The President's Daughter: A Thriller

Immediately after making his vow, Keating explains his plan to Agent Stahl. He intends to exact vengeance on everyone involved in Mel’s death, and he will act without official sanction. Stahl, insisting that his own career is over, seeks justice and declares that he will join the mission.

Keating accepts Stahl’s help and outlines his needs, including burner phones, credit cards, and specialized equipment. Stahl reveals he already suspected Keating was preparing for a mission, having heard him dry-firing weapons in a shed. Expressing his gratitude, Stahl places a hand on Keating’s shoulder before going to make preparations. With his first ally secured, a resolved Keating decides it is time to get back to work.

While checking the perimeter, Stahl notes the arrest of a tabloid photographer. Inside, Madeline Perry confronts Stahl, revealing that she overheard his conversation with Keating.

Madeline argues against the unsanctioned mission. She worries it will derail Keating’s unwritten memoir, whose advance is intended to fund a veterans’ foundation. Stahl counters that the professionals have failed to locate Al-Asheed. He defends Keating’s decision, asserting that the former president cannot be stopped and is driven by a father’s need for justice.

That evening, Keating begins planning his operation. Using a burner phone, he calls Danny Cohen, the retired head of Mossad. Keating requests all available intelligence on Al-Asheed, and Cohen agrees.

Keating’s second call is to Ahmad Bin Nayef, a former Saudi intelligence official, with the same request. Ahmad offers to dispatch his own team, but Keating insists he must do it personally. Respecting his wish, Ahmad agrees to provide intelligence. After the calls, Keating reflects on the irony that former adversaries are now united in helping him.

At two o’clock in the morning Montana time, Keating calls Trask Floyd, a former Navy SEAL who is now a movie director. Keating requests two trusted operators for his mission. Floyd volunteers himself, but Keating turns him down, explaining that his public profile is a liability. Instead, he asks Floyd to provide two other men and arrange financial support. Floyd agrees.

After the conversation, Keating meticulously destroys the burner phone and SIM card. He walks to the lake and throws the pieces into the water. Standing on the dock, he touches the ring that belonged to his daughter, which he keeps in his pocket, and reaffirms his vow.

Agent Brett Peyton confronts Stahl at the Keating compound, questioning his professionalism. Stahl dismisses the younger agent and drives into town. In the parking lot of a general store, a destitute former professor named Rodney Pace waits, having driven from Baltimore with vital information for Keating.

Out of money, Pace grows desperate and decides to force a meeting. He watches Stahl exit a vehicle and walk toward the store. Believing this is his only chance, Pace approaches Stahl, his hand gripping an old revolver hidden in his pocket.

Seeing Rodney Pace approach with a concealed hand, David Stahl identifies him as a threat. As Pace reaches for the revolver, Stahl strikes his hand with a baton, disarming him. Stahl subdues and handcuffs Pace, who explains he is a former professor who once taught Stahl.

Stahl recognizes the name. Pace insists he has crucial information about Keating’s daughter. He relays his findings to Stahl, whose demeanor changes from suspicion to shock. Stahl immediately removes the handcuffs, cancels his call for backup, and rushes Pace into his vehicle, speeding back to the compound.

That evening, Stahl brings Keating to the basement to meet Professor Rodney Pace, a forensics expert. Stahl insists Keating view evidence on Pace’s laptop. Keating reluctantly agrees and watches the silent video of his daughter’s beheading.

Pace directs Keating’s attention to the final seconds, pointing out the blood spatter. He explains that the spray pattern is inconsistent with arterial blood from a living person; instead, the blood appears to have been stored. Pace concludes his analysis by telling the stunned former president that the beheading video is a fake.

A shocked Keating demands a more detailed explanation. Professor Pace elaborates on fluid dynamics, suggesting that the blood used in the video may not be human. The mention of special effects triggers a memory for Keating from an intelligence briefing: Al-Asheed’s cousin, Faraj, attended film school.

Hope warring with skepticism, Keating restarts the video. He has Pace freeze the opening shot and focuses on the rock formation in the background, realizing it lacks the vegetation of New Hampshire. Believing Mel could be alive, he becomes determined to identify the video’s filming location.

