He pulled the phone out of his pocket and was about to smash it in the alley when Logan stopped him.
“Don’t,” he said. “Let them follow us. It’s perfect.”
“Okay,” Chad said.
“What’s the location of that facility?” Logan asked.
Chad recounted the landmarks he remembered, giving Logan all the information that he could. Logan typed all the information into his phone, sending out a mass text and putting the phone back in his pocket.
“Come on,” Logan told Chad. “We need to get back to that facility, and we need your help.”
Chad nodded. He didn’t want to go back, but he was the only one that had been on the inside, and he knew vital information that Logan and Maci didn’t. The three of them stepped out of the alley, and Maci went to a navy-blue truck, opening the back door and getting in. Chad got in with her, surprised to see two familiar faces in the front seat of the truck.
“Sara, Sam, wow, it’s good to see you two,” Chad said.
Sara reached out and took Chad’s hand, squeezing reassuringly and smiling at him.
“We are so glad you’re alive,” she said, unshed tears making her dark brown eyes shine. “I was afraid we wouldn’t get here in time.”
“It seems like getting here just in time is your specialty.”
Sam laughed from the front seat, starting the truck and guiding it through the streets, heading for the facility with little direction from Chad.
“You know them?” Maci asked Chad.
“I’ve known them most of my life,” Chad said. “Sam and Sara saved my life and took me in when I had nowhere else to go.”
“Wait, what?” Maci said. “How could that happen?”
“We found him wandering in the woods when he was around five, crying and lost,” Sara offered.
“Didn’t you try to find his parents?” she said, then regretted her tone. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound that way.”
“It’s alright,” Sam said. “It’s a valid question. Sara was pregnant with Logan at the time, and we had gone into town for some baby supplies, and we found him wandering around on a trail. He was hungry and tired and had nothing but a little backpack and a jacket that was in the bag. We looked for his parents, and when we finally tracked them down after Chad was able to give us their names, we found out that they had left him there on purpose.”
“What?” Maci said. “How could anyone do that to their child?”
“They were addicts, and while that doesn’t automatically make people bad, of course, these were bad people. They didn’t want children and never did. Chad was too much trouble, and getting him ready to catch the bus to kindergarten was cutting into their fun. They decided to take him to Shenandoah and pretend that he had gotten separated from them.”
“Chad, that is awful,” Maci said, looking at him with a sadness he’d never seen in her eyes. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. I understand. I had parents that didn’t care about me and thought I was a nuisance. I don’t understand how you didn’t end up in foster care.”
“Sam and I told them that we wouldn’t turn them in if they would leave him with us.”
“And they just walked away?” Maci was still shocked. “Even knowing that there are parents out there like mine, I don’t understand how someone could just walk away.”
She turned to Chad.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. You must have been so frightened.”
“It worked out. I lived with Sam and Sara and the rest of their family until I turned eighteen, when I went to college. Then I left college to be on my own and live with other humans. I go back every few years, but now that I’m in the FBI, I have to be careful. If they found out that the people I consider family are shifters, it could end my career.”
She looked shocked. Chad watched her expression change as she looked at Logan, and he knew then that she and Logan were more than just fugitives together. Something had changed, but he wasn’t going to bring it up until he got his friend alone.
“I didn’t think about it affecting my career,” Chad heard her say quietly to Logan.
“Let’s not worry about that now,” Logan said, his voice that same constant calm that Chad had come to rely on in an emergency situation. “Let’s worry about the clones now, and we’ll worry about other things later.”
Chad watched Maci’s face in the dark, but she didn’t seem satisfied with Logan’s answer.
He tore his gaze away from what was going on with the two of them, looking at the street ahead and leaning forward so that he was close to Sam.
“It’s down this street. You don’t have to go right up to the gate because those trees right there go through to the parking lot and the side door.”
“They didn’t think this through, I guess,” Sam said, amused.
“The facility holds people in and is hidden by all those trees. I think it served a purpose, but you’re right, they could have picked somewhere much more secure.”
“I hope it’s not a trap,” Maci said.
Four heads swiveled in her direction.
“I think she’s right,” Chad said. “It was almost a little too easy to get away.”
Sam turned down the next road, then pulled to a stop and killed the lights but left the engine running.
“Do you think it’s a trap?” Sam asked.
“Now that she mentions it, what else could it be?” Chad said. “I’m so foolish. I led them right to you, and you right to them.”
Logan was already on the phone, texting the group to let them know to abort and regroup. He sighed when everyone responded that they understood.
“It’s just like I was telling you about the 1920’s,” Logan said to Maci. “The mental health facility is a distraction.”
“I can’t believe we almost fell right into their trap,” she said.
“Chad, give me Maci’s phone and your burner,” Logan said, holding out his hand and yanking Chad out of his thoughts as he watched Maci and Logan interact.
Chad did as he asked and handed over both. Logan rolled down the window and threw them as hard as he could, sending them sailing over the fence and behind one of the quiet houses on the street.
