Willie reached into his pocket and produced his keychain, from which his tiny Swiss Army knife was dangling. “Never leave home without it,” he said.
“Oh my gosh,” Madison said in anticipation.
Willie flipped open the small knife and shoved it inside the small slit, wiggling it back and forth until it sunk into the wood. After several seconds, the piece of wood buckled and slid forward and out. Seth used his hand to grab the small piece and removed it.
“Geez,” Madison said. “It couldn’t be.”
The hole in the bottom of the door was small but deep, extending the width of the door. Seth was the first to reach his fingers in and feel around. He was not disappointed in his efforts.
<><><><><>
February 12th, 1865
Another snowstorm pelted the northeast overnight. It was a bad winter by all accounts, the snow being the most recent bad news. The wind pushed and pulled the snowdrifts in all directions. In some areas the whiteness climbed to four feet and in others just a smatter of inches. A nor’easter they call it, formed in the Atlantic north of Georgia and bringing its fury along the eastern seaboard from the Carolinas to Boston.
President Abraham Lincoln was unsure if he was going to get to the theater for The Frozen Deep, a Charles Dickens play. It was his birthday and he had dinner earlier than usual at the White House and proceeded the few miles to Ford’s Theater in horse and buggy. He wanted to get to the theater early, he told his wife. He carried with him a black satchel and when his security detail offered to take it for him, he refused, preferring to carry it himself.
They walked into the theater and were greeted with polite handshakes and nods of the head. The President doffed his top hat and removed his coat. He told his wife to wait for him downstairs and he and his head security detail, Joseph Henry, headed up to his box, satchel in hand. As they reached the door to his private viewing box, he opened his case and handed Joseph a screwdriver and instructed him to remove the hinges on the door. Joseph was not alarmed at such an unusual request as he was informed earlier of his task.
After removing the door and placing it inside the box, Lincoln instructed Joseph to wait outside and said he would call him to replace the door in a few moments. Lincoln began chiseling away the bottom of the door with the tools he had brought with him. Soon the hole in the bottom was large enough for his intended purposes. He went to his case and removed the document that he cherished so much. The war was almost over, but Rebels were known to be just that, rebels. He could not trust keeping the document in the White House anymore. He read it once more and rolled it into a tight cylinder and placed it inside.
“This will do,” Lincoln said.
He double-knotted a piece of twine around the parchment and placed it carefully inside. He finished by placing another piece of wood in its place and called Joseph to replace the door on its hinges.
Lincoln’s secret was safe for now. As presidents before him had done, he planned to tell the next incoming president the secret that only he and the vice-president had shared and also of its whereabouts. Sadly, John Wilkes Booth did not allow that to happen.
CHAPTER 31
Kim nestled over to Vice President Jonathon Castle on the couch. This time, he had taken her to a hotel for fear of exposure. She had just finished satisfying the VP and they were watching CNN on the television when his phone rang. He expected another update from Kohler but it was not him on the other end.
“Bannister?” Castle asked.
“Yeah,” came the voice on the other end. “Get your dick out of your hands.”
He looked over at Kim and thought a sarcastic comment might be in order but he passed.
“What’s going on?” the VP replied.
“What’s going on is that your little friends are at Ford’s Theater.”
“They’re still at Ford’s Theater?” the VP said, rising from the clutches of Kim and walking toward the window. He was dressed only in a t-shirt and boxer shorts. The hair that was left on his head was strewn about. “Why?”
“They bought the damn door to Lincoln’s box. I couldn’t justify spending twenty grand on something so we let them have it. Doesn’t matter really, we’ll take it from them soon enough.”
“Did they find anything?”
“Don’t know for sure,” Bannister responded. “My guys are mulling about in the hallway and they are in the back.”
“Take them now,” Castle stated.
Kim had risen from the couch as well and moved to the kitchen portion of the suite. She opened the mini bar and looked at the assortment of beverages inside. She had on just a t-shirt as her clothes were scattered around the floor. Her fleshy body bent down and removed a clear mini bottle of vodka. She twisted the cap and breathed it in. Kim scrunched up her nose and shook her head violently like a baby tasting canned squash for the first time. She poured the contents into a glass and filled the remainder with a can of tomato juice from the small refrigerator.
“Are you sure?” Banister asked.
“They’ve got it,” Castle responded.
“Now how do you know that?”
“I don’t but if they found the document, they could destroy it or worse.”
Castle felt Bannister’s hesitation on the other end. “There could be consequences,” Bannister stated.
“That’s my business,” Castle said. “Just tell them to get back there and see what they’ve found.”
They bid their goodbyes and Castle moved back to the couch. Kim followed and handed him a small glass of Tanqueray on the rocks. She nestled up to him and they sipped their drinks in silence.
<><><><><>
Ricky Winters never even put up a fight. That was his nature of course, never the one to go and pick a fight. On the school bus he tended to sit toward the front, away from the troublemakers. One teacher classified him as “self-sufficient,” which was true in a sense. He cared about one person, himself. So when two men and a woman came down the hallway toward him, he didn’t earn his forty bucks from the man inside the room.
