by Krista McGee
Addy sucked in her breath so loudly, she was sure the men at the other table would hear. The assassins at the other table. Men who wanted to kill Jonathon, then kill his father. Addy thought she was going to pass out. Mike’s hand on her knee warned her to remain quiet. He leaned in closer and pulled out his phone, activating the voice recorder.
“Yes, we’re getting paid to hit the president,” the man in the gray sweater said in a hoarse whisper. “But first we get the kid—we don’t kill him, just hurt him. That puts him in the nearest hospital, where we also have a guy on the inside. That’s how we get the president.”
“What about Secret Service? Won’t they be all over him? Especially if his son was just attacked?”
“That’s why we set this up as a crazed fan attacking the kid. Nothing at all to do with politics. The kid gets hit because he’s on that dumb show. Perfect cover. The dad is too worried about his son to beef up his own security, he goes into the hospital, and wham! We got him.”
“All right.” The guy in the hooded sweatshirt shoved the silent man next to him. “Got it, Georgie? This is all you once we’re in.”
Georgie grunted and the men’s waiter came up to take their order.
Mike turned off his recorder, hit the wrong button, and was answered with a loud beep. The men jumped up and peered over the bushes at Addy and Mike. Addy’s heart began to beat so quickly, she could barely catch her breath.
Mike looked down at his phone and drawled, “Dang cell phone. I just got her yesterday and I can’t do a thing with her. I’m trying to get ahold of my boss, and it keeps beeping on me. I’m gonna go deaf. You boys know anything about these kinds of cell phones?” He held his phone out to them.
The men looked at Mike, at each other, then sat back down without saying a word. Mike, staying in character, made a snide comment about “rude Yankees,” paid the bill, and walked—slowly—out of the restaurant.
Addy followed Mike’s lead, her head down with the bright orange bill from her cap hiding her beet-red face. She forced herself to breathe in and breathe out as they made their way to Mike’s car.
Once inside, Addy exploded. “Mike, they’re going to—Jonathon—the airport—tomorrow is Sunday.” She couldn’t continue. Mike squeezed her shoulder as he pulled out of the parking lot and dialed Eric’s number.
Ten minutes later a plan was in place. Addy and Mike were on their way to a secure location to give the recording and their statement to the Secret Service. Eric was meeting with the security officers at The Mansion.
The place was empty because the girls were all in Dallas for the week’s shoot. Addy hadn’t been able to go because of her spider bite.
You even orchestrated that, God. If I hadn’t been in the hospital, Mike and I never would have been in the restaurant today, and this plan may have actually taken place.
“Now, Addy, listen to me,” Mike said as they made their way inside. “This has to stay quiet. You can’t tell anybody. Not Lexi, not Kara, especially not Jonathon.”
“But why?” Addy bit her lip. “Shouldn’t the First Family know about this?”
“The president knows. But he doesn’t want to worry the others. And he doesn’t want word of this to leak. This is top secret. Got it?”
Addy nodded and did the only thing she could think might help—pray.
“Can you hear me?”
Addy coughed—the signal that Mike told Addy meant yes—into her mouthpiece.
“Okay, good. Now just act natural.”
Addy tugged at the long blond hair in the wig she had been forced to wear, straightened the shiny green polyester shirt and white jeans, and tried not to laugh. She felt about as far from “natural” as she could get. Rectangular glasses emphasizing her heavily made-over eyes completed her disguise, ensuring that no one in the world would know she was Addy Davidson.
Addy herself had to look twice when the Secret Service wardrobe team had finished with her. Since she already knew about the planned attempt on Jonathon’s life, the Secret Service wanted to use her to help fill in the small airport where Jonathon’s private plane was to take off. They knew the assassins would be suspicious if the only people there were middle-aged men, so Addy was planted as a “typical teen” reading a gossip magazine—with her face on the cover—and texting on her cell phone as she waited for the next flight out.
