Hostage (22 page)

‘Well, aren’t you going to help
him up?’ asked Kalila with concern.

‘Of course,’ said Ethan. He
patted Connor on the shoulder, rather too heartily. ‘Now bear in mind my advice
for the prom and you should have a great night,’ he said, before walking off with
Jimbo in tow, the boy wheezing like a steam engine.

Connor doubted that very much. Having made
enemies of them both, the prom was going to be a nightmare. He’d already
anticipated there’d be a tricky balance securing Alicia’s safety while
allowing her the freedom to enjoy herself. Now somehow he’d have to find a way to
protect Alicia … without getting himself into a fight.

‘This is the spot, on August
twenty-eighth, 1963, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr, the black civil rights leader,
delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech,’ the tour guide
explained to the group gathered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Behind them stood
the awe-inspiring monument itself, a white-marble cenotaph with towering Greek columns
built in honour of America’s 16th President. ‘The political march that day
and Dr King’s speech helped facilitate the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964,
which outlawed discrimination throughout America.’

Connor, Alicia and Kalila sat on the steps
nearby, listening to the tour guide’s talk.

Kalila leant close to Alicia. ‘I bet
Dr King never dreamt that less than fifty years later there’d have been an African
American president.’

‘Or a Latino one,’ replied
Alicia, smiling at her friend. ‘America’s truly the Land of the Free.
Anyone
can be President – even my father!’

‘Over a quarter of a million people
attended the event,’ continued the tour guide. ‘With crowds stretching down
the mall as far as the eye could see, thus making it, at that
time, the largest gathering of protesters in Washington DC’s illustrious
history.’

‘Talk about one massive rock
concert!’ Connor remarked as he gazed east across the impressive treelined expanse
of the National Mall and tried to imagine such a number. There were no protests today,
just flocks of tourists enjoying the sunshine beside the Reflecting Pool. In the
distance, the Washington Monument speared the sky like a giant rocket ready to take off.
The huge marble obelisk, the symbol of America’s capital, shimmered in the
pool’s sky-blue waters and gave the illusion that the monument was twice its
normal height.

‘Wonderful, isn’t it?’
remarked Alicia.

Connor nodded in agreement, although in his
mind he was actually thinking this was the
worst
possible place to be on a
Saturday morning. Not because the view wasn’t stunning but because Alicia was so
vulnerable on the open steps. She was literally a sitting target. There was no cover if
some madman took a potshot at her. No place to hide if she was attacked. Hundreds of
tourists milled around and
any
one of them could be carrying a knife or a
gun.

Connor almost wished he’d never done
his bodyguard training. It would be far easier to sit there in blissful ignorance of the
countless hidden dangers surrounding them. At least then he could relax. But his
assignment meant that he had to remain on constant alert, his nerves wound tight as a
guitar string. Connor looked across at a slim blonde-haired woman wearing sunglasses and
carrying
a pocket tourist guide. She too seemed to be enjoying the
view. But every so often she’d glance in their direction.

But Connor wasn’t alarmed. He
recognized her as Agent Brooke, one of several women on Alicia’s PES team. Other
agents, including Kyle, were dotted around the Lincoln Memorial steps and along the edge
of the Reflecting Pool, all within sight line of the President’s daughter and each
keeping a low profile so as not to draw attention to her presence. But Connor knew the
strain the agents must be under because he was feeling it too – the unpredictability of
the situation, the uncertainty of the environment, the constantly changing dynamics of
the crowd. No wonder the Secret Service had a hard time walking the thin line between
the need for protection and the need for their Principal’s privacy.

‘Let me take a picture of you,’
Alicia suggested to Connor. ‘This is
the
tourist spot.’

‘Why don’t I take it?’
offered Kalila. ‘Then you can both be in the photo.’

‘Good idea,’ said Alicia,
jumping to her feet and waving Connor over.

Connor grinned. It would be pretty cool to
have a photo of him with the President’s daughter. At the very least, it would
make Amir and Marc envious! Unlocking his mobile’s screen and clicking the camera
app, he handed his phone to Kalila. Then he and Alicia posed on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial like every other tourist.

‘Get closer, you two,’ said
Kalila, lining up the shot.

As she took several photos from different
angles, Connor
began to notice a low buzz of excitement among the tour
group. He glanced over and saw that several people were no longer listening to the
guide. Instead they were staring in their direction. Or, to be more accurate, in
Alicia’s direction.

‘Is it really
her
?’ a
large lady whispered to her equally bulbous husband.

‘Looks like the President’s
daughter to me,’ he replied, holding up an image on his phone’s web browser
and comparing it with the dark-haired girl on the steps.

An Italian man, overhearing their
conversation, plucked up the courage to take a sneaky photo of Alicia, while poorly
feigning a shot of the Reflecting Pool behind. Connor instinctively began to shield
Alicia from their attention.