Around nine o’clock in the evening, Professor Trent Youngblood, a geology expert, is startled by a late-night visitor at his home in Enfield, New Hampshire. He retrieves a revolver, then answers the door and is immediately tackled and disarmed by Secret Service agents. Keating appears, apologizes, and asks for his help.

In his office, Youngblood examines an image of the rock formation from the video and confirms that it cannot be in New England. He consults his grandfather’s old field notes and finds a matching photograph. He identifies the location as the Nafusa Mountains in Libya.

At five o’clock in the morning Samantha is woken by a knock at her motel room in Hitchcock, Maine. She finds her husband, who tells her he thinks Mel is still alive. He explains the evidence that proves the execution video was a fake filmed in Libya.

Samantha realizes that a floatplane must have been used to transport Mel to an airport. She trusts Keating’s intelligence and agrees that keeping this knowledge from the US government provides a strategic advantage. As Matt vows to bring their daughter home, Samantha gives him her full blessing to rescue Mel and kill Al-Asheed.

Returning from Maine, an exhausted David Stahl is confronted on the dock by Agent Brett Peyton. Peyton criticizes the unsanctioned trip and accuses Stahl of being too emotionally close to Keating. He tells Stahl that the entire original detail should resign to avoid being fired.

Stahl provides a cover story but refuses to back down. He defends his loyalty to Keating and informs Peyton that neither of them are quitters. He then walks away, solidifying his commitment to Keating’s mission.

On Sunday morning at a church pancake breakfast, Keating helps serve food. David Stahl quietly leads him to a table where two men sent by Trask Floyd are waiting. The men identify themselves as active-duty Navy SEALs on leave. Keating informs them that the mission is an illegal rescue in Libya, and they reaffirm their commitment.

The men introduce themselves as Alejandro Lopez and Chief Nick Zeppos. Keating recognizes Zeppos as the SEAL Team leader from a failed raid to capture Al-Asheed two years earlier. Zeppos acknowledges his past failure and vows that this time, he will not miss.

The next morning, Agent Brett Peyton and his partner are on the detail assigned to take Keating, David Stahl, and Nicole Washington to a diner. Peyton and his partner secure the perimeter while the others go inside.

After more than an hour passes with no response, Peyton enters the diner. A waitress directs him to the basement, where he finds an empty cellar and a door leading to a Prohibition-era smuggling tunnel. The waitress hands Peyton an envelope left by Keating. After reading the letter, Peyton realizes that the former president and his loyal agents have escaped.

In a motel room, Keating, Stahl, Alejandro Lopez, and Nick Zeppos plan their insertion into Libya. Keating notes that Agent Washington is driving away with their trackable electronics as a decoy. He believes the administration will suppress news of his disappearance, buying them time.

Zeppos suggests entering Libya via Tunisia, and Keating identifies Pease Air National Guard Base as the departure point. Their planning is interrupted by a knock at the door. Stahl opens it to find a young woman who introduces herself as Claire Boone from the National Security Agency.

Boone explains that she tracked the team by analyzing data anomalies and confirms that DC has no actionable intelligence on Mel’s location. She has already identified a KC-135 tanker scheduled to depart from Pease that will serve as transportation.

When Keating questions her motives, Claire shows him a photograph of herself with Mel, revealing that they were close friends. As an NSA field operative, she insists on joining the mission to help avenge her friend. Keating agrees and asks her to find a specific phone number for him.

At the Pentagon, Secretary of the Air Force Kimberly Bouchard receives a call from Keating. A flashback reveals that three years prior, then-President Keating had saved her nomination after a past gambling addiction was leaked. Now, Keating requests a favor: passage for his five-person team on a KC-135 tanker leaving Pease, diverted to a base in Tunisia.

Without hesitation, Secretary Bouchard agrees, viewing it as a chance to repay her debt. She immediately begins making the arrangements.

At the motel, Keating informs the team their transport is secured. He steps into the bathroom to call Samantha, who is at Dulles Airport. He updates her on the team’s progress and their imminent flight, and they exchange words of support.

Keating promises Samantha he will not return without their daughter. After ending the call, he prepares to leave with the team. As he does, he contemplates one final call he must make to settle accounts before they depart.