Because of Mike’s years in the military and as a police officer, the Secret Service had allowed him to be armed and ready as backup in case any part of the takedown went wrong. Addy had prayed all night that the assassins would be caught and everyone would be safe. She had never been so scared in her life.
“No autographs, please. Just let us through.” This was Addy’s cue. The Secret Service agents on either side of the Jonathon decoy passed her. Addy looked up, surprised to see how closely this young man resembled the real Jonathon.
“Jonathon Jackson!” Addy tried her best to sound like a naive young southerner. “Oh, please, sirs, just one autograph. I’m your biggest fan. Really.” Addy dug in her purse while standing directly in front of “Jonathon.” This, she was told, would keep the assassins from seeing his face clearly and also serve as a distraction while the Secret Service men hidden on the plane prepared to make the arrests.
“No autographs, young lady.”
“No, really, it’s fine.” The Jonathon decoy took the magazine from Addy and pulled a pen from the agent’s pocket. “Thanks for watching the show. So who do you think I should take to prom?”
This was the cue for Addy to move to the side, blocking the ticket agent’s view. Addy had noted earlier that the ticket agent was actually the man in the hooded sweatshirt from the restaurant.
“Oh, Jonathon.” Addy giggled, thinking surely everyone around knew she was faking. “I think you should take me.”
She tried to hug the decoy when the Secret Service agents squeezed him between their two sets of broad shoulders and said to the ticket agent, “We’ve got to get him on this plane. I’m just going to take him straight back.”
“Oh, no problem, sir.” The would-be assassin watched the men make their way down the ramp and onto the small private plane.
She turned to leave, knowing her instructions were to hide out in the bathroom as soon as her part was finished, when she heard a commotion from inside the plane. Men shouted, then a gun went off.
Addy was glued to the floor when she saw Eric out of the corner of her eye. He was holding a small video camera with one hand. With the other, he motioned for her to get out of the gate.
Addy ran to the bathroom. She pushed the button on her earpiece and screamed Mike’s name. She clamped a hand over her mouth, embarrassed that she had been so loud.
“Addy, I’m fine. Relax,” Mike said. “I’m in the same spot I’ve been in. They didn’t even need me.”
“But the gunshot . . .” Her heart pounded. She cracked the bathroom door open as several Secret Service agents exited the plane, each holding a cursing, handcuffed, would-be assassin.
“No one was hurt,” Mike said, leaving the counter. “You can come out. It’s all over.”
Addy’s knees gave way beneath her and she fell to the ground.
Jonathon was going to be all right.
Tears stung her eyes. Maybe it was time to admit just how important he was to her.
Chapter 43
Addy woke on Wednesday morning in her trailer. The girls would not return till tomorrow. Mike still had jobs he had to perform at The Mansion, so Addy was left to spend her day in silence.
I’ve forgotten what quiet is like. Addy laughed to herself.
She spent her morning reading her Bible. She found a Bible study online and was enjoying learning more about the book of John. Though she had read through the book before, she felt like she was seeing it with new eyes. Throughout the book, Jesus told people who he was, he showed people who he was, and yet they still rejected him. And the worst offenders of all were the religious. Addy saw herself in those Pharise
es. God, please help me be more like you and less like those hypocritical religious leaders.
In the afternoon Addy completed her schoolwork. She took breaks to stretch and walk around the grounds. She tried to call Lexi but her friend was working.
I’m so bored.
Out of the blue, Uncle Mike pulled up in his truck.
“Addy, come with me.” He opened the side door.
“Where are we going?” Addy jumped in, not even caring what the answer would be.
“Top secret.” Mike pulled out of the long driveway and onto the street. “I don’t even know what’s going on. I just know I’m dropping you off and someone else will take over from there.”
Twenty minutes later, Mike stopped on what appeared to be a road to nowhere.
“All right.” Mike walked around to Addy’s door and opened it. “You’re here.”
“What?”
“Just get out.”
Addy stepped out and peered around Mike’s truck. A black SUV pulled up beside Addy and the front window rolled down.
