The Sentinel by Gerald Petievich Read Free Book Online Page B

sat alone at a gleaming mahogany table, sipping coffee and reading from a stack of newspapers and cables that were stacked neatly on a hand-carved maple teacart.
    He glanced at a Washington Times headline. "President Agrees to Russian Summit Meeting." He wasn't looking forward to wrangling with the Russians at Camp David, but he had an ace up his sleeve: an aid package that had been put together by his allies in Congress. Summit meetings were always about money, and the successful ones always involved lots of Uncle Sugar's dough for the opposing sides. Jordan recognized this as a fact of political life. It had been one of many dismaying lessons he'd learned in office. No wonder that Presidents were all cynics. Previous Presidents had faced war, cold war, hostage-taking incidents, recessions, and the 9/11/01terrorist attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon - when terrorists of all stripes had figured out that they could gain worldwide attention by using violence for their cause.
    In the Jordan Administration, the back-alley war against terror had become a fact of life. Every year of his Administration there had been federal buildings and military facilities destroyed by bombs. In the last eighteen months alone, four U.S. ambassadors had been assassinated. Nothing Jordan had ever read, no advice or counsel, had prepared him for the day-by-day stress of dealing with such violence and all its lasting ramifications while, at the same time, holding his fingers in the dikes of domestic political crises.
    The door opened and Eleanor came in.
    "Nice perfume," he said as she joined him at the table.
    "How kind of you to notice."
    Her impersonal comments had started in the last few months, but he'd chosen not to confront her. He wanted peace. He wanted to leave office with her at his side and turn the reins of government over to Vice President Cord, who was ahead of his Democratic opponent in the national polls. He wanted to give the party back what it gave him.
    "How was the beach?" he asked.
    She picked up a newspaper. "Sunny."
    A waiter appeared to pour her coffee.
    "It's good to see you taking advantage of the house," Jordan said.
    "Uh-huh."
    "Camp David. It would be a big help if you could come up to help entertain. The Russians are bringing their wives."
    "The wives," she said glibly.
    After a long, annoying silence, he cleared his throat. "Have you done any more thinking about the Kennedy Center?"
    "I haven't made a decision yet."
    "Some of the major donors would love to see you."
    "What's that play again?"
    "Long Day's Journey into Night."
    He'd told her a week ago. But she didn't like the party fat cats and she was playing head games again.
    "Yuck," she said.
    "It's an awards evening. There will be press speculation if you don't attend."
    "We certainly wouldn't want to have that, would we?"
    "The major money people. That guy from Texas and his wife. They need him-"
    "I don't like him and I don't like his low-class wife."
    "Since when do we have to be in love with people to handle our social duties?"
    Here he was, cajoling his own wife into attending a function with him. It was absurd.
    "Duties," she said. "White House duties."
    "Eleanor, do you have to break my balls over every little issue?"
    "Sorry," she said coldly. "Okay. I'll go to the play."
    "Good. And have you done any thinking about the lawyer issue?"
    "I prefer to wait."
    "I thought we could have someone begin the paperwork," he said. "It would be better than to wait."
    "You mean the divorce paperwork?"
    "An amicable thing and completely discreet, Eleanor. Super-secret. I feel it would be easier than just putting it off until the end of the term. Start the ball rolling by going through the negotiating and getting all the papers ready. Then later, there could be a quick court filing that would limit the press coverage of the matter."
    "Could this be some advice from your trusted National Security Advisor Helen Pierpont?"
    "Keeping the legal