A Spy in the White House (2 page)

“Yes, she was the reporter who asked about the honeymoon and my dress,” Lois said.

“Maybe someone at the hotel blabbed to her,” Marshall suggested.

The president shook his head. “The hotel people in Hawaii didn’t know our real names,” he said. “Lois and I were registered as Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

“Well, I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” Lois said. She picked up a telephone and called the newspaper. She asked to
speak to Darla Darling. A few seconds later, she hung up.

“Her voice mail,” Lois explained. “ ‘Ms. Darling is on assignment and not available.’”

The president picked up a different telephone and asked Vice President Mary Kincaid to come in. When she arrived, the president showed her the newspaper.

“How did Darla Darling find out?” the vice president asked. “That was top-secret information!”

“None of us leaked it,” the president said. “Could it have been someone on my staff?”

“I can’t imagine that,” Mary said. “They knew you and Lois wanted your honeymoon spot kept a secret.”

“Secret or not, Darla Darling found
out,” Lois said. “And she didn’t hear it from some little bird!”

“No, but it could have been a little bug,” Marshall said.

Everyone looked at him.

“What do you mean, Marshall?” the president asked.

Marshall pointed to the flower vase on the table. “Someone could have planted a bug!” he whispered.

KC gasped. “Do you think?” She got up and walked around the room, peering into small spaces.

“It’s not likely that anyone could have gotten a listening device in here,” the president said. “These rooms are very secure.”

“Marshall may have a point. I’ll have the place swept just to be sure,” Mary
Kincaid said. “Meanwhile, will you two be choosing a different place for your honeymoon?”

“Definitely,” the president said. He looked across the table at Lois. “How about—”

“Shhh,” Lois whispered, grinning. “The walls may have ears. We’ll talk about it later.”

“At least Darla Darling didn’t find out about your dress,” KC said to her mother.

Lois smiled. “It’s the most beautiful dress in the world,” she said. “Michael is a genius!”

During the night, the FBI checked the president’s private residence for bugs. They found nothing.

The next morning, a drawing of Lois’s wedding dress took up almost all of Darla Darling’s column in the newspaper.

There was even a picture of Michael, the man who had designed the dress. The headline over the picture read:

NEW FIRST LADY’S DRESS IS
GRAND, GREEN, AND GORGEOUS!

KC dashed into her mothers bedroom with the newspaper. Lois was still asleep, but not for long.

“Mom, wake up! Look at this!”

Lois rolled over and blinked at her excited daughter. Then she looked at the clock. “Honey, it’s only seven o’clock. What’s so important?”

“I went downstairs to get the paper. Look!” KC held the newspaper in front of her mother. “They found out about your dress!”

Lois looked at the pictures and read the headline. “Oh my goodness,” she
whispered. Then she reached for the telephone and called the president.

While her mom showered and dressed, KC called Marshall. He lived in her apartment building, two floors down. The phone rang five times before KC heard someone pick up.

“Niagara Falls, drop over,” Marshall’s sleepy voice said into KC’s ear.

“Have you seen today’s newspaper?” KC nearly shouted.

“I’m still in bed, KC,” Marshall said. “All I see is my pillow.”

“You’re not going to believe it,” KC said. “Get dressed and meet us in the lobby in fifteen minutes!”

A half hour later, KC, her mom, and Marshall met the president in his private White House rooms. He was sitting at the
table in the little kitchen. His hair was messed up and he hadn’t shaved. The newspaper was spread out on the table. Yvonne, the presidents private maid, set bagels, glasses, and a pitcher of orange juice on the counter, then left the room.

“This is so creepy!” Marshall said, staring at the newspaper. “How did they find out?”

“This drawing of my dress isn’t exactly right,” Lois muttered. “But it’s close enough. And the only people who knew what the dress looked like were the four of us, the vice president, and Michael.”

“Maybe Michael told Darla,” KC suggested.

Lois shook her head. “No. Michael never talks about his clients. He has to keep secrets, or he wouldn’t last long in
the dress-designing business. Besides, I never told him where we were going on our honeymoon.”

“How about the people who work for him?” the president asked.

“Only Michael knew who the dress was really for,” Lois said. “I told him to write L. Smith on the order.”

Marshall got himself a bagel and dropped a small piece on the floor. George leaped from the refrigerator to the counter, then to the floor. He pounced on the morsel and carried it to a corner.

“I don’t understand it,” KC said. “How could someone be listening? Didn’t the FBI check for bugs last night?”

“Yes, they gave this place a thorough going-over,” the president said.

Lois sighed. “Well, I wanted to keep
my wedding dress a secret, but now the world knows.”

“I’m sorry about your dress,” the president said. “But if someone has managed to learn our wedding secrets, they might also be overhearing other things we talk about.” He glanced around the table. “Like national security.”

Marshall’s eyes widened. “You mean top-secret information?”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” President Thornton said. He glanced at Lois. “Maybe we should postpone the wedding till we clear this up.”

“You can’t cancel the wedding!” KC cried.

“Oh, we’ll still get married,” the president said. “But maybe we should put it off till we find out what’s going on.”

“Zachary is right,” KC’s mom said. “We can hardly go on our honeymoon if there’s a spy in the White House!”

“I’ll get to the bottom of this mystery,” the president said. “Right now, I’m going to get the FBI back in here for another bug check!”

“And I’m going to call the hotel in Hawaii and tell them the Smiths have changed their mind,” Lois said. “Then I’ll think about a different dress.”

