The Heart Read online

  “While we’re in office let’s see if we can change that.” They laughed. “Did you get in touch with her?”

  “She just cleared security. She should be here in a minute.”

  “Okay what else do I have to do?”

  Pearl looked at her list. “You have to hire a Social Secretary, Press Secretary, and Chief of staff. Actually, once you get your Chief of Staff, he or she will handle the rest for you.”

  “Hey?” Monica Jackson smiled from the doorway. Monica was the CEO of Tracy’s company Next Level. She was the first person she and Ashley had hired. The three of them ran that company by themselves until it grew into the multimillion-dollar company it was now.

  “How is everyone?” Monica asked as she took a seat on the sofa with Tracy.

  “Carolyn is still in question, but everyone else is doing okay.” Tracy replied. “I know it’s early in the morning, but this couldn’t wait.”

  “Okay, what do you need?” Monica asked.

  “I need you to resign as CEO of Next Level.”

  “What?” A shocked Monica looked at Tracy with her mouth gaped wide open.

  “And I need you to do it immediately. Pearl, gave her the papers to sign.”

  Monica was stunned. “Tracy, what’s the problem? I’m sure whatever it is we can work it out.”

  “The problem is I need a Chief of Staff. You’re the only person I know that can keep me in line with all the stuff I will have to do. But you can’t be my chief of Staff and the CEO of Next Level at the same time. So you have to resign from Next Level.”

  “You want me to work at the White House?”

  “Yes.” Tracy replied as if that was a foregone conclusion.

  As soon as Monica signed the papers Pearl took the pile of files she had and put them in Monica’s arms. “Have fun,” she said and left the room. Monica then turned back to Tracy wondering what in the hell had she gotten into.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Before going to the area designated as his office, JD decided to drop in to see how Carolyn was doing. He was surprised to see Monique and Joshua standing outside Carolyn’s door. “What now?”

  “We have to question Mrs. Roberts,” Monique replied.

  “Why?”

  “Well sir, we believe Mrs. Roberts, intentionally or not, was the person supplying your daily itinerary to McClintock.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “Sir we know that Mrs. Worthington was the person that gave the cell phone to Senator McClintock. We just need to ask one question of Mrs. Roberts.”

  “No.” JD responded then walked into the room.

  A frustrated Monique followed as Joshua remained outside. She positioned herself near the door. The confirmation from Ned that her suspect was involved wasn’t something Monique could push aside. They made that mistake one time before. She wasn’t going to make it again.

  JD was talking with Gavin and John, both of whom had stayed the night in the room with Carolyn. He turned when Joshua walked inside the room and stood next to him.

  Before he could ask, Carol Worthington walked in the room.

  “Hello again,” Monique smiled.

  Carol Worthington took a step back. “I don’t know you,” and walked towards her daughter.

  “Oh, of course you do.” Monique took a step in front of her, stopping her progress. “I ran into you at Senator McClintock’s office.” Monique turned to the men standing near Carolyn’s bed. “It’s true. You see I saw her myself. I didn’t put it all together until now. But that’s her.” Monique smiled. “Oh and not only is she involved in last night’s scenario,” Monique shook her head. “No. She was also an intricate part of the last attempt on the President-Elect’s life, too.”

  “You don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t know you. I’ve never seen you a day before in my life.” Carol protested.

  JD, Gavin and John stopped talking as they turned to the unfolding scene. Joshua stood back to watch his trainee at work. “Of course you have.” Monique pulled out her handheld and turned it towards the lady. “See, my friend Ned, he’s a wiz with electronics. He can pull pictures out of the air. Like this one. See, that’s you the first time we met right in front of the Senator’s office.” She touched the screen and another picture appeared. “And here is the second time we met. Hum hmm. See.” She showed the picture to JD and the other men. Then she touched the screen again. “Oh, and this is the best one.” She turned the monitor back to Carol. “This is when you actually met with your accomplice.” Monique turned to show a picture of Carol and Calhoun near the Capitol. “Here’s what I don’t get.” She looked around. “You have everything. You’re not a bad looking woman. You have so much money you could buy a few countries and you had another grandbaby on the way. Why would you want to kill Uncle JD?”

