Chapter 2

I handed my suitcase over to Wade and let him carry it out. A guard walked next to me, holding his shoulder.

“Hey, um, I’m sorry for hurting your shoulder,” I apologized with a sheepish grin on my face.

“Oh, nah, it’s no problem,” he waved it off with his good hand. “Today was kind of a training session. We weren’t expecting you to put up such a good fight.”

“So you’re still in training?” I asked, a little confused. Why would my dad send a bunch of newbies to get me?

“Yes,” he nodded. “But there are more experienced bodyguards outside waiting in case anything goes wrong.” he paused. “Which it kinda did but nothing drastic.”

“Oh, I’m Red by the way,” I held my hand out to him.

“Audie Cole,” he answered, shaking my hand. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard the way your Father talks about you.”

“All good stuff?” I asked, trying to make conversation. Talking to someone usually took my mind off everything that was going on around me and I hoped it was working.

“Yeah,” he laughed, nodding as he did so. “He has your school picture in his wallet that

he shows to everyone.”

I smiled but I knew it wouldn’t reach my eyes. I’d only seen my dad a couple of times after he sent me to live with my aunt. He came on my birthdays to drop off a gift but sometimes he was so busy, he wasn’t there for long. I never really got to see him.

“Good to know,” I said.

As we neared the helicopters, I noticed several more bodyguards surrounding each one.

Wade handed my luggage off to someone else as we boarded. The door slid shut as I settled into my seat. Wade sat on my right and a blonde-haired girl on my left.

“This is Cassandra,” Wade introduced her. “She’s your personal bodyguard who will be with you twenty-four seven.”

She smiled at me, not saying anything.

“She doesn’t talk a lot,” he continued. “Unless she has too.”

“And who are these other people?” I asked, nodding at the five guards that sat across

from us. Audie sat across from me and smiled when he saw me looking at him.

“They’re guards in training which means they’ll be tagging along for a little while,” Wade explained.

“I’m sorry for taking ’em out,” I apologized.

Wade laughed. “That only happened because you took them by surprise.”

“A good soldier never gets surprised,” Cassandra said, her voice lower than I expected.

She shut her mouth, jaw clenching as she glared at Audie.

“Yes, ma’am,” they all nodded.

“Take it easy on them, Cassie,” Wade said, rubbing his jaw. “None of us were expecting

it either. Not even you.”

“Wrong,” she snapped. Her cold brown eyes landed on Wade, but he just smiled. They softened slightly. “I stood back and let the noobs get some experience.”

“And they did their best,” he pointed out, raising his eyebrows.

“Their best? If that was their best, I’d hate to see their worst,” she said. The harshness in

her voice was gone.

I looked at her, confused.

“Cassandra isn’t that mean,” Wade said. He leaned past me and punched her in the shoulder. “She’s a giant teddy bear.”

“A teddy bear that can decapitate you in two seconds flat,” she countered.

“Touché,” he replied. Seeing my confusion, he continued. “Cassie and I’ve been friends

for as long as I can remember.”

She nodded.

“Okay,” I said slowly. “I’m confused. One minute you’re snapping at them and the next

you’re laughing. I don’t understand.”

“We don’t have to be professional right now,” Wade answered. “It’s just us. No one powerful— yet.”

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “You should try to get some sleep. It’s a bit of a flight. Also, when you get home, you’re going to be busy.”

“Home?” I about asked but stopped myself. That was going to be my new home.

******

The helicopters landed gently on the lawn of the White House. Audie got out first, followed by the other guards and then Wade got out. I went next, followed by Cassandra. She held her gun ready, the butt up against her shoulder, and finger hovered over the

trigger.

“You don’t have to be so uptight,” Wade reminded her. “This is the most secure building

in the world.”

“Then tell me how the President managed to get shot,” she snapped. Their eyes met, and

Wade looked away, knowing that Cassandra was in professional mode. I breathed deeply as I walked across the perfectly manicured lawn. With each step, I left an indent in the shape of a foot.

Footprints on the Lawn. I thought to myself, thinking of the poem, ’Footprints on the

Sands’. I smiled. Mom used to read that to me every night before bed. My smile faded away as I remembered the way she died. Shot over the breakfast table.

