Madam President ✓

92. Training

Tanya

   The discreet secret service car Lynn took is so overcrowded I'm basically sitting in Melissa's lap. For a second, the true gravity of the situation hits me. I know how many ways this could go wrong( thirty two if my count's correct)- all I can do is hope the one good ending decides to be used.

Lynn passes over a pothole and my elbow almost touches Melissa's areola. "Sorry."

She shrugs, looking to her right. "Are you sure we can trust him? I mean..... you haven't even....told us why or... how exactly you met."

"Melissa-"

"No, if I'm gonna be trusting this guy with my life I want to know-"

"Drop it." I say, a warning on my face. Carlos isn't a fucking idiot. He wouldn't bother to suggest someone unless he really, really trusted them.

"No it's fine I..." he clear his throat. "We met in boot camp and.... well we've kinda drifted apart these past two years because of our insane work schedules but.... IOU's never expire. I was just too nice to use it before."

"And I thank you for doing that-" I reach over for his hand. "When this is over I'll owe you."

"I'll gladly take you up on that." He sighs. I reach for my water bottle and let it run down my throat. "Can you do something about the rumors that I slept with your defense director's sister?"

I spray Lynn's hair and the back of the drivers seat. For nearly thirty seconds, I cough. My face goes red and my eyes water from that mouthful going down the wrong pipe.

"You...didn't.... actually do that..... did you?" I cough one more time, still trying to recover. He stays silent. "Carlos Jesus Christ-"

"It was a.... while ago but one of her neighbors may or may not have seen me leaving the apartment."

"Were there any security cameras?" Alex asks from the front passenger seat.

"I don't think so?"

"Then we can take care of it after this is over." I say. "Now- if it's not somehow related to Walter I don't want to hear your drama."

We pull up to the edge of my property, slowly passing by the wall. Five minutes later we're at the gate.

I hand Lynn my keycard. The reader beeps green. A red Cadillac pulls in behind us.

"That's him." Carlos confirms. "That's his car, I mean."

I become anxious to meet this guy- shake his hand and use a bit more presidential charm to keep his help and not piss him off somehow. Lynn parks right outside my front door, and like always- is the first out. Out of pure instinct, she opens my door.

"You know you don't have to do that anymore, right?"

"I know." She shrugs. "But ya' can't just throw away ten years of something being drilled in your head because you've decided to break... so... so many laws. It's gonna be a long time before I stop seeing you as my boss."

She's right of course. There's no telling or counting how many laws and secret service protocols she's breaking by helping with this. Carlos's friend is in danger too- basically stealing from the pentagon, but at the end of the day I'm not worried about either. I'll simply make a few phone calls and sort this out once it's over. I'm quite intimidating when I need to be.

"Madam President-" Carlos's friend says, closing his driver side door. "It is an honor to meet you. I just wish it were under.... different circumstances."

"As do I but-" I shake my head. "Tanya's fine."

"Leo." He smiles. I finally get a good look at him. He stands only a few inches shorter than Carlos and has the most piercing blue eyes and bone structure. I am in a relationship. I am in a relationship. I am in a relationship. "I brought six. Got some odd looks but nothing more. They really don't check stock as often as they should down there."

  "Perfect-" Carlos says. "Let's see em."

  We walk around to his trunk. He presses his thumb against the O on his license plate and it pops open. Inside, it's packed to the brim with hard case boxes.

  "For security reasons we're not supposed to call them this- but these are short-mission military sniper kits." He gestures for us to each take one and goes last himself.

  I look around like we're in a front yard with no walls on a busy road. I loop my finger through the clasp keeping everything together and pull upwards, popping the top off.

  Four MRE's stare me in the face first. Below it- basic survival items and a miniature hygeine kit for the off chance a sniper gets stranded. On top of a camouflage pattern backpack, a disassembled M24 sits. Beside it- forty rounds of ammo. A thin Kevlar vest is buried under everything.

  "Won't be needing that-" he plucks the backpack straight out. "Anything that screams U.S military or U.S citizen can be thrown away. If we're gonna do this we're gonna do it right. You're extremely wealthy- I assume you own plenty of imported clothing items?"

  I nod.

  "Good. The average Russian citizen, even in Moscow- and even a kremlin security detail, won't recognize us instantly if we blend in. Find whatever bags you can in the house- preferably designer brands that could pass as fake versions of themselves."

  All afternoon, he has us do shooting exercises like making us close our eyes, moving the target to a random place- and giving us three seconds to hit the center after opening them. Yesterday, I would have been beyond annoyed. Today- I'll do anything to get him back.

  As expected, in order- the first to be allowed to quit are Lynn, Alex, Carlos, me, then Melissa. Leo practices a few rounds, but it becomes clear he doesn't need it so we move on. For the first time- he removes a much smaller gun from his belt.

  I read up on it a while back- the cartridge can hold about a hundred assassinations worth of the tiny needles, depending on the person's anatomy and where you hit them. Alex surviving being hit with one was a miracle. Her being able to walk as soon as she woke up was unheard of- so much so that the CIA and military asked to study her neck's anatomy.

  "This thing-" he starts. "is an absolute last resort. I understand how convenient it may be but if the Russians figure out we stole their technology-"

  "They'd know we still have operatives in their defense department." I sigh. "And there would be hell to pay."

  "Well there's that and...." He clears his throat. "We wouldn't want to.... be aiming for someone else and accidentally hit Walter."