Part 6
Danny’s story and the President-elect’s statement had created the anticipated
whirlwind of press attention and public outcry. For the next several weeks the
Lyman family was stalked by press and public alike, but none of them gave
any additional statements except when Noah told some reporters to get off
their lawn before his agent accidentally shot one of them; a line he’d often
heard his Father threaten at the dinner table. Donna wasn’t sure if it was Noah’
s threat or the dead eyed glare of the agent standing behind him but the press
did get off their lawn.
By mid-December some of the furor had died down and the Lyman family had
become accustomed to their security as a matter of course. Tension in the
Lyman household had greatly been reduced as soon as Sam had named
William White, former Deputy Chief of Staff under Santos, as his Chief of Staff.
Josh continued to advise Sam on various matters and was a frequent visitor to
the White House, but as promised, Ainsley talked Donna off the ledge on that
issue and everyone seemed comfortable with the new order.
Two weeks prior to the inauguration, the President-elect, the Vice-President
elect, Bill White, most of the cabinet and senior advisor Joshua Lyman were
meeting about the legislative agenda. Josh was in a particularly good mood
since the day before when he’d been informed that two arrests had been
made regarding his case. Maybe this was all coming to an end. Josh watched
Bill White and was pleased to see that he was making sure Sam looked at
each angle of every topic they were considering. Agent Watson came in and
handed a note to Sam who then made eye contact with Josh and motioned to
the door.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please continue. I’m needed next door for minute.”
Sam excused himself and ushered Josh into his office in the OEOB.
“This about the arrests yesterday?” Josh asked them as they moved into the
office.
“Josh, everyone is fine; Donna and the kids are safe at home.” Josh thought
that wasn’t an auspicious way for Sam to start to this conversation. The door
opened again and Toby came in. Toby had been abducted from his office at
Columbia where he was now a tenured professor, to help write the inaugural
address.
“What’s going on, sir?” Josh looked between the 3 men in the office until Agent
Watson spoke.
“There was an explosion in the parking lot of your son’s elementary school.
There was some structural damage, but no one was hurt. Your family was
nowhere near the school when it occurred.” Josh felt Toby’s hand on his
shoulder as the Agent continued. “Our agents found the device earlier and
had cleared the area. They had just begun procedures to disarm the device
when it was set off. We believe there was someone nearby watching the
procedure and attempted to injure the agents on the scene.”
“I need to get home. Does Donna know about this?’ Josh asked as he got to
his feet.
“Donna’s been briefed and AJ was pulled from her middle school. They’re all at
home. Agent Watson will get you there to see them.” Sam assured him.
“I need to call Mom. If she hears this on the news…” Telling his Mom about the
death threats had been difficult enough. He’d promised to keep her informed
of everything that happened, no matter how frightening the circumstances.
“You can call her on your cell while you are on your way to the house. Come
on, I’ll ride over with you.” Toby told him.
“There is some good news in this, Mr. Lyman. There was a great deal of
physical evidence at the scene this morning that the agents were able to
preserve before the explosion; including …fingerprints of James Leroy. We’ve
got a drag net set up around the perimeter of the school. It’s only a matter of
time now.”
Josh just looked at him solemnly before leaving the room with Toby.
When the men arrived at Josh’s home, Toby stood back a minute and let
Donna and Josh have a private moment.
“Everybody’s okay?” he confirmed and Donna nodded.
“We simply told them there was a security problem and they needed to come
home. My God, Josh; an elementary school?” Donna shook her head. “I don’t
know when this is ever going to end.”
“Agent Watson said they were able to get some good evidence today. This IS
going to end Donna. Where are the children?”
“In the family room. We’re playing a game of Monopoly. They’ll be so glad to
see you. AJ has been especially worried about where you were.” Donna led
him by the hand toward the family room. Then she blinked and noticed Toby
standing just inside the door.
“Toby! You didn’t need to come all the way out here. You’re doing important
work right now.” She gave him a huge hug which, surprisingly, he returned.
“The speech can wait. Hell I can do it from here. I wanted to see all of you for
myself.”
“You’re a good friend, Toby. It means the world to Josh that you’re here; both
at the White House and in our lives here.” Toby self-consciously ran the back
of his hand down her cheek.
“He really won the lottery when you hired yourself for his office all those years
ago.” He winked.
“You should remind him of that at regular intervals. Come on in. Maybe Noah
will let you be the racecar.”
3 DAYS BEFORE THE INAUGURATION:
“You are not going, Donnatella. That’s final.”
“Since that tone never works on either of your children, why to you think it
would work on your wife?”
“There has been a dramatic increase in threats since this latest round of
arrests. My family will not be in the spotlight at all. If you want me to stay home
too, I will.”
“What happened to not letting these people dictate where we go and what we
do?”
“There’s a difference between letting them dictate our lives and staying home
from a party.”
“It’s not simply a party; there’s the speech and swearing in beforehand. Are
you telling me you don’t want to be there when your best friend takes the oath
of office?”
“Is this about the dress? Because you can wear it somewhere else you know.”
That earned him a pillow thrown at his head.
“Dad…I think we should go.” AJ entered the conversation. “Toby’s always
telling us we can’t be afraid of these bastards.”
“AJ!” Josh responds in shock.
“That’s what he calls them.” AJ defended herself.
“And when he adopts you, you can use that language too.” Donna added
dryly.
“Grandma Ruth says we have to show them we’re not afraid. This is the
biggest day; Sam is going to be President. We need to be there too.”
“I’d love to be there AJ, but an open air ceremony with thousands of people in
the crowd just gives them too many opportunities to hurt somebody. I don’t
know how I could live with myself if some innocent bystander got hurt because
they were standing near me.”
“We have no control over what someone else does, Joshua. We can, however,
stand together as a family with Sam and his family on January 20th though.”
Donna stated.
“Please, Dad?” AJ did the combination eye batting/mouth pouting routine that
she learned at her Mother’s knee.
“I’ll talk to the Secret Service, but if they think it’s too dangerous, we dress up
in our finery and watch it on TV. Deal?”
“Deal.” AJ promises, then runs from the room. “Noah? Dad says we can go!”
“I did NOT say that, AJ.” But it was too late, AJ was already long gone.
“You are such a sucker for her.” Donna teases as she lies down next to him on
the couch.
“That’s only because she’s the mirror image of her mother.” Josh replies as he
kisses Donna’s head.
“My dress is amazing, though.”
“It always is.”