Game Over by Fern Michaels Page A

inside the White House. The source is an aide to the president. The source said that since Christmas the presidential pardons for the girls have been on the president’s desk. As of yesterday, they’ve been relegated to a desk drawer. That’s one step away from being put into a file cabinet, which will then be moved to the bowels of the White House, never to see the light of day again. In other words, the president is reneging on her promise to grant the pardons.
    â€œIt seems on January second, the president had a meeting with her closest advisors, and it got extremely heated, with threatened resignations if she went through with the pardons. The advisors called granting the pardons political suicide. Did I mention that the pardons are signed? They are. Desperate to cover up, the president came up with the Supreme Court bit to tide her over until she can find a way out of her own mess. There is no appointment, Jack! Do you hear me, Maggie? It’s all a setup!”
    â€œMy God! You not only said whole sentences, but you said paragraphs…you…you silver-tongued orator, you!” Jack quipped.
    Maggie looked like she was in a daze as she poured coffee, got cream out of the refrigerator, and fumbled around in the cabinet for the sugar bowl. “It makes sense if you stop to think about it. But, how cruel to do that to Lizzie. They’re supposed to be friends. We damn well put her in the White House. This is definitely pissing me off, guys.”
    â€œSee, you still aren’t getting it,” said Harry. “Lizzie is not supposed to know anything about this. At least for the moment. At the appropriate time it will be leaked. The president has to appease Lizzie because she knows Lizzie is tied to the vigilantes. Connor either doesn’t understand or refuses to understand Lizzie’s loyalties to the girls.”
    â€œSo what do we do now?” Jack asked as he gulped at his coffee.
    â€œHow the hell am I supposed to know, Jack? I just delivered the news. You’re the one who always comes up with ideas and plans that don’t work,” Harry said as he, too, sipped at the strong coffee. He was going to ask for tea, but one look at Maggie’s face had told him not to bother.
    â€œWho’s going to tell Lizzie it was all a…a game?” Maggie asked.
    â€œDon’t look at me,” Harry said.
    â€œDon’t look at me, either. You’re the one who couldn’t wait to run to her house to tell her in the first place. Guess you’re it, Maggie,” Jack said.
    â€œI’m not telling Lizzie anything. At least not right now. First, I’m going to have Ted and Espinosa do a little fishing. Does either of you happen to know where Justice Leonard hangs his hat when he isn’t in Washington? And we’re going to want to know about his wife Florence’s medical condition. Once we have that information, we can go after him to find out what he was promised to take part in this little charade.”
    â€œHarry, did you tell Yoko you…uh…figured it out? Maggie, I have no clue about Justice Leonard. He could live in a tent, for all I know,” Jack said.
    â€œNo. Because I didn’t figure it out until after we hung up, and I was back to meditating,” Harry replied.
    â€œDamn good thing,” said Jack. “What that means is you can stay in the boys’ club. Shit! Do we call Cosmo or just hug this stuff to our breasts? What are we supposed to do with this information?”
    The trio looked at one another, their faces glum.
    Finally, Maggie said, “I don’t know.”
    Harry shrugged.
    â€œHarry, your best guess here. How long before Yoko puts it together and tells the girls?”
    Harry shrugged again.
    â€œThe girls are not going to like this one little bit. Whose side is Jellicoe on. Do we know?”
    â€œYoko said Lizzie’s side, which means our side. But he was conned, too, is what I’m