  Carol looked around frantically as all eyes fell to her.

  John step forward. “Listen, I don’t know what you think you have but Carol couldn’t have been involved in this.” He looked at her, as if asking with his eyes for her to deny everything. When she did not respond he looked at her dumbfounded. “You’re her mother. How could you do this to her?”

  “John. I wasn’t doing anything to her. I was doing it for her!” she tried to explain. “You allowed this. You let that whore’s daughter come in and take everything away from my Carolyn. You and my parents with all their superiority shunned her as if she were something dirty. But she wasn’t. She was my beautiful baby girl.” She nodded her head as tears rolled down her face. “That’s right, my daughter. She was the one that became the First Lady of Virginia. Not those other grandchildren of theirs that they put on a pedestal. It was my daughter, my Carolyn that put the Worthington name where it should have been. It was left up to me to protect her and give her the life she deserves. And you,” she scowled at JD. “You took that whore’s daughter over mine!” She pounded on her chest. “That wife of yours doesn’t deserve to be in the White House. Carolyn does! She was groomed for it. None of you deserved to live after the way you rejected my Carolyn.” She sobered, “I shouldn’t have listened to that old man with his half-baked schemes. I should have just had all of you blown away. The next time, none of you will live.”

  Tracy walked into the room “What’s all the commotion about?” she asked.

  Before anyone could react, Carol turned. “You!” Grabbing her around the throat, Carol pulled a gun from her purse.

  “Tracy,” JD yelled as Gavin moved closer to Carolyn.

  A cynical smile appeared on Carol’s face. “You thought you had me, didn’t you.” She smirked. Ryan stepped into the room, applied a death grip on the nerve of Carol’s neck and watched as she crumpled to the floor.

  Ryan smiled as she held up three fingers. “Tracy made me watch Star Trek after the Carolyn incident.”

  JD grabbed Tracy as several Secret Service Agents took Carol into custody.

  “Wow,” Monique whispered. “The person she claims she was protecting is the one fighting for her life. Now that’s crazy.”

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  “Whew, I’m so glad you are all here.” Tracy rested against the door of the Blue Room where her friends had gathered to get Ryan dressed for the wedding. “I swear I just couldn’t go any further.”

  “Are you in labor?” Ashley ran over to her.

  Tracy nodded. “Don’t even think about it.” She stated as the ladies in the room looked at her. “I’m not going anywhere until Al is married. And you are going to help me.”

  “Tracy, how far apart are the contractions?” Cynthia asked.

  “Only forty, forty-five minutes. We have plenty of time.”

  “Tracy, are you crazy?” Roz panicked.

  “Oh she has plenty of time,” Ashley waved Roz off. “Why don’t you go check on things in the kitchen?”

  “I’m pregnant, not stupid. You’re trying to get rid of me.”

  “Look, we’ve all given birth before.” Cynthia soo
thed Roz. “You haven’t. We know that forty-five minutes is almost three hours before that child arrives. You need to have a seat, while we get this wedding started.”

  Ryan stood in front of the mirror in her A-line white gown and veil. “Hey we can get this show started anytime you are ready.”

  “Thank you Ryan,” Tracy smiled as she walked the floor rubbing her back.

  “So this is where everyone is hiding,” Carolyn walked in. Five sets of guilty eyes and one set of very frightened eyes stared at her. “You know if I hadn’t made a promise to God when I was in the hospital to treat people better, I would attempt to throw a monkey wrench into whatever you all are up to. However, I’m a better person now. So, I’ll try to help. What’s going on?”

