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his men still weighed on Cal, and Daniel knew it would take time for the feeling to diminish. It would never fully go away. Leading men into battle was dangerous. Cal was no coward, but he was human. Daniel had lost men in battle, including his best friend. He knew post-traumatic stress differed from person to person. Internally, Cal had decided that the best way to tackle his demons was to stay busy. Daniel knew it couldn’t last. Everyone had a breaking point. Daniel said a silent prayer for his dead comrades and the heir of SSI. Cal needed all the help he could get and the sniper was determined to be there every step of the way.
    “Any word from Neil?” Daniel asked.
    “Let me check.” Cal clicked on his tablet and logged into his encrypted SSI account. There was a message waiting. Cal nudged Daniel and pointed to the screen. The sniper looked down and read along with Cal.
    First two stories set to break at noon EST. One donkey and one elephant as requested. Happy travels and bring me back some shrimp. NP
    Cal glanced at his watch. They’d be on the ground by the time the stories broke. Cal had insisted on remaining completely neutral, ignoring political lines. The simplest way he could figure was to release two at a time, always choosing a member of each party. It wouldn’t be hard to do, as Neil’s list already had twenty names on it. It was pretty evenly distributed between Democrats and Republicans. Bombshells would soon be dropped all over the country.
    Cal wished he’d thought of it before. It might be painful for the nation but, in Cal’s mind, necessary to restore some sense of honor within the halls of Washington. Maybe in the future politicians would think twice about selling their souls. The thought of some invisible guard dog watching their every move might do the trick.
    Hell, why should they be any different? The government was already spying on Americans and would soon deploy drones around the country. Shouldn’t some accountability be thrown back in their faces?
    +++
    Minutes before Cal and Daniel’s flight landed, two men, one tall and balding, the other of average height and build, hailed a taxi outside the Pensacola airport terminal.
    “Super Six Inn on Plantation,” said the larger man as he squeezed into the backseat, keeping the carry-on in his lap.
    The taxi driver nodded and pulled out into the slow airport traffic.
    +++
    As was their routine, Daniel headed for baggage claim and Cal walked to the rental counter. Fifteen minutes later, they met up and hopped in their rented dark blue sedan. The drive to Orange Beach would take a little less than an hour, barring any traffic.
    Cal turned on the radio and waited for the news to break.

Chapter 9
    The White House
    12:02pm, December 17 th
    The President’s staff was alerted to the breaking news almost an hour before by a local NBC affiliate looking for an official comment. There was none.
    The president loosened his tie, sipped on his second cup of coffee for the day and looked around the room. His Chief of Staff and National Security Adviser sat looking like bored kids waiting for a badly made science film to start in junior high, checking an endless stream of emails on their phones. Things had changed from when they’d first entered the White House. Breaking news rarely excited their now numbed nerves unless it was a possible scandal for the administration.
    The president knew this news would wake them up. He’d spoken briefly with Cal prior to the Marine boarding his plane to Florida. He hadn’t expected Cal’s team to put something together so fast. Reminding himself never to underestimate the formidable Marine, he watched as the news unfolded on the large flat screen.
    The face of the distinguished NBC anchor, Pat Landon, appeared.
    Good afternoon. Breaking news from our nation’s capital today. An anonymous informant approached one of our affiliates early this morning with potentially explosive evidence detailing political and