Exclusive

“Maybe you were wrong,” Barrie ventured in a soft voice. “In the confusion—”

“There was no mistaking his intent. He was only ten feet away from me. No one else saw it, but I did.”

“Remember the President’s blunder?” Daily said. “When it was announced that the mission had cost one American life, Merritt eulogized you.”

“I’d forgotten that,” Barrie cut in. “The faux pas was forgotten during all the excitement of your victorious return, but I remember what an embarrassment it was for Dalton Neely. He’d called a press conference to announce the success of the mission and the safe return of the hostages. Then he read a brief statement from the President that commended you for making the ultimate sacrifice for your countrymen. He said there was never a better soldier and patriot than Gray Bondurant, never a better friend. There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd.”

“When David heard there’d been a casualty, he assumed his assassin had succeeded in killing me. He made the statement before checking out the facts.”

“How’d they know that young man was corruptible?” Daily asked.

“I don’t believe he was,” Gray said, surprising them both. “Garrett couldn’t have been bribed with material gain. I’m sure that Spence, acting as the President’s mouthpiece, approached him and made me out to be a traitor, a spy, a threat to democracy, something like that.

“Garrett was an excellent Marine, but he wasn’t a whiz kid. When he aimed that rifle at me, he was carrying out a direct order from the Commander in Chief. Nothing less than that could have compelled him to betray me, not even the threat of death. I didn’t blame him. He was a pawn for David and Spence. They killed him as surely as that enemy sniper.”

“Did you confront Merritt about this?” Barrie asked.

“God knows I wanted to, but I couldn’t without revealing my hand and leaving myself more vulnerable.”

“But you got the hell out of Dodge.”

“I didn’t resign out of cowardice,” he replied testily.

Daily, who’d made the remark, raised both hands in surrender. “Don’t take offense. None was intended.”

“I resigned my job at the White House because I didn’t want to be in the service of David Merritt.”

“But you’re still an irritant to him. Suddenly Wyoming isn’t far enough removed from the White House.”

Gray nodded. “David knows I’m on to him. First about Garrett, now about Vanessa’s baby. I’m a problem that never quite got resolved, so he sent Spence to resolve it once and for all.”

“Because of me,” Barrie said forlornly.

“It would have happened sooner or later. I’d been waiting for it for a long time. David couldn’t very well eliminate me while I was in the limelight, being touted as a national hero. So he pretended to enjoy and share the accolades I received.

“Once public awareness had waned, he figured he could more easily dispose of me without drawing attention to it. With or without you, Barrie, it was only a matter of time.”

“Now that we know the problem, how’re we gonna solve it?” Daily asked. “I don’t have long to live, but I’d rather not finish out my days in federal prison for threatening to destroy the President.”

“Once the truth about the baby’s death gets out, this administration will die a natural death,” Gray assured him.

r />

“I agree,” Barrie said. “That will take care of itself. My primary concern is for Vanessa. Right now, she’s the biggest threat to Merritt.”

“I don’t buy this ‘seclusion’ nonsense for a second. David’s got her sequestered somewhere.”

“For what purpose, Gray?” Daily asked.

“To intimidate her into keeping her mouth shut about how the baby died. I know how he thinks. To him, Vanessa got no worse than she deserved. He’ll try and convince her that she brought this on herself by cheating on him. Depending on what method of persuasion he’s using, she may or may not survive it.”

“ ‘Method of persuasion’?”

“I can’t bring myself even to think about it.”

“What’s with Armbruster? Has he rolled over and played dead?”

“I’d like to know that myself, Daily. But until I know more, I’d rather leave him out of it and work independently.”