The First Patient

CHAPTER 56

So far so good… So far so good…

As Gabe showered, the mantra flowed steadily through his head. So far so good…

He got no cell phone signal in the castle, but he did outside. He dialed both of the numbers he had for Alison, half-expecting-or was it praying-to hear her voice. No answer at either. The mantra slowed, then stopped.

Was there anyone he could call to report that she was missing? Anyone he could ask? He briefly wondered if he should try to reach the admiral. Possibly Ellis Wright knew something.

The third number he dialed was answered on the first ring.

"Yes?"

"Drew, it's Gabe."

"Hey! Calling from The Aerie?"

"By the moat. There's no signal inside."

"What do you think?"

"Charming little bungalow. A monument to benign neglect-sort of like me."

"Look at the bright side: You could have grown up there."

"Everything okay with my patient?"

"Never better. I've been up for an hour. Did a little stretching, drank some coffee, did a few sit-ups, vetoed some bills. You know how it is with this job."

"You ready to ride?"

"I'm ready to put this whole business behind me. I feel so damn helpless. What good is it being president if you can't control everything and boss everyone around?"

"Not to worry. You'll be back martineting before you know it. Just remember, until we know who and why, everyone is a potential assassin, no matter how meek or innocent they might seem. Keep your eyes open and keep your plans guarded until the very last minute. I'll be coming into the city to run some more errands; then I'm going to find a safe place to stash my new wheels just off one of the riding trails."

"You going to be able to find the car again once we're galloping through the woods?"

"I intend to go to the stables as soon as I can and to convince the stable master-what's his name again?"

"Rizzo. Joe Rizzo."

"To let me go for a brisk solo ride to clear my head."

"I'll make a call and set that up for you. You have that map I drew showing where the stables are?"

"It's a break that they're outside the compound. Will they be bringing our horses to us?"

"Probably."

"Any special horses or should I pick?"

"You pick. I don't know them well enough. Meanwhile, everything's going okay, yes?"

"I'm not so sure," Gabe said.

"No Alison?"

"Nothing. It's been more than two days now."

"I promised to call Mark Fuller and get some people on this, and I will."

"Right now?"

"Right now. I'm sorry this is happening, Gabe. She's all right. Just wait and see. Some sort of misunderstanding."

"Thanks for doing this."

Gabe reiterated his plea for vigilance, then rinsed out a cup and poured the first of what would undoubtedly be a number of cups of coffee. He paced as he drank, mentally ticking off his to-do list. The most critical item was picking up the mixture sent by Ellen Williams. If for any reason the tranquillizer didn't arrive on time, he and Drew would have to find a way to delay everything for a day when every minute meant more danger, not just for the president but for Gabe as well.

Sunset would be at seven forty-five-later than he would have liked, but likely to be of some help before they reached The Aerie. The less daylight when they hit the riding trail, the better. If possible, he would find some way to communicate to Drew the need to stall for a few more minutes of dusk. Details. Details.

By six fifteen, he was back on the ATV, rumbling down the mountain to where the Impala was hidden. Not enough cover, he decided, easily picking it out from a dirt road that was virtually untraveled anyway. Using his hunting knife, he cut a dozen more branches, then pulled the car out and replaced it with the ATV, which instantly became swallowed by the forest when he covered it up.

With no idea whether or even why he might need them, he added the knife to some rope and tools and two bottles of water, stashed in a small backpack he had left on the seat of the Chevy. Also in the pack were some apples and sugar cubes for the horses. Details.

At ten forty-five, when the call came in to his cell phone from the front desk at the Watergate that a package had arrived for him via FedEx, he was walking the streets of D.C., breaking in a new pair of calfskin boots that needed no real breaking in and might have cost as much as the total of all the other boots he had ever owned. He had chosen a messenger service on L Street and had paid them well to have the messenger bring the package from the Watergate to their office and then have a different messenger take the package out the back door to the lot three blocks away where Gabe had parked the Impala.

On the way there, Gabe gave in to his fears and frustration and tormented himself by trying Alison's numbers again. Nothing. Once at the lot, he ducked behind a van and scanned the street for anything or anyone unusual. They couldn't have followed him here, he was thinking, at the same time he was picturing Jim Ferendelli collapsing to his knees, then pitching forward onto his face. They couldn't have followed him there, either.

The messenger arrived, and the exchange was quick and uneventful. Gabe tipped the man fifty dollars of the president's money and then added a second fifty for the one who had picked up the package at the Watergate. One final check of the lot and Gabe slid behind the wheel of the Impala and set the package on the passenger seat.

It was time.

Twenty-five miles outside the city, he was convinced enough that he wasn't being followed to pull off into a rest area on I-270 and open the package from Ellen Williams. The carefully wrapped box consisted of a Tupperware container with five sealed plastic Baggies, each containing two large gauze pads, soaked with liquid.

SPECIAL MIXTURE, the label on the Tupperware read. APPLY ONE OR TWO AS NEEDED.

Gabe's heart told him one, but his head insisted on two.

If things didn't work for him and Drew Stoddard, there would not be a second chance. Word would get out that the president had behaved irrationally, and within no time a button would be pushed by someone and the First Patient would suffer either a public episode similar to the one Gabe had witnessed in the White House or, worse, one identical to the episode he had witnessed in Ferendelli.

With that notion grimly dominating his thoughts, Gabe set the package aside and checked the map Drew had given him locating the stables. Then, staying well under the speed limit, he headed north to Thurmont, Maryland, and, just beyond it, Camp David.