Part 4
FLASHBACK TO 2 WEEKS PRIOR TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL
CONVENTION:
“Mr. Lyman, may I have a word with you privately, please?” Special Agent
Jim Watson requested.
“I need the room please, people.” Josh told the assembled team. “Have a
seat. How are we set for the convention?” he asked as the room cleared
out.
“I’ve briefed Senator Matthews and her family. They’re getting acquainted
with their detail.” Josh smiled at the thought of Secret Service trying to keep
up with the Matthews children, ages 6 and 8. They were adorable, but their
energy was boundless.
“Who drew the lucky straw on that one?” Josh shared a look of
commiseration with the Special Agent.
“I really couldn’t say, sir.” Watson refrained from any form of complaint.
“The convention center will be locked down 1 week out and we’ve prepared
for the arrival of President’s Santos and Bartlet.” Josh hoped like hell,
President Bartlet would be able to attend, but his health had been pretty
shaky lately and he wasn’t able to make a firm commitment. Still, it would
mean the world to Sam if he came, even if he was unable to speak to the
convention.
“Great. If that’s all then…” Josh started to get up.
“It’s not.” Agent Watson told him as he held onto Josh’s arm to prevent him
from leaving. “Another situation has developed.” He was unusually grave,
even for Secret Service.
“What?” Josh asked, dread filling his stomach. If anything happened to
Sam after Josh practically dragged him into this race.
“We have established a credible threat that needs immediate attention. It
involves the West Virginia White Pride.” Agent Watson let that sink in for a
moment and saw Joshua Lyman pale at the statement. “There are always
rumblings from that quarter, but recent events lead us to believe they will
be responsible for a violent attack within the next two weeks.”
“We’re going to need additional security then. Sam’s children are out of the
building right now. Should they be out of the building?” Josh asked
panicked.
“The threat isn’t against Governor Seaborn or his family. It’s been made
against you and yours.” Josh stood up and walked over to the phone,
intent on calling Donna immediately. Agent Watson put his hand over the
phone. “Your wife and children are with the Seaborn family and completely
secure right now. It’s not my call, sir, but you may want to wait and get the
full briefing before you alarm your wife.”
Josh nodded and sat down again.
“Carl Leroy was killed in prison 8 years ago.” Watson stated and handed
Josh a pile of papers that Josh assumed was the information gathered so
far. Josh nodded.
“Believe me Agent, I am well aware of when Carl Leroy was killed in prison.”
“I’m sure you are sir. His youngest sibling, James Leroy, has become
something of a cult hero within WVWP over the last decade. His rise to
leadership in the organization coupled with your increased prominence
over the last few months have brought you to the top of their hit list. The
talk is that they should finish what Carl Leroy and his merry band started all
those years ago.”
“We are working with the FBI who have two agents that have infiltrated their
organization. They attended a meeting last night where specific plans were
mentioned but not elaborated upon. They are attempting to gather more
specifics, but due to the nature of their long term undercover operation,
they can’t make arrests and blow their cover at present.”
“So what DO we know?” Josh felt his breath quicken and his heart speed
up just talking about this.
“We know you are a target and that your family is a target. Presently, we
believe that the threats are in that order, but we can’t rule out an attack
against your family if the circumstances change.”
“We need to leave, then. Right now. Staying here only endangers Sam and
his family; not to mention anyone else who happens to be standing next to
me.”
“Actually sir, this might be the safest place for you and your family to be.
Traveling with the Democratic nominee means that everywhere you go and
everything you do is blanketed with security. We can bump up security
around you without seeming to bump it up at all. We don’t feel the Seaborn
family is at any increased risk with your presence.”
‘Let me think a minute.” Josh rose and walked to the windows, then thought
better of his location and moved away. “I want my family away from here.
Can you make some recommendations for private security for them?”
“Certainly. Will they be going back to D.C. or someplace else?” Watson
inquired.
“D.C. I guess. I can’t really send them to Donna’s family in Wisconsin if the
WVWP might follow them there.” Josh mused out loud.
