Revenge in Advance - Mona

"You know about her dinner invitation?" Oscar asked. Kyle smiled.

"It's my job to know what's going on in this house," he said.

"Of course it is," Oscar said, smiling. "So, what's the president's schedule for the next couple days?"

"Just the usual, meetings, that sort of thing. He does have a fundraiser with party leaders tomorrow night, though," Kyle said.

"That's probably when they'll make their move," Oscar said. "Hopefully, we'll have a lock on Mona by then." Kyle nodded in agreement.

"I think you're right," he said. "I'll have my best agents on it."

"Thanks, Kyle. Let's keep each other in the loop. By the way, think you can get us in to see the president for a briefing?" Oscar asked. Kyle looked at the president's schedule and found a slot available just 45 minutes away.

"Yeah, I think we can get in for a quick five or 10-minute meeting. Nothing more, though," he said.

"That'll work. See ya then," Oscar said. They shook hands and went their separate ways.

Chapter 8:

After meeting with Kyle, Oscar called Bill and updated him on the progress he and Kyle had made. Bill was overjoyed.

"Good job, Oscar," he said. "I'll get some teams ready and we'll get boots on the ground when you have a better idea of Mona's location. I tend to agree they'll probably move sometime tomorrow night. Let me know when you have more info and for God's sake, be careful tonight with the First Lady."

"Yeah, thanks Dad," Oscar said sarcastically. Bill laughed. "Talk to ya later."

Oscar put his phone away and glanced at the time. He still had a couple hours before his dinner with Liz, and just under a half hour before his meeting with the president. That gave him just enough time to get back to the Lincoln Bedroom and fire off a text to his children, letting them know he was okay.

He met Kyle at the Oval Office and the two men entered together. President Skaggs finished a call as they entered and rose to meet them.

"Kyle, Officer Warren," he said smiling. "What can I do for you gentlemen this evening?"

"Mr. President," Kyle said. "Officer Warren and I would like to update you on the status of his investigation into MMAS and I agreed that you should hear this from us both." The president nodded his head and gestured to the couches in the office.

"Mr. President, I don't know how else to say this, so I'll just put it out there," Oscar said. "It seems the First Lady is involved and the female lawyer at the head of all this, Mona Larsen, is really her twin sister."

The president appeared somewhat shocked at that revelation.

"Are you certain of that, Officer Warren?" he asked. "That's an incredible accusation you're making."

"I know it is, Mr. President, but our people have double checked the records with London and our own immigration authorities and the info we retrieved from Pat Witherspoon's files back it up," Oscar said. Kyle jumped into the conversation.

"We've also detected several calls made on a civilian mobile phone from the First Lady's quarters to a phone located somewhere in Georgetown. After Officer Warren and I met, our office was able to track that phone to somewhere within a 2 mile radius of a tower in Georgetown," he said. "We have reason to believe that whatever is going to happen will probably go down sometime around tomorrow night's fundraiser."

"I see," the president said. "How certain are you of all this?" Kyle and Oscar looked at each other. Oscar nodded to Kyle, giving him the floor.

"I would give it a high degree of probability, sir," he said. President Skaggs looked at Oscar.

"What are your people doing?" he asked.

"We're preparing to put boots on the ground now, Mr. President. All we're waiting for is a location," Oscar said.

"Very well," Lincoln said. "Good work, gentlemen, thank you." The two men understood the cue that the meeting was over and stood to leave. President Skaggs motioned to Oscar before he reached the door. Kyle nodded and stepped out of the office.

"Officer Warren, I understand you have a dinner scheduled with the First Lady tonight," the president said.

"Yes sir, I do," Oscar said.

"Just between us, you know, man-to-man. I just wanted to let you know that she's really attracted to you," the president said.

"Mr. President, I assure you," Oscar began before Lincoln waved him down.

"Oscar, don't worry. Liz and I have a certain, well, understanding. I have my relationships and she has hers. Oh yeah, I know all about them and she knows about mine. We just don't rub each other's noses in them. You do find her attractive, don't you?" Lincoln asked.

"Yes sir, I find the First Lady to be a very attractive woman, but I assure you, especially under the circumstances, I have no intention of making any advance toward her," Oscar said. "She's now a suspect and besides, I still have feelings for my ex-wife."

Lincoln smiled and put a hand on Oscar's shoulder.

