CHAPTER 85

THE COUNTRY REJOICED at the safe return of Willa Dutton. It was all made far more poignant and indeed bittersweet by the loss of the young girl's mother. Willa was America's courageous little lady now, yet they had not seen much of her, because her family was shielding the bereaved girl from much of the media scrutiny.

An obviously relieved Dan and Jane Cox consistently mentioned it on the campaign trail, and asked both the public and the media to respect the privacy of the grieving girl.

If Willa was the number one story, a close second was the attempted assassination of Dan Cox by persons as yet unknown, though the investigation was ongoing. While he only would speak briefly and modestly of the ordeal himself, his staff made sure that the public knew how brave he and the First Lady had been, risking their lives to try and get their niece back and foiling the plot of what most of the country thought was the work of terrorists trying to kill their president.

He was so far ahead in the polls now that even the opposition openly acknowledged the impossibility of winning the upcoming election. Jane had never been more popular. She had appeared on the covers of a number of magazines and had made appearances on all the major news and talk shows. For those who knew her well, while she seemed the same physically, still radiant if thinner, there was something different about her. A certain light in the eyes that was no longer there.

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell had also been brought into the national spotlight, however unwillingly. After the president and Agent Waters had mentioned what they had done to foil the assassination plot, they had been inundated with press inquiries, to such an extent that they both had moved and taken up residence at an undisclosed location.

They had briefed Waters on what had happened at the mines. And about Diane Wohl being in there along with Daryl and Sam Quarry. Attempts were being made to excavate the mine collapse. Yet it was becoming rapidly clear that any evidence that might have been in there was going to stay in there.

When Waters questioned them as to Quarry's motivation to do all this, they had claimed ignorance.

Sean's arm and other injuries were healing and Michelle had gone from crutches to a boot on her foot. Gabriel had miraculously suffered no serious physical injuries. However, the emotional impact of losing his mother and his home had taken its toll.

Sean and Michelle had discussed what to do about him.

"We can't just stick him in foster care," she said.

"I don't want to do that either. I want to find him a great home with a great family."

"I don't think anything will be great for him for a long time," said Michelle. "No matter what sort of family he ends up with."

"Do you think we could take care of him for a while?" he finally suggested.

"We? We live in separate places. We're not married. And with our occupation, being gone half the time, they'd never let us have custody of him."

"We can try."

Michelle had thought about this and then squeezed his hand and smiled. "We can try. At least for a while."

And with help from the FBI and the White House, Sean and Michelle received emergency temporary custody of Gabriel Macon after it was quickly determined he had no living relatives. There would be future legal hoops for them to jump through, but for now Gabriel had a place to stay and people to look after him.

Sean and Michelle had traveled down to Atlee once more a few days after Gabriel had become their ward. They hadn't taken the boy with them because there was nothing left for him down there. Gabriel was staying with Michelle and Sean was at a townhouse provided by the Secret Service.

The FBI was still on site, investigating what little remained of the plantation house, and also the site where the First Couple had almost died. And where Tippi Quarry had died.

The FBI had privately marveled at the skill and ingenuity with which Sam Quarry had put his murderous plan together. Sean and Michelle had learned that a cavity in the ground near the building where the First Couple had almost died had been discovered. There was a TV monitor inside this bunker along with a pair of binoculars, a remote control, and other equipment and provisions. If anyone had been inside there, he or she was long gone.

Sean and Michelle suspected it was either Carlos Rivera or Kurt Stevens but had no real proof.

"He built basically a gas chamber for Dan and Jane Cox," said Sean, as they stared at the little house.

"And he killed his own daughter in there."

"More like euthanasia," replied Sean. "After all those years."

The most important issue remained unresolved for the pair. What to do about what they'd learned in the basement at Atlee.

"Everyone's dead," said Sean. "Quarry. Tippi. Ruth Ann."

"Maybe we should just let it go," voiced Michelle. "It'll drag Willa and Gabriel back into all this."

"And rip the country apart," added Sean.

"But then Cox gets away with it."

"I know. But maybe that's better than the alternative."

They drove back to the ruins of Atlee. One of the HRT squad members securing the area approached them.

"Read about you in the paper," he said. "Wanted to thank you for what you did for the president."

"No problem," Sean said without much enthusiasm while Michelle said nothing. Both were thinking about the president of the United States in a light far different than the HRT guy was, even if they had decided to do nothing about it.

He nodded at the ruins. "Looked a lot different the first time I was here."

"You were here when it was still standing?" asked Michelle.

He nodded. "I was riding on a bird with the First Lady when all that shit went down. She made us put down here. Said she wasn't feeling well. Went inside, met up with some black lady. Think she was the maid. They talked a bit and then the First Lady went down to a room in the basement. Insisted on it, in fact. She was the only one who could go in. She did, and then she came out later and we hightailed it home."

Sean and Michelle stared over at the rubble.

And then Atlee burned down.