Hostage (29 page)

Alicia held up her hand, stopping him.

‘I don’t want to hear. If this
is true, then everything you’ve said to me is a
lie
.’ Tears of fury
welled in her eyes as her anger at Ethan was now redirected towards Connor.
‘You’ve deceived me. Betrayed our friendship. Can’t I trust
anyone
in my life?’

Her lower lip quivered and she began to cry.
Connor reached out to her, wanting to explain that out of anyone
he
could be
trusted. With her life.

‘
Don’t
touch me!’
she said, pushing him away. She turned to Kyle. ‘Take me home, right
now.’

And, with not so much as a glance back in
Connor’s direction, Alicia stormed out of the gym hall.

‘A
buddy
guard? Don’t
make me laugh!’ said Alicia, curled up on the sofa in the Oval Office, surrounded
by discarded tissues. ‘The Secret Service have gone
too
far this
time.’

‘It was actually my idea,’
admitted President Mendez, sitting beside his daughter trying to comfort her.

‘
WHAT?
’ exclaimed
Alicia, her hands balling into fists as she glared at her father. ‘
You
hired Connor?’

‘Please, honey, there’s no need
to shout.’ He glanced towards his secretary’s door, hoping she
couldn’t hear.

‘No need! I thought you of all people
would understand. That’s what you’ve been saying anyway. Now I find out
you’re
the one behind it.’

‘A buddyguard is for your personal
safety,’ President Mendez explained, recognizing his wife’s fiery nature in
their daughter. ‘In light of your recent escapades, the nightmare scenario is you
getting kidnapped or shot at by some terrorist, criminal or crazed individual. So it was
either that or upping the Secret Service protection. And I knew you wouldn’t want
that.’

‘I didn’t ask for any of
this,’ Alicia said, waving her
hand dismissively around the Oval
Office. ‘This is
your
dream.’

‘And you are an important part of that
dream – my
inspiration
to make this a better world,’ insisted the
President, taking her hand in his. ‘We’ve always said family comes first.
And that’s true. But we’re the First Family too. And with that comes the
necessity for Secret Service. I admit, it’s a real pain at times. But no price is
too high to protect my family – especially you, my only child.’

Alicia pulled her hand away. ‘So you
send someone to spy on me instead!’

President Mendez sighed. ‘Connor
isn’t spying. He’s protecting you. As he’s proven tonight and last
week when you ran into those low-life gangsters.’

Alicia bit her lip as she sought a suitable
reply.

‘Don’t you realize he’s
risked his life for you –
twice
?’

‘Yes,’ admitted Alicia, unable
to meet her father’s eye. ‘But that’s not the point. I’m
entitled to live a
normal
life.’

President Mendez nodded sincerely.
‘And I want you to have your freedom and your youth. I want you to have everyday
experiences with friends your own age. But as
my
daughter that is a privilege,
not a given.’

Alicia turned to him. ‘You may rule
this country, but what right do you have to rule my life?’

‘It’s true I am the President of
the United States, but first and foremost I’m your father.’

Alicia let out an incredulous laugh.
‘Sometimes I wonder if you really understand the toll living in the White House
has on me. As soon as you took office, you were no longer
the father I
knew and loved. I mean, I have to make an
appointment
to see you! And with
Mother always away on her diplomatic business, I’m a virtual orphan. My school
friends are all I have. And now you’re even controlling them.’

‘I’m glad you consider Connor a
friend –’

‘Connor, a
friend
? My prom
night has been ruined because of him. I’ve been humiliated in front of my true
friends. And now, thanks to you, I don’t know which of them I can
trust.’

‘You can trust Connor,’ replied
President Mendez. ‘I certainly do. His father saved my life.’

‘This isn’t about you!’
snapped Alicia. ‘It’s about
me
. My life.’ She rose to her
feet in anger. ‘And I
never
want to see that boy again.’

Connor stood outside the Oval Office. He
could hear the quarrel through the door. It was too muffled to make out precisely what
they were saying, but the gist of the argument was clear. He felt dreadful for having
deceived Alicia. She lived under the watchful eye of the Secret Service day and night,
and she cherished the rare moments away from its scrutiny. Now she’d discovered he
was one of them too and there’d been no real privacy after all.

Yet whether she liked it or not, Connor
recognized that Alicia
needed
close protection. Aside from the incident with
the two gangsters, Ethan’s prank demonstrated just how easy it would be for a
gunman to shoot her. In the light of that possibility alone, it was clear Connor’s
role as a covert buddyguard was more than justified.

But did the
right
reason warrant
the
wrong
lie?

The door to the Oval Office swung open and
Alicia came out, fuming. She saw Connor and tried to avoid him.

But Connor made a move towards her. ‘I
wanted to tell you the truth, but –’

‘I’ve had enough of you,
Connor,’ she cut in, her stare
cold and hard. ‘I
don’t want you talking to me or even near me. You were
hired
to be my
“friend” – my buddy! And you know the worst thing, I –’ a tear ran
down her cheek – ‘I was actually falling for you.’

