I Do Solemnly Swear by D.M. Annechino Read Free Book Online

conferences, so she asked McDermott to meet her in her private office at seven a.m. She’d spent most of the night, between brief periods of disquieted sleep, studying background information on Cabinet secretaries and other staff members. She painstakingly examined their performance records and scrutinized their level of experience. In spite of her promise to McDermott not to “clean house,” Kate still had to objectively evaluate her staff. As commander in chief, she was faced with the indelicate task of restructuring—if necessary. She found this impending onus to be particularly disconcerting.
    Quite to her dismay, she had not been significantly involved with Cabinet members’ appointments. David Rodgers had coddled this process with uncharacteristic selfishness. He had entertained Kate’s recommendations with a ceremonial kindness, which in itself was a minor triumph, but Rodgers only selected Secretary of State Toni Mitchell directly based on Kate’s suggestion. This quiet insinuation that Kate’s selections did not warrant President Rodgers’s utmost consideration had been the beginning of an enlightening realization. It was an event that fosteredhard feelings and tense dialogue between devoted running mates and longtime friends.
    Kate’s thoughts were interrupted when she could smell McDermott’s much-too-sweet cologne the moment he entered the room.
    “Good morning, Madam President.” McDermott strode across the room and fell ponderously into a chair opposite her.
    “Coffee or juice, Charles?”
    He shook his head. “No, thank you.”
    “Are all Cabinet members on board for the ten o’clock meeting?” she asked.
    “Absolutely.”
    “Great. Let’s go over the agenda, Charles.”
    McDermott’s eyes took on a haunted look. “Madam President, I have a more pressing matter to discuss.”
    “What could be more important than my first Cabinet meeting?”
    “President Rodgers did not die from natural causes.”
    Kate’s back straightened, and she sat forward in the leather chair, her mind racing with wild thoughts. For an insane moment, she wanted to run out of the office, terrified to hear McDermott’s announcement. She sucked in a heavy breath and looked over her reading glasses. “I’m listening.”
    “Leonard LaPlant called. The lab report verified a trace amount of an unknown toxin in President Rodgers’s blood.”
    She gaped in stunned silence. Perhaps Elizabeth had not been delirious? “What exactly is an ‘unknown toxin’?”
    “Seems to be a mystery, Madam President. The lab has to run additional tests.”
    “And they’re working on it?”
    “As we speak.”
    “I want answers, Charles.” She pinched her chin between index finger and thumb. “What else can you tell me?”
    He pushed the hair away from his forehead. “The toxin is some type of venom produced by a living organism.”
    An invisible spider crawled up her back, and she quivered. “You mean like...
snake
venom?”
    “That’s unlikely. It was much more potent.”
    “What in God’s creation is more poisonous than snake venom?”
    “Don’t know.”
    Kate was dumbstruck for a moment. “Was David on any medication?”
    “He took daily medication for his blood pressure. But as far as I know, he was as healthy as an ox.”
    She thought about how fastidiously the Secret Service monitored everything she consumed. “I want the names of the agents on call that night.”
    “I’ll talk to Cranston.”
    She folded her hands on her lap and sat back, her mind searching for rational thoughts. As the word slipped off her tongue, her arms blossomed with goose bumps. “Suicide?”
    He vigorously shook his head. “Not a chance.”
    She wanted to ask how he could possibly know this but instead stored his answer in her memory. “Who else knows about this?”
    “No one.”
    “This information is to remain classified until we meet with Cabinet members.” She twisted her pearl necklace. “Tell Bill Riley to clear his