“I took the liberty of doing a preliminary review of your property there. It was
secured before when you served as COS to President Santos, so re-
establishing security there wouldn’t be terribly difficult. Any security team
would want a few days head start before you got there, though.” Watson
paused. “The other consideration is that we don’t want to tip them off about
the information we already have. If you suddenly send your family home,
blanketed in security, it might cause them to up the ante or wait you out
until security relaxes again.”
“So what do I do? How do I keep my family safe?!” Josh started to lose his
cool.
“I would advise you to stay through the convention and give whomever you
bring in for security time to establish a perimeter around your home in D.C.
In the meantime, we up the detail here and hope there is a break in the
case through the FBI. They are our best bet to an endgame here.”
“Endgame!” Josh laughed harshly. “There is no endgame. You take all
these guys out today, they will just be replaced with another crop by
tomorrow.”
“True enough, but that doesn’t mean we have to change how we go about
our lives.”
“Our lives? You mean my life; my family’s life.”
“Yes, sir. That’s what I mean. If you can arrange a time for me to sit down
with you and the Governor I can go over our strategies with both of you at
once.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Josh told him.
“Generally, we work through the campaign manager, but usually
candidates like to be kept apprised of changes in the detail and security
strategies.”
“I’ll keep the Governor apprised of anything he needs to know. Otherwise
this will become too much of a distraction. He needs to keep his head in the
game.”
“Okay, Mr. Lyman. Please review the materials I brought you and let me
know if you have any additional questions or concerns. In the meantime, I’ll
put together a list of top security firms in the D.C. area. It will be easier to
keep things low key if you’re working with a local firm.”
“You can get that to me soon?” Josh asked.
“Within the hour, sir.” Watson replied. “I know this is alarming Mr. Lyman,
but please keep in mind that the Secret Service will assist in any way we
can to keep you and your family safe.”
“Thanks.” Josh looked down at his hands as they picked up the papers
Agent Watson had delivered and noted that they were shaking.
When Josh didn’t meet her for lunch as they’d planned, she was annoyed
but not alarmed. When she tried to reach him by cell and only got voicemail
her annoyance increased. ‘The man has caller ID on his phone.’ she
thought, ‘surely he could at least call me back.’ She checked the
conference rooms, then the pool area, and finally decided to check the
restaurant. She had to walk through the bar area to get to the restaurant
and almost walked right by him. He was hunched over at a table staring into
what looked like a glass of Whiskey. It didn’t appear to be his first either.
His eyes were glazed and he looked disoriented.
“Joshua? What are you doing?” Donna couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Donna. My beautiful Donnatella. Come have a drink with me.” He motioned
for her to sit down next to him and called to the bartender for another glass.
“Josh it’s 2 in the afternoon. We have prep for the convention the rest of
the day.”
“Well, I’ll tell you..” he slurred, “I sincerely doubt we’ll be here for the
convention, so I thought I’d drink a little.” He took her hand and kissed it. “I
love you so much.”
“Josh you’re scaring me, now. What’s going on?” Donna took his chin in
her hand and forced him to meet her eyes.
“No, no, no. Let’s have a drink first.” Josh implored.
“You’ve had too much already. Come upstairs with me. AJ and Noah are
with Natalie and the Seaborn kids.”
Josh laughed a little. “Oh, I know.” Donna gave him another strange look.
“Come upstairs with me now, Joshua.” Donna tried to get him to stand up.
“It’s the middle of the day, Donna. What will people say?” He joked, but
Donna was focused on moving him out of the bar where anyone could see
him; so focused in fact, that she didn’t notice the agents fall in behind them
as she hurriedly took him to their suite.
She listened to him ramble as she led him upstairs and into their suite. She
didn’t want anyone to see Sam Seaborn’s campaign manager sloshed at 2
in the afternoon; for everyone’s sake. Once they were inside, Josh took
Donna by the hand and led her into their bedroom. She protested at first
until she actually entered their room and saw the mess inside. There were
papers everywhere; on the bed, on the floor, even a couple taped to the
wall. What the hell?