"You're an honorable man, Oscar. Too bad there's not a lot more out there like you. Probably be a lot fewer divorces in this country," Lincoln said with a smile. "Enjoy your dinner, please, and thank you for your service."

"Thank you, Mr. President," Oscar said, shaking his hand. He left the office and caught up with Kyle.

"That went well," Oscar said. Kyle nodded in agreement. "I see you got a location on Mona's phone."

"Yes, it just came in before our meeting," Kyle said. "I've already texted it to your phone so your people can act on it." Kyle looked at Oscar as they approached the Lincoln Bedroom.

"Be very careful with the First Lady, Oscar," he said. "Remember, she's now a suspect and a potential threat to the president. Text 911 to me if you feel there's any danger. I'll have a team on standby."

"Thanks, Kyle," Oscar said. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Chapter 9:

Oscar showered and dressed for his dinner with Liz. He held a capsule and considered whether he should take it. The techs at Fort Apache developed it after getting information about the many compounds MMAS like to use from Pat's files. They explained that it might not be completely effective against everything but should significantly minimize the affects of anything they might use on him.

They also said he would need to take it at least 30 minutes before exposure to ensure the maximum protection. He glanced at his watch and decided to take a chance on the pill.

He swallowed the pill and headed out. Soon, he was knocking on Liz' door.

"Come in," she said. Oscar opened the door and walked in. Liz had gone all out. The ambient light was turned down and the elegantly-set table was illuminated with soft candle light. Liz came out wearing a short white robe that was opened enough to reveal a sliver of skin from neck to waist. She obviously wore no bra and, he suspected, probably no panties as well. The only other item of clothing he saw were open-toed slippers showing well-manicured toes and brightly colored nails. She was a vision of loveliness that exuded sex from every pore.

Too bad she's a suspect, Oscar thought. And married to the president.

Liz walked to the table, revealing lots of leg as she did so. Oscar was now convinced she was totally naked under the robe.

"I'm apparently overdressed," Oscar said, causing Liz to smile.

"I hope you like my outfit," she said. "I chose it just for you. Please join me." Oscar made his way across the room and, being the gentleman he is, pulled out her chair and seated her as he had done many times for Renee. She sat down and smiled, adjusting her legs enough to give him a glimpse of her hairless sex. Being a red-blooded male, Oscar's body responded.

"A gentleman, I see. I rarely see that these days," she said, smiling. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, ma'am," he said, returning her smile.

He sat down across from her and an orderly wheeled a cart to the table. He placed the dinners in front of them and ceremoniously removed the highly-polished silver covers, revealing a nice cut of meat and a well-prepared lobster tail. He then poured a bit of champagne in their flutes. Oscar noticed a few tiny granules settling to the bottom of his flute that would probably have gone unnoticed to the untrained eye.

After closing the bottle, the orderly smiled and bowed while wishing them a pleasant evening. Oscar waited until he had left the room before saying anything.

"This looks absolutely delicious," he said. "You certainly went all out." Liz smiled at the compliment.

"I'm glad you approve," she said, taking a sip of champagne.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what's for dessert," he said. Liz untied her robe, letting it fall open to reveal her naked body.

"How's this for dessert?" she asked. "You know what they say about lobster being a natural aphrodisiac, right?"

"I've heard that," Oscar said. "Tell me something, Liz, if you don't mind."

"Sure, anything, Oscar," she said, taking a bite of lobster.

"What would your husband say if he saw us right now?" he asked. Liz laughed.

"He'd probably tell us to enjoy ourselves and ask us not to make too much noise," she said. "Let me explain. Lincoln and I have an understanding. We love each other dearly, but we both have a very high libido. So, he has his flings and I have mine. We know all about them and everything is fine so long as we don't rub each other's noses in them."

"I don't know how he does it," Oscar said. "If I were married to you, there's no way I'd share you like that. Maybe it's just my Midwest upbringing."

"I'm flattered, Oscar. Really," she said. "I know you probably wouldn't approve, but it's far better than sneaking around on each other. I've done that, too, and it's no fun, always wondering if you're going to be caught and wondering what might happen when it comes out in the open. And believe me, in the circles Lincoln and I run in, pretty much everyone is doing someone else. This way, there's no hard feelings and no one gets hurt."

