Robert continues, “… George Sandoval, with wisdom and ability. Bless, um, Lauren, with wisdom on her travels, and we thank you for the pleasure of meeting her, and the continued warm hospitality of Mrs. Phelps and Mary in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“Okay!” says Hinton. “You guys sure can pray!” to which Mary nods immediately in agreement.
Looking out the side window of the front foyer Joseph says, “It’s starting to snow!”
Hinton, at this point, has to communicate to Agent Coles what he’s found, and turning to her, says, “Now, you’ll never make it to Catskill in ninety minutes, Miss. But let me tell you the best way to go.”
Lauren walks over to him while everyone else, still wearing their coats, walks back into the living room and slump down into chairs.
Speaking quietly he shows Lauren the bullet hole in the glass and says, “It traveled across the room and into the wall. To make a hole this clean and small, I bet it went into the basement somewhere!”
Lauren’s heart starts racing; she is a little overwhelmed at the moment and simply asks, “What should we do?”
“Well, the angle shows us that the gunman must have a position facing this side of the Phelps house shooting from the south. We’d actually be better off over at the Market residence.”
“But we can’t risk taking them outside! There’s no way to protect everybody, and we’d struggle just to keep Joseph safe.”
Hinton, amazed adds, “Wait, wait, wait. Didn’t somebody– Look, it’s snowing! We can– Oh, my God!”
“What?” says Lauren somewhat agitated.
“That boss of yours. Man, wow! There are two large black umbrellas in my car!”
“Wow.”
“And the snow will make it more difficult for an assassin to get off a sure-kill shot!”
With relief, Lauren says, “Thank God for the snow!”
Hinton takes a double take, and looking at her says, “Okay, now, don’t you start.”
Lauren, “It’s just an expression, besides, we still need to get them to use the umbrellas, it’s just a walk across the street.”
“I’ll handle that, you contact the NSA guy and tell him about the bullet holes.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, and Lauren, stop calling everyone ma’am and sir, makes you sound like a cop or agent.”
“Am I doing that?”
He looks at her a second and answers, “Yes ma’am.” Hinton then turns to the rest, who are engaged in deciding what to get on a pizza, and interrupts asking, “Mrs. Market, I’m gonna try and talk to the electrician and see what we can do to get you at least limited access to your home, will that suffice?”
Robert, “God bless you; some home is better than none!”
To which Hinton replies, “Okay, I’ll be right back.” And with that, he grabs his coat and heads outside.
As the sole agent protecting the family, Lauren is now in full protection mode; she must keep anyone from being a target through that window. With the living room lights back on, she knows that anyone sitting on the sofa is a sitting duck. It’s her turn to pretend to be on the phone, as she paces back and forth in front of the window, making a clear shot impossible. She acts like she’s making arrangements with the bridal party, but in reality she is texting coordinate info to the NSA team in the hopes that they can find the shooter. Out through the window, she sees Hinton run over into the Market home for a couple of minutes, then over to the electrician’s truck, and then to his car to retrieve two large umbrellas. As she paces back the next time her heart almost stops when she sees the red dot of a laser sight on her right sleeve! In a panic reflex she turns her back and cringes expecting to be hit by an assassin’s bullet. But nothing comes, and opening her eyes she sees that everyone in the room is not only unharmed but unaware of what just happened.
They have moved on from debating pizza toppings to where to have the pizza delivered. She then quickly collects herself and switches her phone to her left hand and turns again to place the shiny mirrored back of her PDA on the dot, reflecting it back out of the window! She thinks that whoever is targeting them is not willing to risk a shot at anyone but his primary target, Joseph.
With a cracked and trembling voice, she announces to the room, “Hey everyone, here comes that guy again, Mr. Hinton, I think he’s signaling for us to meet him at the front door.” The room empties out and then Lauren herself steps out of harm’s way.
James notices her frightened state. He meets her in route to the front door and says, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I um … I just heard that they, uh, postponed the rehearsal ’til tomorrow morning, and I think it was because of me.”
