Free Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn

smiled.
    "Good." He had worked hard to get to know as many of the uniformed officers as he could. It was crucial to the mission. If they couldn't get the truck into the garage without being inspected, the entire plan would fail.
    "Are you working tomorrow afternoon?" asked Hasan as he turned to go back to the truck.
    "Yep."
    "Good, I'll bring them by."
    "Thanks Vinney. I appreciate it. "The guard tugged on the brim of his cap.
    Hasan climbed back up into the cab and released the emergency brake. As the heavy steel gates opened, the terrorist looked to his left at the fence that separated the White House from the Treasury Department. He grinned and bit down hard on his tongue, fighting back the urge to smile as he looked beyond the gate at the most famous house in the world.
    Hasan put the truck in gear, drove through the gate and down the ramp.

Washington, D.C.
    THE TAXICAB CONTINUED south down Pennsylvania Avenue and crossed the intersection at Seventeenth Street. The driver pulled in between two large, circular concrete planters, turned to the left, and stopped. Only a block away from the White House, the road ahead was closed to all motor traffic.
    Anna Rielly sat in the backseat and looked out at the barricades the Secret Service had constructed in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing. A row of concrete planters extended from each curb and stopped, leaving just enough room for a guard booth and a huge steel barricade with the word "STOP" emblazoned in white against a red background. The steel barricade was hydraulic and could be lowered to allow authorized vehicles to proceed to the next checkpoint.
    Rielly paid the driver and got out of the backseat. She had a large black bag over one shoulder and a smaller purse over the other. While she adjusted the large bag, she looked up at the gothic-looking Executive Office Building and frowned.
    Rielly tried to decide if she liked the building or not. She studied the ominous structure and brushed her shoulder-length dark brown hair back behind both ears. It was beautiful in its craftsmanship but seemed out of place among the rest of Washington architecture.
    The young reporter was wearing pleated black dress pants and a matching jacket that were onset by a white silk blouse.
    Wanting to savor every moment of this achievement, she took in the whole scene. Her skin was aglow in the early morning sunlight, and Rielly beamed with pride as she approached the guard booth.
    "Hello, I'm the new White House correspondent for…" The uniformed Secret Service officer behind the bulletproof glass pressed a button on his panel and said, "Ma'am, I only check motor traffic at this gate. You may proceed down another block to the northwest gate, where they can check you in to the White House."
    Rielly thanked the guard and walked in between two of the planters. As she continued down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue, she noticed the Blair House on her left, the president's unofficial residence when he could not stay at the White House because of construction or some other problem. Rielly continued walking, taking it all in. At the next block she stopped at another guard booth, identical to the first. Anna Rielly proudly presented her credentials to the man behind the blue-hued bulletproof glass. She had finally made it to the big leagues after serving as a reporter and weekend anchor for the NBC affiliate in Chicago for the last five years. NEC had picked her to be their new White House correspondent.
    Rielly looked around while she waited for the guard to run her through his computer. On the other side of the fence she could see all of the tripods and equipment that the networks left on the White House lawn for their live shots. Some were sitting under tarps, and others were just laid out and covered with morning dew. Rielly couldn't begin to count how many times she had imagined herself standing in that exact spot giving the nation the inside story on what had just happened at the White House.