"How was the chopper trip guys?" Nathaniel asked.
Seeing them entered the room completely drenched in water, Nathaniel had to hold the amusement that he felt. It was pouring rain outside and he had managed to dodge most of it before getting inside the Hotel he was in right now. Looking at his team, they were clearly not as fortunate as he was.
"It was horrible!" Lina complained, dropping one of the two bags she was caring before letting herself fall into the first chair that she finds.
"Yeah, there was a storm brewing, we managed to avoid it but still it was a bumpy ride." Na-Yung added.
"I had worse." Jon said, Camilla, Scott and Lucie nodding along.
Once everyone was seated around the table, Nathaniel let them rest for a little while before broaching the subject.
"Lina, can you link your laptop to the big screen I set up? We need to discuss our case." He casually ordered.
Sighting tiredly, Lina still got to her feet with the bag that she had still on her and put it on the table. After that, she quickly connects it to the big screen and the Lyndon logo appears on the previously back screen.
"Did you have the time to review the files?" Nathaniel asked.
"No." Lucie answered.
"No?" Nathaniel asked, surprised. "The flight was that bad?"
"No, that's not it." Lucie quickly, clarified.
"There was some kind of tracking software attached to the files that we received. I needed time to take care of it before opening the information. Even with Hans' help, the flight was so bad that we managed to take care of it only a few minutes before landing. Whoever made that tracking software was good, it was some high end shit. If you wouldn't have told me to be extra cautious about it, I could have missed it." Lina explained.
"That's why I never receive the copy I ask you to send me. Well, we are going to discover them together which is not that bad either. Are you sure it's safe now?"
"Yes sir, we check multiple times, it's good." Hans answered.
"Let's open it then." Nathaniel nodded.
"Give me a few minutes Nathaniel please, I'm trying to compile the information a little bit better for it to be readable on the screen." Lina interject.
Voicing his assent, Nathaniel and the others just wait patiently in silence until Jon asks a question to Nathaniel.
"So, how was the Correspondents' Dinner?"
"Well, I managed to refrain myself from killing some politicians even if there were a couple of close calls along the evening. Still, I met some interesting people tonight." Nathaniel answers, his eyes flickering to Lucie who refused to meet his gaze.
"I bet! They would have deserved it tho." Camilla said with a little too much enthusiasm.
"When we were waiting in the lobby, we saw the news on TV and they talked about the President acknowledging you as the most promising young lawyer of your generation." Jon add tactfully.
"Yes, he also acknowledged other peoples among them one being a gold medalist in snowboarding and one being Kim Kardashian. If you are afraid it will bring light to what we are doing, I'm reassuring you it will not. No one is going to take that seriously and will just see that as the President trying to appeal to young people, my fans being to a majority between twelve and twenty. What I'm the most worried about is what he announced tonight." Nathaniel said.
"You mean what he said about reforming military spending?" Scott said he also listened to the news in the lobby.
"Yes."
That is what William wanted to talk about with him earlier that night. Based on what he said, it was a very risky endeavor that could cost him very much.
"You think he's going to cut us down?" Camilla asked.
"No, that's not it. I'm going to tell you about it because I value your input and I trust you but nothing of what we talk tonight must be disclosed, even to the people you trust the most, do we understand each other?" Nathaniel asked, his eyes turning stern.
Once everyone had nodded, even Lina who had lifted her head from her computer amidst her work to do so, Nathaniel continued.
"He wants to go against arms manufacturers, military contractors and mercenary companies like Blackwater to quote only them." Nathaniel announced.
Hearing that, the whole team was stunned and the silence in the room stretched for a few minutes.
"That's insanity." Camilla said.
"I agree, he wants to go against three of the top five people who buy the most political influence each year. It will never work." Scott added.
"I'm supporting him in that endeavor, believe me, I saw some really bad shit made by Blackwater when I was deployed but they are right. They enjoyed so much support from the government that they are basically untouchable." Jon added.
"That's a political suicide." Na-Yung adds, she wasn't very well versed in Washington politics but even she knew that much.
"He doesn't care and he knows he's at the best place to do that. He has huge support from the American people and he's in his second term. He has three years to make it happen and he's determined to do it." Nathaniel said.
"That's going to change when they are going to spend billions in negative ads and use their influence to force members of his own party to oppose him, not saying anything about the Democrats." Jon shook his head.
"The majority leader of the Congress is loyal to him and the minority leader in the Senate also is one of his men. Not mentioning the fact that the head of the RNC is one of his close friends. The President is confident that he can go ahead with this." Nathaniel added.
"If they can't block him politically, they are just going to kill him and put someone in their control in the White House." Scott said bitterly.
"He knows that." Nathaniel nodded.
"That's why he came to you before talking about it in front of the camera, he wants your support and our protection." Lucie quickly came to that conclusion.
"That's correct." Nathaniel said, honestly. "We all are Amercians in this room, we have a duty to protect the President."
"Was that your plan from the beginning?" Lucie asked with hostility. "Making Hans, Na-Yung and me American citizens to compel us into protecting your President?"
"No." Nathaniel answers coldly. "I wasn't aware of he's agenda before tonight, I don't even believe it was on the table before we came in and he saw how good we are. I also think that you knew I would never manipulate you like that, I was always open and honest with all of you about my plans and my motivation to create this team. I used my influence to make you citizens so that you could live and work here without having to worry about visas or border crossings." He adds, looking at Na-Yung, Hans and Lucie in the eyes.
"hum, guys? I'm ready." Lina's timid voice cut the conversation before it could further escalate.
"Alright, we will talk about it more when this case is over. Lina, lead the way." Nathaniel said with a wave of his hands in her direction.
"so... " Lina started to say before clearing her throat and displaying the information on screen. "Ten days ago, the two daughters of Senator John Livingston, Elisabeth and Madison Livingston, were kidnapped while spring breaking in Cancun. There's two bodyguard, two ex-green berets were found dead, their throats slit the morning after the girls were reported missing."
"How have they been reported missing so fast?" Camilla asked.
"The girls were supposed to check in with their uncle each night, when they did not, he tried to call them and their bodyguard. When he saw that no one was answering, he triggered the alert immediately. Mexican police made roadblocks and launched an alert to find the girls but they couldn't find them anywhere." Lina answered.
"Who is that uncle to make the Mexican Police move so fast?" Jon asked.
"Their uncle is a CIA case handler." Nathaniel answered.
"Well, that's explained from where the tracking software came from. Madison Livingston… Why does that name sound so familiar to me?" Na-Yung asked with furrowed eyebrows.
Nathaniel sighed, he knew it was going to come up at some point.
"Full disclosure here, I had a relationship of sorts with the youngest daughter of the Senator who is now missing." Nathaniel confesses.