  All eyes turned to Tracy wondering if they should confide in her. Tracy was the first to speak. “Carolyn I need your help. Lena has taken the media hostage and I’m in no condition to stop her. Would you please try to get her under control?”

  Carolyn turned to walk out of the room. “Your mother and control is a contradiction in terms. But I will do my best.” She stopped and turned at the door. “Do you want me to let JD know you’re in labor while I’m out there?”

  Tracy narrowed her eyes at her half-sister. “When we were in the hospital you said you were sorry for the things your mother attempted to do to my family and you would spend the rest of your life making it up to us. Well, I don’t need the rest of your life, just the next hour of you keeping this between us women.”

  “I’ll think about it as I try to control your ghetto mother. However, I want to make each of you aware that you need me to pull this off.”

  “So what, do you want a medal for being a decent human being,” Cynthia hissed.

  “Haven’t gotten rid of all of your baby fat, have you?” Carolyn snapped back.

  “Alright you two!” Tracy snapped. “I’m not in the mood. You,” she pointed to Carolyn “go get Lena and take her to the Rose Garden. And you,” she pointed to Cynthia, “go over there and check on Ryan. It is 11:45. I am going to make it through this wedding before this baby comes. Now go!” Everyone moved on Tracy’s command.

  “I’ll let the minister and the men know we are ready.”

  “Thank you,” Tracy smiled as Roz left the room. She closed the door.

  “How far apart?” Ashley asked as she smirked at Tracy.

  “Ten minutes.”

  Ashley turned to Ryan. “Okay, if we time this right we can get you to the hospital in time to drop that baby.”

  Twenty minutes later on a beautiful May day in the Rose Garden at the White House, Al stood with Tucker as his best man, next to Ryan with Tracy as her maid of honor, exchanging vows. The minute the minister announced you may kiss your bride, Carolyn cried out, “Tracy!” and pointed to the ground.

  A few people turned and frowned at Carolyn for interrupting the ceremony, while others turned to Tracy. “Your water broke,” Carolyn cried out.

  Ashley rolled her eyes to the heavens. Cynthia, who had just given birth two months ago stood in front of Carolyn. “Would you sit down and shut up.” She hissed between clinched teeth.

  JD jumped from his seat to gather Tracy in his arms. “Bring the car around.” He shouted as he picked his wife up.

  “Jeffrey we’re not going to make it to the car.” Tracy whispered in his ear.

  “JD, she’s not going to make it. We need to get her inside.” Ashley stated.

  “Yeah, like now JD,” Cynthia added.

  “Pearl,” Roz called out. “We need Dr. Prentiss.”

  “You want me to help birth that baby?” Lena asked.

  “No!” just about everyone in the area yelled.

  “You knew she was in labor and didn’t say anything?” JD growled at Ashley.

  “She wanted to be at the wedding.” Ashley defended.

  Carolyn ran ahead, as agents opened the door. Mrs. Langston, JD’s secretary was standing inside with Roz. “The car is waiting at the entrance.”

  “She’s not going to make it to the car, “Carolyn stated. “Bring her in here.” No one moved. “Now JD,” she demanded. “Mrs. Langston would you get some sheets, please.”

  “The baby is coming Jeffrey,” Tracy cried out.

  JD took his wife into the Blue room and placed her on the sofa. “Tracy baby, please let me take you to the hospital,” he pleaded as he pulled his tuxedo jacket off.

  “Too late for that,” Tracy laughed as she grabbed her stomach.

  “How long have you been in labor?” JD yelled.

  “All morning,” Ryan replied. When Ashley, Cynthia and Roz turned to her with glaring eyes she shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not like he can do anything about it now.”

  “That’s not the point,” Carolyn said. “The girlfriend bond is never broken, especially when it comes to husbands. You’re one of us now. You don’t break the bond.”

  Everyone in the room stopped, including the unborn child. All eyes rested on Carolyn. “What in the hell are all of you looking at?”

  “Who in the hell are you and what did you do with the real Carolyn?” Cynthia asked.