“It’s okay, don’t worry, maybe it’s for the best.”
“Thanks, James;” and she gives him a hug and finally exhales.
“Wow, you’re trembling! Are you sure you’re okay?”
She smiles with relief. “Yes. I’m okay.”
James, turning to Joanna, says, “Mom, feel Lauren’s hand, I think she’s coming down with something.”
Joanna comes over. “Oh my, all the color has drained out of your face.” Taking hold of her hand she adds, “and your hands are ice cold!”
Lauren, “Really?”
Joanna, “Yes, perhaps you’d better not drive further tonight, you can stay with us—assuming they’ll give us sufficient portions of our house”
Lauren, “Well, they did postpone the rehearsal ’til tomorrow, I could head out first thing in the morning. Are you sure I won’t be an inconvenience?”
Now, with a smile that shows she’s glad to be a hostess again, Joanna says, “It will be my pleasure to have another girl in the house!” to which all the guys in unison grumble and tease.
They open the door to welcome Hinton who tells them the news, “Okay, here’s the deal. George, my electrician, says that he can route power to the front of the house. If he keeps power out to the back sections he believes that we’ll all be safe, and he can finish his work. He already has the heater going, and the front of the house will have power on in about a minute.”
Robert, “That should work, let’s see, we’re losing James’ room, his bath, Grandma’s room, the dining room, family room, back porch, some of the kitchen and pantry, but we still have the upstairs guest room, the basement guest room, and most of the living room. Oh, and we’re losing our bathroom.”
Joanna, thrilled just to go home, “That’s fine, it’s just for tonight right?”
Hinton, “Yes, ma’am; but, perhaps not even the full night. One thing though, he reminded me that I did not complete something in my documentation that I need to do now. Ordinarily it’s done before the family returns, but if you will consent to bringing as little snow and dirt into the house as possible, and stay clear of the damaged section of wall, we can still go over right now.”
“Anything,” says Joanna.
Hinton, “Okay, if you all will indulge this one request and use these large umbrellas as we cross to keep as much snow off of us as possible, we should all fit.” This seems like a small price to pay to get their home back, and the Markets are happy to oblige. Hinton works his way around to Lauren who’s behind the group and says, “So, Miss, are you coming across or going to your car?”
Lauren, “I’m going to stick around for the night.”
“Smart move.” Then whispering, “So how do we do this?”
“Just follow my lead.”
“Great, I love when people say that.”
Lauren, then says to the group, “Hey everyone, since I have to go over to my car, let me be one of the umbrella holders so I can go straight there after I get you to the porch.” She then takes Joseph by the hand; who grins from ear to ear and then squeezes in with his mom and dad. Joanna says to Mary, “Thanks Mary, for everything. I’ll be in touch with Mrs. Phelps tomorrow.”
Mary, “Okay ma’am.”
Hinton turns and says to Mary, “Thanks, it was nice meeting you.”
; “My pleasure,” she replies and then adds, “Oh my, the front porch light is out.” She tries the switch, but to no avail. “I’m sorry to send you off in darkness, everyone.”
“That’s okay,” rises from the crowd.
With the electrician’s truck lights off, it’s pitch black outside there, the only light coming from the street light almost two houses down. Which is exactly what Hinton was after when he loosened the front porch bulb. The first group huddles together and heads towards the street.
Lauren keeps a keen eye on the umbrella to make sure that it is down low enough to cover them, and that no laser sight dots appear. Lauren keeps herself in front of Joseph at all times, and he is completely obscured by his parents on either side. Down the long front sidewalk and into the street there is no sign of trouble.
Joanna says, “Wow, I never thought this would get to be such a big deal. I’m sure gonna be glad to be home! Feels like we’ve been away for a week!”
“I know,” says Robert.
As they step off the curb, through Mrs. Phelps front gate, the Phelps front door closes and Mr. Hinton and James are on their way. Since it’s just the guys, Hinton takes the liberty of asking some guy questions. “So, how do you like Maryland?”
James, “It’s pretty good so far.”