“Dad, drive to the White House. We are going to go see the President, and he’s not here. I’ll text everyone where to meet and have them hang back.”
“So, we are just going in there, guns blazing?” Maci asked.
“No,” Logan said. “We aren’t going anywhere. You’re staying here with my parents, and Chad and I are going in.”
“You’re not going without me,” Maci said, her face set.
Chad knew that look, and it appeared that Logan did, too. He also knew that he didn’t want to get involved in this.
“Logan, can I use your phone?”
Logan handed it over, and Chad sent a quick text, adding numbers he was shocked to have memorized to the recipients and sending it out to over twenty people. He hoped he got the numbers right, but it didn’t matter. If strangers showed up, cameras in hand, the end result would be the same.
“Maci, we don’t have time to discuss this. But I need you safe, and I can’t do this if I’m worried about you.”
“Then don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. Archer is my friend, and I’m not going to hide while we protect him.”
Her head was titled, her posture defensive and firm. She wasn’t going to back down.
“Maci, please,” Logan said.
“At the very least, wait until they get into the White House and the rest of us engage,” Sam said from the front seat. “Then, you can go in when it’s safer and still have a chance to save your friend.”
Maci looked at Sam, then back at Logan and Chad before she finally took a deep breath.
“I can do that,” she said, begrudgingly.
“I can live with that,” Logan said.
“Alright,” Chad began, “we need a plan.”
Maci and Logan listened carefu
lly as he laid it all out, starting with gaining entry and working through who would cover what. By the time he was done going over the quick plan with Maci and Logan, Chad was feeling really good about their chances of coming out of this alive. And that was good because there were things that he needed to tell Maci, and now was not the time.
“We’ll hang back,” Sam said. “That way, if we have to retreat, there’s at least one vehicle ready to take off.”
“Thank you,” Chad said, and he meant it. “And thank you, for everything. I know that thank you isn’t enough to pay you back for everything that you’ve ever done for me, but it’s a start.”
“You don’t have to thank us,” Sara said. “You were the perfect addition to our family, and you’ll never stop being family to us.” She reached out and smoothed her hand across Chad’s cheek like she had done when he was a little boy. “I’m so proud of the man you’ve grown into. Both of you boys.”
Logan and Chad stood, each of them kissing Sara on the cheek before they piled out of the truck. Chad turned away when Logan grabbed Maci for a quick kiss before releasing her and sliding out of the truck.
Logan handed him a gun, and they headed toward the gate.
“So, we are just going to walk in?” Logan asked.
“Not exactly,” he said. “But I can tell you right now, the Archer clone is going to want to do this inside and not here in front of the White House.”
“How can you be so sure?” Logan asked.
Chad smiled, pointing to where a group of people were waiting, cameras in hand and a score of news vans behind them.
“Because it’s either let us in to talk, or I’ll go on live television and tell everyone exactly what is going on.”
“You’re savage,” Logan said, laughing as the reporters rushed forward, instantly recognizing the man that had tried to assassinate the President and one of the SS agents that had helped take him down.
Chad addressed the crowd, smiling at the reporters.
“Thank you for coming,” he said over the murmuring of the crowd while the Secret Service agents stood in front of the gate looking baffled. “I have some great and important news to share with you, but I want to give President Johnson a chance to discuss things with us man to man before we reveal his secret to you all. If I don’t come out soon, a female agent will be coming to you to tell you what has been going on in our capitol. Don’t leave. You’re not going to want to miss this.”
He turned his back as the reporters erupted with questions from all directions. Chad walked up to the agent at the gate, a man that he knew quite well.
“Keith, I need to see Archer. If he wants me to tell the world what’s going on, tell him that is fine. But I’d rather talk to him in private.”
Keith looked like a deer in headlights, not sure what to do. Chad shook his head, trying not to get angry at the man for having an understandable reaction to a crazy situation.
“Keith,” he said, snapping so that the man would pull himself out of his confusion. “Call Archer. Wake him up, and tell him that Chad is here to talk about clones.”
“Clones?” Keith said, more confused than ever.
“Yes, clones.”
CHAPTER 14
Maci watched the two men go through the gate and in through the front doors. She opened her door, about to slip out when Sam stopped her.
“Not yet,” he said.
“I’m not a fool. I know that you have no intention of letting me go until everything is done, and I’m telling you, I need to help Archer.”
“The Archer clone doesn’t have a scar. They can tell who is who.”
“What if the clone that Chad met in the facility has a scar now? Chad told him about the scar, thinking that he was the real thing. So, now he knows, and there’s no telling what they’ve done to make the clone Archer more real.”
“If he’s exactly the same, how are you going to know the difference?” Sara asked.
“I’ve known Archer my entire life. I know him better than anyone else does. Trust me, if anyone can figure out if it’s the real Archer Johnson, it’s me.”
“Logan doesn’t want you to go,” Sara said. “He’s afraid something is going to happen to you.”
“I’m not staying here,” she said defiantly.
