“You would do that? Bow out of the campaign entirely just because I want to keep you safe?” my mother asked with a gasp, sounding almost injured.
We all have to work together to take care of your mother so she can take care of the country,my father’s voice echoed in my mind.
It was from one of the times I had been frustrated after the inauguration and my normally warm and attentive mother had changed into a stressed, almost neurotic version of herself. She hadn’t been eating or sleeping much and we’d gotten into a screaming match at one of the few dinners she’d been able to eat with us.
Afterward my father had come to comfort me—just like always—and had made me promise to help him protect her because no one else would look out for her the way we, her family, could.
My resolve crumbled almost immediately and my shoulders sank. I’d promised him that I would. It was one of the reasons I had put my life on hold and pushed off starting any sort of career for myself.
That had only gotten worse after his sudden heart attack because someone needed to be around to take care of all of the social events at the White House and Carter definitely wasn’t in any shape to be able to handle it because he was dealing with his own struggles.
“No,” I finally said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t.”
Arthur shot me a smile of triumph and I secretly hoped that his pillow was always blazing hot and kept him from ever getting a good night of sleep from now on.
“I’m sorry, Lennie,” my mother apologized as she got up to pull me into a hug, her sweet and slightly spicy scent filling my nose and soothing my frayed nerves.
I sighed and melted into it because, at the end of the day, she was still my mother. “This is just until the election is over and then we can discuss maybe bringing back some members of your original security detail, okay?”
My eyes looked over her shoulder at Arthur and his expression told me otherwise, but it wasn’t worth fighting at this point.
“Athena,” Arthur said, cutting through the first nice moment I’d had with my mother in weeks. “The joint chiefs are waiting for you.”
My mother let go and I resisted the urge to cling to her like a little child.
“Right, I’ll be right there. Lennon, get to know your new team a bit. I promise they won’t be so bad, and can you check in on your brother before you pack for the tour?”
I nodded, knowing that she was looking for a report on my brother’s current mental state. Her words were innocuous, but we both knew what date was coming up and how it would affect my older brother the most.
Gripping Ginny’s leash, I clicked my tongue. “Come on, girl, let’s finally go on that walk.”
Leaving the office through the doors behind my mother’s desk, I stepped onto the long covered patio with Ginny happily prancing at my feet.
My new security team was following me, like a squad of silent ghosts, and I tried to push down the irritation I was feeling as I ignored them completely.
Ever since the night of my attempted kidnapping, I only ever walked Ginny on the premises of the White House because I didn’t need as much security to do that. But now I had four shadows who hadn’t seemed to have gotten that memo.
I continued to ignore their presence until we made it to the back lawn where the tennis courts were and began to work on Ginny’s training practice.
She was only six months old, but her cocker spaniel genetics had made her especially smart and I almost didn’t even need to give her verbal commands at this point as I tossed her bright pink tennis balls for her.
For a bit, I was able to forget everything as I worked with the wiggly puppy, scratching her deep red fur that almost reminded me of the hair of the two brothers still standing behind me.
The reminder of their proximity annoyed me all over again and I finally reeled around to look at them. They still stood in that ridiculous formation with Maverick at the front and I decided that, since he seemed to be the leader of their little bunch, that he would be the target for my ire today.
Throwing Ginny’s ball as far as I could manage, I fixed a glare on Maverick.
“You do know that you don’t have to follow me everywhere when I’m within White House grounds, right?” I asked, my voice sharp. “Or did they not teach you that over at the state department?”
My words were meant as an insult, but if Maverick took them as such I would never be able to tell. His face remained completely and infuriatingly neutral.
“It is a requirement for your detail to be with you at all times, Ms. Holloway,” was all he said by way of reply.
Behind him, the black-haired agent’s expression shifted, flashing into something I couldn’t read before it smoothed out like the rest of his team’s again.
“Brady and the rest of my detail didn’t feel the need to follow me around in one of the safest places in this country,” I pointed out as Ginny returned with her ball in her mouth and her long tail wagging as she stared adoringly up at me.
Maverick’s lips thinned into a line and I caught a flash of temper on his face. “With all due respect, Ms. Holloway, Agent Brady is dead which means that his way of protecting you was not exactly as effective as you think it was.”
