Eighteen Acres: A Novel (19 page)

Lucky
wasn’t the word that came to Dale’s mind.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” Dale said, closing her eyes again. She could feel someone enter the room.

“Madam President, she’s been up for about five minutes,” the doctor said.

Dale’s eyes flew open.

“Hi, Dale,” Charlotte said.

“Hi,” Dale said, struggling to try to sit up.

“No, don’t move, please, Dale,” Charlotte said. “I’m sorry. I should let you rest.”

“It’s all right,” Dale said, forcing a smile.

“Do you remember what happened?” Charlotte asked.

Dale shook her head.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Her memory is likely to be foggy from the anesthesia,” the doctor said.

“You interviewed me. Do you remember that?” Charlotte said.

Dale nodded.

“We went long,” Charlotte said, smiling at Dale.

Dale nodded again.

“And then we were heading back to the helicopters, and there was sniper fire. Do you remember that?” Charlotte asked.

Dale racked her brain, but she couldn’t remember anything after the interview.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure it will all come back,” Charlotte said.

Dale tried to smile.

“We were heading back, and the base came under attack,” Charlotte said.

Dale stared at her.

“We were boarding when the sniper fire got closer, and Roger and the agents realized at some point that we were under attack,” Charlotte continued.

Dale’s eyes widened.

“And I was about to board the Black Hawk that we were using as Marine One. I did board, but Roger decided to switch me to another helicopter at the last minute. So, they, the agents, pulled you off your helicopter and sent you to Marine One.”

Dale just stared back at her.

“While you were boarding Marine One, we took off on the press helicopter. And once we were in the air and on our way, we saw that insurgents had fired at Marine One. It went down, and you were hurt and brought here.”

Dale stared, unblinking, at Charlotte.

“Do you understand? Roger put you on Marine One so I could escape,” Charlotte said.

Dale squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again.

“Dale, your mom and dad are on their way to Andrews. They’re going to meet you at the hospital in Germany,” Charlotte said.

Dale tried to nod.

“And Peter is going to meet you there as well,” Charlotte said.

Dale’s eyes widened.

“It’s OK,” Charlotte said.

Dale’s breathing quickened, and her eyes moved around the room.

“Please, do not worry about anything except getting better,” Charlotte said, touching Dale’s arm lightly.

In that instant, Dale realized that it had been Charlotte’s voice she’d heard and her cool hands that had touched her face.

It had been Charlotte sitting by her bed while she slept.

Her head was spinning. She was suddenly exhausted again, and the pain was too much. The last thing she heard before she fell asleep was Charlotte asking the doctor to give Dale something for the pain.

Charlotte

The morphine made its way into Dale’s system quickly. Charlotte sat watching her sleep as the monitors beeped and flashed with comforting regularity.

“She’s gonna be just fine, Madam President,” the nurse said, turning to Charlotte.

“I hope so,” Charlotte said.

She leaned back in the chair where she’d spent most of the last twenty-four hours. She contemplated calling Peter again to tell him Dale had woken up, but he’d been so icy before. She’d told him again that it was her fault Dale had been hit. She’d insisted that he catch the flight to Germany and told him she was sorry she hadn’t let him out of their marriage sooner.

He’d remained silent. She knew him well enough to know that his silence was a protective measure. He was angry at Charlotte for ignoring him for nearly a decade, but he was also scared that Dale might die.

Charlotte pressed her temples and took a deep breath. She only had a few minutes until she’d have to give the statement to the press. She dialed Sam back at the White House and asked to be put through to her parents.

“Hi, it’s me,” she said.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?” her mother asked.

“I’m about to do a statement, but I need to ask you and Daddy to do me a favor.”

“Of course, honey, what is it?” her mother asked.

“I need you to head up to Connecticut and stay close to the kids for a little while. I don’t know when Peter is going to be able to get back up there,” Charlotte said. She didn’t feel like explaining the whole thing, and her mother didn’t ask any questions.

“We’re on our way, honey. Don’t worry about anything.”

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll call when I can and fill you in. I’m going to call the kids next and tell them you’re coming up for a visit.”

