All eyes watched the helicopter doorway, waiting. Finally a woman in a beautifully tailored blue skirt and jacket appeared. She stepped carefully down from the helicopter and the marine assisted her on the last step, where she paused to wave at the McClouds as though she were performing at a charity event or arriving at a grand function.
With one hand holding a fashionable hat atop her head and the other gripping her clutch purse, she trotted across the yard until she reached the house.
“So sorry I had to drop in unannounced,” she said to Betty and Joe. “Allow me to introduce myself; I’m Abigail Churchill-Harrington.”
She held out her hand to Betty.
Betty and Joe had, of course, seen the First Lady on television and in the newspapers and so they knew exactly who she was. The only thing they didn’t know was what she was doing at their farm, in a helicopter no less. Seeing the confusion in Betty’s face, Abigail got right to the point.
“Conrad’s full legal name is Conrad Henry William Churchill Harrington III,” she said. “He is my son.”
Betty’s mouth flew open and she looked between Conrad and the First Lady.
An extremely awkward pause followed. It was exactly the sort of pause that generally crops up when a person discovers that the child she has been caring for is actually the son of the President of the United States, who, in turn, has been lying about the fact that said child is dead.
* * *
It didn’t take long for Abigail Churchill-Harrington to be seated comfortably in the parlor, sipping a cup of tea and nibbling on a chewy molasses cookie while a flustered Betty and a speechless Joe sat on the edge of their seats.
“It’s such lovely fall weather this time of year.” Abigail smiled, enjoying a second cookie. Despite the most extraordinary nature of her visit, Abigail was more than equipped to engage Betty in the most mundane conversation imaginable. Meanwhile Conrad hung at the back of the room with the other kids and glared at his mother.
“Do you think she’s here to snatch us, too?” Piper whispered to him.
“It’s not likely,” Conrad whispered back.
“Maybe she’s here to negotiate our surrender,” Lily suggested.
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Kimber spat.
“Shhh,” Conrad warned. “Listen.”
“Mr. McCloud thinks we’ll have our first frost in another week or so,” Betty said politely. “We’re awful glad we managed to get the garden up.”
“This is a lovely room. The furniture is really quite unique. You must tell me where you bought it.”
“Mr. McCloud made it hisself. He’s real handy with the wood.”
“Well, I am amazed.” Abigail smiled at Joe. “Your work is splendid, Mr. McCloud. Really. The carving is quite intricate.”
Color rose to Joe’s cheeks.
“He don’t like to brag about it none but he’s got a knack for it. I tell him he could sell his carvings if he’d put his mind to it. He gets so attached to ’em, though, he don’t never want to let ’em go.”
“Then we are all the sorrier for that, Mr. McCloud. I am quite sure your work would delight many people if they ever had the chance to see it.”
With that, the conversation hit a dead end; neither woman was able to conjure another topic, and Betty, who was never one to not speak her mind, could not contain herself anymore.
“We didn’t kidnap him or nothing. Conrad came to us of his own free will. He could’a gone anytime he wanted. And we love Conrad—love him like he’s our own flesh and blood. If we’d known, we would’a told you where he was, but we didn’t know. He never said nothing about having a ma and pa.” Betty shook her head at the thought. “He needed a home and we gave it to him, is all. He’s a good boy, real helpful. He’s got a kindness to him, but I don’t think many folks know that. They get so caught up with all his smarts they don’t see that he’s still just a boy and has a heart and soul like any other child.”
Emotion was bubbling in Betty, who did not possess polished manners or the ability to act like nothing whatsoever was odd or extraordinary when there certainly was. “We didn’t do nothing wrong,” she finished.
“Please understand,” Abigail said, “the president—I mean, my husband and I know that. We don’t think that you are kidnappers.”
Betty breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Well, that’s a mercy. If I was sitting in your shoes and my Piper went missing, I’d tear my hair out till she came home to me. Can’t imagine how you must feel.”
“Yes, well, he’s here and so no harm done.” Abigail shrugged her delicate shoulders as though it was too small a matter to even quibble over. Then, for the first time, she turned her full attention to Conrad and took a good look at him.
“You’ve grown, Conrad. But of course you still look exactly like your father.” For a moment Abigail’s facade vanished and a true mother’s caring face emerged. “You were seven when you went away to school. The last time I saw you, you were quite small still.”
Conrad remained absolutely still, watching his mother as if he were studying an alien species for traces of intelligence—or hostility.
“I’ve missed you,” Abigail said, reaching out to Conrad.
Conrad pulled back. “When?”
Abigail was confused by the question. “I beg your pardon?”
“When, specifically, did you miss me? When I was away at that ‘school,’ which wasn’t really a school? Did you miss me when Dr. Letitia Hellion was torturing me day after day? Or did you miss me most when I got out and you refused to have me back and I was homeless and alone? Or was it just recently that you missed me, when the McClouds, the only good and decent people I’ve ever known, showed me how to be a happy person?” Years of neglect and anger shot through Conrad’s eyes and into Abigail’s face.
Abigail blinked several times. “I wonder,” she said, turning to Betty, “if I might have a word with my son in private?”
