The Heart Read online

  Joshua saw the flash of anger in Mac’s eyes as Jerry spoke. Still holding his stare, Joshua nodded. “I believe you Governor.”

  “Thank goodness,” Eleanor sighed loudly.

  Joshua looked up at Jerry. “Would you stop such a plot if it was within your power, even if members of your family were involved?”

  “You got the balls of a bull coming to my turf accusing my family of wrong doing, boy!” Mac hit the floor with his stick. “You got some nerve looking me in the eye. Back in the day, we had ways of dealing with uppity n….”

  Mac never had a chance to complete the statement. Before he could blink Joshua grabbed him with both hands by the lapel of his jacket. He held the man in the air until he was eye level with him.

  Joshua heard Eleanor’s sharp gasp behind him, but ignored her and Jerry’s protests. “I don’t like you, Mac. The next time we meet, one of us is going to die. Since I haven’t given my mother any grandchildren yet, the odds are it will not be me.” He dropped the old man into the chair. He looked at Jerry. “I believe I have everything I need Governor. Thank you for your Texas hospitality.” Joshua turned and walked out the door.

  It must have taken Mac a moment or two to get his nerves un-rattled. Joshua was almost at the front door before he heard the old man’s threat. “You’ll be dead before you leave Texas. Dead, you hear me boy!”

  The man that greeted Joshua previously stood with the front door open. Joshua stepped out and so did the man. “Agent Lassiter, if there is a plot to kill Governor Harrison, Jerry is not involved. It’s certainly the old coot. He’s as mean as a rattlesnake and is just as deadly. You be careful, son.”

  “Thank you for the heads up sir.” Joshua said as he climbed into the helicopter he had sitting on the front lawn. “Guns trump snakes,” he yelled. Joshua lifted off, then landed at Austin Airport where Melissa Sue was waiting. He boarded the private jet still pissed from the encounter with the old man. They were in the air when he called Ned. “I want everything we have on Mac McClintock before I land.”

  “Absolute, funny you should call. Who is the master?”

  “What?”

  “Who is the master?”

  “Do I sound like I give a damn?”

  “You will, as soon as I give you my news.”

  “Ned,” Joshua shook his head. “I’m not in the mood.”

  “This should lighten your mood just a touch. The picture you sent.”

  Joshua waited. “I’m going to break every bone in your body if you don’t talk.”

  “Why do you have to be so violent? What about showing your brother man a little love? What the world needs now—a little love.”

  “Ned!” Joshua yelled. “The picture, Ned.”

  “Oh yeah, Dionne got me there for a minute.”

  Joshua dropped his head. The nerds of this world were going to be the death of him.

  “I found him.”

  “You found who?”

  “The man in the picture. You want to stay focused here.”

  “Who is he?”

  “I don’t know, but I can tell where he is at this moment.”

  Joshua sat up, “Where?”

  “Los Angeles, California. I have satellite photos of him near the hotel where Governor Harrison is staying. I also have him at the Orange County fund raiser last night.”

  Joshua jumped from his seat and walk into the car pit of the plane. “Melissa Sue, how long will it take us to get to LA?”

  “Two—three hours.”

  “Get me there in two.” Joshua walked back to his seat. “Keep an eye on him. Update me every fifteen minutes.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Yeah. Raider is in the hanger in Austin. It needs to be fully loaded. The next time I visit Texas, I’m leaving my signature.”

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Sunday morning church, brunch then to the office to catch up on the correspondence was Monique’s plan. Simple, right? When was anything in her life simple? The first two items on her plan went off without a hitch. The preacher spoke on positivity rather than negativity, believing—not disbelieving, trust versus distrust and forgiveness—not grudges. Yes, the service was very uplifting, Monique thought as she exited the Capital South metro stop. Dressed in an Tahari power skirt and blazer, showing off her sensuous curves and the four inch heels highlighting her sexy legs, she stopped in the Bistro for brunch. As always, Monique’s looks demanded attention and the fact that she traveled alone always enticed one or two males. Today was no different as several offered to join her. A few she refused tactfully until this one brother came up grinning, wearing his gator shoes and second hand suit, like he had it going on.

  Monique reverted back to her street days with a look that said; don’t even think about it. The brother went on his merry way and Monique declared brunch a done deal.

  Placing her earplugs in, the IPod blasted a little Chris Brown, and Trey Songz mixed with a little Pharrell, showing her fellow VA talent some love. Her hips swayed to the beat of the music as she waved to the brothers at the guardhouse to the Senate building.

  Taking the stairs to the second floor, she began singing along with Chris and Jordan Sparks’, No Air. The building wasn’t particularly busy on Sundays. Normally, there were a few interns playing catch up, like she was. So seeing the Senator and a woman walking into his office suite was quite unusual. Monique turned off the music, then waited a moment before proceeding down the hallway. When she reached the door she fumbled around in her purse as if searching for the key, but she was actually listening to see if the couple moved on into the Senator’s office. When she thought it was safe, she slowly opened the door and slid inside.