“Stay safe, honey.”

“I will. Tell Daddy I’ll talk to him when I call you back in a couple of hours.”

Charlotte hung up and asked the Situation Room to call the kids on their cell phones. She hated that she couldn’t speak to them in person, but her parents would be there soon.

“Hi, sweetie,” she said when Penelope picked up.

“Hi, Mom. Aren’t you about to give a speech?” Penelope said.

“I have a few minutes, and I wanted to talk to you first. Are you with Harry?” Charlotte asked.

“Yes, he’s right here.”

“Do you want to put the phone on speaker?” Charlotte asked.

“Yep. Hang on.”

“Hi, Mom,” Harry said.

“Hi, sweetheart. Listen, guys, I wish I could talk to you in person, and I promise that when I get home, we’re going to go to Camp David and talk about all of this stuff, but I need to talk about our family a little bit when I give this statement tonight.”

The kids didn’t say anything.

“Do you know where Dad went?” Charlotte asked.

“We know, Mom. He went to see his friend who was hurt in the helicopter crash,” Penelope said.

“Yes. That’s right. His friend Dale is very important to him, and he’s going to spend time with her while she gets better, and that’s OK with me, and I want it to be OK with you guys, too.”

“It’s OK,” Harry said.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Penelope added.

“Thanks, guys. Gammy and Gramps will be there tonight, and they’d going to take you to dinner, and I’ll be back in Washington tomorrow. I’m going to call you from the plane on my way home. I love you guys,” she said.

“Love you, too,” they said in unison.

Melanie had entered the room while she was talking to the twins.

“How’s she doing?” Melanie asked, looking at the monitors surrounding Dale.

“They just gave her morphine, so she’s out for a little bit.”

“A shot of morphine sounds pretty good right about now,” Melanie joked.

Charlotte smiled wearily. “She woke up, which is a good sign,” Charlotte said. “After surgery like that, they don’t know exactly how the body is going to rebound from all the blood loss and trauma.”

“I’m glad she’s safe,” Melanie said.

“She’s not out of the woods yet,” Charlotte warned.

“I brought you a copy of the statement. If you want to make changes, we need them in the next ten minutes so we can load them into the teleprompter,” Melanie said.

Charlotte read the statement through twice. “It’s perfect. No one else could have written this.”

“Thank you. Listen, it’s time for you to get ready,” Melanie said.

“I know. Let me read it through one more time.”

“I thought it was perfect,” Melanie teased.

“Not for edits, just for practice. I’ll be out in five minutes. I’ll meet you back in the hold room.”

“And you’ll be out of this scary outfit, and your hair will be combed?” Melanie prodded.

“Yes, and I’ll even put on makeup.”

When Melanie had left the room, Charlotte turned her chair to face Dale and read the statement all the way through. When she finished, she looked up.

“Dale, you probably just slept through the first scoop I’ve ever given you,” Charlotte said softly.

Dale didn’t stir.

Back in her quarters, Charlotte showered and changed. She was nibbling on a chocolate-chip cookie when Melanie burst into the room.

“We have a situation,” Melanie said.

“What?”

“I think you need to let Roger resign in person. He’s not onboard with the plan yet, and if you refuse to see him, I think he’s going to be very combative about the whole thing. His career and reputation are on the line.”

“There’s nothing to say,” Charlotte retorted.

“I know, but I think you need to listen to him and let him make his case. He’s been your closest advisor for three years, Charlotte, and one of your closest friends. You owe him ten minutes,” Melanie pleaded.

“Fine. Send him in,” Charlotte said.

Roger walked in and came toward her. He looked as if he’d been up all night, too.

“Can we talk alone?” he asked.

Melanie started to go.

“Melanie, please stay,” Charlotte said.

Roger took another step toward Charlotte. “Charlotte, don’t do this—don’t prove everyone right,” he said.

Charlotte glared at him. “Roger, I need to get out there. I don’t have time for this.”