Betty, who was deeply uncomfortable with the entire situation, got to her feet like a shot, and Joe was not far behind. Betty shooed the other children out of the room with her, but Conrad grabbed Piper’s hand and pulled her down next to him.
“Piper stays. Anything you have to say to me she can hear.”
When the three were left alone, an electrified quietness crackled through the room and Abigail uncrossed and re-crossed her legs. “I don’t know what to say.”
“In that case, we have to go.” Conrad looked at his watch. “Piper and I have important things to do.”
“You’re just like your father.”
Conrad jumped to his feet. “Don’t ever say that. I’m nothing like him.”
“You don’t understand. He’s changed. He wasn’t like this before, or at least he wasn’t as bad as this.” Abigail got lost in her thoughts as she considered it. “He frightens me.”
Conrad exchanged glances with Piper.
“He’s having these secret meetings all the time. He used to tell me everything; and now he keeps things from me. He hides things, important things—like you.” Abigail walked to the window. “He convinced me that you were dead and it wasn’t until recently that I discovered the truth.”
“I’m really not interested,” Conrad said.
“Yeah, me neither,” Piper agreed. “What have you done with our friends? Where’ve you taken them?”
Abigail looked from Piper to Conrad. “What friends? What are you talking about?”
“The ones you snatched up,” Piper challenged, her eyes flashing.
“But I know nothing about this.” Abigail appeared genuinely confused. “You mean there are other children who have gone missing?”
Conrad noticed his mother’s hands were shaking. He believed her when she said that she knew nothing about the disappearance of Ahmed and Nalen, but there was something else she wasn’t telling them. Something, Conrad knew, that was important.
“Who else is missing?” he asked pointedly.
“Excuse me?” Abigail
appeared flustered.
“You just said that ‘there are other children who have gone missing,’ which implies that you know of another child who is missing.”
Abigail adjusted her expression. “Children go missing every day, all over the country. It’s most unfortunate, but it simply can’t be helped. Accidents happen.”
“Sometimes accidents happen and sometimes they’re not accidents at all,” Conrad said. “You chose today to visit me. Why?”
“Conrad, you are my son.”
“A fact that has never particularly troubled you in the past.” Conrad took a step forward, bearing down on Abigail. “What do you want?”
“I should go.” She collected her gloves and purse, smoothing her features into even, sensible lines. “I wanted to see for myself that you are well, and I have. It’s time for me to leave.” She walked to the door.
“It’s my sister. She’s gone missing, hasn’t she?”
Abigail froze in her tracks.
“And you came to ask me for help. You think that I can find her.” Conrad was saying it not so much as an accusation but as the pieces of information formed a puzzle in his brain and he caught a glimpse of the entire picture.
Abigail turned around, her face quivering with barely contained fear and suffering.
“Aletha went missing three days ago. Your father doesn’t want anyone to know she’s gone, he says for national security reasons. Everyone is looking for her but no one can find her. You could, though. I know that you could find her, Conrad.”
The tears coming down Abigail’s face were a direct contrast to her outward composure. “I know I’ve failed you. I did so many things wrong, which was why I swore that with Aletha it would be different.”
Conrad shook his head, looked away, and considered many things before turning back to the woman who was his mother. “Why would you think that I would help you?”
“I don’t think you’ll do it for me,” Abigail admitted. “You’ll do it for her. You are her only hope.”
CHAPTER
19
“We need to split up. Piper will come with me to the White House to look for my sister. In the meantime the rest of you will return to the scene and continue the search for Nalen and Ahmed as planned.” Conrad had reconvened the team in the barn away from Abigail as he quickly prepared to depart. “Lily, Jasper, and Myrtle will be on team one; Smitty and Kimber on team two; and Daisy and Violet on the third. We’ll meet back here this evening and go over the findings.”
Conrad’s news was met with shocked silence. Jasper in particular was shaken that Conrad and Piper wouldn’t be joining them.
“But what if we n-n-need you?” Jasper worried.
“You’ll have each other; you’re a team.” Conrad’s attention was on downloading pertinent information from the mainframe onto his DBI.
While Conrad was oblivious, Piper clearly saw the uneasy looks of concern on the kids’ faces and a trembling creeping up Jasper’s legs.
“Conrad?” Piper tugged at his shoulder.
“We need to move out.” Conrad didn’t look up.
Turning her back so that the others couldn’t see her, Piper poked Conrad’s shoulder hard. “Conrad,” she whispered, “you can’t just tell ’em like that. They’re freaking out. You gotta give them more direction or something.”
“Huh?” Conrad looked up from his computer and saw what Piper saw: Lily fidgeting nervously with her sash, Violet at half her normal size, and random sparks flying from Kimber’s fingers. Despite the fact that they were under a time crunch, Conrad took a deep breath and came out from behind his computer. Jasper was the youngest and the smallest, and Conrad bent down to his level and looked him in the eye. “Am I a good leader?”
“Y-yes. You’re the b-b-best, C-Conrad.”
“Well, I trained you all to be leaders, not followers, and you are ready. All of you. But on this mission, since I’m not going to be with you, I am assigning a new leader. That leader is going to be you, Jasper.”
“M-m-me?”