The president and KC’s mom left the room with George tagging along behind them.

“Come on,” KC told Marshall. “I have an idea.”

“I do, too,” Marshall said, following KC past Arnold and into the hallway. “I want to go to Rock Creek Park. The bugs will
just be coming out to sun themselves on the rocks.”

“I promise we’ll go to the park, just not right now,” KC said. “Don’t you want to figure out who’s spying on my mom and the president?”

“Okay, what’s your idea?” Marshall asked as he and KC left the White House.

“We’re going to see Darla Darling,” KC said.

“That society lady?” Marshall yelped. “Oh, great. Just what I need. She’ll probably make us drink tea out of itty-bitty cups. I’ll be bored to death!”

“Marsh, Darla Darling started this whole thing,” KC said. “She may be the link to whoever is spying on the White House!”

KC and Marshall kept walking along
Pennsylvania Avenue until they reached the offices of the
Star
newspaper. Opposite the front door was a big desk. A woman with blond hair sat there typing at a keyboard. Through a doorway on the right, KC could see people working at computers and talking on telephones. A doorway on the left opened on a long, empty hallway.

The woman with blond hair looked up. “May I help you?” she asked.

“We’re here to see Darla Darling,” KC said.

The woman squinted at KC. “Do you have an appointment?” she asked. “Ms. Darling is very busy.”

“I’m KC Corcoran. My mom is marrying the president,” KC said.

The woman’s eyes widened. She
reached for her telephone and dialed. “Hello, Darla, there’s a Miss Corcoran here to see you. No, not Lois Corcoran. It’s her daughter.”

Five seconds later, KC and Marshall heard footsteps tapping down the hallway. A tall woman with broad shoulders was striding toward them. She wore a black pants suit and black high-heeled boots. Her dark, curly hair bounced when she walked.

“Hello, I’m Darla Darling,” the woman said in a smooth, low voice. Her blue eyes gleamed like wet marbles.

KC had to tilt her head back to see the woman’s face. “I’m KC, and this is my friend Marshall,” KC said. “We want to talk to you about my mom’s wedding.”

“Wonderful!” Darla said. “Follow me.”

She spun around and strode back down the hallway. KC and Marshall had to practically run to keep up.

At the end of the hall, Darla Darling entered an open doorway. She sat in a swivel chair behind a messy desk. “Have a seat,” she said, waving a hand at a pair of purple chairs.

The kids sat. KC glanced around the cluttered office. She saw a computer, a fax machine, two telephones, a tape recorder, a small TV set, and a bunch of other stuff. Papers were scattered across the desk.

Along one wall was a small bed. It was neatly made up with pillows and a bright red cover. Next to the bed were a sink and mirror. Lined up on the sink counter were a toothbrush and toothpaste, a bottle of green mouthwash, and lots of small jars.

Cool,
thought KC.
She’s so busy she even sleeps here. Someday when I’m a reporter, I’ll do that, too!

Darla Darling flipped open a pad and picked up a pencil. “So, what did you want to tell me?” she asked KC and Marshall.

KC gulped. “I really wanted to ask you something,” she said.

Darla Darling leaned forward. “I’m listening.”

“How did you find out about my mom’s dress and where she was going on her honeymoon?” KC asked.

Ms. Darling’s eyes opened wide. “Surely you don’t expect me to tell you that?” she asked, smiling. Her teeth were big and white.

“That stuff was a secret,” Marshall said. “No one is supposed to know.”

Darla shrugged her wide shoulders. “My job is to report the news to my readers,” she said. “And when the president gets married,
that’s
news!”

“But their honeymoon and Mom’s dress were private!” KC said. “The president wants to know how you found out!”

Darla Darling sighed. “All right. Someone telephoned me with the information. I don’t know who it was, and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

She tapped one of the phones with her pencil. “If I revealed my sources, this phone would stop ringing. I’d be out of business just like that,” she said, snapping her fingers.

Darla stood up and walked toward the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a thousand things to do.”

KC and Marshall followed her to the door

“Isn’t there anything you can tell us about who called you?” asked KC. “The president really wants to know.”

Darla Darling looked down at the two kids. She closed her eyes as if she were trying to remember. Then she smiled.

“Well, I do remember one thing,” she said. “The caller had a scratchy voice.”

KC and Marshall left the
Star
offices and headed back to the White House.

“That was a waste of time,” Marshall said. “We didn’t learn anything.”

“Yes, we did,” KC said. “We know how Darla Darling gets her information.”

“But we don’t know who’s calling her,” said Marshall.

“Right, but we do know it’s someone with a scratchy voice,” said KC.

“How does that help?” Marshall asked. “On TV, spies always try to disguise their voice. This guy probably sounded that way on purpose.”

“Okay, you’re right,” KC said. “But we do know something else. The caller has to be someone close to the president.”

“Hey, wait a minute!” Marshall cried. “How about Arnold? He’s always standing outside the president’s door! And he’s got a cold, so his voice is hoarse!”

“Arnold?” KC stopped walking. “Yeah, he could have overheard Mom and the president talking! But why would he tell Darla Darling?”

“For money!” Marshall said. “Maybe she pays him for information.”

“But she told us she doesn’t know who the caller is,” KC said. “How could she pay him?”

Marshall thought for a minute. “Maybe Arnold tells her where to leave the money, then he goes and gets it later. Darla
wouldn’t have to know who she was leaving the money for.”