THE 13: STAND BOOK TWO by ROBBIE CHEUVRONT AND ERIK REED WITH SHAWN ALLEN Read Free Book Online

waiting for them. Pemberton put the gearshift in Park and shut the engine off. Both he and Hayes got out and stood by the truck.
    “Well, don’t just stand there,” their host snapped. “I ain’t got all day.”
    Pemberton huffed. “Jake, as old as you are, you could be right.”
    Former secretary of the navy Jake Irving laughed a huge belly laugh. “Well, then, let’s go, before I keel over and die!” Pemberton followed him around the side of the house and into an old barn with Hayes in tow.
    Inside, a small table with three chairs sat in the middle of a dirt floor. Long leaves of tobacco hung from wooden beams all around. One of the new John Deere hybrid tractors sat off to one side. Several bales of hay sat along the other wall. Some antique shears and scythes hung on some rusty nails above the hay bales.
    “I suppose you’re going to tell me you still use those.” Pemberton pointed to the antiques.
    Irving dismissed the snide remark. “You want to talk about farming? Or did you come here for something important?” He motioned for his guests to sit.
    “Did Gavin tell you why we’re here?” Hayes asked.
    Irving looked at Pemberton. “Nope. Just said it was important.” He folded his arms across his chest. “But I got a pretty good idea, if it’s coming from you two.”
    “You ought to,” Pemberton shot back. “That idiot Walker is ruining what’s left of this country.”
    “Calm down, Gavin,” Hayes said. “I’m sure Jake has his own opinions about our
fair
president.”
    “That I do,” Irving admitted.
    The three men sat there in silence for more than a minute. Finally, Irving spoke. “So what do you want to do about it?”
    Hayes looked at Pemberton and gave him a look that said,
I’ll handle this
. Pemberton just nodded and leaned back in his chair.
    “Jake, Gavin and I have been…building some relationships.” Irving didn’t say anything, so he continued, “These relationships are of an interesting nature.”
    “How so?” Irving asked.
    Hayes shifted his position and opened his mouth to talk again.
    “Oh, for goodness’ sake, Milton!” Pemberton sat up in his chair. “Jake, this president is rolling over for the Chinese. He’s got the whole country convinced that this
Prophet
is real, and that the whole reason the Chinese came in the first place is because
God
tried to warn us and we didn’t listen. And he’s not about to try and take our country back. He’s just gonna let sleeping dogs lie. Now I don’t know about you, but me, Milton, and a lot of other people aren’t ready to just lie down.”
    Irving unfolded his arms. “So I ask you again. What do you want to do about it?”
    “We want to overthrow President Walker.” It was Hayes.
    Irving recrossed his arms and began tapping his chin with his index finger. “Let me get this straight. You two want to start a coup d’état in the middle of the most chaotic crisis in our nation’s history.”
    Both men nodded.
    “And you need me for…what?”
    “Jake…” Milton sat forward in his chair. “We have already set this thing in motion. Half the Senate and House—what’s left of them—are on our side. Even if they won’t admit it. The people of this country are divided. Half just want everything to be okay going forward. The other half is furious that we’re sitting by, not doing anything to take our country back.
    “Now, we could go through the process of trying to have him impeached. But you and I both know that’ll take too long—I’m talking congressional hearings and the like. As if anyone would even care to go through that right now. Our government can’t handle that. This needs to be done quickly and with force.”
    Irving set his jaw. “And you want me to get the Joint Chiefs on your side.”
    “We’ve already got Matthews, Smith, and Campbell,” Pemberton jumped in. “The problem is we need Sykes.”
    “And you think because I’m the former secretary of the navy, I can get my successor to