“Hilltop,” Todd corrected. “And he wouldn’t say. He didn’t give me the specific name, but he told me that the place existed.”

“And that’s what you think is happening.”

“Yes.”

“You think we’re going to war.”

“Yes.”

“You’re insane. Who’s going to attack us?”

Todd reared back in the sofa cushion. “I have no idea. Doesn’t everybody hate us?”

“What kind of war are you talking about?” Sally pressed. “I mean, if Washington is heading to bunkers, then it must be nuclear war.”

“I assume so.”

“Well, that’s kind of a big step, don’t you think? It’s exactly the kind of thing that we have entire alert systems designed for. Did I miss an air raid siren?”

“Do you want to hear the rest of what I’ve got or don’t you?” Todd was losing patience.

Sally gestured for the tequila and took a swig herself. When you’re up at this hour, you might as well pretend that it’s a party, right? A quick flip of her hand told him to move on.

“First of all, my buddy told me—the guy who first shared the secret—that the civil defense warning system is just there for show. People don’t have shelters in their backyards anymore, the way they did in the fifties and sixties. And with submarines parked off the coast, loaded with shit-tons of missiles, we wouldn’t get more than a couple of minutes of advance warning in the first place. You sound a bunch of sirens and people just panic.”

Sally heard the distant peal of a bullshit bell. “This friend of yours—the traitorous one with all the secret information to share—was he a general or something? A colonel, at least?”

“He was a grunt,” Todd said. “A specialist.”

“Uh-huh. And of all the people in the world to share this with, he chose a reporter for the Washington Underground.” Saying the words aloud made them sound even more ridiculous than they had in her head.

“He’s an inside source,” Todd said. His tone was both defensive and indignant. “You didn’t mind when I used him before to torpedo the last guy in the White House. He was one of the main unnamed leakers.”

Sally considered the ramifications. “Have you talked to this source tonight? You know, passed your theory by him.”

“I tried but couldn’t get through. And there’s more. I woke up a lady I know who’s an aide to President Blanton’s chief of staff. Did you know that the president and her entire family and staff are preparing to leave the White House in a hurry tonight?”

Sally’s bullshit bell was beginning to swing a little less aggressively. “What do the other outlets say about any of this? Have the Post or the Times picked it up? Anything on the wire services?”