Her Secret Service (Jane Roe 1) by Jason Letts (sites to read books for free TXT) 📗

anybody in her building that every call to the White House was recorded and that every one with the president on the line had multiple people listening in at all times. She closed her eyes, wondering how she could thread this needle. It would’ve been so much easier to keep her feelings buried or run, but the only way Jane knew how to deal with challenges was to attack them.

Slowly, she dialed the president’s secretary, Ally Wilde.

“Ally, it’s Jane. Nothing about the schedule this time. I’m hoping to arrange a chance to speak to the president. In-person.”

“Oh, do you need to let him know he’s in danger?” The voice coming over the line crackled in her ear.

“No, it’s not that.”

“Is there a change to his detail or a complication with one of his upcoming trips?”

“No,” Jane said, the unease in her gut growing.

“Then what do you need to speak to him about?”

Wincing, Jane knew she couldn’t say the truth and had to come up with a plausible explanation.

“It’s about something that came up during the last training ride at Camp David.”

“I can take the message to the president and get a response for you,” she said, making Jane grit her teeth harder. It was almost like they didn’t just let people show up and see the president on call for some reason.

“Ally, if you don’t mind I think it best if I bring it up to him in person, please. It’s really pretty complicated, technical, you know,” she said trying not to make it sound too much like she was begging for a personal favor.

Some breathing over the line followed.

“I suppose. We could slot you in later in the week. Do you have the schedule in front of you?” Ally asked, and Jane was ready to start pulling her hair out.

“I was hoping for something much sooner and a little less formal. I hate to take up much of his time and I only need a second to stick my head in.”

More breathing. She really didn’t want to have to explain why she didn’t want him to know she was coming.

“Let me get this straight. You need just a second to get across a nuanced and elaborate inquiry that can’t be delivered via a message.”

Shutting her eyes, Jane realized she’d been caught.

“Ally!”

“Alright, alright. I’m sure you see the office time scheduled for today after the Health and Human Services secretary comes in. You should be able to drop in then.”

“Thank you,” Jane said with all of the emotion of having asked someone for the time before hanging up the phone. But Ally shouldn’t have made her work so hard for it. Now all she had to do was make it over to the White House, waltz into the West Wing, and hope that somehow it all worked out.

She slipped out of her office, leaving all of the other things she had to do behind. Thankfully her division chief, Harold Vale, didn’t say anything to her on her way out, even though he’d certainly had plenty of contact with the Inspector General’s office. Maybe everything was crashing down around her and Agent Trice was minutes away from filing a report that found her negligent for the Air Force One bombing and derelict and compromised in regards to the president and his rides.

That only made going to see him seem direr, even if it was the last thing she did in a professional capacity as a member of the Secret Service.

But whether she was able to make her overture to him at all was still up in the air, and White House security had so many places that could trip her up. She made it through the gate, past the bomb-sniffing dogs, through the Secret Service interview at the door, inside the entrance, through the screening checkpoint with more Secret Service agents, across the hall, around to the West Wing, and over to the secretary’s room.

All so that Ally Wilde could nod her in with a look that made it clear she was more than a little suspicious about what was going on. The door handle felt cold, though perhaps it was only some kind of reflection of her own clammy palms.

Nerves flared up as she stepped into the West Wing, where the comforting sight of Alex standing by the Lincoln portrait holding a packet of papers greeted her on the other side. That light-brown hair, those blue eyes, and the handsome blue suit, he looked surprised and intrigued at her sudden appearance.

Unfortunately nothing else around the room was nearly as inviting, including Vice President Jeffreys seated on the couch with his legs spread wide as he apparently lounged about the Oval Office. Then there were the Secret Service agents in the room. Evans and Royer stood in their proper places. Another agent, Simmons, was just outside by the walkway. Then of course there was the Secret Service office directly underneath their feet known as W-16 staffed with yet more agents.

“Mr. President, might I have a word,” she said, completely unsure what words her feelings would take and how she’d be able to mold them with so many ears around. She flagrantly glanced at Jeffreys, and luckily Alex took the hint.

“Would you mind giving us a moment, Harrison?” Alex asked.

“Of course.”

It was a relief when the vice president got up and left the room, but they’d never be able to get rid of all of the ears and eyes. Jane wished Dedan were on duty instead of Evans, though it was debatable whether any of them would keep her confidence. It struck her that the only one who might actually support what she was doing was Nathan. At least he didn’t seem to begrudge people getting theirs, and the ethical and workplace rules for him were less bright red lines and more winking suggestions.

Jane stepped forward as he set down the packet and faced her. It was now or never, but considering how tight the boundaries were on what she could say,