Covert Coffee (The Serena Wilcox Dystopian Trilogy Book 2)

Covert Coffee Chapter 22

22

Ann listened to the entire recording. Then she said, “Do you think she went for it?”

“I certainly hope so,” said Ted. “She’ll talk to someone, especially if we let it happen. We might learn something.”

“Why did she think you were having an affair with Morgan’s wife?” asked Ann.

“I don’t know. I can’t figure out the logic behind that. I went with it, but wow was I nervous. I thought I would blab something that went against the story and she would know I was making things up,” said Ted.

“I think I know why she thought you were having an affair. When you sneaked out of the McDonald’s parking lot, did you happen to use Mrs. Canon’s driver? Or her car?” asked Serena.

“You know about this?” asked Ted.

“Sir, everyone knows about this,” said Beav.

“Ted, you didn’t pull it off, it was on the SM Channel within the hour,” laughed Ann. “And yes, he did use one of the cars assigned to her detail. You’re right, I’m sure they put two and two together and came up with a scandal.”

“It was in the tabloids,” said Beav.

“Ah, well, I don’t read those,” said Ann.

“Anyway, that’s not much of a mystery. But if Erik told her that you were after the presidency, he was deliberately misleading Marci. Did Marci think she was on the good side of this? And if so, why? What was Erik really up to, that he didn’t want his wife to know about?” asked Serena.

“Again, nothing new. We know that they were involved in something, but Erik is dead and Morgan is missing. I’m not sure either is a threat anymore, so if this doesn’t go any further we might be looking at a cold case,” said Beav.

“It would be easier if we could talk to Marci,” said Serena.

“What are you talking about? She’s in custody, isn’t she?” asked Ann.

“She might not be able to talk for a while,” said Ted.

“Why not? What happened?” asked Ann. A round of snickers, coughs and snorts made it difficult for Ann to hear Serena’s accounting for how Marci became incapacitated.

“I performed Aikido on her and she had an accident,” said Serena.

“You performed? Like a demonstration?”  Ann’s eyes registered disbelief. Laughter broke out.

“No, she flipped her like a ninja,” said Beav, with a note of pride.

“Serena did this? When did you learn martial arts?” Ann struggled to keep a straight face.

“I’ve been at it a while. First time I’ve ever used it in a real life situation.” Serena’s earlier attempt at remorse was nullified by the gloating she was doing now.

“What accident?” asked Ann.

“I flipped her and she pitched into the table. She’s concussed and in the hospital. I didn’t mean to do that part, but at least she wasn’t able to shoot anybody,” said Serena.

“Madam President, we have people on guard at the hospital. Marci Chapman won’t be an issue,” said Estep.

“What was Ted doing in all of this in the first place? Why was he involved?” asked Ann.

“Sorry, he was the only person I could think of who could do some digging as a Cube insider. We had no idea Marci was there. The plan was to find out what Vanessa knew. The result was way better than expected.” Serena noticed the expression on Ann’s face. “Well, except for the First Gentleman almost getting killed.”