Enemies Domestic
By John DeDakis
Excerpt: Chapter 1 of Enemies Domestic, a political thriller by John DeDakis. White House Press Secretary Lark Chadwick faces reporters for the first time.
Chapter 1
This is a dumb idea.
That thought kept repeating itself as I stood next to President Will Gannon at the podium in the White House briefing room. No fewer than a hundred of my former colleagues eyed the president and me.
“Good morning, everyone,” the president began. “The recent murder of my press secretary Ron McClain has left a massive hole in my staff. As I said in my statement last week, his loss is devastating. That’s why, during this emergency, I’ve asked my trusted friend Lark Chadwick to be Ron’s replacement.”
I was doing my best to keep my face impassive, but my stomach was churning—and not just because of my recurring morning sickness.
A week ago, I’d been sitting in the most coveted seat in this briefing room—front row center—as the White House Correspondent for the Associated Press. Now I was about to be the voice of the presidency to my former colleagues, most of whom have advanced degrees in public policy and, in some cases, decades of experience covering politics.
This is a dumb idea.
I spoke those exact words to President Gannon two days earlier when he offered me the gig. I’d just left my AP job and we were working together on the biography I’m ghostwriting for him about his wife who’d died recently of pancreatic cancer. The working title is Realist: The Life of Rose Gannon.
I was sitting in the Oval Office on one of the two cream-colored sofas while Will paced in front of the iconic Resolute Desk. He prefers I call him “Will” when we’re alone because he says he considers me his “First Friend” since Rose died suddenly a month ago.
At the time, her loss was an emotional body-blow for him, but he seemed to be bouncing back better than I was after my boyfriend Doug Mitchell died in February—five days after Valentine’s Day.
“Lark,” Will said, “I’ve been thinking about it, and I want you to be my press secretary.”
“What?” Shocked, I looked up from my yellow legal pad. “Why?”
“You’d be perfect for the job. You know every journalist in the room, and you know their needs. Plus, you’re tremendously popular right now.”
That’s because two weeks earlier he and I had made a joint appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee in which we forcefully and dramatically put to rest a smear campaign of fake news that had been launched against us.
I shook my head vigorously. “With all due respect, Mr. President, I think this is a dumb idea.”
“You’ll be great.” His voice oozed enthusiasm.
“You know I’ve got a short fuse and anger issues, right?”
He waved me off. “Yes. You’re passionate. That’s a plus.”
We went back and forth about it for a few minutes, but Gannon’s a persuasive guy. That’s why he was elected president six months earlier. That’s why his positives are above seventy percent in the polls right now.
“The country needs you, Lark.” He paused and his voice softened. “I need you.”
I gritted my teeth and shook my head. “Look,” I sighed, “we’re under contract to turn in the manuscript of Rose’s biography in nine months. How about I do the press secretary gig on an interim basis until you can get someone more qualified to do the job?”
“Deal. But, for the record: I believe you’re perfectly qualified.” He extended his massive hand.
I stood, shook it, but added, “I still think it’s a dumb idea.”
“Duly noted,” said the Leader of the Free World.
Now, as Gannon was saying all kinds of wonderful things about me to the White House press corps, I prepared myself to face their questions for the first time.
Gannon turned to me and stepped back. “So, Lark, I’ll get out of your way and let you do your job.” He gestured grandly. “The podium is yours.”
To my surprise, my former colleagues applauded.
That eased my nervousness but, as I watched Gannon head toward the pocket door into the lower press office, I had mixed emotions. His departure was a strong affirmation of his trust in me to be his spokesperson, but I also felt lost at sea with the sharks circling.
As is always the case whenever the president is within earshot, reporters shouted questions at him about the latest rumor. One question stood out:
“Mr. President,” a network correspondent in the front row asked, “is it true you’re planning to nominate a woman to the Joint Chiefs of Staff?”
Gannon didn’t pause or look back. He’d said his piece and would not be suckered into overshadowing his message: Lark Chadwick, 29, political neophyte, bumpkin from Wisconsin, had just been named White House Press Secretary.
I opened my briefing book, took a deep breath, and squinted into the bright lights.
This is a dumb idea, I said to myself.
“I’m much more comfortable asking questions than answering them,” I said to the ocean of upturned faces. “But I’ll do my best. Fire away.”
It seemed as though everyone raised their hand and shouted my name at once.
“Lark!”
“Lark!”
“Lark!”
Even though the tradition is to begin with the front row, I have a soft spot in my heart for backbenchers, so I pointed blindly to a guy standing in the rear next to the wall on the Rose Garden side.
Big mistake.
Award-winning novelist John DeDakis is a former editor on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." DeDakis is the author of five novels in the Lark Chadwick mystery-suspense-thriller series. Book 6, Enemies Domestic, a political thriller, was released July 4, 2024. DeDakis, a former White House correspondent, is also a writing coach, manuscript editor, and host of the podcast “One-to-One.” Website: www.johndedakis.com