"That's not my experience," Oscar said. "From what I've seen, someone always ends up getting hurt."

"Maybe they're just not going about it right," she said. "While we're baring our souls here, I do have a confession I'd like to make."

"What's that?" Oscar asked.

"I lied about not having a twin sister. I do have a twin, but we were separated when we were very young. I don't know where she is or what happened to her, though," she said.

"You know, technically speaking, it's a felony to lie to a federal officer," Oscar said, smiling. Liz laughed.

"I guess we'll just have to see what the court says," she joked. "I didn't know I was being questioned and I certainly don't recall you reading me my rights."

"True," Oscar said. His phone rang. Oscar picked it up, noticed the incoming number and looked at Liz. "Excuse me, please, duty is calling."

"By all means," she said.

"Hey, Bill, what's up?" Oscar asked.

"We got Mona," Bill said. "Unfortunately, she's dead now."

"What happened?" Oscar asked.

"We got a good make on her location, officers closed in and she pulled a gun on them," Bill said. "They had no choice but to take her down. From what I heard, she was gut-shot. She lasted for a bit, but didn't make it. She managed to implicate Liz, Nina Carlilse and a few others before she died."

"I guess that's that," Oscar said, watching Liz carefully.

"Pretty much," Bill said. "Are you still on your date with the First Lady?"

"Yeah," Oscar said.

"Okay, let me know when you have that loose end tied up," Bill said.

"Will do," Oscar said in response before hanging up.

After ending the call, Oscar sent a text to Kyle: "Stand by. Monitor video for cue." He got an immediate response: "Copy that."

Oscar turned on his phone's camera, set it so that it would stream to Kyle, placed it in his pocket and addressed Liz. He smiled to himself, knowing that Kyle would get a good look at her near-nude body.

"Sorry about that little interruption," Oscar said.

"No problem," Liz said. "I understand when duty calls." Oscar nodded.

"Interesting you mentioning your sister," he said. Liz perked up at that. "You know, Mona Larsen. Turns out she did something really bad. You see, she pulled a gun on federal officers and, well, got shot. I'm told she was shot in the abdomen - a bad way to go if you ask me. But before she died, she implicated you, Nina Carlilse and others. I guess she figured that if she was going down, others were going with her."

"You bastard," Liz snarled, her face turning red. "You knew Mona was my sister?"

"Yes, Liz, I confirmed it earlier today," Oscar said.

"You know, I was going to give you the best night of your life," she said. Oscar picked up his flute.

"I suspect it would also have been the last night of my life," he said. "Am I right? You know, you really should cover up a bit. You see, any minute now, there's going to be a lot of federal agents come through that door and they're going to arrest you. I don't think you'd want your body on display for CNN now, would you?

"Now, before I have you arrested, Liz, I'd like an answer to just one question," Oscar said.

"What's that?" Liz said as she closed her robe and placed her hands in the pockets.

"Why?" Oscar asked. "You had it all. You're married to the most powerful man on earth, you could have your pick of any man you want, you basically have it all."

"That's easy, Mr. Midwest-values-with-kids," she said sarcastically. "Power. In Washington, everything is about power. I loved my sister, but she was drunk on it. She became an ideologue. She wanted to change all of society. Me, I just wanted the power. And I would have gotten it. Until you came along."

At that moment, she pulled her hands out of her pockets, opened a vial she had stashed in her robe and swallowed it. At the same time, she grabbed Oscar's flute and drank the entire glass of champagne. Her face immediately turned white and her eyes bulged. Before Oscar could react, she had already fallen on the floor.

"Get in here, now," Oscar ordered, directing his voice to his phone. Immediately, the doors flew open and federal agents, led by Kyle, stormed into the room, but it was too late. By the time they arrived at the table, Liz was already dead. Kyle put on a pair of latex gloves and picked up the now-empty vial. He placed it in an evidence bag and handed it to Oscar.

"Whatever this was, you know she intended it for you," he said. Oscar nodded.

"I know," he said. "I'll have our lab analyze this and get the results back to you."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that," Kyle said. By now, Lincoln Skaggs entered the room. He broke into tears upon seeing his wife's body on the floor.

"Did you have to kill her?" he asked Oscar.

"She did it to herself," Oscar said. "I have it along with her confession on video. Would you like to see it?" Lincoln shook his head.

