David Baldacci: First Family

If Willa was the number one story, a close second was the attempted assassination of Dan Cox by persons as yet unknown, though the investigation was ongoing. While he only would speak briefly and modestly of the ordeal himself, his staff made sure that the public knew how brave he and the First Lady had been, risking their lives to try and get their niece back and foiling the plot of what most of the country thought was the work of terrorists trying to kill their president.

He was so far ahead in the polls now that even the opposition openly acknowledged the impossibility of winning the upcoming election. Jane had never been more popular. She had appeared on the covers of a number of magazines and had made appearances on all the major news and talk shows. For those who knew her well, while she seemed the same physically, still radiant if thinner, there was something different about her. A certain light in the eyes that was no longer there.

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell had also been brought into the national spotlight, however unwillingly. After the president and Agent Waters had mentioned what they had done to foil the assassination plot, they had been inundated with press inquiries, to such an extent that they both had moved and taken up residence at an undisclosed location.

They had briefed Waters on what had happened at the mines. And about Diane Wohl being in there along with Daryl and Sam Quarry. Attempts were being made to excavate the mine collapse. Yet it was becoming rapidly clear that any evidence that might have been in there was going to stay in there.

When Waters questioned them as to Quarry's motivation to do all this, they had claimed ignorance.

Sean's arm and other injuries were healing and Michelle had gone from crutches to a boot on her foot. Gabriel had miraculously suffered no serious physical injuries. However, the emotional impact of losing his mother and his home had taken its toll.

Sean and Michelle had discussed what to do about him.

"We can't just stick him in foster care," she said.

"I don't want to do that either. I want to find him a great home with a great family."

"I don't think anything will be great for him for a long time," said Michelle. "No matter what sort of family he ends up with."

"Do you think we could take care of him for a while?" he finally suggested.

"We? We live in separate places. We're not married. And with our occupation, being gone half the time, they'd never let us have custody of him."

"We can try."

Michelle had thought about this and then squeezed his hand and smiled. "We can try. At least for a while."

And with help from the FBI and the White House, Sean and Michelle received emergency temporary custody of Gabriel Macon after it was quickly determined he had no living relatives. There would be future legal hoops for them to jump through, but for now Gabriel had a place to stay and people to look after him.

Sean and Michelle had traveled down to Atlee once more a few days after Gabriel had become their ward. They hadn't taken the boy with them because there was nothing left for him down there. Gabriel was staying with Michelle and Sean was at a townhouse provided by the Secret Service.

The FBI was still on site, investigating what little remained of the plantation house, and also the site where the First Couple had almost died. And where Tippi Quarry had died.

The FBI had privately marveled at the skill and ingenuity with which Sam Quarry had put his murderous plan together. Sean and Michelle had learned that a cavity in the ground near the building where the First Couple had almost died had been discovered. There was a TV monitor inside this bunker along with a pair of binoculars, a remote control, and other equipment and provisions. If anyone had been inside there, he or she was long gone.

Sean and Michelle suspected it was either Carlos Rivera or Kurt Stevens but had no real proof.

"He built basically a gas chamber for Dan and Jane Cox," said Sean, as they stared at the little house.

"And he killed his own daughter in there."

"More like euthanasia," replied Sean. "After all those years."

The most important issue remained unresolved for the pair. What to do about what they'd learned in the basement at Atlee.

"Everyone's dead," said Sean. "Quarry. Tippi. Ruth Ann."

"Maybe we should just let it go," voiced Michelle. "It'll drag Willa and Gabriel back into all this."

"And rip the country apart," added Sean.

"But then Cox gets away with it."

"I know. But maybe that's better than the alternative."

They drove back to the ruins of Atlee. One of the HRT squad members securing the area approached them.

"Read about you in the paper," he said. "Wanted to thank you for what you did for the president."

"No problem," Sean said without much enthusiasm while Michelle said nothing. Both were thinking about the president of the United States in a light far different than the HRT guy was, even if they had decided to do nothing about it.

He nodded at the ruins. "Looked a lot different the first time I was here."

"You were here when it was still standing?" asked Michelle.

He nodded. "I was riding on a bird with the First Lady when all that shit went down. She made us put down here. Said she wasn't feeling well. Went inside, met up with some black lady. Think she was the maid. They talked a bit and then the First Lady went down to a room in the basement. Insisted on it, in fact. She was the only one who could go in. She did, and then she came out later and we hightailed it home."

Sean and Michelle stared over at the rubble.

And then Atlee burned down.

THE INVITATION came two days after they returned from Alabama.

The White House looked beautiful in the soft light of a late summer evening. They had dinner in the First Couple's private quarters. The president wasn't there. Jane had invited them. After the meal was done they sat in the living room with their coffees the butler had brought in. For a few minutes no one spoke. Sean and Michelle sat there tensely while Jane did not make eye contact.

Finally, Jane said, "We've certainly come a long way."

"How's that?" asked Sean.

"Finding Willa, getting things back on track. I can't thank you enough for what you did. If not for you, the president and I would be dead. And so would Willa."

"Sam Quarry's dead. So is his son. And Tippi Quarry. But then you knew that. And a little boy named Gabriel lost his mother. And Diane Wohl? We knew her as Diane Wright. The woman who was screwing your husband in the car in Atlanta? You remember her, right?"

"Please don't be crude, Sean, there's no need for that."

"So Willa lost both her mothers. That's a real tragedy."

"You have no proof that Pam was not her mother."

He pulled some papers from his pocket. "Actually, I do. They're DNA results. They show Diane Wohl is or was Willa's mother."

Jane set her cup down, touched a linen napkin against her lips, and stared at him. "I asked you here to make an offer going forward. Not to wade through the past."

"Why do you feel the need to do that?" he asked, while Michelle looked on in silence.

"Because I know you went to that house. I know you saw that room."

"Oh, you mean at Atlee? The place that burned to the ground right after you left there? The same fire that killed Ruth Ann?"

"I was deeply sorry to hear about that."

"You met Ruth Ann, didn't you?"

"Briefly, yes. She seemed like a nice woman. I'm glad we were able to help you two gain temporary custody of her son."

"What, you couldn't think of another way of getting rid of the evidence? Other than burning the house down and killing the woman?"

Jane looked at him with an impassive expression. "I have no idea what you're talking about. When I left the house it was perfectly fine and so was she. You can ask anyone who was with me. And you are growing dangerously close to something you shouldn't go near, Sean."