“Okay,” Wade slowed his pace and fell in step beside me. “Once you get inside, some things may go down. The press is here, documenting your Father’s injuries. He told them he was sending for his daughter so the moment they find out who you are, they’re going to be all over you. Just remember you’re being watched.”

I nodded. “Copy that.”

“Do more than copy it. Do it!” he narrowed his eyes. “And be professional. I have no

doubt you can do that but I have to be sure.”

I nodded again as we stepped through the front doors. A few news anchors were littered around the lobby, talking to cameras.

“We’re going to steer clear of those,” Wade instructed. “Walk straight through. The bodyguards will keep anyone from talking to you, but they will try. Don’t say anything, don’t even acknowledge their presence. Don’t divert from your course either.”

“Yes, sir,” I answered sarcastically.

He went to say something, but he stopped— his face going white. Audie stopped at the elevators and the rest of us stood behind him. Wade turned to Cassandra whose knuckles were turning white from holding her gun so tight.

“Did everyone hear that message?” He asked, looking at the bodyguards. They nodded, their faces the same. They looked scared and frightened but controlled at the same time.

I looked at him. “What’s going on?”

“We need to get to the Presidential Suite as quickly as possible,” he ordered. He pushed past the security guards and pushed the elevator call button as hard as he could for ten seconds straight.

“What happened?” I asked, raising my voice.

Cassandra put a hand on my shoulder. “We need you to stay calm,”

“What happened?!?” I finally yelled, shrugging her hand away. Wade stopped smashing the button and turned to me.

“Your father just died,” he said, his voice calm.

My mind reeled. “What floor is he on?” I asked.

“The third floor. Room 25,” he answered, confusion written all over his face.

I began thinking. I could do this. The only thing that might stop me was Cassandra. She moved in front of me, to look at my face.

“Are you good?” she asked.

I nodded and then turned around. By now a group of reporters were watching the whole ordeal. Wade yelled at the elevator to hurry up. I looked at the stairs and then back at Cassandra.

“Is it important that I be up there?” I asked, hurriedly.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” I looked back at the steps. I took off, legs pumping as fast as possible. When I arrived at the stairs, I took them two at a time. I arrived on the second floor and ran down the hall, following the signs for the stairs.

I heard shouts and screams as I careened around corners and up the next flight of steps. I came to a stop at the top of the third flight. The nearest door was marked ‘Room 1’. My heart was beating inside my chest, my lungs were begging for air, but I couldn’t stop. Adrenaline rushed through me as I made a mad dash down the hall.

Room 1, Room 3, Room 5, Room 7, Room 9, Room 11

I mentally kept track of the doors I raced by.

Room 21. I was almost there.

Room 23, Room 25.

I skidded to a stop outside the door. I grabbed the door handle and yanked it down, but it was locked. Keeping the door to the President’s Suite locked is logic but I wasn’t benefitting from it. I pounded on the glass.

Why was I in such a hurry to get here? Just because Wade and Cassandra made it such a big deal. Footfalls pounded down the hall behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see Cassandra running towards me, gun slung over her shoulder and key card in hand.

She swiped the key card as soon as she arrived and the light on the door changed from red to green. I hurried inside but came to a stop. On the far side of the room was a queen bed. The sheets were pulled tight and were crisply folded under the arms of my father.

I stepped closer, but a security guard reached out and grabbed me.

“What are you doing here, Missy?” he asked, eyes boring into me. “How’d you even get in here?”

“She’s Redlynne,” Cassandra said from behind me. “President Riding’s daughter.”

He released my arm and I continued forward. I stopped at the edge of the bed and looked at the man lying in front of me. His face was neutral, no smile and no lines from smiling. His eyes were shut, and his hands were simply folded over his stomach. He had a bit of facial hair running down the side of his face and over his chin.

I looked at him closer. This was the man my dad had become? My dad never had facial hair and he was always smiling.

I began to think back to the last time I’d seen him smile. Dad never smiled. Then why did I remember him smiling? I wracked my brain.

It’s just one of the many fantasies you’ve made up about your family, my brain was telling me. You tried to convince yourself that your dad was a kind man when in reality, he wasn’t. He was cold and cruel, deceitful, scheming, and conniving.

I shook my head. No— he was a good man.

No, he wasn’t. And you know that. Deep down inside, you know what he was really like, my brain argued back.

