Presidential Shift - Episode 1 by C. G. Cooper Page A

executioner held on to his head and twisted the
knife, forcing the man’s lifeblood out in a steady flow. The
assassin was careful to cant his victim’s head to avoid the gushing
blood.
    The Middle Easterner’s eyes glazed and his
movement stopped. Moving quickly, the assassin laid the dead man
down on the bench and covered him with the open newspaper, avoiding
the pooling blood. Next he wiped his blade on the man’s jacket and
returned it to its sheath.
    He heard a rustling from the woods and
turned to see another man dressed in running gear walking toward
him.  
    “You okay?” asked Daniel Briggs, the blonde
pony-tailed former Marine sniper.
    “I’m good,” Cal Stokes answered. He looked
down at his watch and exhaled. “Let’s head back to the hotel and
get cleaned up. We’ve gotta be at the Oval office in two
hours.”

Chapter 2
The White House, Washington, D.C.
    10:15am, December
15 th

    They’d been waiting for the president for
fifteen minutes.
    “You think we should call him on the
fifteen-minute rule?” asked Cal with a smirk.
    Daniel returned the look.
    “I’m not sure that would go over well.”
    “You’re probably right. Our professors at
U.Va didn’t like it much when we up and left after waiting for them
for fifteen minutes.”
    “Is that really a rule?”
    “Of course. That’s why they call…”
    Before Cal could finish his sentence, the
president stepped into the Oval Office followed by two aides.
    “Cal, Daniel, I’m really sorry I’m late.”
    Both Marines stood to shake the president’s
hand.
    “Doesn’t bother me, Mr. President. It was
Daniel that was about to enact the fifteen minute rule,” said Cal
with a straight face.
    Daniel glared at his friend. There was an
awkward pause as the president glanced between the two men. A small
grin found its way to Cal’s face and the president chuckled.
    “You Marines never let up, do you?”
    “No, sir,” answered Cal. “Keeps us on our
toes.”
    The two men standing with binders behind the
president stared in shock. Cal winked at them.
    The president laughed again.
    “Don’t mind Mr. Stokes, fellas. We go way
back. Would you excuse us?”
    One of the aides, a freckled-faced redhead,
looked like he was going to say something. He changed his mind and
the two men departed.
    The President jotted something down on a
notepad.
    “Can I get you two anything? Coffee, water?”
he asked.
    “No, sir,” the Marines answered in
unison.
    “Give me one minute and then we’ll head down
to the situation room.”
    Cal looked at Daniel with one eyebrow raised.
The sniper shrugged his shoulders in response.
    A minute later, the president ripped off the
sheet of paper, folded it, and stuck it in his pants pocket.
    “Let’s go.”
    They followed him out of the Oval Office and
through the White House maze. Secret Service agents shadowed them
quietly. Few people they passed even looked up from their work. To
them, seeing the president was nothing new.
    After being cleared, the trio stepped into
the secure conference room. There was one man waiting for them.
    “What are you doing here, Brandon?” Cal
said.
    Newly elected Senator Brandon Zimmer, a
Democrat from Massachusetts, rose to greet his friends. They shook
hands.
    “It was a last minute thing. The president
called me yesterday and said he’d been trying to get you to come in
for a couple months.” He scanned Cal’s placid face. They’d become
close over the previous months, with Zimmer often calling on Cal to
play devil’s advocate. “What have you been up to?”
    “Nothing special. Just a little busy.”
    Brandon looked at his friend for a second
longer, waiting for further explanation.
    “Why don’t we all have a seat, gentlemen,”
the president suggested.
    The four men took seats at one end of the
long conference table.
    “First, I’d like to once again thank you for
saving my tail before the election. I will never forget it.”
    Cal, Daniel and even Brandon had been part