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Center once stood. The entire acquisition encompassed nearly forty square miles.
    “Father, the media will have a field day with this,” objected Abbie. “Every Executive Order the President signs receives heavy scrutiny. If my vote is tied to this, my political career is over.”
    “It is for this reason Senator McConnell agreed to drop the provisions of the NDAA you find objectionable. The President has ascertained another way to achieve his goals. You— we , will reap the benefits.”
    “How will we benefit?” asked Abbie.
    “Politically, you will have a very public ribbon-cutting ceremony on a new facility for abused families,” said Morgan. “The facility, owned by a charitable trust with many layers of anonymity, will be portrayed as a shelter for victims of domestic violence and abuse. For that reason, the media and local residents will be asked to respect the privacy of the developers before and after its completion. It would be unsafe to the families to be exposed to their abusers.”
    “On paper, this is a very noble cause,” said Abbie. “I could take credit for bringing this type of facility to our state.” Morgan saw she was warming to the concept.
    “Yes, Abigail,” said Morgan. “You will not be required to compromise your vote and you will gain political capital in the process.”
    “But this will still be picked apart by the media,” said Abbie.
    “We have orchestrated these events to fall on this particular weekend. The media will be preoccupied for days to come.”
    “How?” asked Abbie, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.
    “Come in, please,” said Morgan.
    Malcolm Lowe, his longtime assistant and former Undersecretary of State, entered the room. He was carrying a phone.
    “Sir, an urgent call for you,” said Lowe, handing the phone to Morgan. “Hello, Abbie.”
    “Yes,” said Morgan into the receiver.
     

Chapter 10
    May 15, 2016
    The White House Situation Room
    Washington, D.C.
     
    Katie O’Shea knew something of vital national importance was brewing. Weekend briefings in the White House Situation Room were not completely out of the norm. The world, after all, didn’t take weekends off. What made this particular briefing extraordinary was the presence of Valerie Jarrett, the seniormost advisor to the President. Officially, her title was Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. Unofficially, she was much more.
    Born in Iran, Jarrett wielded unprecedented power in the White House. She was rumored to be the closest confidant of the President, surpassing even the voice of his wife. Her presence in today’s emergency briefing told Katie the White House was circling the wagons and had a serious incident on its hands that required the narrative to be closely monitored.
    In addition, Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew was present. To her knowledge, matters of State and National Defense did not ordinarily involve Treasury. Katie was still new in her position as a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, but she had earned the other members’ respect with her excellent analysis of the Las Vegas cyberattack on the downtown casinos. At first, both David McDill, White House Chief of Staff, and Susan Giles, the National Security Advisor, were skeptical of Katie’s role on the board. They were aware of John Morgan’s influence in placing Katie in her position. NSA Giles instantly warmed to Katie’s blunt manner and candid analysis of intelligence matters while being mindful of the political impact of reports. Most importantly to Katie, however, was pleasing her real boss—John Morgan.
    “Let’s get started,” said Lew, breaking the whispered conversations in the room. “We have been contacted via official channels by my counterparts in Spain, Greece and Italy today. The decision by Greece was somewhat expected. They began issuing a form of IOU,which was used as payment to government employees and retirees. In