“Josh?” she whispered. “Please tell me what’s happening.”
“It’s bad, Donnatella, very bad.” His words were still slurred, but he seemed
to have sobered up instantly. “Agent Watkins came to see me this
morning…They’ve established a credible threat…” Donna started to hear
buzzing in her ears. She leaned closer to the nearest pile of papers and
began skimming. Donna Moss Lyman had made a career out of skimming
important documents and gleaning the important facts from them in a
fraction of the time it took most people and now she took advantage of that
skill.
FBI agents infiltrating West Virginia White Pride headquarters…James
Leroy, youngest brother of Carl Leroy convicted of…killed while serving his
sentence in Federal prison…targeting former White House Chief of Staff
Joshua Lyman…wife Donnatella Moss Lyman and children Abigail Lyman,
age 12, and Noah Lyman, age 9, are also considered valuable
targets…verified sources document plans of violent attack against primary
and secondary targets…Recommend immediate secondary security
enforcement for all possible targets.
Donna starts to feel nauseous and dizzy all at once. Then a horrible
thought occurs to her and she reaches for the phone. Josh stops her with
one sentence.
“They’re fine. They’re with the Seaborns for the day and under Secret
Service protection until I can arrange for private security to take over.
Technically, Secret Service isn’t supposed to be detailing us, but since they
are with the Seaborns…Who do you think sounds better… ‘Task Force
Consulting’ or ‘Delta Group Security’?” he asks as he lies back down on the
bed. “I know all kinds of things, Donna, I am a very well educated man; but I
don’t know how to begin to hire a private security firm to protect my family
from ignorant bigots with weapons.”
“God, Josh. What- what do we do?” Tears leaked from Donna’s eyes.
“I’m being advised to conduct business as usual until security precautions
can be arranged at home, but I’m having a little trouble with business as
usual. Once it’s set up, you and the kids go back to D.C. for whatever
trumped up reason we can come up with and I get Sam elected to the
White House.”
“Josh..”
“Well, I and a few other people get Sam elected to the White House.”
“What does Sam have to say about this brilliant plan?”
“Sam is a little busy running for high office right now, Donna. He doesn’t
need any of this. There isn’t anything he can do that I’m not doing already.”
“Is that the excuse you use to justify not telling him, cause I’ve got to tell
you Josh that’s bullshit.” Josh opened his eyes but didn’t move from where
he was still lying on the bed; mostly because he didn’t think he could. “And
the children and I going home without you? That’s bullshit too. We go as a
family or stay as a family.”
“No, we don’t. You are all far safer keeping your distance from me at this
point.”
“And that will be some sort of consolation to me when you’re in the
hospital? Or the
morgue? ‘Well, at least the kids and I are safe.’ I know you’ve been
drinking, but you’re not that drunk. How could you think, for one single
moment, that I would take the kids and go?”
“Because I’m telling you to go, damnit!” Josh sat up too quickly and felt his
stomach roll. “I can’t do what I need to do here if I’m constantly worried
about you and the kids.”
“Then you come home too.” Josh started to protest. “I mean it; you come
too or no one goes anywhere. And don’t tell me this campaign can’t run
without you; you’re good, I will even go so far as to say you’re the best, but
Sam is the best too, and he can get this done without you…without us.”
Donna took his hand and pleaded with him.
“Maybe, but I’m not going to go home with my tail between my legs and run
scared from these assholes, Donna. I refuse.” Josh met her gaze. “I can’t
do much in this situation, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to go home and do
NOTHING.”
“Josh, please, it may seem like doing nothing, but keeping yourself safe is
NOT doing nothing. It’s everything! It’s everything to me, to AJ, to Noah,
and to Sam. Please don’t do this.”
“I told Jim Watson to pick a firm and have them start doing…whatever it is
that they do immediately. Everyone stays put until after the convention and
then the three of you go home. That’s it.” Josh got up and left the suite.
Donna cried silently as she picked up the papers from around the room
and embarked upon the arduous task of reading through them.