While Justice Sleeps(128)
“A second, please,” she asked quietly.
Agent Lee nodded and signaled for the agents to step back. When only Lee and Stokes could hear her, she asked, “Where’s Dr. Ramji? Dr. Papaleo?”
“I don’t know.” A bitter smile showcased the president’s perfect teeth, and he looked at Agent Lee, who remained within earshot. “A moment alone with Ms. Keene, if you will?”
Agent Lee gave Avery a warning look. At her nod, he shifted away. When they were by themselves, President Stokes said, “You hurt America today, young lady. Destroyed our chance to save lives.”
“You’re a murderer,” Avery said unflinchingly. “I know it, and so will everyone else.”
“I am a patriot. Other presidents have tried and failed because their vision got clouded by rules. They refused to leverage the power of command. I didn’t.” He gave her another grating smile. “But we both know I will not serve a day in prison. Despite your sleuthing and Wynn’s cheap trick with the pill bottle, what you’ve done here today is no more than judiciary theater. You have no proof.”
“Whose idea was it to target DNA?” Avery came closer until less than a step separated them. “Who thought about using biogenetics?”
“If there is any truth to your accusations, I deny any knowledge,” Stokes said. He linked his fingers behind himself, as he did when preparing a speech. Calculating. He hadn’t gone to law school, but Brandon Stokes understood the fine art of setting the stage. Before lawyers and judges got involved, before anyone left this room and headed for microphones or clandestine meetings, he would dictate the narrative for this next stage. Wynn wasn’t the only one who understood chess strategy. Stokes had been checkmated in the first game, but a new one had started. A traditionalist, he appreciated the classics.
Agent Lee appeared again by Avery’s side.
Stokes squared his shoulders but allowed his eyes to show a glimmer of fear. “As for Ms. Keene’s accusations, I had no knowledge of this Tigris Project until very recently. Major Vance created this gruesome endeavor on his own. Based on his years of military service and our close friendship, I thought it was proper to allow him to serve as my liaison, and I trusted him. To advise me on the ways we could defend our country against the constant threat of terrorism.”
“He did this without your knowledge?” Agent Lee asked disbelievingly. “I saw the transfers, sir. You had to have known.”
“Congress should have,” President Stokes countered, glaring at the vultures staring at him in doubt. “But Congress is afraid to ask about DHS funding. Billions of dollars allocated to acronyms they’ll never decipher. As long as we come begging and give them treats to share with their constituents. When I discovered his activity, I tried to force him out, but he used the lives of several innocent Americans as leverage—including Justice Wynn. Knowing that, knowing what he had done and what he was capable of, I didn’t dare expose him. I was in the process of executing a plan to stop him.”
“You were afraid of Vance?”
“No one is impervious to harm. He threatened to tie me to the conspiracy.”
Avery shook her head. “You’re lying. You knew exactly what he was doing. Both of you did this. Hundreds died because of you. And millions more remain at risk because of what the United States funded—a weapon of genocide against Muslims.”
The blood rose in Stokes’s face, and his hard-fought control showed signs of cracking. “I didn’t kill anyone,” he growled. “Vance did. And from what I was told, they were disposable. Terrorists. Prisoners.” He locked eyes with her. “Like drug addicts, Ms. Keene, no one would care if they lived or died.”
The sharp crack of her knuckles against his nose echoed throughout the chamber. Avery stood her ground, ready for reprisal. “I’ll see you in prison.”
* * *
—
Hours later, the FBI brought her back to the Court, her hand wrapped, her evidence in custody, and her statement recorded for posterity. Jared, Ling, and Noah had each taken their turns, separated from one another on Agent Lee’s orders.
Awaiting her fate, she turned on the television. Scott Curlee had become the lead anchor for PoliticsNOW, his unceasing coverage bolstered by tidbits of information no other reporter had managed to capture. Curlee was in the middle of breaking down the GenWorks story. According to his sources, Indira and Nigel would be guests of the federal government for the foreseeable future, and the Indian government was speculating about the nationalization of Advar. The closing bell on Wall Street apparently did not mind the potential, as the stock price of GenWorks soared on rumors of biotechnology that could cure a host of genetic maladies.
Speculation about the weaponization of gene therapy had added a lift, and defense contractors were salivating. Indira looked unfazed in the images of her exiting the Supreme Court, with a suitably somber yet eerily pleased Nigel Cooper gallantly clasping her elbow. Curlee had it on good information that nothing short of a court mandate would stop the merger of GenWorks and Advar now.
Unable to stomach his voice any longer, Avery channel-surfed and found the falsely moderate station, whose anchor reported on whispers that President Stokes’s personal attorney had already begun to negotiate with the attorney general for a deal. The colorful graphics on the screen competed for viewers’ attention: Downfall of President…Genocide in the White House…