People poured in behind Cassandra and I turned around. Wade’s eyes found mine, but I

looked away. I didn’t want to see my Father lying on his bed, dead. I wanted to go to my room and try to sort out what I remembered and what I’d made up.

“Do you want to leave?” he asked, hands gripping my shoulders. “This can be kind of tough.”

“No, it’s not that,” I hesitated. “It’s just that I don’t remember anything about him. I don’t know if he was always happy or mad, or if he always had facial hair or not. Everything I thought I knew about him I’m beginning to question.”

“Let’s get you out of here,” Wade said. He walked me towards the door, but someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned around to see the same guard who’d stopped me earlier.

“Miss Redlynne, this is for you,” he handed me an envelope. “You’re Dad wrote it a few days before he was shot. He said you’d have some questions and just in case something happened between the time he sent for you and the time he got shot, he wanted you to have answers.”

I took the envelope, fingering the edges. “Thanks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he walked away. Wade took my hand and led me out of the room and to the elevator.

“Cassie will take you to your room,” he said. Cassandra trailed behind us, gun hanging at her side. “If you need anything, just let her know, okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Why am I getting so torn up over this? I never really knew the man!

The elevator doors opened and we stepped inside. They slid shut, blocking Wade from sight and we began our descent. The rest of the way to my room was in silence. I slid my fingers up and down the edges of the envelopes, one question bugging me.

I was about to propose my question to Cassandra when she motioned at a door on our right.

“This is your bedroom,” she stated. “I’ll be right here if you need anything.”

Good to know I’ll have some privacy. I thought.

I nodded as she dug into her back pocket.

“Here’s your key card. It gives you access to any room in the building,” she told me.

I swiped it and the door unlocked. I shut the door behind me without saying anything more. My room was a decent size. Up against one wall was my bed, a lampstand, and a small dresser. A rocky chair stood in the corner and a bureau by the window. Two doors hid the closet from view.

I walked to my bed and dropped my bag onto it. I fingered the envelope one last time before ripping it open. I tossed the torn envelope onto the bed and unfolded the piece of paper.

Dear Redlynne,

If you’re reading this, that means that something has happened to me and I cannot tell you in person. I pray I have not died. If I have died, please don’t let it be a big funeral.

There are a few things you need to know that I wish I could tell you in person, but I guess that’ll never happen. Anyway, the first and most important thing you need to always remember is that people are always watching you. They’re writing down and recording every move you make, just waiting for you to mess up. Don’t mess up, Red.

The second thing is that people are always going to try an undermined you. Don’t let them. You’re the boss of everyone in this country. You make the rules, you sign the laws, you proclaim the laws. You are the face of the nation. Your cabinet is going to try and convince you that their way is better and maybe it is but if you feel like what you’re doing it right, run with it. Don’t let anyone change your mind unless it’s for the better.

Thirdly, what happened to your siblings and mother. Your Aunt Nellie has probably told you the story already, but I feel like you should hear it from me also. Your Mom was assassinated by a server over breakfast. Your older brother, Blue, was poisoned at his eleventh birthday party, and your sister, Scarlett, was stabbed by one of our own bodyguards. You need to be careful, Red. Very careful. People want you dead.

Next, I want you to know I love you. I always have and hopefully always will. When I sent you into hiding to protect you, it tore me apart. The White House was so silent. No cheerful laughter when I walked into your room. No pretty pink curtains or blankets, just emptiness. It was almost as if your ghost would haunt this place. You may not have been dead, but it seemed like your happiness stayed behind. Your Aunt Nellie told me that when you arrived, you were very quiet and sad. She said you refused to talk with the other kids but instead delved into the world of self-defense and protection. You made yourself into a weapon.

Red, I’m proud of you. Do an excellent job ruling and don’t fall in love too soon, okay?

-Your Father

I held the letter in my hand for a few moments before tossing it onto the bed. I looked at it, lying on the crisp white covers and thought.

How did he know something was going to happen to him? He planned on telling me in person but it’s like he knew something was being planned — that he was going to die.

"Footprints on the Sands" is a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. You can read it here:http://www.hwlongfellow.org/bin/Features?fn=166&fmt=list&n=1&supst=TeacherResources&mr=all

THANKS FOR READING!!