"No," he said. He cradled her head for a moment before Kyle pulled him back up.

"Mr. President, we don't know what she used to commit suicide, but it appears to be fast-acting. It's best if you not touch her body until we know it's safe," he said. The president nodded his head in understanding then turned to Oscar.

"Is the threat over? Have all the others been caught?" he asked.

"Her sister was shot resisting arrest," Oscar said. "She pulled a weapon on federal agents. Others are being rounded up now. As far as I know, the threat has been neutralized."

"Thank you, Oscar," he said quietly before leaving the room.

Oscar briefed Kyle about the dinner and prepared to leave. Kyle reached out and shook his hand.

"You know, if you ever get tired of chasing after whacked-out wives, come look me up," he said. Oscar smiled.

"Thanks, Kyle, I appreciate that. It's been a pleasure working with you," he said.

Oscar made his way back to the Lincoln Bedroom and called Bill to brief him on the evening's events.

"Good job, Oscar," Bill said. "We'll take it from here. Right now, though, you need to get back to base."

"What's going on?" Oscar asked.

"It's Renee. And it's serious," Bill said. That's all Oscar needed to hear. He packed his clothes, took one last look at the room and headed out.

He arrived at Fort Apache a few hours later and met Bill, who escorted him to the secure medical facility.

"Oscar," Bill began, "Renee's been diagnosed with a very aggressive brain cancer. I didn't mention it before because I needed you to focus on the job. They found it during her six-month scan. From what I've been told, she has days, maybe a couple weeks. And she's been asking for you."

"What the hell?" Oscar asked. "Didn't they spot it before?"

"There was no sign of it six months ago," Bill said. "She began complaining of headaches a few months back so they gave her the usual medications, but they got worse. Whatever this was started getting real aggressive just recently."

By now, they had made it to Renee's room. The kids were already there and were waiting for their father before entering the room. She had lost weight, her eyes appeared sunken and her skin had taken on a yellowish tint. Oscar approached the side of her bed and took her hand.

"Oscar," she whispered, smiling. "I'm so glad you could make it. I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm going to see the kids graduate from high school."

"You're going to make it," he said, trying to encourage her. It didn't work. She shook her head.

"No, baby, I'm not," she said. "I want to clear the air before I go, though."

"What do you mean?" Oscar asked.

"I need to tell you something before I go. You were the best husband and father a woman could ever want. I love you so much and yet, I hurt you so bad. I'm sorry," she said, tears running down her face.

"Okay, Renee, I know MMAS messed your mind up," Oscar said. Renee shook her head, crying even more.

"No, Oscar, I have something to say and I know it will hurt, but I can't take this to the grave. I have to get it off my chest. Before I went to that retreat I cheated on you. Several times. I don't know why I did it but I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?" she asked.

Oscar couldn't believe what he was hearing. He never would've thought that Renee would cheat on him, but here she was admitting to it. Hot tears flowed down his face. He stood and looked at Bill, shaking his head.

"Kids, come talk to your mother," he told them, motioning for Bill and the doctor to step into the hallway.

"Is it possible she's hallucinating all this?" Oscar asked. The doctor shrugged his shoulders.

"It's impossible to say," he told Oscar. "We know she was dosed with all kinds of mind-altering chemicals so anything is possible. The bottom line is that it's real to HER, so in her mind at least, it actually happened."

"Is there anything that can be done?" Oscar asked. The doctor shook his head.

"No, Oscar, there's not," he said. "This thing is growing even as we speak. I've never seen anything like it. It's literally consuming her brain cells and it's doing so with increasing speed. Frankly, I'm surprised she can even talk."

"How long does she have?" Bill asked.

"Yesterday, I would have said maybe days or weeks. Now, I think we're looking at hours, if that. Her body is already shutting down and soon, her entire brain will be consumed. I don't think she'll make it through the night," he said. "Frankly, she may not make it through this conversation." Bill looked at Oscar.

"Well, my friend, you have a big decision. Do you love her enough to forgive her?" he asked.

Oscar knew he had loved her enough to perhaps take a chance on her one more time, but that was before this revelation. What could he do, though? Divorce her? He had already done that. Kill her? She was already dying and could be dead any minute now. She had already been thrown in prison.

And he knew that if he didn't forgive her, it could become a stumbling block in his relationship with the kids, who were now crying as they told her goodbye.