A Presidential Affair

Ch. 15 - Flatline

JANUARY 14 2017: AFTER GENTRY LEAVING THE HOSPITAL: PAUL GENTRY

I ran to my car as fast as I possibly could and it still didn't seem fast enough. The worry of not knowing where Arielle and Aria were at consumed me. They were two innocent children that had no part in this gut wrenching conflict going on.

As I drove to D.C. I called Claxton to see if he had any leads that I wasn't aware of. "Gentry, where are you?" 

"I'm on my way back to D.C., sir. Do you have any idea where the girls might be? Is surveillance on top of this? Have you contacted the FBI, NSA, or CIA?" He paused for a minute,

"Of course I have. FBI is waiting for you to arrive so you can fill them in. CIA will be joining via video call as well as the NSA. Please hurry and get there. Call me when you know anything."

"Okay. Goodbye Mr. President. Get to the safe house." With that, I hung up the phone and continued driving to D.C.  I decided to call Henry and Tania to assure myself that they are okay.

I dialed Henry's phone a few times but it went straight to voicemail. I decided to call a friend at the NSA and have them give me Tania's cellular number. My friend had no issue doing me a favor.

I dialed Tania's number and after a few rings she finally answered. "Hello?" I let out a sigh of relief because I was already imagining the worst scenario. "Thank goodness you're okay. Is Henry with you?" 

She too let out a sigh of relief, "Yeah. We're safe now. There was a hostage situation at the hospital. There were four men there trying to get Henry and I. We also have a child with us that was scared in one of the rooms. Her name is Clara. We have to get her somewhere safe."

I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders right now. I had to assure myself that the president was save, that Henry and Tania were safe, that Rocklin and her terror reign was destroyed, find Arielle and Aria and, now I had to get this little Clara girl to safety. 

Talk about a long to-do list. "Okay Tania. I need you to get to this address immediately. Go now and don't tell anyone where you're going. Got it?"

I gave them the address to my house. I couldn't think of anywhere safer they could be. I just had to get them to safety so that I could focus on finding Aria and Arielle. 

Finally I arrived at the white house to meet with FBI and start a search party for Arielle and Aria. I threw on my coat and fixed my hair that had been messed up by running, sweat, and rain. 

Once inside the white house, I found a mess of people in terror. Civilians outside protesting for Claxton to make a statement and, panicked employees inside. I ignored all those that called out to me as I reached the conference room.

There were only two people waiting inside as I walked through the tall glass doors.

The first was FBI Director Teagan Williams, "Hello Director Gentry, you already know me. My second hand here will brief you on everything you need to know and she will assist you on all locations you visit. In other words, she will be your shadow. I must be on my way out to follow a lead. Goodbye."

She walked out and the woman that was standing there finally turned around. "Hey, Paul."

I couldn't believe it. Of all people that could've been assigned to work this case with me, it had to be her. 

"Hey Veronica." Veronica is my ex-fiancee that cheated on me while I was at work.

I won't lie though, seeing her made me reminisce about the old days when we actually loved one another.