Chapter 5: Washington, D.C.

In addition to being the brother of the President of the United States, Billy Rowe Douglas was both a genius and a paranoid schizophrenic. He had been confined to the Veterans Psychiatric Hospital in Lexington ever since the campaign, and President Henry B. Douglas was glad to have him sequestered. Only the vice president, ("that pain in the ass") caused him more trouble than his youngest brother. There was no way the president could yet know that Billy Rowe was wearing an ensign's uniform and serving coffee to the XO on a Boomer out of Bremmerton.

The Commander-In-Chief swiveled in the great leather chair and stared out at the Rose Garden, allowing his mind to wander aimlessly from foreign policy to aphids. When Marilyn buzzed to let him know that Congressman Harold James had arrived, he had nearly fallen asleep. Years of public service, however, had given Douglas the ability to come instantly alert, and he was ready to devote his full attention to the ranking Armed Services Committee member.

James was an out-of-the-closet homosexual whose rise to power in the senate baffled even the most seasoned beltway pundits. The picture of military bearing, James had been decorated twice for bravery in the army before entering public life. His announcement of his sexual orientation after his reelection came as a shock to everyone except those at the End Zone, his favorite watering hole in Georgetown. He strode into the room and stood respectfully while Douglas turned his chair back to his desk. Despite an entrenched bias against gays, the president trusted James and enjoyed the verbal jousting that usually accompanied their meetings. Besides, he didn't look like a fag.

James spoke first.

--"You'll need our backing on this one, Mr. President"

--"I don't need your backing, but I might ask for it, Hal. I would love, just for once, to have the entire senate have the War Powers Act read to them, en masse, en toto, the whole thing to the whole fam damily. Coffee?"

--"Thank you, no. I'm cutting back on caffeine these days. Feel better, too. You should try it."

--"Ah! A health tip from the at-risk senator. I'm impressed. Maybe you'll be able to keep up with that page from Montana after all."

James was surprised, although he knew better than to show it. His recent affair with a JROTC senior from Bozeman was completely discreet, or so he thought until now. They had met shortly after the boy's arrival in Washington. Their fling had blossomed and faded before two weeks had passed. James decided to ignore the remark.

--"I wanted to notify you personally, sir, that the deployment of our boats out of Bremmerton and Kings Bay is no secret. We know that Waterson is Gold this tour, for example, and that CIA has called Selby from Oak Ridge of all places, and he's headed out with his family to La Ceiba. Beyond that we're still in the dark, but you need to talk to us. What's going on in Honduras?"

--"Hal, I'll talk to you when I need to. You have my word on it. For now . . ."

The president suddenly stopped speaking as his private door swung open. His secretary stood framed in the doorway, and for the first time in his presidency Douglas saw that Marilyn was anything but composed. Her eyes played between the two men for only a moment, then she made up her mind to speak.

--"Mr. President, Billy Rowe is missing."