  Inside to the left of the suite was her closet-office, she placed her purse on the floor then walked until she was just outside of the Senator’s office. The door was open, the Senator stood behind his desk as the woman gave him a cell phone. “The call will come through this number. Once you receive the call, destroy the phone.”

  “How do I destroy it?” He asked as he locked the cellphone in his top drawer.

  “Throw it into the Potomac for all I care. Just get rid of it.” The women turned. “You know how to reach me if I can be of further assistance.”

  Monique hurried back to her office, turned her music on and was standing with her back to the doorway shaking her hips. She opened the file cabinet then closed it so the noise could be heard. She was holding a letter in her hand when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Monique jumped and grabbed the bookend off the file cabinet and swung around ready to attack.

  The Senator jumped back. “Hold up there little lady,” he said in his southern drawl.

  Monique frowned, then pulled the earplugs from her ears. “Senator,” she looked around frantically. “What in the he--,” she stopped and put the bookend back on the cabinet. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know anyone else was here. You scared me.”

  The Senator reached down and picked up the letter she dropped. He glanced at it then held it out to her. She took the document. “I see you are trying to catch up on the correspondence.”

  Monique gave him a small smile. “Yes sir. I got a little behind when I left early last week.” She gave him a curious look. “What are you doing here? I mean I know it’s your office and everything, but it is Sunday.”

  “I decided to catch up on a few things also.”

  “So you’re heading to your office to work? I won’t be disturbing you here will I?”

  “I’m going to get a few things, then I will be out of your way.”

  “You’re not in my way Senator, but okay. Would you mind making some noise when you leave?”

  He smiled, “I’ll see what I can do.”

  The Senator walked out. Monique slouched into her chair and prayed he bought the act. Once the Senator left Monique worked for a few hours, just to make sure he wouldn’t return. The whole time she wondered why the Senator would need a disposable cell phone and who was the woman? It was the same woman
she bumped into coming from the office before.

  That was it, curiosity was kicking her butt. Taking a small case from her purse, she pulled one of the instruments from the case then marched into the Senators’ office. It took her a minute but she got the drawer open. Taking out the cell phone, she turned it on and wrote down the number. She replaced the phone and locked the drawer. She looked around to make sure no little pieces of paper dropped anywhere to indicate the drawer had been opened. Satisfied everything was as it should be, she walked back to her office, grabbed her purse and left.

  On her way to the metro station, she called in the number. “Mr. Ned, this is Spicy calling. Is it possible to have a call routed to my number from a prepaid phone?”

  “For you Spicy, anything is possible.” Ned replied.

  She gave him the number. “I still need the call to go through. Thank you Mr. Ned.”

  “Will do Spicy, and by the way, call me Ned.”

  Monique smiled, “You’re the man, Ned.” She disconnected the call, never noticing the man following her onto the metro station.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  The house was quiet. Mrs. Harrison had put the children to bed and Mrs. Gordon was just wrapping up the kitchen. She stepped out onto the patio where Al was sitting in a chair, staring out into the night. “You want anything before I call it a night son?”

  Al held his head back and his locs fell over the back of the chair. “No thank you, Mrs. Gordon. I’m good for the night.” He sat back up.

  “You seem a little down. I’m a good listener.”

  “I know you are. This is something I have to sort out.”

  “All right, son. You have a good night.”

  “You too, Mrs. Gordon.”

  The listening device buzzed in his ear. He touched it to activate the audio. “What’s up, Magna?”

  “Just reporting in Boss. Everything’s quiet on the homefront. I believe JC is sitting out on his parents’ balcony. You might want to check that out.”

  “Will do,” Al replied as he stood. Upstairs he checked all of the children’s rooms before entering JC’s. The first thing he noticed was the boy was not in the bed. JC ran hard during the day, so although he was the oldest, he was usually the first one to fall asleep. Al walked down the hallway to JD and Tracy’s room. He found JC sitting on the balcony just as Magna had stated. In his hand was his parents’ wedding picture. “What’s up, little man?” JC turned and Al could see tears in the boy’s eyes. He didn’t say anything, he just pulled up a chair next to JC and waited.

  “Something’s going to happen to my Daddy, isn’t it?” the boy asked looking down at the picture.

  Looking at the boy’s dropped head it was hard to read his eyes. “You know, when you talk to a man, you should always look him in the eyes. That’s the only way you can tell if he is being honest.” JC looked up at his uncle. Al smiled. “That’s better.” He stared at JC, whose eyes were the mirror image of his mother’s but everything else, from his sharp jawline to his build was his father’s. “You and I have gotten to know each other very well over the last five years, haven’t we?”

  “Yes sir,” JC nodded his head.

  “Have I ever lied to you?”

  “No sir,” the boy held his stare.

  “I swear to you, that we will not let anything happen to your father or your mother. Now, that doesn’t mean people will not try, because they will. But I think your Uncle Brian, Uncle Samuel, Uncle Joshua, Uncle Tucker and I are going to be tough to get through. And whoever is out there that wants to harm your father will have to get through us before they will get anywhere near your parents.”

