Jacqueline Druga - Protocol One

That made me laugh. “Why would you say that?”

“We had been in full operation for three years at that point. We set up secure communications and built homes for some pretty big wigs to keep their mistresses. He brought that up. Then he stated simply that he had the money and he wanted to build three state of the art doomsday bunkers without it being traced back to him. It was a bigger scale, a much bigger scale. I’m cocky. I was positive I could do it and it was a challenge. Plus, if I didn’t take on the job, I would be in the dark on the doomsday thing. Nothing about it was being transmitted electronically or over the phone. I set up a secure means of communication between him and I. It was hacker proof, because I had the best hacker.”

“So construction began.”

“Immediately. We were to operate on the assumption it was happening. And the sweet end of the deal was, if it didn’t, Tony Garrison got one of the bunkers.”

“This one.”

“It’s the one I picked.” Tony smiled. “I didn’t think it was happening. I thought he was whacked, but if he wanted to dump eighty million dollars into it, who was I to judge? I made good money off of it. Now, jump ahead to the failed attempt to divert it. Things got amped up. The original plan was, when it came close to impact time, Tony Garrison would be the messenger and the go between. But then, Gwen diverted reporters to you and you said a flag word.”

“So the boyfriend cover up began.”

Tony winced. “Well, it wasn’t supposed to be that. It was supposed to be one informational date, with a series of pizza deliveries and so forth. I thought that was risky, but in my opinion, one date wasn’t going to blow the cover and I wanted to keep tabs on the situation. It was a big one. Plus, the Senator or ‘Gil’ believed it was Gavin who took you out.”

“So the sleep overs, all that was your call?”

Tony nodded. “I needed to be where you were. That’s why I took over. I’m gonna be honest with you. When it was a reality that the comet would hit, my first thought was my daughter. I did not want to lose another child and I was going to do everything, even break protocol, to make sure she had the best chance of survival. And that survival was being where you were. I figured if I stayed close, I would be aware of any last minute change of plans.”

“Why would he change things at the last minute and not tell you?”

“I don’t know. In my opinion he was a guy suffering from horrible unrequited love with a big enough bank roll to ensure that after you were done sitting pretty and lonely in your queen room at the bunker, you’d be more than willing to welcome him back into your life.”

I burst out laughing. “Oh my God, Tony, that’s over the top.”

“I think he had plans to come here all along. Whether from the get go or at the end. Why else would he make sure the specialists were not viable choices for you? A woman, a gay man, old man…”

“Tom’s not old.”

“Peter. I showed Gil that photo in the Inquisitor.”

“What about Tom?” I asked.

“I lied. I told Gil he was gay. I had known Tom forever. The security guys and the armory were my call. This place needed protection.”

“Why didn’t you keep tabs on me through Gavin?”

“Come on, Anna.” He spoke softly. “You know me. My level of trust only goes so far. I mean, I trusted Gavin, but who was to say when push came to shove and the comet was closer, he wouldn’t just take a hike with his family. Which he did, by the way. I don’t’ blame him. When push comes to shove, what it boils down to is ourselves and the ones we love. I did the same thing.”

“Tom was right then.” I sighed out.

“About what?”

“He said it didn’t matter. I… asked him if he knew Tony Garrison from GSS.”

“Ah, he probably didn’t have a clue about me using a ‘face’. Tom’s a good guy.”

“So this whole plan to latch on to me was for your daughter?”

“At first, and I was wondering. Man, what does this chick have that this guy wants her so badly, that he’s all but ensuring her survival with every dime he has. And I’ll tell you by the end of the third date, I knew what you had. I knew that I wanted my daughter to live and I wanted to be there with you. I bought that van, drove to Chicago to get Joie, and was coming here. Then I got the call from you that the van wouldn’t start and I drove right down.”

“I’m glad you did.”

“Anna, it may have started out as a mission, but please know, everything I said I feel is genuine. When I kiss you or touch you, it’s not an act.”

I locked my fingers in his. “I know. I’m glad it wasn’t anything major. I was thinking you were a computer hack and got a jump on things. Although, I’m still waiting to hear why Gil is not good enough to be on that pedestal.”

“That…” Gil’s voice entered the kitchen startling me. “Is something I would be interested in hearing as well?”

Tony slipped his hands from mine, leaned back slowly, then stood.

It was time for everyone to talk.

Tony told Gil everything he had told me. Gil was mad. He was so angry. I’m not sure he was convinced that Tony wasn’t an imposter, but even if he believed he wasn’t, it made him pissed that he trusted Tony with a huge secret and Tony didn’t respect him enough to show his true identity.

They argued. It grew louder and I closed the door.

“Stop it please, both of you.”

“I bet everything he said to me,” Gil blasted. “Was word for word what he said to you. A story he rehearsed for the day he had to come clean.”

“Yes, true,” Tony said with typical sarcasm. “Except in your version, I left out the part about kissing and touching you.”

Gil cocked back. “And I’m the dick? You make a comment like that and I’m the one she should see as the bad guy?”

“What’s wrong with that comment?” Tony asked.

“Because it’s pretty damned obvious, Tony.” Gil stated. “How I feel. Everything I did was because of how I feel. And you said it to get a dig in because you knew it would bother me.”

Tony laughed. “Why is that, Gil? Why does it bother you? It shouldn’t. After all, you’re a married man.”

Like an idiot and I’m sure I looked like one, totally missing the point of his comment, as I did with the hemp, I inched to Tony. As if I were trying to save him the embarrassment, I whispered, “Tony, Gwen cheated on him. They broke up.”

I saw the strain on Tony’s face as he slowly turned his head to me with wide eyes. “Did you… did you just say that?” Then he laughed. “This is unreal. I’ll just drop it. Because despite what you think, I am a man of integrity. Air your own dirty laundry, Gil.”

“What?” I asked. “What did I miss?” Then I gasped. “Gil, were you the one that cheated? Did you blame it on Gwen?

“No!” Gil blasted. “Tony, or whatever his name is, wants to make me look bad.”

“No, I don’t.” Tony said gently. “You know what? You aren’t bad. You’re a nice guy with some serious ambition.”

“There is nothing wrong with being ambitious,” Gil defended.

“You’re right. Nothing wrong with it unless the end of civilization works perfectly for your ambitions.”

“Okay,” I intervened. “I give up. What does any of this have to do with Gwen and Gil?”

Tony faced me. “They’re still married. It was all a ploy to get sympathy and pull the voters away from the Vice President. But I kept thinking, why bother if he knew damn well the comet was coming? Because he needed the last memory the public had of him to be the good guy. This works out perfectly for him.”