CHAMELEON
by
Shannon L. Arrant
"Daddy!" The little girl came running into the oddly shaped office with brown braided pigtails streaming behind her. Every pleat on her pinafore was firmly pressed into place by the finest launderers the city had to offer. She was a picture of everything wholesome and good; the perfect reflection of the American Dream.
A man in a grey suit as neatly pressed as the little girl's pinafore turned from speaking with a gentleman dressed in a severe looking black suit with a black tie and white collared shirt. The silvery grey hair at his temples gave him a distinguished look in spite of him immediately dropping down to one knee and holding out his arms at the sight of the little girl. "Abby! Come here! Oh, how I've missed you!"
Abby ran straight into the man's arms, throwing her arms around his neck in the embrace of loved ones who have spent too much time apart. "Oh, Daddy! I'm so happy to be home!"
The man in black adjusted his muscular arms in his tailored suit jacket. He frowned at the display, looking on in almost faint disapproval at the interruption. "Mr. President, I hate to interrupt but we need to finish discussing the plans for the gala tonight. I need to make sure my men are able to get everything covered before it starts."
The President started to stand to better address the Secret Service agent. Not about to have her father's attention taken from her so soon, Abby turned her entire sixty pounds into dead weight, going limp as she hung around her father's neck. The President laughed as he collapsed into a heap on the carpeted floor of the Oval Office from the unexpected resistance. "Abby!" He lovingly chided. "I need to talk to this man."
Sticking her full lower lip out all the way into a pout, Abby looked up at her father through thick, dark lashes. "But Daddy! I just got home. Please can it wait a few minutes? Just a few minutes? He can wait outside and you can read me a story then I'll leave you alone until the gala, I promise." She crossed her heart with the tip of her index finger, as if to seal it.
How could he resist such an adorable display? The President gave a loud guffaw and curled his legs up underneath him, pulling Abby into his lap in the process. He kissed the top of her head as she snuggled tight up against his chest. "Alright, Abby. Just one story. Then I really have to get back to work."
The Secret Service agent's frown deepened on his face, the creases cutting hard lines around his mouth. "But, Mr. President..."
"No, buts now. Imagine what the press corp would say if they found out I denied my daughter a story. You know my whole campaign platform was based on family values." Abby grinned up at the Secret Service Agent, knowing she'd won. She waved good-bye to him as he slipped out of the Oval Office, shaking his head in thought.
As soon as the heavy door shut behind him, the President motioned for Abby to climb out of his lap. "Alright, up you. Which story do you want me to read to you today?"
Abby quickly crawled out of his lap. She bit the corner of her lower lip in thought as she watched her father crawl the few steps to the desk and pull out one of the drawers. "Um... How about 'Goodnight Moon'?" She fiddled with the pockets on her pinafore, balling her hands into little fists and shoving them deep inside as she rocked up on her heels.
"'Goodnight Moon'? Do I even have that one in here?" The President dug around in the drawer, pulling out all manner of children's books and setting them into a small stack on the ground. He hunched over the drawer in his search, his back turned to Abby.
Suddenly with the quickness and strength of a carefully coiled snake, Abby sprung onto the back of her father. She pulled out a small syringe, pre-loaded with cyanide and plunged it deep into the carotid artery on his neck.