“I have to say one thing to you, Charlotte, before you walk out there and ruin both our careers. It matters over here. Things like this matter. If the enemy sees that he can take down the closest person to you in the entire U.S. government with stunts like this, what do you think he’ll do next time? Take a hostage from a presidential entourage? Or, worse, torture a hostage from your travel party for the world to see on the Internet? What about all our conversations about not giving the enemies what they want most? This flies in the face of all of that.”

Charlotte didn’t say anything.

“Why do you think I did what I did? Do you think I was trying to hurt that girl? I was not. I was trying to save you. Do you have any idea what kind of world Harry and Penelope would grow up in if the
American president—not to mention their mother—had died here yesterday?”

Charlotte looked away.

“And I have to say, finally, that it is clear that I’m being punished because of our special relationship. Since the day I met you, you have come first, Charlotte. You come before Stephanie, before the kids, before everything and anyone else. And you had all of me. I gave you one hundred and fifty percent, seven days a week, twenty-five hours a day. But that wasn’t enough. It is never enough with you.”

She turned and looked at him.

“Sooner or later, everyone disappoints you,” Roger said.

She had thought she might find it difficult to reject an apology if he had blamed his actions on the fog of war, but he hadn’t shown any remorse about leaving Marine One on the ground as a target. Charlotte felt an ache deep in her gut. She missed him already.

“There has to be a line, Roger, a line that separates us from them. What you did made you more like them than us, in my book. That’s why this is happening. Not because you tried to protect me, not because you didn’t give me enough of yourself, and not because of our special relationship.”

“You’re going to regret this, Charlotte,” Roger said.

“I already do, but this isn’t about me. I took an oath, and I’m duty-bound to protect this country and everyone in it. I’m pretty sure sacrificing one of their lives for mine is a violation of everything that oath is supposed to mean, Roger.” She turned to leave.

“I took an oath, too, Charlotte,” Roger said. “It was to serve and protect the commander in chief.”

“You took an oath to protect this country, Roger, not to throw half a dozen lives into the air to be shot down like clay pigeons,” Charlotte said, her voice rising.

“I’m sorry you see it that way, Charlotte,” Roger said.

“Unfortunately, for all of us, it isn’t my perspective—it’s a fact. And not everyone disappoints me, Roger,” she said, walking toward where Melanie was standing on the other side of the room.

Melanie

The teleprompters are on the sides, at about two o’clock and ten o’clock,” Melanie said as they walked toward the press briefing room.

“I’ve got it,” Charlotte said.

“Once I give them the final heads-up, everyone will take the shot live, so just walk out and find the prompters, and gather yourself and go as soon as you’re ready,” Melanie said.

“Melanie, this is hardly my first live address. Stop worrying. I’ve got it from here.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Melanie said.

“Relax. Everything is going to sort itself out,” Charlotte promised.

“I know,” Melanie said, trying to sound convinced.

Charlotte disappeared behind the blue drape and walked toward the podium. Melanie made her way down the side of the room and stood with the small gaggle of senior military and White House aides. She watched Charlotte place her remarks on the podium and look up to find the teleprompter screens. Charlotte cleared her throat and looked directly into the sea of cameras and reporters assembled for her remarks.

Melanie plastered a confident smile on her face in case the press
was filming her. They loved to use shots of worried aides to add color to their reports.

“Good evening,” Charlotte said. “To the press joining me here tonight in Afghanistan, thanks for staying up so late. And to those of you joining me from the States, welcome.

“I want to use this opportunity to inform you about the events of the last twenty-four hours. As many of you know, we were visiting a base outside Kabul yesterday. After our visit, your colleague, Dale Smith, conducted an interview with me. As soon as that interview was complete, we started to board our helicopters. After I boarded Marine One, U.S. government officials made a decision to transfer me to another helicopter, based on an assessment about the threats we faced from an imminent attack on the base. I was put inside the helicopter that had been transporting the traveling press pool. The press was then put in Marine One. My helicopter took off, and thanks to the brave and skilled work of our pilot, we made it back to the base safely. Marine One took off moments later. Just as it was lifting off the ground, the helicopter was hit by a shoulder-launched grenade that we believe was fired by local Taliban members. The U.S. military will do a briefing after I’m done here on their response to the attack, but let me say that it was swift and decisive.