“Absolutely. Take over until I get back.”
“You th-think I can l-lead?”
“I don’t think, I know.”
Jasper’s reed-thin body grew a half inch with the honor. His mouth found strength he didn’t know he had and pulled itself into a proud line. “Okay,” he said. “Okay.”
Turning to face his team, Jasper’s voice suddenly became strong and louder than anyone had ever heard it. “We move out in five. Smitty, prepare the necessary equipment. Myrtle, you’re in charge of packing.”
So it was that in five short minutes Piper was pressing her face against the window of the helicopter and waving good-bye to her parents and the other kids, who, by Jasper’s orders, would depart for their own mission as soon as the helicopter was on its way. Piper waved back to Betty and Joe and noticed that Jasper stood slightly in front of the others, his back ramrod straight. Betty was having a hard time containing Fido in her arms as he struggled madly to follow after Conrad.
“Hush now,” Betty chided the strange creature. “There’s no point carrying on because you can’t go. Simple as that.”
Poor Fido hated to be left behind. Sometimes Conrad let him come on missions, but not this one, and Fido didn’t understand. He whined and snarfled but Betty held him firmly.
“They always come back,” Betty told Fido. “We just have to wait for them. But they always come home eventually.”
Soon the farm was out of sight and Piper availed herself of the multitude of snacks in the luxurious interior while Conrad consumed the thick file Abigail had given him.
“So Aletha’s been missing for seventy-four hours and twenty-two minutes?” He flipped quickly through the pages.
“That’s right,” Abigail confirmed.
Conrad paused on various pages, reading quickly. “No evidence of forced entry. No evidence of anyone coming or going from her room. She went to bed late that night. Why?”
“She’s only four years old. Her normal bedtime is seven o’clock, but there was a garden party that afternoon and it went late.”
“I’m going to need to see her room.”
“Yes, I planned for that.” Abigail briefly consulted her watch. “The president is in Ottawa until nine o’clock this evening and is expected to return to the White House after midnight. By the time we land, you’ll have a few hours.” Abigail hesitated and started fiddling with the hem on her skirt. “Of course you’ll have to leave before he returns.”
Piper watched as Conrad quickly looked up from the file to his mother. A slight flush rose up the side of his cheeks and his jaw clenched.
“I suppose it’s best to keep the dead dead,” Conrad remarked.
“He was wrong to say that about you.” Abigail kept her eyes firmly on her hem. “I believed him.”
“People believe anything he says,” Conrad said with some amount of kindness.
They arrived in Washington, D.C., as the sun was setting and the lights of the city were coming up. The Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial caught Piper’s eye and she made a mental note to herself that, if the opportunity presented itself, she would have her own private flight that evening to explore the city.
The helicopter landed on the South Lawn, and the marines escorted Abigail and the kids from the helicopter. An assistant was waiting on the lawn and quickly guided them in through a side door and then down the hall and into the private quarters.
Aletha’s room was in the east bedroom on the second floor. The bedroom that the president shared with the First Lady was at the end of the hall on the opposite side. As soon as they walked into Aletha’s room they saw a fireplace on the far wall flanked on either side by bookshelves.
Piper was not surprised to find that the little girl’s room was nothing short of a designer’s paradise: antique dolls lined the bookshelves and a large dollhouse, complete with detailed furniture, curtains, and functioning lights, sat on a table in front of the fireplace. Bright and col
orful learning toys were stocked on the shelves next to every imaginable children’s book. Next to the only window in the room was a puppet theater with a cast of puppets neatly arranged on it and ready to take the stage. The canopy bed was opposite the fireplace and was covered in sparkling butterflies and fairies floating above a thick comforter.
“I feel like I’m in a toy store,” Piper said.
The assistant was handing each of them a pair of surgical gloves and cloth boots to place on their feet.
“Nothing has been touched, of course,” Abigail said. “You need to keep these on and be careful not to move anything, touch anything, or leave anything behind.”
“Fine.” Conrad held on to the file and the tablet. “We’ve got it from here. We’ll call you if we need you.”
The assistant looked to Abigail, alarmed. “I’d be happy to stay—” she began.
“That won’t be necessary,” Conrad cut her short. “We have a lot of work to do.” He didn’t want anyone getting in the way.
The assistant glanced again at Abigail, who waved her hand. “Fine. Nothing must be disturbed. Bernice will wait outside while you investigate. If you need anything, or me, just call her and she’ll see to it.”
“Understood.”
“You have ninety minutes.” Abigail checked her watch again as she left the room.
Bernice glared at them before closing the door and locking Piper and Conrad inside. Conrad immediately set about his investigation.
“I think your ma feels bad.”
“I think she should feel bad.” Conrad carefully opened the closet door and peeked inside. It was lined by row after row of outfits.
After Piper circled the room five or ten times and carefully poked through a few things she wasn’t sure what to do next, and so she took to looking out the window. It was nighttime but the street was busy below with traffic and pedestrians. Meanwhile, after taking a quick tour of the attached bathroom, Conrad lay the file on the floor, spreading the photos all around and carefully looking from one to the next, and then back at the room. After a full hour passed, Piper grew antsy.