“Mr. President, Detective Hayden is here.”
The President looked up and smiled. “Thanks Tom, I’ll take it from here.”
The Agent named Tom swiftly left us alone. I looked around the room and marveled at the Oval Office’s historical presence. It looked exactly as it does in the movies.
The President reached out his hand. “Thanks for taking my meeting.”
We shook.
“It’s a privilege, Sir.”
He motioned for us to sit.
On television, it’s always hard to gage the size of person. The President was smaller than what I thought he’d be. He probably stood close to six feet tall, with a slender build. Although he’s known to be a fitness fanatic, his muscles were lean and not thick. His hair was greyer than it looked on television. Funny thing, he’d only been in office for two years and before he took office, his hair was dark.
“I suppose you know the nature of what I want to talk to you about.”
“Yes, I suppose I do.”
“First off, I want to thank you for your heroism in saving my wife’s life. I fear if it wasn’t for your hard work, we wouldn’t have reached her in time.”
“No thanks needed Sir, I was just doing my job.”
“Well, a thanks is still in order.” His demeanor slightly changed when he spoke again. “Director Spellman briefed me on the reasons why this Jack Smith went after my wife in the first place. And I’ve got to admit that it’s very unsettling with me.”
I nodded.
“The First Lady is extremely sorry for her actions. The past few days, she’s been almost inconsolable.”
I nodded again.
“I know you were debriefed right after the situation occurred and you were told that this matter is highly classified. I trust you won’t divulge her past secret, but I just wanted to let you know how sorry she is.”
The President was looking at me straight in the eyes. He was a man of great confidence and persuasion, so when he stressed the word secret, I knew what he meant.
“I believe she is too.”
The President smiled. “Thank you again, Detective.”
We stood up and shook hands again and I turned and left the Oval Office.
Secret Service dropped me back home. I got out of the car and watched as they pulled away. I started walking to my door when my cell phone range. It was Agent Davis.
“Hey Jacob, just making sure you haven’t chickened out on our little date tonight.”
We’ve talked a couple of times since the incident. There was definitely a connection between us, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to take the next step. Theresa was still fresh in my mind. Agent Davis, I guess I should start referring to her as Jayden, and I spoke two days ago. She told me she had something to ask me but she wasn’t sure if she should. I told her it was okay to ask. She asked if I’d be willing to go to dinner with her. Not casual, like we’ve done in the past, but like a real date. I had thought about it and said why not. Well, tonight is the night and I was starting to have cold feet. She told me she would call the morning of the date to see if I was still interested. I was, but just a little nervous.
“I haven’t chickened out,” I said.
I started walking to my door when I saw an envelope lying on the welcome mat.
“Great, because I know this fantastic steak house on 11th Street,” she said.
“Sounds like you’ve got an appetite.”
I picked up the envelope and saw cut out letters that spelled my name on it. My pulse quickened. I turned around and looked out at the neighborhood. How long had I been gone? An hour at most. The envelope wasn’t here when I left the house with the Secret Service Agents.
Jayden was saying something into my ear, but I wasn’t paying attention. I tore open the envelope and inside was a folded piece of paper. I unfolded the piece of paper and read the note.
Detective Hayden,
Welcome back. You’ve fully recovered from your beating and now you’re ready for the game of all games. Prepare yourself, and get ready, for I only know of one speed: full speed. So sit back and enjoy the night, because come tomorrow, the two of us will be playing for Life or Death. And as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve never lost.
“Jesus.”
“What’s wrong?” Jayden asked.
“We’ve got a serious problem.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Remember I told you about the nut that left me some ridiculous note?”
“Yeah.”
“He just left another one that says the game starts tomorrow.”
“What? I’m coming over.”
She hung up. I stood on my front steps and read the note again. I looked around my neighborhood again and everything was peaceful and still. I wasn’t sure what my next move would be, but if this nut comes after me, I’ll be ready.
I went inside my house. Immediately after I closed the door, my cell phone rang. I looked at the number and saw that it was the station.
“Detective Hayden.”
“Jacob, it’s Hellsworth.”
“What’s up, Captain.”
There was a brief pause which wasn’t normal for the Captain. “I’m not sure how to tell you this so I’m just going to come out and say it.”
My pulse quickened a little. The Captain didn’t sound right.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s about the Rules’.”
My eyes widened. The Rules’ were a wealthy family in D.C. Their son was my best friend growing up in Maryland. Both of our families were extremely close. We all moved to the city about the same time.
“They’re all dead, Jacob. I’m sorry.”
“No.”
My legs felt weak. I wasn’t sure if they could hold me up. I somehow made it to the couch before they gave way.
“Captain…all of them?” My voice was shaky.
“I’m sorry, Jacob.”
I got ahold of myself. “How?”
“Why don’t you come to the station. We’ll talk then.”
“How did they die?” I asked again. Tears were streaming down my face.