The words hit Connor harder than a punch. He
realized he’d done more than deceive Alicia – he’d broken her heart.
Sorry
wouldn’t be nearly enough to make up for that. But, lost for
any other words, Connor could only watch her as she walked away, sobbing.

‘Made quite an impression,
didn’t you?’

Connor spun round to find Dirk Moran
standing behind him. He wasn’t sure whether the director had heard Alicia’s
disclosure or not. But judging by the triumphant smirk on his face, Dirk appeared to be
savouring Connor’s fall from grace.

‘After you,’ said Dirk, ushering
Connor into the Oval Office.

The President was slumped in his chair,
rubbing the bridge of his nose to ease a headache. ‘Take a seat. George will be
with us in a moment.’

Connor perched on the sofa opposite Dirk. No
one spoke and Connor felt the tension in the air. It seemed he’d not only upset
Alicia, but her father too.

The chief of staff entered and closed the
door behind him. ‘It’s been quite a night by all accounts,’ he
remarked, sitting down beside Connor.

‘The situation was inevitable,’
said Dirk, his tone sympathetic rather than scathing. ‘Connor’s inexperience
resulted in an error of judgement and he’s paid the price.
Secret Service will miss his presence, but what more can I say?’

Despite his words and manner, the director
didn’t look too cut up about the situation.

‘Come, come, Dirk, we’ve all
made mistakes,’ replied George. ‘Remember when you thought the Russian
ambassador was planting a bomb and it turned out to be his cigar case!’

Dirk shifted uncomfortably at the
recollection of that embarrassing incident. Recovering his composure, he responded,
‘But now Connor’s cover has been blown the only course of action is to
return him to the UK.’

‘Surely that’s an
overreaction,’ said President Mendez. ‘Connor’s presence has been
invaluable. We can still utilize his skills, can’t we?’

The chief of staff nodded in agreement. Dirk
was about to protest further, but Connor interjected.

‘Mr President, I think the
director’s right,’ admitted Connor, much to Dirk’s astonishment.
‘I’m sorry. I tried my best, but I can’t see Alicia wanting me around
any more. I’ll pack my bags.’

‘No, Connor, this isn’t your
fault. I take full responsibility,’ insisted President Mendez. ‘Perhaps if
I’d been straight with my daughter from the start we wouldn’t be in this
mess.’

‘Don’t be so hard on yourself,
Mr President,’ said George. ‘It was your daughter’s exploits dodging
Secret Service that forced our hand. And we went through all the options. A secret
buddyguard was clearly the best solution.
And Alicia is better
embarrassed than dead. Once she calms down, I’m sure she’ll see sense and
get used to the idea of a full-time buddyguard.’

Dirk coughed politely. ‘I don’t
see the point of a buddyguard now. I mean, Secret Service cover all angles of her
security. What advantage does Connor have over one of my highly trained
agents?’

‘Age,’ reminded George.
‘Connor can
still
go where your agents can’t. Alicia may know the
truth now, but no one else is going to suspect him of being a bodyguard.’

‘But since Alicia won’t accept
him around he can’t do his job in the first place,’ Dirk argued.

‘With great reluctance, I’m
starting to side with Dirk on this one,’ said the President. ‘Alicia’s
headstrong like her mother. I can’t see her changing her mind any day
soon.’

President Mendez leant forward on his desk,
his hands clasped together, and looked Connor in the eye.

‘Connor, you’ve done Alicia and
me a great service. And I can say, hand on heart, your father would be proud of you. But
I’m truly sorry – I’ll have to send you home.’

Sitting on his bed in the White House guest
room, Connor stared glumly out across the Washington skyline. The National Mall was
bathed in bright morning sunshine, but the promising summer day did little to improve
his mood.

Operation Hidden Shield had come to an
abrupt and humiliating end.

Despite the President’s kind words,
Connor couldn’t help feeling that he’d failed. While Alicia was physically
safe and unharmed, he’d hurt her more deeply than any knife or bullet. And it was
infuriating that she’d found out about his role by him protecting her from a
water pistol
! That mistake, as Dirk had rightly pointed out, had cost him
dearly. Maybe if it had been a real gun, the outcome would have been different. Alicia
would have been thankful for his presence rather than resentful. Then again, he reminded
himself that he’d reacted too late to the threat, so he’d failed in his duty
anyway. And even if she had survived the attack, she would have always felt their
friendship had been based on a lie. That he was ‘employed’ to like her –
which in his heart couldn’t be further from the truth.

Connor clasped his father’s key fob in
one hand. Looking down, he studied his father’s face.

‘I’m sorry, Dad, I hope
I’m not a disappointment to you,’ Connor whispered. ‘Maybe I’m
just not cut out to be a bodyguard.’

He clipped the key fob to his backpack of
Buddyguard gear, then began throwing the rest of his belongings into his suitcase. He
was almost finished when his mobile rang and the Buddyguard logo flashed on the
screen.