The 13: Fall Read Online Free

Those who sought to achieve great things, more often than not achieved great things. But those who sought to serve their fellow man achieved something that no title or amount of money could buy.
    He had been in his third year at Middle Tennessee State University when he met his wife. Tess, short for Tessania, had wrecked his world from the moment he laid eyes on her. He had been walking across campus with his head down when he ran into her. Literally. After he knocked her and her books to the ground, he bent down to help her pick up the mess, stringing together a line of apologies. That is, until he looked up and saw her for the first time. Her smile, her eyes, her hair, all captivated him and held his tongue ransom for words.
    She had finally broken the silence by introducing herself. He took her hand to shake it and noticed the book she had been holding. A Bible. Before he could turn and leave, she took the initiative and asked if he went to church. He told her that he had, sometimes. On Christmas and Easter, for sure. The look she had given him was one of pity. Then she invited him to a Bible study at a friend’s house that night. And the rest, as they say, is history.
    Twenty-eight years of marriage, a masters in public policy from Georgetown University and then a law degree from Pepperdine, three kids and a grandchild on the way, and two terms as governor of the great state of Tennessee later, Calvin Grant occupied the highest office of the land. And having just finished his morning quiet time in the scriptures, he was about to walk into a meeting that scared him for sure. One that he had asked for, but nevertheless the subject of this meeting shook him to his core. It would not be fun. For anyone present. For what he was about to suggest would immediately call into question his sanity, and quite possibly his ability to run the country.
    President Grant stepped out of the bathroom, bumping into the door frame, and back into the bedroom, where Tess was stirring.
    “You look beautiful this morning, darling.”
    “And you are still a handsome old klutz,” she said as she sat up smiling. “Come here and let me fix that tie. You can’t go anywhere looking like that.”
    President Grant shuffled over to the bed and sat down. He let Tess straighten the Windsor before he reached for her hands.
    “Pray with me, Tess. This meeting is going to get heated. Fast.”
    The seriousness was not lost on his wife. She held his face in her hands and said, “Calvin, you are the most God-honoring man I’ve ever met. You have been blessed by the Lord with this position. You and I both know that He has ordained this. Whether this guy from last night is a crazy person or for real, you are the right man to be in this office right now.
    You just go in that room and lead those men. Trust that God will give you wisdom. And at the end of the day, God’s will most definitely will prevail. Now, let’s pray.”
    Holding his wife’s hands in his, he bowed his head.

   CHAPTER 5   
    M egan Taylor sat in her green Volkswagen Bug on the DC beltway in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Not even seven a.m. and already traffic was backed up as far as the eye could see. Oh well, that’s what she got for living outside the city. Sure, rent was a lot cheaper, but some days she wondered if it was worth sitting for over an hour each way in this mess.
    It wasn’t like it truly mattered, though. She had no personal life. What life she did have, she spent losing countless hours of sleep, poring over data that was supposed to keep things like what happened last week with the CIA Black-Ops list from happening.
    Megan had known from the age of thirteen she wanted to be an FBI agent. She had read several novels depicting a heroine FBI agent who somehow always seemed to save the world right at the last minute. She was hooked after the first novel. She spent her teenage years learning everything she could about the Bureau. She became heavily entrenched in team