23 Days After the end of White Top
White TopWashington, DC
“Pull to the curb here!”
CIA Director Clarissa Reese’s driver obeyed and slid out of the thick Friday night traffic on Columbus Circle. He eased over a block shy of the George Hotel. The US Capitol Building glowed orange in the sunset; the sun still touched the bronze Statue of Freedom atop the dome so that it shone brighter than anything else in Washington, DC, despite the dark finish.
It was just as well; she didn’t want to face…anything.
“Pull yourself together, Clarissa.” Her self-instruction wasn’t helping. She’d been muttering some version of it over and over for the last month with minimal effect.
Her driver studiously ignored her. She’d long since made it clear that the last thing she needed was to interact with a sec
