The Phoenix

Evidence

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Emily asked the President, walking into his office.

"Yes. I just wanted to know if you had any information on the person who leaked the file? How is the Cochrane lead coming along?"

It was in that moment, Emily had two choices. Tell him everything she had uncovered about Aaron, or lie and wait until she was sure of anything. She decided to go with the latter.

"I haven't found anything yet, Sir. I'll let you know as soon as I do."

"Thank you."

She began having a small panic attack while walking down the hall. She had just lied to the President of the United States in order to save her boyfriend. He's innocent, Em. There's no way he gave that file to Al-Sakar. The only way that she was going to clear him was by getting an answer directly from him. She turned and entered Aaron's office, and he was sitting there at his desk. She must have been physically panicked, because he could tell immediately that something was up.

"Hey. What's going on?"

Instead of giving him an answer, she put the list of names that Kirkman had given her on his desk.

"What is this?" he asked, reading it.

"When Gabriel Thompson stole all of those files, he came across something. Two and a half years ago the Pentagon did a threat assessment of the Capitol building to find out all of the weak spots. Those same plans were used to destroy it. Someone inside the White House gave those plans to Al-Sakar, and Kirkman gave me a list of everyone who had clearance to see it. At first we thought it might have been Cochrane, because he was sent the file, however he never got to open it. It was recalled by the Secretary of Defense. He wouldn't have been able to do it alone, and he must have been given orders by someone in the White House. Well, I talked to the people at the switchboard and they said that the only person who had contacted the Secretary that day was Richmond's Chief of Staff, who you worked under. Then I find out that Langdon was not in his office that day, but you were. Aaron. What was that call about?"

"Langdon called me from Geneva and told me that he needed me to pull file 12-08C and send it to him. I never even saw what was on it. If you want proof, go back to switchboard and pull up which files were viewed on Langdon's office computer that day. It erased it from his office computer as soon as it was sent to his other one, so I wouldn't have been able to view it even after." he explained. A wave of relief washed over her.

"Thank god. I kept telling myself over and over again that I couldn't be you. Now I'm back at Square One. Do you have any idea who Langdon sent that file to?"

"I'm not sure. You could probably figure that one out at switchboard too."

"Alright. I'm going to head over there now, then I'm going to clear you with Kirkman." she said before walking out.

The trip to switchboard didn't take long and the same woman that she had talked to last time, Amanda, was there.

"Hi. Do you think that you could pull up which files were sent to and from Charles Langdon's computer on January 23rd?"

"Sure." the woman said, rapidly typing things on her computer until she found what she was looking for.

"That must have been a slow day because only one file was sent and received. File 12-08C. It was also deleted from the computer on that same day, right after being sent. I can't pull up the file itself though, because it was marked classified. I'm sorry."

Aaron had been telling the truth. "No, it's fine. Could you see where else File 12-08C was sent that day?"

It only took her a few seconds to pull it up. "It was sent from Charles Langdon's travel computer to the head of the House subcommittee for terrorism and Homeland Security."

"Who was that?"

"Congressman Peter MacLeish."

Emily thanked Amanda and practically ran to the Oval Office. Luckily, the new Vice President wasn't there.

"I have some new information about the traitor in the White House."

"What is it?"

"I ruled out Aaron, but I have a lead on someone who wasn't on your list."

"Who?"

"Peter MacLeish. Charles Langdon sent the file to him when he was head of the House subcommittee for terrorism and Homeland Security. He's also the only one who survived the bombing. Doesn't that seem a bit suspicious to you?"
"Emily, the reason that Hookstraten delayed the hearing is because an FBI agent named Hannah Wells claimed to have information that could keep him from becoming Vice President. I want you to tell Aaron all of this, and I need both of you to put all of your time into finding her."
"Yes Sir."

Emily made her way back to Aaron's office and told him everything that she hadn't already.
"So, where do we start?" he asked.

"Find out who Agent Wells was closest to. Can you get Foerstel on the phone? Ask him if there were any other agents who looked into anything about Peter MacLeish." Emily said.

Aaron picked up his office phone. "I need you to put me through to John Foerstel. Thank you."

A moment later, a man's voice came through.

"Hello?"

"This is Aaron Shore, President Kirkman's Chief of Staff. I was wondering if you know of any agents who were either close to Hannah Wells or who looked into Peter MacLeish?"

"One moment," the man said as keys began clicking on the other end. "Actually, there was one who did both. His name is Chuck Irving."

"How soon could you have him at headquarters? I'd like to ask him a few questions."

"He's already here, Mr. Shore. If you'd like to come and question him, be my guest."

"I'll be there in 10 minutes. Thank you." Aaron said, hanging up the phone. "Get your stuff, we're going to talk to someone."

Needless to say, Chuck was not at all what either of them had been expecting. He was a lanky, nerdy-looking guy, minus the glasses.

"My name is Aaron Shore, Kirkman's Chief of Staff, and this is Emily Rhodes, his Special Advisor. We know about Agent Hannah Wells and her supposed evidence against Peter MacLeish. We also know that you two were close and that you were put on suspension for pulling MacLeish's file without authorization. Do you know what is in that evidence?"
Chuck opened his mouth to respond, but Emily cut him off.

"And before you demand a lawyer, we aren't arresting you or Hannah. We suspect that he has done something and we need her evidence to help prove it."

"I'm not sure what all Hannah found out. Whatever she did was stolen from her car after she totaled it. She's at my apartment right now if you want to speak to her about it, but I can't go with you. You might not want to arrest her, but Foerstel does. Here," he explained, placing a key on the table. "It's the spare key to my apartment. #65 Keystone Apartment Complex. "

"That'll be all." Aaron said, grabbing the key and walking out with Emily close behind.

Hannah, on the other hand, was completely what they both were expecting.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded, pointing her gun at both of them upon entry.

"The only people in the White House who want your help instead of your arrest. We know you have evidence against Peter MacLeish, and we need it. We believe that he had something to do with the Capitol bombing." Emily explained.

Hannah holstered her gun. "What do you want to know?"