Chapter 7

I sat in the seat, spinning it in circles. My mind was reeling, my heart beating wildly. I wanted answers and I wanted them immediately.

The door swung open and Wade walked in with a dark-haired boy. Tiny freckles were splattered beneath his eyes which were lit up with excitement.

“Ma’am,” he nodded at me and I nodded back. He handed me a tablet. “Look at this. The man you saw was Jason Macks; a retired secret service agent. He left just a few months ago and hasn’t been seen around a lot since then. What I don’t understand is.…”

Jared stopped talking and looked at Cassandra and Wade.

“Your father was very close to this man,” Wade finished for him. “It doesn’t make any sense why he would assassinate him.”

Holland, standing off to the side, spoke up. “Is there any motive for revenge?”

Everyone looked at him. He was leaning casually against the wall, chewing on a fingernail.

Cassandra shook her head. “They had their disagreements but other than that, no.”

I stood up and started pacing. They watched me for a few seconds. I ran my hand through my hair before turning to Holland.

“Holland, you were close to my Dad, what do you know about this man?” I asked.

He looked up at me, eyes slightly narrowed. He spoke, his arm dropping to his side as he pushed off the wall. “They were close. Jason’s brother was a close friend of your fathers. When he went missing in action, Jason and President Riding became rather close. That was years ago, though.”

I sigh. “When was the last time he was seen?”

“Two days ago in the SCI Forest State Penitentiary,” Jared answered, handing me back the tablet. “He visited a man named Ryan Matts, his brother-in-law. We weren’t able to get audio for this clip though.”

“And since he’s related to the man, it makes it easier for him to get in,” Cassandra added.

Holland glanced at me, his brown eyes searching my face. “Is there any possible way we can see this man?” he pointed at Ryan Matts.

Jared nodded. “Red is technically the President and you are all with the government so it shouldn’t be a problem. If need be, I can call ahead to let them know you’re coming.”

“That’d be great,” I piped up. I stood up and walked for the door. “Can we go now?”

Wade stepped towards me. “Are you sure? Maybe you should wait until after your inauguration. I don’t think it’s a good idea to dig into your father’s death when his funeral is tomorrow.”

I looked him in the eye, cocking my head to the side. “What do you want to keep hidden, Wade?”

“I have nothing to hide,” he said.

“Then why do you care?” I snapped. “I need to know what’s going here. I’m not going to wait to do so either.” I leaned in and whispered. “And you and I both know that after the inauguration, I’m not going to have time to look into this.”

He nodded. “I do know that but maybe leaving this buried is for the best.”

“Why?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

Holland stepped forward and set a hand on my shoulder. The feeling of his hand on my shoulder seemed to burn me. I shrugged it off quickly, feeling as if my skin was on fire.

“Wade has a point,” he stated. “If you do find something, what if it gets out?”

“Then it just doesn’t get out,” I said. “It’s kinda obvious.”

He put a hand on each of my shoulders and turned me to look directly at him. I tried to ignore the burning on each arm as I looked him in the eyes.

“This isn’t a little gang, Red Lynne, this is the government, the White House. Whatever you do find, it’s going to be bad,” he said, his voice low and serious. “Trust me.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

His arms dropped away.

“But I still want to talk to Matts,” I said. Wade sighed, his shoulders sagging.

“Unfortunately, that’s actually not possible,” Jared said, looking up from the tablet. “He’s in a prison in Pennsylvania and it’d take you several hours to get there. Tomorrow is your dad’s funeral, so you need to be well rested.”

I sighed. “I want some background information on this man. I want to know as much as possible.”

He nodded. “I’ll get to it immediately.”

“Thanks,” I said. I turned to Wade. “Let me know if he finds anything.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded.

“I’ma go to my room,” I said. I walked out of the Oval Office and back to my room, my mind reeling the whole time.

If Jason was close to Dad, why would he try to hurt him, let alone assassinate him? It doesn’t make any sense.

I knew that Cassandra, Audie, and Holland were trailing me along with several other body guards. It was their job to make sure I was safe.

Holland began to out-pace the others and soon was walking in step with me.

“Are you okay?” he asked, hands in the pockets of his black jeans.

I looked over at him. “I’m fine. Just a little confused.”

“I am too,” he said. He stopped walking and I turned to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, worried.

He looked up at me. “I’ll be back later. If you need to talk to anyone, just send Cassandra to get me.”

I nodded.

“Get some rest before dinner and think a little,” he turned and disappeared back into the crowd. His dark-haired head bobbed above the others and I caught a glance of his white shirt and black jeans.

I turned and headed in the opposite direction of my room—towards the Oval Office. By that time, the others had caught up with me, surrounding my from the pressing crowd.

“Where are you going?” Cassandra asked.

“I’ve got an idea,” I started to explain. As my excitement rose, my pace quickened. “If Jason was there at my Dad’s death, maybe he was there at other murders.”

“So you think that he might have been involved in your sisters murder?” Audie asked, falling in step beside me.

“Exactly,” I nodded. “Give this man a raise. First off, if he was close to my father before he was on staff, then maybe, just maybe, he would have known enough about our family and our routine to be able to get to one of us, if not all.”

