A Presidential Affair

Ch 13. - Breathe

JANUARY  14 2017: THAT SAME DAY: HENRY TIBOUT

Have you ever waited for something for so long that you didn't even know you wanted at the time?

Like when you were a little kid and got a toy for your birthday and you had no idea what it was when you opened the present.

Then you learned about all the amazing things that toy did and it quickly became your favorite. 

Then one day the toy stopped working and all you could do was cry and wish you could get it back.

So your parents bought you another one but it just wasn't the same as the toy you already had.

That's how I felt about Tania. No, she wasn't a toy in any sense but, she's something that I didn't even know I wanted before this past week.

I've known her for a few years but I never thought that she'd grow to mean this much to me. I've always cared for her as a friend but now I want more.

I feel like I can't function since the accident a few hours ago. The image of Tania being dragged away keeps replaying in my mind every time I blink.

The sound of her voice screaming for help keeps ringing in my ear. 

All of this was my own fault. If I hadn't begged her to help me with my mission or asked her to come with me to D.C. or shared that stupid article then she would be perfectly safe.

I regretted everything I did. All this time I prioritized and obsessed about wanting to avenge my mother and I didn't even take into account the consequences for Tania.

I was lost in guilty thoughts when Gentry shook me back to reality. "Henry. Claxton called and updated me.

He said that Ophelia said in order to find Tania, you have to use your hacking skills and figure it out yourself. He also said that um, we only have six hours."

Without responding to Gentry, I took out my laptop and started triangulating the location of her cellphone and found that it pinged in a small town outside of D.C.

"Let's go." I packed up my laptop and we rented a car so that we could make the drive out there.

I felt uneasy the entire drive. I just wanted to find Tania and be over with this stupid mess I created. I would spend a lifetime apologizing to her.

We finally arrived in whatever little town this was. It was unnamed, odd. 

There was only one gas station and a large water tower so I had no idea where the supposed residents of this unnamed town lived. Gentry went inside the diner and told me to wait outside.

I got a call from President Claxton and he informed me that he had his surveillance team on the lookout.

I really hoped that they found something useful. I told him maybe this was his second chance.

Gentry came out of the diner with a damn cup of coffee. "They haven't seen her, pal. Let's wait on Claxton's surveillance team okay?"

He handed me the muffin in his other hand, "Eat. You haven't eaten a thing all day."

I thankfully accepted the muffin and sat on the curb outside the diner to eat it.

Bright side of this shitty day, this muffin was pretty great. "So how did you meet Tania, Henry?"

I swallowed the remaining piece of my muffin and drank some water.

"We met at a mutual friend's house the night he had a party for his birthday. It was two years ago, I think."