They came at him quickly. Ricky was caught off guard and barely deflected the first punch. He crouched low and was broadsided by another hit to the back of the head. Soon thereafter he felt a pinch in his neck and all mobility ceased and he collapsed to the floor.
“Security guards, huh.” Evan said. He moved the body of Ricky Winters away from the door and Chloe and Max stepped forward.
The woman with the red hair reached forward and slowly twisted the doorknob. Locked. She looked up and down the door to determine its strength and decided she could do it. Chloe turned to the two men and nodded. She stepped back and raised her right leg into position. The gray leather boot extended forcefully and the door to the conference room crashed open.
<><><><><>
Seth pulled out the rolled piece of paper and held it for all of them to see. “Here it is,” he said.
The three others stepped closer and they all reached out to touch it. It was about ten inches in length and tied with a piece of twine. The paper was yellow and brown and looked as old as they had hoped. In the quiet of the room they heard the muffled sound of a struggle outside the door and a thud as Ricky Winters dropped to the carpet.
Panic set in.
They had been discovered. They ran to the back of the conference room, unlocked and opened the door, and they all rushed through it.
Seth was the last to exit when the front door came crashing inward. He saw the door splinter when it thrust open, hanging by only the top hinge. The red-haired woman was the first set of eyes to see them. She quickly rushed in, followed by the two men.
Seth closed the door behind him. He looked around and discovered they were in the back of the theater where there were ladders, lights and every piece of equipment needed to effectively run a theater. He gave Madison the scroll to put in her purse and pushed them ahead. They had just turned the corner into a hallway when Seth heard the door open behind them.
“Hurry, g
o,” Seth said, urging them along.
They picked up the pace and made their way down the hall. There were doors every ten feet on their left hand side. He passed everyone and led them through the labyrinth of halls until they came to a fork. They went right. The next fork he went left. He turned his head slightly and Willie and Arthur were a few paces behind Madison. He had to get them out of there.
The hallway came to an end, and there was a door with a red “exit” sign overhead. He glanced at the sign next to the door that indicated that the alarm would sound if opened. Ignoring the warning, he burst through the door and no alarm sounded. The others followed.
They were outside.
It took a minute for Seth to get his bearings. They were in front of the theater but came out one building down on the same side. Everyone tried to catch their breath, but he knew they couldn’t stand around and wait for the Brits to barge through the door.
“Now what?” Madison asked.
“We have to move,” he replied.
“Okay, back to the truck,” Willie said.
They turned to head to the parking garage and were met by Secret Service Agent Kohler.
“Hello folks,” he said.
No one moved. They turned to leave, and Kohler opened his coat revealing his shoulder holster that housed his SIG Sauer P229 pistol. This was the second gun they’d seen up close that day. The similarities ended with the fact that they were both guns. Kohler’s was thick and black and Seth did not want to test its accuracy or firepower. His head turned as a dark SUV abruptly pulled around the corner and stopped on the street in front of them.
“Get in,” Kohler said, nodding toward the truck.
“All of us?” Seth asked. “Can’t you just take me?”
“All of you,” he replied. Kohler opened the front passenger door and pushed Seth inside. He closed the door and opened the back door and escorted Madison into the third row of seats and he followed Willie and Arthur into the second row. He closed the door and told Pierce to go. Once the vehicle was in motion Seth turned and looked back at the Theater. The three Brits exited the building and looked around, wondering where their prey had gone.
<><><><><>
In 1933 President Roosevelt had an indoor swimming pool built for his polio therapy. Unfortunately, Nixon had covered the pool and built a press room above it. Once Gerald Ford took over, he built an outdoor heated swimming pool which he tried to use on a daily basis, once holding a press conference as he did his laps.
President Richard Bowe, an avid swimmer, did his freestyle laps at a leisurely pace late in the evening. Earlier, he received another call from his source and sent his best man, Brent, over to Ford’s Theater. Pacing in his office did him no good so he came out there to get a little exercise under the careful watch of four Secret Service agents.
As he made it to the end of a lap and turned to swim the other way, he heard his phone ring and signaled to the closest agent to bring it to him. He didn’t bother checking caller id because very few had this number.
“Yes,” he said.
“Mr. President,” Brent said on the other end.
“Yes, go ahead Brent.” The President waded into the middle of the pool out of earshot from the other agents.
“I parked outside and waited. I watched Kohler and Pierce do the same. I didn’t see anyone for a while but then four people came out of the theater right into the hands of Agent Kohler.”
“Who were they?” Bowe asked.
“I don’t know, sir. Two old guys, a young woman and a young man. They were only outside for a second before Kohler escorted them into his SUV, which I assume Pierce was driving.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m following them,” Brent replied.
The President contemplated his next move. He had to stay as far away from this as possible, but he also had to know what was going on.
“You need assistance?” the President asked.
“I’m not sure, sir. I don’t know what we’re up against besides Kohler and Pierce. Wait, it looks like they just pulled into the Madison Hotel on fifteenth.”