“I told him you wouldn’t,” Sam said. “Leave it to my son to fall for a woman who is as stubborn as his sweet mother.”
Sara shot him a look, then looked back at Maci.
“Go,” she said. “Do what you need to do, and never apologize for being who you are.”
Maci didn’t need to be told twice. She got out of her seat, grabbing her gun and her badge and running toward the front gate. She held up her badge, and Keith waved her through, looking thoroughly defeated by the entire experience. Maci wanted to tell him that his job wasn’t on the line, but she didn’t have time to stop and explain things to him.
She ran so fast across the lawn and to the front doors that she felt like she was flying. Flashing her badge again to another pair of confused agents, she sailed through the door and followed the hallway through the mansion, listening carefully until she heard Archer’s voice down near the end of the hall where the Oval Office was located.
She slowed, walking quietly, her back against the wall and stopping just outside the door. The men were arguing loudly, and it sounded like it wasn’t just Archer in the room with Logan and Chad. Maci listened for a moment, then recognized the other voice. It was Leslie Franks, the Vice President, and he sounded scared.
She stepped out from around the corner, gun drawn, pointing it at Archer, who held Leslie at gunpoint while Logan and Chad covered him. She moved along the wall, out of their line of fire and into Archer’s sight.
“Put the gun down,” she said, her voice steady and calm.
“It’s me, Maci,” Archer said, looking at her with his striking blue eyes. “Maci, you have to believe me. Leslie is the bad guy. I’m the real Archer. Please. Maci.”
Maci looked at Archer, to Leslie and back again. Leslie was pale, trembling in Archer’s arms, the gun pressed to Leslie’s head, Archer’s strong arm holding Leslie up so that he blocked a headshot for both Chad and Logan.
“Logan?” Maci said, waiting for an answer.
“I don’t know, Maci. He seems to know an awful lot about you.”
“I’m the real Archer,” he insisted, but Maci wasn’t so sure.
“Help me,” Leslie said weakly, a single tear sliding down his face. “Please, I don’t want to die.”
“Let him go, Archer,” she said, pointing the gun at Archer’s head. “I have a clear shot, and if you know me that well, you know that I never miss.”
Archer took his eyes off Logan and Chad for a split second, looking at Maci as if she’d lost her mind then returning his attention back to them.
“Maci, don’t shoot me. I’m not letting Leslie go, he’s the-”
A door opened to the side and slightly behind Logan and Chad, and out stepped Archer, disheveled, hair a mess, and clothes filthy. He looked at Maci and smiled that reassuring smile that she’d known so well.
“Shoot him,” the second Archer said. “He’s not me. I’m the real me.”
“Prove it,” Maci said, still keeping her gun trained on the Archer that held the Vice President at gunpoint.
“Here’s my appendectomy scar,” the second Archer said, pulling up his shirt and showing the perfect scar. “It’s me. I promise.”
“Maci, he’s lying,” the first Archer said.
Maci shook her head, trying to think straight and go about this the most logical way possible.
“You could have had that lasered on,” she said to the second Archer. “Chad told them that the scar was what tipped us off.”
“But he never told them where the scar was,” the second Archer said, turning his attention to Chad. “Did you?”
“I didn’t,” Chad confirmed.
“Maci, please. Don’t do this. He’s lying. I have a sca
r, too.”
“Show me,” she said.
“I can’t. I can’t let Leslie go. He has the nuclear lance codes and the key that was given to my clone after I disappeared. He’s going to start a war. Maci, he’s crazy.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Leslie said. “You know me. I would never do such a thing. Look through my coat. I have nothing.”
“Maci, he released all the clones. They’re coming here, and they’re going to kill us all if they have to,” the first Archer said, still pressing the barrel of his gun to Leslie’s head. “We have to stop them, but if we wait too long and waste all this time arguing about who is who, we are all going to die, and Leslie is going to get away with everything. Ask me anything. Please.”
“Or ask me,” the second Archer said. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s toying with your emotions. You can’t even prove whether he’s got a scar or not. He’s using Leslie as a human shield and making crazy claims to try and confuse you. You’re smarter than that, Maci. Don’t fall for it.”
Maci nodded her head, leveling her gaze on the second Archer, standing by the door and looking like he’d just escaped from the jungle. He certainly looked the part, but the Archer who was holding the gun to Leslie’s head looked tired and disheveled as well. Addressing the first Archer, she thought long and hard before she asked him the question.
“When I was in kindergarten, you got your appendix removed. What grade were you in?”
“Sixth grade,” he said.
“And what did I bring you when I got home from school to make you feel better?”
“You brought some bandages and a plastic stethoscope to pretend to play doctor.”
She looked at the second Archer.
“What’s your answer?” she asked the second Archer.
“You brought me a handmade card that you finger painted to make me feel better.”
Maci turned back to the first Archer, shooting him in the head, reaching out to grab Leslie and pull him to her as the first Archer fell dead to the floor. The second Archer sighed in relief as Maci straightened out the vice president’s shirt and patted his shoulder.
The Wolf In The White House Page 15