Free The Ascendant: A Thriller by Drew Chapman

system?”
    “In a way, yes.”
    Garrett thought about this. “What about my old job?”
    “You’ll be put on leave from that job. It will still be there when you get back. Alexis has already cleared this with your boss, Mr. Bernstein.”
    Garrett cracked a smile—he’d been right about Avery as well. The old man was in on the secret. At least part of it. “And I get paid for this?”
    “You’ll have a base salary. It won’t be huge, but it will be something. Your responsibilities will far outweigh your pay grade.”
    General Wilkerson cut in: “Money is not the point here, Garrett. This is part of a larger civic responsibility. You will be protecting our nation. So what do you say?”
    The room fell silent. Again, Garrett felt all eyes on him. He waited a moment, as if considering, but he had known what his answer would be for a while. He shook his head.
    “I’ll pass,” he said.
    There were muted whispers among the gathering. Secretary of Defense Frye stepped up, a look of anger and concern on his face. “What we’re asking you to do is a great honor, Garrett. Don’t you love your country?”
    “I do, absolutely,” Garrett said, with a smile. “I love my country. I just hate the fucking morons who run it.”
    •  •  •
    Captain Alexis Truffant shot a look over to her boss, General Kline, and grimaced. Kline just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, What can I do? The quiet tension that had built in the room was gone, replaced by a low chatter of angry conversation. Garrett stood in the middle of the room, smiling pleasantly.
    “Hey, someone want to tell me where the bathroom is?” he said. “I gotta go pee.”
    Mackenzie Fox, the assistant to the secretary of defense, led Garrett angrily—and silently—out of the room, while Alexis and General Kline huddled in a corner.
    “You called it, Captain,” General Kline said with a hint of resignation in his voice. “He has a deep-seated antipathy toward the armed services.”
    “It’s more than that, sir,” Alexis said. “He hates everybody. It’s part of what made him a good candidate.”
    “So what now, General Kline?” the secretary asked, as he and General Wilkerson joined them. “Because that was a bit of a disaster, and we’ve still got a problem on our hands. And, quite honestly, your program’s not helping much.”
    Alexis could see General Kline stiffen. She knew the secretary and her boss were not good friends—on the contrary, Frye worked consistently to marginalize any new DIA initiatives. Alexis guessed he was a man who hoarded power.
    “We could push harder with Reilly,” Kline said. “But I’m not sure it’s worth our time or effort. There are other candidates out there. We’ll keep looking. We’ll find someone.”
    “Sir,” Alexis cut in, “I hope I’m not being too forward, but I believe we can still recruit Mr. Reilly. Bring him onto the team.”
    “That seems awfully optimistic,” General Wilkerson said.
    “Sir, I agree. It is,” Alexis continued. “But I think there is something in him that wants to help. We just need to connect with that.”
    “You gonna connect with it, Captain? With that hidden part of him?” the secretary asked with a sly, almost lewd smile on his face.
    Alexis started to answer but was cut off by Mackenzie Fox’s urgent bark. “He’s climbed out the bathroom window.”
    “Shit!” General Kline said. “Don’t we have Secret Service around the house?”
    “They’re out front. They didn’t see him,” Fox said. “They think he jumped a neighbor’s fence and left via O Street. They’re radioing D.C. police right now.”
    The secretary of defense laughed. “He’s free to go, Mackenzie. He’s not under house arrest. He’s not a prisoner.”
    “We could charge him,” Alexis said.
    “With what?” Frye said. “Pissing us off?” The secretary snorted as he walked away. “Didn’t like him anyway. Thought he was an