  “They are going to try to kill my Daddy in California,” JC said without flinching.

  “Why do you think that?”

  JC looked down at the picture. “I don’t know.” He hesitated. “It’s the logical thing to do. If I wanted to kill a presidential candidate, I would need to get to a country where even if they found me, the government wouldn’t let them take me. And it would have to be somewhere I can get to quickly. That’s why I told my Dad not to go to California or Texas.” He looked up at his uncle. “You know they killed John Kennedy in Texas.”

  It was clear to him before that JC was highly intelligent for his age, but tonight he displayed a caring nature. A normal child would simply be afraid for their parents. This child knew exactly why he was afraid and that the fear was justified. “Then it’s a good thing your father is not in Texas. But his location isn’t relevant. It’s our job to keep him safe.” Al looked out into the night. “At your age you feel kind of helpless. There are people you love and want to protect, but you’re small and the bad people are usually a lot bigger.” He turned back to the child. “See, I think that gives you the advantage.”

  “Really?”

  “Definitely,” Al smiled. “The adult will not expect a mere child to out think them. It’s not always about your size. Sometimes you have to beat the enemy with your mind. That’s what I did to protect your Mom when I was little.”

  The boy smiled, “How did you protect her?”

  “The same way you are helping us to protect your Dad tonight.” Al shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t know why, but you just have a feeling something isn’t right—right?”

  JC nodded, “Yes.”

  Al pulled out his phone, “That’s called instinct or as your Uncle Brian would say a hunch.” He smiled and pushed a button on his phone. “Let’s call in your hunch.” JC stared at his uncle. Al could see the pride in the boy’s eyes. “Brian, Al. Listen, we want you to follow up on a hunch we have here,” He winked at JC. “This California trip is a good location for trouble. Let’s double up on security.” Al put his fist out so JC could give him a pound. He could see the tension in his nephew’s eyes ease away. After he completed his call to Brian, Al looked down at JC. “Feel better?”

  The boy nodded, “Yeah,”

  “Good. How about a game of Scattergories before you go to bed?”

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  An hour later, Al sat at the monitor while Magna took a few hours of shuteye. Ryan was into day five on the campaign trail and he missed her sassy mouth in more ways than one. He pulled up the videoconference on one of the monitors and waited for her to answer. Hearing her voice wasn’t enough to hold him over another five days, he needed to see her. When she appeared on the monitor she was dressed. “You look good girl.”

  Ryan smiled, as she removed her earrings. “Just came in from a rally. The Richie Richs’ of the world love to write checks.”

  “Sounds like a successful trip thus far.”

  “The people out here are eating them up—especially Tracy. Everywhere she goes, checks are written before she even asks.” Ryan smiled as she yawned. “You’re up late, what is it, two in the morning there?”

  “A little after,” Al replied as he put his feet up. “Miss you.”

  “Awe Day, are you going to make me horny before I go to bed?”

  “That was my intent.”

  “Just hearing your voice does that.”

  “Good to know. But I needed to see you.”

  “Really. How much do you want to see?”

  “Don’t tease me like that.”

  “Like what?” she asked as she pulled up her dress removing her revolver from her garter.”

  “You like hard things between your legs don’t you?”

  She pulled her dress over her head revealing her curvy well-toned body in just a lace bra with matching boy shorts, garter belt and stockings. “Wish it was you instead of a hard piece of metal.” She stated as she walked away from the monitor to hang the dress up.

  “Don’t do that to me.”

  The hitch in his voice could be heard as she walked slowly back. “For your viewing pleasure only.” She bent over releasing the stocking from the garter, then slowly undressed her legs. She threw the stocking across the bed, then slowly turned her backside to the monitor, bent to the right to undress that leg.


  “So you’re into teasing a brother.”

  “Well, as someone once told me,” she leaned forward, “I’m a woman. So, I’m putting forth all efforts to embrace my womanhood.” She sat on the side of the bed, placed two pillows behind her, then crossed her legs.

  “Don’t do it.” Al shook his head.

  “What?” she smirked, “Don’t you want to see how I embrace myself when you’re not here?”

  Al closed his eyes, praying that she would end the torment, and hoping against all hope that she wouldn’t.

  “You’re going to miss the best part if your eyes are closed.”

  “Morgan.” Al moaned as he opened his eyes to see her spread her legs and lay back on the pillows.

  Looking into the monitor, Ryan watched as his eyes became hooded. If she was there in person she could imagine his light brown eyes darkening. Her hands covered her breasts as she gave them a gentle squeeze. “Would you believe, there was only one other man before you? Making love to you made me realize he wasn’t a man at all. He was just a little boy.” She allowed one hand to slowly move to her stomach, circling her navel. “Do you remember your tongue right here? I do.” Her tone lowered, “I remember so well, I can almost feel the texture of your tongue right now. Can you taste my skin, Al?”