‘Shall we go?’ suggested Connor
as a Japanese man now joined in, targeting his lens on the President’s
daughter’s face with zero subtlety.

‘What’s the hurry?’ Alicia
replied, still looking towards Kalila and oblivious to the rapidly growing interest.
‘You haven’t seen Lincoln’s statue yet.’

‘I can come back another
day.’

By now the tour group had all turned towards
the President’s daughter and were drawing nearer for a better shot. A tall man in
a baseball cap and sunglasses was at Alicia’s side in an instant.

‘It’s time to move on,’
said Kyle, his statement not quite an order, but leaving no room for argument
either.

Alicia now saw the reason and smiled
apologetically at the tour group. ‘Sorry, I’ve got to go!’

As word spread and the crowd began to thicken,
Secret Service agents seemed to materialize out of nowhere. They drew into a
‘closed box’ formation, creating a fluid cordon of protection round Alicia.
Connor was by her side as the agents swiftly escorted her and Kalila down the steps and
along the paved avenue towards the waiting limo. By the time they reached the car, the
steps of the Lincoln Memorial were swarming with tourists, all attempting to catch a
final glimpse of the President’s daughter.

Secure within the confines of the limo,
Alicia sat fuming on the back seat.

‘Are you OK?’ Kalila asked as
the car and its escort vehicle pulled away from the gathered crowd.

Alicia didn’t reply for a moment. She
just stared through the darkened window at the passing traffic.

Then through clenched teeth, she said,
‘The Secret Service drive me up the wall! I mean, those people were
only
taking photos.’

‘I’m sure Kyle had a good reason
for asking us to leave,’ defended Connor, glancing at the agent who sat on the
other side of the glass privacy screen in the front passenger seat. He knew the Secret
Service were used to dealing with crowds, so Kyle must have been alerted to another
potential threat. In fact, he was
certain
something more than just a mob of
tourists had spooked the agent.

‘But I have to put up with this
all
the time!’ Alicia cried, her frustration turning to anger.
‘At the slightest sign of … something … I don’t know what … I’m
whisked away. Usually, just as I’m starting to relax or – God forbid – enjoy
myself. But how can I, when agents are
always
around me,
dictating my movements, controlling my social life? Ironic, isn’t it, Connor?
I’m the First Daughter in the Land of the Free but I’m really a
prisoner!’

‘The Secret Service are there for your
protection,’ reminded Connor.

Alicia gave a weary sigh. ‘I know
that, but why do they have to be so paranoid?’

‘I suppose it’s their job to be.
So you – and your parents – don’t have to worry about your safety.’

‘But they’re robbing me of any
life!’

‘Isn’t that a little
extreme?’ Kalila said gently.

Alicia shook her head furiously. ‘Not
at all! Can you imagine spending every waking moment under surveillance? Seven days a
week, twenty-four hours a day. I can’t just walk out of the door, meet up with my
friends and go shopping. Everything has to be planned in advance. And forget about
having a
boyfriend
. If I stay out later than my father approves, he orders the
Secret Service to bring me home! And you try saying goodnight to a boyfriend at the door
of the White House with the glare of floodlights and a Secret Service agent by your
side. There’s not much you can do except shake hands. And what sort of basis is
that for a relationship? In fact, I’m amazed my father even let Connor stay in the
White House!’

Connor offered Alicia an awkward smile,
hoping she wouldn’t press the matter any further. He’d worked hard not to
expose his role as her personal buddyguard. But he needn’t have worried; Alicia
was too upset to read anything
more into the situation. Her eyes began
to glaze over with tears and Kalila put a comforting arm round her friend.

‘You think that’s bad, then you
clearly haven’t met my brothers,’ she said, her voice gently soothing.
‘They’re as overly protective as your Secret Service – and I have to put up
with them for life!’

Alicia attempted a smile.
‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘I didn’t mean to get angry with
you.’

‘I know,’ said Kalila, finding
her a tissue from the seat’s side pocket.

‘It’s just … so unbearable. Last
month I wasn’t allowed to leave the White House for a whole week due to some
threat or other that came to nothing. And I missed out on Grace’s
sleepover.’

‘She understood. We all
did.’

Alicia took a deep breath. ‘But I feel
I’m
always
missing out.’

‘Then try not to let it ruin the rest
of this weekend,’ said Kalila. ‘You’ve been given permission to be
Connor’s tour guide and there’s still loads more of Washington to explore –
the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, the Air and Space Museum.’

Alicia nodded and dried up her tears.
‘Sorry, Connor. You must think I’m a spoilt princess.’

‘Of course not,’ he replied
genuinely, having witnessed firsthand her claustrophobic life. ‘It must be tough
having no privacy. But, at the same time, I can understand why you need Secret Service
protection.’

‘But that doesn’t make their
presence any easier,’ she
said, glancing bitterly towards Kyle,
then gazing out of the window at the pedestrians wandering freely about their business.
‘Sometimes I wish I could be someone else for a day – just disappear.’