Contents ( 84)
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- Acknowledgements
‘You think they’d have carried on?’
‘Not with Knowles as president, no. They’d have made sure he went. And probably not with whoever followed him either. But after that? Sixty years of absolute power, Eden. No one’s going to let that go lightly. And the Duparts, they were far from being no one. If Nicolas Dupart hadn’t put himself in the middle of this, then yeah, I think they would have carried on. Four years away from power. It would have been a blip.’
‘Jesus, man,’ Cooke said again. The blasphemy came easy to the only Catholic priest among them. ‘Can you believe this shit really happened?’
‘It’s a new one on me,’ Grace said.
‘Sort of thing happens to me most days,’ Dempsey said, a smile spreading across his face as he downed what was left of his tea.
‘Speaking of which, when are you back to work?’ Grace asked, indicating towards Dempsey’s shoulder.
‘They insisted on six weeks away from active duty,’ Dempsey replied. He stretched out his left arm as he spoke. Unconsciously proving a point, even if only to himself. ‘Which I didn’t need. My shoulder was fine after half that. And I’m bored as hell.’
Grace and Cooke both smiled. Neither seemed surprised by the answer.
‘What about you? When are you going back?’
‘I . . . I don’t know.’ Grace’s hand instinctively stroked her gut as she spoke, her tone even more uncertain than her words. ‘I’m not sure . . . I’m not sure I’m going back.’
‘What?’
‘It’s just, you know, I spent my life striving to do the right thing. To serve my country, like my dad did. And then this happened and I find out it’s all been bullshit. For decades, it’s all been for the same bunch of corrupt rich scumbags, making themselves richer while everyone else suffers. While everyone else is ignored. I . . . I don’t think I want to be a part of that any more.’
‘But that’s over,’ Cooke said, his voice gentle. ‘The Duparts, they’re gone.’
‘And what about everyone in their organisation?’ Grace replied. ‘We still don’t know exactly who they had on their payroll. We’ve stopped it for now, but how long until someone takes their place?’
‘You can’t think like that, Grace,’ Dempsey said. ‘We stopped them, and Knowles is still there, doing the good he should have been doing since the beginning. The White House is the cleanest it’s been in sixty years. You can’t assume it’ll go bad again.’
‘I can. Or at least I can assume that someone will try. It’s like Dupart said to Knowles: when you take the White House, you take the world. Who isn’t gonna want that?’
‘But there’ll be more protections in place now, surely?’ Cooke offered. ‘To stop it ever happening again?’
‘How can we say that for sure? John Knowles killed two men in full view of half the Secret Service agents in the White House. They covered it up. Sure, I want what’s best for John. And I want him to still be there, doing it right this time. But seriously? If they can cover that up?’