“Okay, stay with them. I’ll send some backup. Once they arrive, go in and try and find what room they’re in.”
“Okay sir, I’ll keep you posted.”
They ended the call and the President got out of the pool and toweled off. He said something to a couple of agents and they radioed into their command. Within seconds, the reinforcements arrived and three agents took off for the parking lot. He wanted to shower and crawl into bed, but he had a feeling that this could be a long night.
CHAPTER 32
The Madison Hotel was lit up like a Christmas tree as most of the rooms were occupied with business travelers from all over the world who worked tirelessly through the night. The SUV pulled into the parking garage, parked, and the six people got into an elevator and headed to the twelfth floor, the highest floor in the hotel. Pierce led the way down the hall and stopped at room 1211 to insert his keycard and open the door. Not exactly a suite but bigger than a standard room, Arthur whistled as he imagined the room costing a couple hundred dollars a night.
“So this is where my taxes go, eh?” he said.
“Sit down,” Kohler said, motioning them into the portion of the room that had two leather chairs and a soft couch made from some type of grainy white fabric. Arthur chose the couch, Willie and Madison the chairs and Seth decided to stand.
“What do you want?” Seth asked.
Kohler looked over at Pierce who was leaning against the wall, twirling a toothpick in his mouth. “You still don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?” Seth replied.
“I’m sick of playing games,” Kohler said. “Hand it over.”
Seth extended both arms and said, “What?”
Kohler walked over to Seth and punched him in the face. “Search him,” he said to Pierce.
After a few tense moments of silence, Pierce walked over and just like at Mount Vernon, Seth was searched from head to toe. He rubbed his cheek as he was patted down and gingerly touched his nose to check for blood, but didn’t find any.
“Clean,” Pierce said to Kohler.
“Search ‘em all while I use the phone,” Kohler said.
“Touch me and I scream rape,” Madison said. Madison made an effort to clutch her small beige purse even tighter. They didn’t have to search her to find the scroll, just her purse.
Kohler walked out of the room as Pierce had Willie and Arthur stand up. Seth looked over at Madison. This was their chance if they wanted to make a run for it. She didn’t make eye contact. Her eyes were on her purse, and for good reason. Seth watched as Pierce searched the two men from top to bottom. Coats, pants pockets, shirttails, shoes, anything that could hide something, Pierce searched it.
Kohler walked back after using the phone in the other room. “Anything?” he asked.
Pierce nodded his head. “Must be the girl.”
Madison opened her mouth to scream when the door to the room opened.
<><><><><>
Brent McCarthy sat in the SUV across the street from the Madison Hotel when a small sedan raced past the hotel, abruptly turned the corner and slammed down the ramp into the parking garage. He knew his reinforcements were seconds behind him so he radioed ahead and told them he was going into the garage.
He steered his car down the ramp cautiously but aggressively, scanning left and right for the headlights of the car that just entered. He found it three lanes away. It parked and turned its lights off. He found a spot and turned his lights off as well, but keeping the engine running. The parking garage was about half full and there were no other pedestrians walking throughout the various floors that he could see. He crouched low but kept his eyes on the car.
First out of the passenger seat was a woman with deep red hair tucked into her dark green jacket. Two men quickly followed out of the driver’s side, front and backseat. They shut the doors, looked around and moved towar
d the elevators. They had guns.
Brent waited until they were in the elevator and then killed the engine and raised his transmitter to his lips and spoke. “McCarthy here. Three suspicious subjects just got out of a late model sedan at the Madison. Two male, one female. How far out?”
“Approaching now, McCarthy,” came the voice in his ear. “Where are you?”
Brent directed them down the ramp and the other SUV parked a few spaces away from them. Three men got out of the other Lincoln, two black, one white, all of similar build, tall with thick shoulders and compact legs. They removed their ties, threw them in the truck and walked over to Brent.
“What’s the status here McCarthy?” the taller of the two black men had asked.
“We got four unknowns captured or detained by agents Kohler and Pierce of Vice-President Castle’s detail inside. Then, these three unknowns that just showed up unexpectedly.”
“Driving over here, we called the front desk, identified ourselves and got the room number they’re in, 1211. There is no one in room 1209 and an unknown registrar in 1213.”
“What do you mean, unknown in 1213?” McCarthy asked.
“Exactly that. Someone who doesn’t want to be identified. Diplomat, foreign personnel, whatever. Howell,” he said to the man next to him, “go down and get a key for 1209 and 1211. Meet us in the north stairwell on the twelfth floor.”
The second black man took one set of stairs down, and the other three men took the nine flights of stairs up. They’d been taught it was better not to use an elevator and trap yourself in. When they reached the top of the concrete stairwell, the men were winded but not gasping for breath. Used to running and walking alongside motorcades, they were in fairly decent shape. They withdrew their German-made pistols and waited in formation. Two men were positioned on the opening side of the door along the wall and Brent was stationed a few feet away on the second step of the stairwell.
The Lost Journal Page 18