  “Go to hell Cynthia.”

  “Now that’s Carolyn,” Lena laughed. “You should get shot more often.”

  As if on cue, Tracy let out another loud moan. “Jeffrey!” she grabbed for his hand.

  “I got you babe. No one thought to tell me!” He yelled while comforting his wife.

  “Too late to ask that question,” his mother Martha laughed. The crowd from the wedding had gathered behind them.

  “Anything we can do to help?” Al asked.

  “This is women’s work son.” James stated, “I suggest we wait outside.”

  “Everybody out,” Ashley shouted as Pearl came to the door.

  “Thank God,” JD exhaled as he saw Pearl’s date behind her. “Dr. Prentiss. Tell me you know what to do.”

  “I’ve done this a time or two,” Theo smiled. He walked over to Tracy, pulling out a pair of latex gloves from his pocket. He took one of the sheets that was given to him and draped it over her lower body. “You’ve done this before Mrs. Harrison. Looks like this one is going to be natural,” he smiled looking over her legs. “Mr. President, sit behind her with your legs on both sides of her body to support her back.” As JD moved into position, the doctor motioned to two agents, “Push that ottoman over here and grab a few pillows to make her more comfortable.” He looked up at Pearl, “Baby would you tie my hair back for me?”

  The women in the room looked at each other, then at Pearl as she replied, “Of course.” She took a ribbon from Mrs. Langston and tied his locs back. When she was done, she noticed the eyes on her. Hands on hips she spoke. “Is there a problem people?”

  “Nooooooo,” Tracy cried out as another contraction hit.

  JD sat behind Tracy, “Breathe, baby breathe. We can do this.”

  “Oh my God, Tracy. You’re going to have a baby in the White House,” Carolyn cried. “What a move, girl. You may have just sealed the re-election. Pearl can we get the press in here?”

  Everyone in the room glared at her as she stood there with a very serious expression on her face.

  “That would be a no!” Ashley answered.

  “Can we clear this room, please,” JD testily asked.

  Tracy patted his arm, “It’s going to be alright babe,” she said consoling him.

  “Don’t push Mrs. Harrison until I tell you to.” Dr. Prentiss covered the ottoman with clean sheets, braced Tracy’s legs against the edge then positioned himself behind it. He looked around. “Okay folks. I need the room clear of everyone.”

  “We can’t stay?” Carolyn asked.

  “I’m about to unclothe Mrs. Harrison. If you want to see all of that you are welcome to stay. Everyone else needs to leave. That includes the agents. Now people.”

  The crowd slowly filed out of the room back to the Rose Garden. “Ashley,” Tracy called out, “would you tell Carolyn to stay.”


  Ashley smiled at her friend, “I sure will.” After all Carolyn went through in the hospital, she understood why Tracy wanted her to stay. The doctors stated it was unclear if she would be able to carry another child to term. This was Tracy’s way of giving her sister a little of that experience.

  “Alright Mrs. Harrison, let’s bring this baby into the world. This one is not waiting.” The Dr. smiled. “On my command I want you to give me one big push.”

  Tracy nodded, “Whew—Whew—Whew.” She squeezed JD’s hands.

  “Push babe,” JD wiped her forehead with a towel, “Push.”

  “Only a man would rush something like this,” Carolyn shook her head.

  Tracy had to take a moment, shaking her head at Carolyn’s comment as the doctor continued to work. “That’s the head. Okay Mrs. Harrison you’ve done this before. It’s all on you now.”

  JD supported her back as Tracy pushed one last time and the baby shot out into Dr. Prentiss’ waiting hands. “It’s a boy.” The doctor announced as he began cleaning the baby with the water the agents had brought.

  Carolyn ran to the door. “It’s a boy!” then she came back into the room, with the EMT team that was waiting to enter.

  “Carolyn,” Tracy smiled as she held her baby. “Would you name our son?”