“Come on, then,” a very stern-looking man said, motioning with his head for her to get in.
Addy wanted to run. Were these friends of the assassins who discovered she was behind the plot being discovered and they were out to “take care of her”?
“I said, get in.” The man leaned a huge black arm out of the window. Addy looked toward Mike. He was already back in the truck, driving off. She looked toward the road in the direction they had just come. Could she outrun the guy in the SUV? She doubted it.
“Is there a problem?”
“Um, I-I think I’d rather just go back. If you don’t mind. Please.” Addy backed up.
“Hey, man, she’s really scared. We’d better drop the act.” The stern-looking man got out of the SUV and opened its back door, revealing Jonathon laughing hysterically.
“That was classic.” He wiped tears from his eyes but couldn’t stop laughing. “Classic. You should have seen your face. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”
“What is going on? What are you talking about?”
Addy was too confused to feel any of the other emotions vying for a spot in her brain.
“Just get in, I’ll explain,” Jonathon said.
Addy hopped into the backseat of the vehicle and buckled up.
“What is going on? And why are you laughing? I don’t see anything funny at all about this.”
Jonathon sobered and looked at Addy. “I wanted to see you, but I couldn’t just show up at The Mansion. I had to get you in secret.”
“Why did it have to be in secret?” Addy asked.
“Because he’s the president’s son and everything he does has to be in secret,” the man from the front seat interjected.
“Meet Bull, my favorite Secret Service agent.” Jonathon gave Bull a fist bump and the driver grunted.
“I like you too, Jeff.” Jonathon patted the driver’s shoulder. “But Bull and I go way back. He’s guarded me since we moved into the White House. He’s really more like a mean older brother than an agent.”
“Hey, watch it, pip-squeak. I’ve been trained to kill a man with one hand.” Bull flexed his arm and Jonathon pushed it away.
“Anyway, as I was saying, I wanted to see you, but I wasn’t sure how. So I talked to Bull. He said no one could know my location, so Mike could only drive you part of the way out. So I came up with the idea . . .”
Bull coughed. “What?”
“Bull came up with the idea that we meet out here and keep it all a secret from you. Like a spy movie. Remember how you said you wished that phone I gave you was in a shoe, like in a movie? So I thought you’d enjoy this.”
“You thought I’d enjoy this?” Addy said. “I was scared to death. I have heart problems, Jonathon. I could have had an attack out here.”
“Heart problems? I had no idea. I’m so sorry.” Jonathon’s face turned white and Addy leaned back, crossing her arms in victory. Bull started laughing.
“She got you!” Bull put a fist up in Addy’s direction and she bumped him back.
“No heart problems?”
“None at all.” Addy smiled. “No kidnapping?”
“Just a little First Family fun,” Jonathon said.
“So no one can know your location . . . ?”
“Right. Top secret, you know. Plus, I’m supposed to be in DC right now, but my plans got changed for some reason. So I left Dallas and came here this morning. I heard you were out at The Mansion all by yourself. And I’m out here all by myself.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, Bull. I’m not by myself. But . . .”
“But Bull isn’t a pretty little girl you want to flirt with?”
Jonathon turned red and punched Bull in the arm.
“Did you hit me, or did a little butterfly just land on my arm? I can’t quite tell the difference.”
Addy laughed and Jonathon continued. “Anyway, I was bored and I thought you might be too, so I decided we might as well hang out together than be bored apart.”
“Aw, now, Jeff, isn’t that sweet?” Bull said.
Jeff grunted.
“So sweet.”
Jonathon didn’t say much more until the SUV arrived at his “compound”—a large ranch-style house surrounded by a gate and several agents wearing black suits.
“Come on in the kitchen. We ordered in Chinese. I hope you like that.”
As the pair settled in, Bull and Jeff retreated into the living room—close enough to protect but far enough to give the couple a semblance of privacy.
Addy scooped some fried rice onto her plate. “So what have you been doing this week?”