“I’d say so. Is she your girlfriend?”
“Who? Uh, Lauren? No, though I certainly wouldn’t mind getting to know her better.”
“How long have you known her?”
“We just met today!”
“Really! Hmm, I thought I sensed some chemistry there.”
“Really?”
“I dunno, seemed that way to me, but what do I know?”
Unable to stop smiling, James says, “I hope you sensed right, she is just awesome!”
Meanwhile Lauren’s group is on the circular driveway of the Market home and as they pass her car, they fall within the cover of the house. A shot coming from the south would at this point be near impossible. She looks back at Hinton and James who are crossing the street. The two can’t help but smile sheepishly as they were caught talking about her. This in turn makes Lauren smile. A smile that disappears when she sees a red laser sight dot on Hinton’s umbrella! Her eyes can’t help but betray her panic and she shouts, “Hurry up, you two!”
Hinton, realizing something must be wrong, grabs James by the arm and says, “Let’s just jog the rest of the way.” And they trot over, passing Lauren’s group and reaching the secure covering of the front porch first.
Lauren, Joseph and Mr. & Mrs. Market come up the stairs behind them and Joanna says, “Show offs!” Lauren’s eyes are still showing alarm when she looks at Hinton. She looks around a bit, seeming in admiration of the house, but in reality checking shot angles. Concerned that her car is still within reach of a shot from the south she decides not to risk it and says, “You know, I’ll get the gear outta the car in a moment, I think I’d like to get off my feet for a few minutes first.”
To which Joanna replies, “Yes dear, you may have a little something.” After shaking any snow off of them, and removing their shoes, they all enter the house safely.
• • •
Walking into the Market’s home foyer, Lauren looks around and says, “What a lovely home you have Ma’am, uh, Mrs.– Joanna.” Her awkward delivery actually makes Hinton laugh on his way down to the basement to talk to the electrician. Lauren slips her hand into her coat sleeve and writes Hinton an urgent text message; it reads, “snipr lzr dot me @ phelps n ur umbrla.” No sooner does she finish the message than Joseph comes around to collect her coat—he is hanging up coats for everyone. “Thank you, handsome,” she says.
This produces the biggest smile possible on his face, “You’re welcome.”
Walking swiftly down the stairs, Hinton receives Lauren’s message, which he attempts to read. He is not a hundred percent certain of what she’s saying but it seems very concerning. He shows it to Sandoval. “Does that say what I think it says?”
Sandoval, “If you’re thinking it says she had a sniper laser sight dot on her at the Phelps home, and you had one on your umbrella, then yes; it says what you think it says!”
Hinton, with confusion, “My God, what is going on here?”
“I was just about to ask you that!”
Shaking his head Hinton says, “I-I dunno, this thing just keeps getting– Are you all set? Can you turn on the rest of the power at any time?”
“Yep.”
Beginning to pace back and forth, Hinton thinks out loud and makes requests at the same time. “If she saw a dot on my umbrella, she was in front of me, so she saw a dot coming from the south, same direction as the Phelps window; probably just the one sniper. Mmm. Got to tell Coles. Gotta notify DC. Okay, here’s what I need: first, do me a favor and take this and text Lauren this message, shooter is south of us; keep clear of back windows; we’ll keep them dark.”
Sandoval sends the message and looks back at Hinton, expecting some more info.
Hinton, still focused on what he was thinking, continues, “Okay. I’ve got to stay with the boy and the father. Okay. I need you to apprise the rest of the team in DC. Ask for my boss, Ramirez; tell him what’s happened, and find out the latest from their end. This posturing by the assassin doesn’t make sense. If he had the shot he wanted, he would have taken it, and if he didn’t, why wouldn’t he? Something must have changed.”
Sandoval, “Are they safe now?”
“Well, that’s hard to tell for sure. Seems as long as we stay inside, and away from any southern exposure like the back doors or the back of the house … I just can’t figure why he’d do that!”
“So the shooter is a man?”