Captain Hellsworth hesitated before answering. “They were executed, Jacob.”
Epilogue
Elizabeth Smith was in the kitchen rinsing off the morning dishes. Jack Smith’s second funeral was two days earlier. She cried just as hard as she did the first time when she thought that he was dead. She chose to have him cremated. That way, his ashes could stay with her until it was her time to see him again.
Susan Fowles had contacted her shortly after her meeting with the detectives. The two old friends talked a while, both apologizing for not being more in each other’s lives. Elizabeth tried to apologize for what Jack did to Gary, but Susan said that was for another time. Their conversations were going to be about them and how they could rekindle their friendship.
Elizabeth put the last dish in the dishwasher when her doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting company so of course a woman of her age would be a little hesitant with opening the door. She looked through the peephole and saw a man wearing a delivery person’s uniform.
“Can I help you?” she asked, raising her voice through the door.
“Yeah, I’ve got a delivery here for a Ms. Elizabeth Smith.”
“I’m not expecting any deliveries. Who’s it from?”
The man looked at a clipboard, “A Jack Smith.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened.
“Is this some kinda joke? Are you another one of those media people trying to get an interview?”
Once it was made public that Jack Smith was the one who kidnapped the First Lady, the media camped out in front of Elizabeth’s house for four days straight trying to get her to speak about her son. The only time she left the house was to go to Jack’s funeral.
“No, ma’am. I have an envelope with specific instructions that if it wasn’t picked up by yesterday’s date, it was supposed to be delivered to you.”
> Elizabeth hesitated. Could Jack really have sent her a delivery before he died? She slowly opened the door. The man smiled and handed her a manila envelope.
“Ma’am.”
She took the envelope from the man’s hands.
“Please sign here and I’ll be on my way.”
She signed a page on the clipboard and the man turned and headed for his vehicle.
Elizabeth’s hands shook. She pulled a knife from a drawer in the kitchen and tore open the envelope. She pulled out a white piece of paper with Jack’s handwriting. On the paper was a website address and a note that read: Elohssa was a rolling stone!
She recognized the reference from The Temptations’ famous song, Papa was a Rolling Stone. It was one of her favorite songs growing up and a title that she gave to Jack’s father. Jack knew all about what his father did and the reason he wasn’t in his life.
Elizabeth walked to the spare room that doubled as an office. For a woman of her age, she knew computers fairly well. She fired up her computer and went online. She typed in the web address and the homepage for the Bank of the Cayman’s came up. She looked at the note. Oh, Jack, she thought, you make this too easy.
After Jack was killed, Elizabeth watched as the TV personalities from the various networks tried to figure out why Jack had stolen all that money if what he really was after was the First Lady. They had their theories, some even sounded plausible. Even when Detective Hayden contacted her after the incident and gave his theories, Elizabeth just sat back and listened. She said, “Could Jack have really done that?” or, “I can’t believe Jack could do such a thing.” But the one thing that everyone failed to take into consideration was that Jack wasn’t really the brains behind the whole operation.
Elizabeth moved her cursor to the part where you put in your I.D. and password. Jack set up the account so Elizabeth knew he’d use the I.D. johnnyL005er, which looked like Johnny Looser, which he was. Then she looked at Jack’s handwritten note and moved the cursor to the password. She almost laughed out loud when she typed in the password. If Jack wasn’t anything, he definitely had a sense of humor. The homepage changed to the personal account page. She looked at the account balance and her smile grew even wider. That’s right, she thought, Asshole was a rolling stone. But the one good thing he did, Jack’s father Johnny that is, before Elizabeth shot him in the back of the head for cheating on her with a young secretary named Melinda Gomez, was teach her how to rob banks.
The End
Other Books by Charles Prandy
Jacob Hayden Series
The Avenged - Book 1
Behind the Closed Door – Book 2
The Game of Life or Death – Book 3
Within – Book 4
Stand Alone Novels
The Last of the Descendants
To be notified of future works by Charles, please go to www.charlesprandy.com.
Table of Contents
Part One
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Thirty-nine
Forty
Forty-one
Forty-two
Forty-three
Part Two
Forty-four
Forty-five
Forty-six
Forty-seven
Forty-eight
Forty-nine
Fifty
Fifty-one
Fifty-two
Fifty-three
Fifty-four
Fifty-five
Fifty-six
Fifty-seven
Fifty-eight
Fifty-nine
Sixty
Sixty-one
Sixty-two
Sixty-three
Sixty-four
Sixty-five
Part Three
Sixty-six
Sixty-seven
Sixty-eight
Sixty-nine
Seventy
Seventy-one
Seventy-two
Seventy-three
Seventy-four
Seventy-five
Seventy-six
Seventy-seven
Seventy-eight
Behind the Closed Door: A Detective Series of Crime and Suspense Thrillers (The Jacob Hayden Series Book 2) Page 20