“If that’s so, then why did he retire just months before you showed up?” Audie asked.

“Take his raise away,” I said, smiling. “The thing is, maybe he didn’t know I was in hiding and just thought that someone had murdered a five-year-old.”

“No, that’s not it,” Cassandra shook her head. “He was close to your Dad. He was probably one of the few people who did know you were still alive.”

“Did you guys know?” I asked, my smile fading.

Cassandra nodded. “Of course. Your father made plans in advance for you to be brought back to the States.”

“Um, my raise?” Audie asked cautiously.

“You can have it back,” I said, waving it off. “Now it’s not adding up.”

We lapsed into silence as we entered the Oval Office.

“Cassandra, I want you to pull up the footage of my sister’s death,” I said, walking over to the computer.

“But that was so long ago,” she said. “It’s probably stored away in the archives.”

“Just pull it up,” I ordered. Audie stood by the door, a blue-haired boy standing next to him.

“Who is this?” I asked Audie, nodding at the younger boy next to him. He carried a resemblance to Audie, same nose and soft brown eyes.

“This is my younger brother, Titan,” he answered.

I looked the boy up and down before speaking. “How old are you?”

“I’m sixteen,” he answered. “I’ve already been trained in undercover forces for a year.”

I smiled. “Why’s your hair blue?”

“Um,” he exchanged glances with Audie. “It was for an undercover assignment. I thought it would come out when I washed it, but I guess I bought the wrong kind.”

“Just like you,” Audie muttered. Titan elbowed him.

“It suits you,” I said. A small smile slipped over his face.

“Thank you,” he smiled even wider.

“Red,” Cassandra called me over to the desk and gave the boys the “one seconds” sign.

“What?” I asked, sliding into the seat next to her.

“I found the footage and watched through the time frame of your brother’s murder. I

know you asked to look at your sister’s murder, but I figured we’d start at the first murder just to see what we can find. Look at this,” she pressed the play button and I watched as the scene unfolded before me.

People milled around in the fast room, champagne glasses in hand. Men were dressed in fancy tuxedos and women were in formal dresses.

“This was my brother’s highschool award ceremony, right?” I asked.

Cassandra nodded. “They tend to dress everything up.”

I kept on watching as she zoomed in on a boy. He looked to be around fifteen with the same shade of hair as mine. He looked a lot like my Dad.

“That’s Blue, right?” I asked.

“Yes. He’s fifteen right here,” she answered.

“His last day alive,” I muttered.

We watched as a server walked up to him carrying a tray. He was handed a glass of water and the server walked away. Blue took a sip of the water and then set it down on a table next to him. For the next few seconds, he continued as if nothing was wrong and then suddenly, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed onto the floor, dead.

“I’ve watched the footage over and over again and I haven’t seen Macks,” Cassandra started. “At this time, he wasn’t on staff but would still have been there because he was a close friend of your Dads.”

“Did you keep an eye on the server? Did you see where he came from, what his last stop was?” I asked.

“I’ve already got a team on it,” she answered.

I stood up and started to pace, my mind working overtime. “If Jason Macks was there, we need to know. Get another team or the same team to track him down also. If they find him, I want them to keep eyes on him as well.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she nodded. “Holland would like permission to enter the Oval Office.”

“Yeah, of course,” I nodded. I looked over at the doors, Titan’s blue hair catching my attention. He caught my eye and gave me an encouraging smile. I smiled back just seconds before Holland entered.

His eyes were glassy as if he wasn’t feeling well. His face was pale also.

“What’s wrong?” Cassandra asked before I got the chance.

“Ms. Riding, can I show you something?” he asked. Even his tone had changed. It wasn’t light-hearted anymore but rather serious.

“Sure,” I said.

He turned to leave, and I followed him out. We walked in silence down the long hallway, Titan and Audie trailing behind us at a decent distance.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. I could feel the worry radiating off him, putting a damper on the bright hallway.

“I remembered something and got permission from Wade to check it out,” he answered.

“I was with your Dad a lot of the time and normally just hung on in the Presidential Suite, messing around on my phone. He’d sit at his desk in there and work on reports and files and such but there was one file he never opened in front of me. It always remained on the bottom of the stack.”

We arrived at the door and he motioned at the lock. “You’re keycard.”

I swiped it and the door unlocked, allowing us entrance. The room was alight with gold and white. The bedspread was a mix of golden strands woven into the white background, making a golden swan surrounded by falling leaves. The carpet was a pure white making me wonder if anyone actually ever stepped foot on the carpet. Sheer white curtains hung by the windows, giving it a cheery, light-hearted air.

“Here,” Holland said, handing me a file.

I looked at it, reading the bold writing that was across the front. Confidential.

My heart started beating faster as if the file held something important. So important it could tear up everything I’d ever known, proving it to be wrong.

The sun went behind a cluster of clouds, dimming the room and taking away the cheerfulness it had possessed just seconds ago. The wind outside picked up and thunder rolled in the distance—a foreshadowing of things to come.

I looked at Holland and then down at the file. The flap on the side had only four words. Mission: Big Bad Wolf.