Hinton, “I’m guessing. There was a report on two people of interest, one man and one woman, and we know that the man has bought firearms. Anyway, if you can’t reach Ramirez, try someone over at the Secret Service. There is a girl, I can’t remember her name, but she’s Lauren Coles’ assistant. She will have all the latest intel. Also, we need to be in touch with these NSA guys in town, get the name and number of whoever is in charge of that detail.”
“NSA! Sir, you gotta fill me in. What’s going on here? Why can’t I just talk to our office here?”
“George, I don’t have time. Your office wouldn’t know. This case has a very tight lid. You know it involves the president so NSA makes sense, right?”
“Not really, unless it involves other governments.”
“All I can tell you is this family is in danger, somehow somebody who sees them as a threat wants to off them, or, at least one of ’em. The reason why, is unknown, but somehow it ties to the safety of the president. I dunno, maybe other presidents, that’s all I can tell you, you know why?”
“I get it, ’cause that’s all you know.”
“Correcto.”
Returning upstairs, Hinton is met immediately at the top of the stairs by Joseph who asks, “Sir, what would you like on a pizza?”
Momentarily concerned that he may have overheard them, Hinton stutters, “Oh. Okay, uh, I’m really not, um … I’ll pass, kid.”
Joanna pipes in from the living room, “Nonsense. You’ve been working with us all day and haven’t had more than some cookies and two or three cups of coffee, please.”
Entering the room, Hinton is standing next to Robert who conceals his mouth with his hand and leans towards him saying, “I assure you, your argument in this matter is futile, she will not give way.”
Walking by, Joanna playfully hits him with the apron she’s about to put on. “I won’t insist, if you honestly are not hungry or do not care for pizza.”
Hinton, thinking ahead, says, “Well, how about my man downstairs?”
Robert and Joanna say in unison, “Of course! Are you kidding?”
He is trying to use this as an excuse to go tell Sandoval to alert NSA about this delivery coming to the house. He says, “Truthfully I don’t know if I’ll be here much longer. Where are you ordering from, an
d how long will it take?”
James, who had been talking with Lauren says, “Oh, Pizza Daddy-O is fast, they’ll have it here in twenty minutes.”
Lauren uses the brief moment to read the text message sent by Sandoval.
Hinton then says, “Okay, let me go see what he would like.”
But then Robert says, “Since you’re going to be leaving before long, I might as well come and meet this electrician;” and he follows Hinton towards the basement. His tagging along will get in the way of Hinton’s plans, but he’ll manage. So the two men head towards the basement.
As they go, Joanna says, “Well, I’m not about to let you all fill up on just pizza. How about a salad to go with it?”
Robert, from the hallway, and the boys, all, give a half-hearted, “Sounds great Mom/sweetheart.”
She smiles and shakes her head, “Men. Your hearts would be clogged solid if it weren’t for caring moms and wives.”
Lauren, “A salad sounds great to me Mrs.– I mean, Joanna.”
“Great! Are you any good with a knife?”
Rising to her feet, Lauren says, “Oh, I can chop.”
“Good. Joe, when the men know what they want, put in the order for three large pizzas. Lauren, any pizza particulars?”
“No, just the sooner the better.”
James, “Well, not too fast. If they pulled Dad over, they’ll pull anybody!”
Joanna says, “What do you mean?”
“Dad’s ticket.”
“What ticket?”
James realizing what he’s done says in unison with Joseph “Uh-ohhh.”
Downstairs, Hinton is trying to slip a request to Sandoval to have NSA check out the pizza delivery guy without Robert Market catching on. Having already introduced them, he says, “So they’re gonna have some pizza delivered and wanted to know if you had any special topping requests.”
Sandoval, in consideration of the sniper, asks, “Delivered? Here?”
Hinton, “Where else, of course here. So, they’ll be here in, like, twenty minutes after we place the order.” The men probably could talk freely as Robert is totally distracted at the mess of wires Sandoval has run. This is, after all, no normal patch job, as Sandoval has the house wired so he can turn on whatever section he wants.
The Journal: A Prophecy, A President & Death Page 21
