Protecting Sunshine

8. Was It All a Lie?

"Sunshine is secured. Heading to the nest," Tim reported into his phone.

Sunshine. Her codename assigned to her and exclusively used by Secret Service.

The nest. The codename for the White House. Another term only ever used by Secret Service.

But, he couldn't be. He's TIM. Her BOYFRIEND. A campus security officer. Her BOYFRIEND, Lucy reminded herself again, because the whole reason she went to Washington, D.C. was to introduce her parents to Tim and to share a big piece of her life with him, because she LOVES him, but...he's Secret Service?

"Tim, who are you talking to?" Lucy asked from the backseat of the car, hoping that despite her suspicion based on the terms he used that he was not in fact a Secret Service agent.

"Stay down," he ordered and ended the call. All of the usual kindness in his voice was absent, and instead, the demand came out gruff.

"No, Tim, tell me what's going on right now!"

He turned the car down a familiar street, and she saw the White House in the distance as he kept his mouth shut, only swallowing hard every few moments.

"TIM! Are you really not gonna say anything?"

They drove down a secret tunnel towards the secure entrance to the building. All of the guards waved them through as if they recognized him, but Lucy still hoped this was all a misunderstanding. Until Grey showed up to the entrance to personally greet them.

"Are you okay?" Grey asked.

Lucy nodded while still staring up at her boyfriend who refused to look at her or speak to her.

"Great work, Agent Bradford," the Head of Security added with a nod.

That's when Lucy's heart shattered.

Agent. Bradford.

There was no other way to interpret the situation. Tim IS Secret Service.

"Agent?" She breathed out still waiting for Tim to finally make eye contact with her.

"I should head back to the scene and provide backup. There are still civilians in the field," Tim said to his boss, ignoring Lucy.

"Agent Thorsen confirmed the situation has been handled. Backup was already deployed to apprehend the attackers and the civilians are being transported to the nest now. You need to get debriefed, and Lucy, your parents want to see you."

"No, I need to talk to Tim," she refused.

He shouldered past Grey and walked away without looking back or even acting as if he heard Lucy's words.

"Tim...he's...he's Secret Service?" Lucy asked.

Before Grey could answer, Nyla ran over to hug the younger woman. "I'm glad you're alright," she sounded relieved.

"Yeah, I'm fine...I just..."

"Let's get you upstairs. You can change into some sweats, and I've already requested the chef to make your favorite pizza to be sent to your room. You must've been so scared," Nyla shepherded her inside.

"Actually, I wasn't," Lucy replied honestly, because the second the bullets started flying, Tim covered her with his body, and then he carried her away from the danger. Despite what seemed to be an immediate threat on her life, Lucy felt completely safe with him.

"You're a brave lady," Nyla complimented. "So, when you called to tell me you wanted to come back to the White House, you said you were bringing a boyfriend. Tell me all about him."