Transfer of Power

The White House Mess

ANNA RIELLY WAS standing near the center of the

White House mess holding a paper cup of black coffee and listening to Stone Alexander explain why the room was called a mess instead of a dining room. Apparently it had something to do with the U.S. Navy. She was only half listening to Alexander as he rambled on. Two men in dark suits sitting at a nearby table had caught her eye. They had a police-officer look about them that was common to most of her father’s friends and more than one of her brothers. Almost simultaneously, the two men brought their hands up to their ears and held them there.

Rielly guessed from the gesture that they must be Secret Service.

She was about to turn her attention back to her tour guide when the two agents abruptly stood and raced across the room with their weapons drawn.

Oblivious to what had just transpired not more than twenty feet away.

Stone Alexander continued with his oral dissertation on the West Wing.

Being new to the job, Rielly wasn’t sure if what she had just witnessed was normal, but common sense told her that law enforcement officers didn’t draw their weapons unless there was a good reason. Rielly looked around the room and concluded from some of the faces she saw that she wasn’t the only one who had noticed the brandishing of firearms.

Rielly set her coffee down and looked at Alexander.

“I think there’s something going on.”

Alexander looked down at her and smiled. “Don’t worry; I have that effect on a lot of women. You’ll get used to it.” It was apparent from the full-fledged grin on Alexander’s face that he found himself quite amusing.

Rielly shook her head.

“Jesus, do you ever give it a rest? I’m talking about those two guys who just ran out of here with their guns-“ An explosion rumbled from somewhere in the building and stopped the young reporter in mid-sentence. The noise was so startling, and out of place, that Stone Alexander flinched and spilled half of his coffee down the front of his shirt. The next brief moment seemed like an eternity. Everyone in the White House mess froze with the same wide-eyed look, and then the silence was shattered by loud cracks of gunfire.