Epilogue
Matthew
“Mr. President, thank you for coming in. We appreciate your cooperation with this,” lead investigator Roland with the Secret Service said.
They had barged into the Oval office and demanded a meeting with me right away. It was one of the most disrespectful things I had seen in a very long time, but I wasn’t about to show them how much I despised them. I had learned a lot over the years and I knew honey was a much better way to catch flies in my web.
“I’m happy to help any way that I can. This was a horrible tragedy and the American public needs answers.”
Of course, I knew there was going to be an investigation. How could there not be one, he was the President of the United States of America. I was going to do everything in my power to cooperate with the Secret Service and FBI as they searched for the person or persons who had broken into Camp David and assassinated the President.
Even if I had suspected it was coming, I didn’t know who had actually murdered the President and I didn’t want to know. Precisely because I thought someday I would be in an investigators questioning room and I wanted to be able to tell the truth.
“President Storm, can you tell us where you were on the night in questions?” The secondary investigator asked.
“Yes, I was watching a movie all evening on my living room couch with my new bride. We had fallen asleep on the couch since we were both so exhausted from all the events and new schedule of me being the Vice President.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to be the bad cop here,” investigator Roland said. “How can we take your word that you were on your couch watching a movie with your wife all night?”
“Officer Roland, I don’t mind any questions you have for me. Like I said before, I will cooperate with you one hundred percent. You can get the video footage from my house for any time period you would like. I will give you full permission. No need for a warrant or anything like that.”
“Mr. President, are you saying that your whole home has video monitoring that is recorded? Doesn’t that seem a bit unusual?”
“Not at all. I had a new, very beautiful fiancé and the Vice President had recently gone missing and ended up dead. I was trying to protect myself and my soon to be wife. I also asked that the Secret Service set up a secure location in my basement so there were in my home at all times.”
“I believe Agent Clint Bomber was on your detail at that time. Was he part of that decision process?”
“Yes, I believe he was.”
“Did you fire Mr. Bomber after an argument between you and him where you wanted to attend a meeting without him knowing where it was at?” The lead investigator asked.
I knew where they were going with this. Clint Bomber was a good guy, a very honest one at that. But I had been careful during our conversation and I knew there was no audio recording of the actual fight between the two of us. It was clearly going to be my word against his, and I was the President of the United States.
“Mr. Bomber has a little different memory of the events that lead up to me asking him to be placed on a different detail. I simply was unhappy with the coverage during my wedding and he was argumentative with me. There was no giant blow up and I wished him all the best. But I needed agents who would do whatever was possible to keep me and my wife safe. I didn’t feel like he was the best person for the job.”
I sat back and calmly took a few deep breaths as the two investigators talked and tried to decide what other questions they wanted to ask me. I was certain there were plenty more and they were just warming up to the really good stuff.
I think I had caught them off guard because I was so willing to come in and be questioned. They probably thought I would want to wait for a lawyer or at least get some sort of legal counsel before I agreed to talk to them. But I had my own plan. I was going to try and head off any suspicion right away by being totally cooperative with them.
Obviously, it was suspicious that I had been moved into the Vice President position and then quickly into the Presidency. I knew there was going to be chaos and investigations. But that was partly why I finally caved in and asked Senator Masson for a truce. Everyone knew that we didn’t get along; I still didn’t get along with him, but having him as the Speaker of the House was what I needed. He had plenty of secrets that he wanted to keep in the closet and that was the kind of man I could control if I took him with me to the White House.
“During the time that the Vice President went missing, you did not have Secret Service detail, correct?”
“Yes, I was just a Senator, there was no security detail.”
“You left Washington D.C. for several days and did not stay in contact with your office. One of your staffers noted that they had tried to reach you for a whole day straight before you returned their call. Where were you?”
“I was with Michaela in Chicago. Her father was very ill and we were in the hospital with him all day that day. There were no cell phones allowed to be on in his room because of interference with the machines and monitors.”
“So you were with Michaela during your entire stay?”
“Yes, and you can refer to her as The First Lady,” I said with a stern look.
“Excuse me sir, I apologize.”
They were scrambling to find more questions. Anything that would trip me up, but I knew there was no evidence for them to find. This plan had been laid out for years and by people with more power than I had. The careful planning and forethought behind it was something that none of these investigators could even imagine. They thought crimes were committed out of passion and reason. But the truth of the matter was that crimes are committed out of desire; a desire for power. And the people who wanted me in the White House had more desire than all three of us in that investigation room combined.
Desire to have something or be rid of something could motivate a person to commit a crime they never thought was possible. I could sit in that questioning room for days and they would never get anything interesting on me. I hadn’t committed a crime. I wasn’t at Camp David, I didn’t shoot the President. My body was at home on my couch and there was never going to be evidence that I participated in any wrongdoing.
The questioning continued for what seemed like days, but was probably close to four hours. They asked about my family, my financial situation. Of course, they asked about the young girl who had committed suicide that had worked in my office. My pleasant demeanor and forthrightness was surprising to them, I could see it in their eyes. But I was as cooperative as I could possibly be.
“Thank you again for coming in and sitting through all these questions. This is just standard procedure when something like this happens. We really appreciate all your cooperation,” investigator Roland said as he shook my hand as he started leading me out of the room.
“Thank you. Anytime, if there is anything else you need don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Oh, Mr. President, one last questions,” the junior investigator said. “Since when did you and Senator Masson become so friendly? I’ve always thought the two of you hated each other.”
“I still can’t stand the man.”
“Really? I heard you worked closely with him to get the Speaker of the House position and that you and he met for a long meeting after you became Vice President.”
“You heard correctly. I’ve always believed it was best to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” I said as I started to walk out of the interview room. “Please let me know if you have any further questions. I would be more than happy to come in again if needed.”
“I think we have what we need for now. Thank you.”