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Tristan said, “What do you want to do, Madam President?”
Angela put her hands on her hips and straightened her back. She stood in a Wonder Woman pose for almost a minute, thinking about what to do next. Blake would know what to do without thinking about it if he were here. But he wasn’t here, and he wasn’t the one in charge.
She walked to the front of her desk. “Before I do anything, I want to make sure Benji is safe.” She pointed a finger at Tristan. “Do you have agents who can pass as humans with no doubts?”
He nodded.
“Good. I’m sending Benji to stay with my parents for a while,
Angela pointed to Mariah. “I want you to continue your normal routine, but I want the best guards we have with you-” she pointed to Robert, “- and you, at all times. Please stay here in the White House for a little bit.”
She held up a hand as if stopping herself from speaking. “No, cancel that. Benji is going to stay with my parents. That’s why I need the most human-passing supernaturals you can find. Send them with Benji.” She waved a hand between her and Mariah. “We’re going to Camp David.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Mariah asked.
“No, but I’m not sure staying here is wise. I need to get away from the crazy place and think. Anyone we need to talk to will come to us. Maybe this craziness over that stupid picture will have blown over when we come back.”
“I have one meeting tomorrow that I can reschedule,” Mariah said. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay here?”
Angela made a circular motion with her finger. “Like I said, y’all are the only people I trust. I think we’ll be safer and work better if we’re all together.”
Tristan said, “I’ll get on the security right away.” He walked out of the room.
Angela pointed to Marcus. “I know this isn’t one of your duties, but I need you to make sure all of Alistair’s passwords were deleted. Is there a way to see if he took anything he shouldn’t have?”
Marcus gave her a quizzical look.
“He resigned,” she said matter-of-factly
“Oh,” Marcus said. “Yes, I will see to that personally.”
Angela pointed to Mariah and Robert. “Let’s plan on being there tonight for a late dinner. Does that give you time to get your stuff together?”
Mariah and Robert stood next to each other. He took her hand. Mariah nodded. “Yes, Madam President, we will be ready.”
They started to leave the room, but Mariah stopped, walked back to Angela, and hugged her. Then, she and Robert left the room.
Angela sat behind her desk. “Penny, we need to talk.”
Penny stepped over to her. The poor girl’s face had lost all its color. She had better toughen up because Angela needed her.
Angela opened a file on her desk. For a heartbeat, she imagined herself drowning in manila folders. She ran her finger across the top page. “I found out that you participated in the White House Fellows Program.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“What was your intent in participating in that program?”
Penny tilted her head to the side and drew her eyebrows together. “I wanted to learn as much as possible about how politics work behind the scenes.”
Angela closed the folder and leaned back in her chair. “Why didn’t I know about this earlier?”
“I’m not sure, Ma’am. It’s on my resumé. I assumed you saw it before hiring me.”
Angela clicked her tongue. “You’d like to think I did. I don’t have the energy or the time to spare your feelings. I hired you as a favor to my daddy.”
“Excuse me?”
“My daddy and your daddy play golf together. My daddy owed your daddy a favor for something. I’m not sure what. He asked me to hire you to settle that favor.”
