Bouncer Post #167

Title: ONE LAST DECISION

Genre: Adult Thriller

Word Count: 91,000

Query:

William Travers is at the end of his first term as President of the United States. During his administration he always had faith in the idea that “if an incumbent President doesn’t want to leave . . . the people won’t let you.”

Senator John Powell, the Democratic nominee is a good ‘ole boy. A man of the people whose good looks, charisma, and firm handshake on every deal is a platform he hopes to ride right to the White House.

After a very long campaign, a battle waged on the internet, radio stations and television stations of this country, incumbent President Travers loses an extremely close race, lost by a handful of votes at one last voting place in south Florida.

As Inauguration Day nears, both the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect are assassinated.   Although the Constitution of the United States clearly outlines the line of Presidential succession, President-Elect Powell was not sworn in so it cannot take effect.  With the country at a loss and needing a strong leader to guide them through these difficult times, the United States Congress chooses the incumbent, William Travers, to remain in the White House for another four years

A few months after the assassination, with no arrests made and no answers in sight, Jake Reilly, a reporter for the Washington Post begins investigating the murder. After a few days he teams up with Michael Stratton, an FBI agent who previously worked on Powell’s Secret Service team.  They find a new ally in Strykr, the assassin who had targeted Powell and then had his fifteen minutes of fame snatched away.  His only request is that when they find the assassins, he is allowed to kill them himself.

The chase throughout Washington becomes more and more dangerous as a reporter, an FBI Agent, and an assassin, follow clues that lead them higher and higher into the levels of government.  Each and every path they take suddenly leads to a dead end . . . with a sniper waiting on the roof for them.

First 250:           

"Power is intoxicating, and as the President of the United States, one person is entrusted with the greatest reserve of absolute power in the world. 

Every four years our country avails itself to the possibility of shifting that power, and as the country clamors for either stability or change in the administration, two would-be-kings stand silently in the wings to hear which one has been chosen.

The actual transition of power is painless; the new order waits at the front door for the marching bands, while the old slips silently out the back. There are no regrets, just sighs of relief as the former President goes back to the life he had carved for himself before his term in office, back to when things were simple.

But, power is intoxicating."

It was yet another glorious New Years Eve in the White House.  The celebration planned for the First Family and their friends had gone off without a hitch, and the praise that the guests had showered upon their hosts still echoed through the halls hours after it was over. 

            

President William Travers sat by himself in the semi-darkness of the library and reflected upon the past by the light from the fire.  Silently, he looked about the room, his eyes bouncing back and forth between the elaborate gifts and tokens of friendship that had celebrated the many successes his administration had secured.  Finally, he smiled as his eyes lit upon a plaque commemorating the end of the six-week campaign they had waged in the last conflict.