackson and hovered over him for a moment.

     “I’ll shut it off,” she said to him gently.

     Jackson stepped away and still appeared puzzled. Lena stepped past him and she stared at her husband for a moment. She kissed Ronald on the forehead. Lena stared lovingly at him and reached over and shut the monitor off.

     “What in the hell is this?” Bianca struggled to get out of the grasp of the agents.

     “What in the hell?” Jackson yelled and started talking into his radio. “I need back up! The president was just murdered! There was a break in and there is a hostage.”

     There was silence in the room. Clearly, Jackson was not receiving a response. He tried multiple times to request assistance from fellow agents. He looked at Simone and Thomas with desperation.

     “This is all over,” said Thomas.

     “You’re all in on this?” Jackson exclaimed.

     “Can’t you see what is going on?” asked Simone. “His presidency should have ended long ago. Our country was never rebuilt nor was the capitol.”

     “She was posing as the commander in chief,” said Thomas. “Are you even concerned about that?”

     “He assigned her a duty. Just like you were assigned a duty,” said Jackson.

     “He must have paid you extra since you were his poster boy secret agent,” Simone hissed.

     “It’s our job to protect him!” he shouted. “That was also your job!”

     “Since he was paying secret service more money wouldn’t that be a bribe?” asked Janice.

     “That’s beside the point,” said Jackson. “We are working overtime. You betrayed our country and plotted against President Wolfe!”

     “So, you really support this activity?” Simone asked him. “It’s not a good idea.”

     “Who is all in on this?” asked Thomas.

     “Everyone except for him,” said Simone.

     “We need to move forward and get out of here,” said Thomas.

     “We have Bianca in custody,” Simone spoke into her radio. “The president is dead. It appears that he was on life support and someone had shut it off.”

     More agents appeared at the door. They arrested Bianca and Jackson. Lena stood looking over her husband’s lifeless body.

     “What’s supposed to happen now?” she asked.

     “We get together and reestablish what has been lost,” said Matthew.