Madam President ✓

76. A Traumatic Past

"Whether you had a negligent parent, or whether you had someone who was verbally abusive to you, whether you are a survivor of abuse, whether you experienced any sort of trauma in your life, small to large- these episodes can compound on each other."
-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Tanya
Two days later

   "We know exactly where he is. We can't just sit here and do nothing!" I pace across my living room, surprisingly well rested since Lynn put sleeping pills in my tea last night- after I was up for almost thirty six hours.

  "You've got some of the best experts in the world on it-" Darrel tried to reassure and let me yell at the same time. "He'll be fine. Walter is... a particularly... resilient individual."

"Oh but we both know they have some of the best experts on torture in the world-"

"So what? Ours are better- and so are our hackers." He forces me to slow down for a second and holds me before I have the chance to have a panic attack. "We.will.find.him. Jeremy's assessment should help."

"If he'd hurry the fuck up-"

"Madam President?" A butler peeks his head in. "Jeremy Parker is requesting access to the residence."

"Let him in."

Time and time again, Jeremy Parker has proven himself as an agent. I truly don't know where we'd be as a nation if we'd just arrested and locked him in a maximum security prison for the rest of his life- or if he'd decided to join one of our enemies with his skill sets. Theoretically speaking, if Katie had enlisted him in 2021- there would be no America left. I wouldn't doubt that he's smart enough to knock out all of the world's internet reliant devices- with the completed surveillance/ search engine system he built using two billion taxpayer dollars. The system would be pretty useful right now.

We could use it to completely shut down the Russian government until they give Walter back- the only problem is that Jeremy's the only one who truly understands how to operate it and he'd never agree to something like that; neither would I. Without a government, the humanitarian systems so many people rely on collapse. The country would descend into complete chaos- and innocent citizens would die. We're not quite at the point where we'd consider them collateral damage yet.

"Want me to stay?" Darrel asks.

"No I'm.... It's fine." I shake my head. He plants a light kiss on my forehead just as the elevator dings. He shows himself to the balcony- then Jeremy and Alex are escorted in by Lynn and the butler.

"Tanya-"

"Two days, Jeremy. Two days."

"I know. I do still work for seven government agencies and require at least three hours of sleep every night."

"Yeah yeah- the report?" He and Alex exchange knowing glances. "Well?"

The last time I saw that look was a month ago- after they caught the second most powerful drug lord in the country we'd been looking for for over a month. In their silent conversation, they were debating who got to say it. Now, Alex nods.

"There are no cameras in the basement level- with the exception of one at the top of the main staircase going down. If they can avoid that and get him out some other way... he'll be free."

With my head spinning, I don't have a chance to process his words before Madelyn's letting herself in- followed by her own protection detail.

"Madam President- you're needed in command opps now."