“Like I said, I just got back from Dallas. It’s one-hour date week, and I had to go all over the Metroplex so the dates wouldn’t all be in the same location. It might have been fun if we could have actually looked around some. I think the girls got to, but I was shuffled from the West End to the stockyards to Six Flags so fast, I barely had time to even notice where I was. What about you?”
I can’t tell him what I really did. What do I say?
“Well, I—”
“How about some horseback riding, kiddos?” Bull rounded the corner, phone to his ear. “We just got the all clear. There’s a great trail not far from here and it’s secure. This place has some beautiful horses just sitting out in the stables doing nothing. What do you think?”
“That sounds great.” Addy finished the last of her orange chicken and stood. “But my spider bite. Give me a minute to add an extra layer of bandages to it.”
“I forgot about that.” Jonathon stood. “Forget it. We can do something else.”
“No, no. I’ve never gone horseback riding before. I don’t want a little bite to stop me. I’ll just be a minute.”
Addy took out all the gauze in her purse, went to the bathroom, and plastered it to her bite. When she was sure she was well protected, Addy returned to the kitchen. “I’m ready,” she announced.
“Well, let’s go.” Bull walked toward the door.
“Wait.” Jonathon stopped. “Let me check my fortune cookie. Hmm, it says, ‘Bull who ride horse can sometimes be a little chicken.’”
“Hey, now,” Bull said. “I can kill a man with—”
“With one hand, I know.” Jonathon smirked.
“Good thing you’re not a man,” Addy chimed in, earning her yet another fist bump from Bull.
Thirty minutes later, Jonathon, Addy, Bull, and Jeff were mounted on horses and trotting through the woods. Jonathon, of course, was completely comfortable and confident on his horse. Even the Secret Service agents seemed at home. Addy, on the other hand, was trying desperately to stay on. Her horse’s saddle kept tipping to the side, and she twisted in her seat every five minutes, trying to right herself. But when she did that, she pulled the reins in the direction she was going, and the horse walked that way. Once, she almost ran into a tree. Another time, her horse walked right into the side of Jeff
’s, who only grunted and moved his horse farther away.
“Ready to gallop?” Jonathon nudged his horse and took off into a meadow. Bull followed him and Jeff stayed behind, trotting along beside Addy.
“I’ll just catch up,” Addy called out, absolutely sure that the only time she wanted extra horsepower was when she was behind the wheel of a car, not on the back of an actual horse.
After an hour and a half of riding, a very sore Addy dismounted. “I can’t straighten my legs.” Her entire lower half was in rebellion against her. Her bandages had shifted as much as her saddle, leaving her spider-bitten bottom quite sore and making walking that much more difficult.
“Give it a few minutes.” Jonathon gave his horse to the lady waiting at the stable, then reached for Addy’s.
“I like golf better. And golf carts. I really like golf carts.”
After a light dinner, Bull announced that Mike was on his way to the meeting spot.
“I guess you have to go,” Jonathon said.
“I guess so.”
Neither moved. Finally Bull walked over to Jonathon’s chair and shook him out.
“Boy, stop acting like she’s going off to the moon. We’re just taking her back to The Mansion. You’ll see her again.”
Jonathon’s face turned red. “Thanks, Bull.”
Addy said her good-byes with more hope than she’d had before.
The president’s son might actually like me. Me!
Chapter 44
I missed you.” Kara hugged Addy. “Don’t leave me all alone with those girls again, all right?”
“I’ll do my best,” Addy said.
“And no more going into the woods.” Kara pointed her finger in Addy’s face. “Mom said people have died from brown recluse bites.”
Here’s the opening I’ve been praying for, God.
“Do you want to know the reason why I’m all right?” ”Sure, Addy, I’d love to.” “It’s because God was protecting me. You see, I’m a Christian, Kara.” “Wow, really, Addy? Could I be one too?”
Right. That’s exactly how it’ll happen. Oh, Lord, why is this so hard?