Page 37 of Defenseless
Reaching down, he lifted one side, angling it up and revealing a steep staircase. “A light will go on as soon as you set foot on the first step,” he said.
Her hesitation lasted less than two seconds, and then she was scrambling down with him hot on her heels.
“What is this?” she asked when the door above them started closing and they stood on solid ground. Solid ground fifteen feet below the foundation of his house. “A safe room?”
“It can be,” he answered, taking her hand and leading her down a short hall and into a room. Once inside, he hit a few buttons and brought two monitors to life.
Sabina leaned forward and studied the screens. There wasn’t much to see at this point. The figures weren’t in range of the video cameras he had positioned closer to the house. But they could make out three human heat signatures moving through the woods toward his home.
Sabina sucked in a breath. “It’s happening again,” she said. “I brought this on you. Just like Uncle Mike. Just like Nate. This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen, Chad. Exactly why I tried to stay away from you.”
“I’m not Nate,” Chad said, reaching under his desk and pulling out a small gun case. He’d left his own weapon beside his bed, but he had plenty in storage.
“Chad.” The look she turned on him was so wary, so sad, and so scared that he paused. Slowly, he raised a hand and traced the fine line of her jaw.
“I’m not Nate, Sabina. Not only do I knowhowto protect us, I also now know what I’m protecting us from. I know it’s hard, but you need to trust me on this. You need to trust Ethan and Teague and the others, too.”
He saw the moment she accepted that she had two choices: keep running, or trust her team and stay and fight. Her eyes cleared, and the lost look that had filled them for the past hour disappeared, replaced with the sharp focus he was used to. Her lips firmed and her shoulders straightened. It wasn’t going to be easy to stand and fight, but she made her decision.
“I do. I want this to end. I want Jacobs brought to justice, and I want Kara and me to be free to live our lives. And…and I’m trusting you and Ethan and Colton and Teague and everyone else to help me do that.”
He smiled at her statement and nodded. Then hitting a few buttons on the computer, he powered down the screens. Lowering his hand, he wrapped his fingers around hers and pulled her into another room.
“Here,” he said, grabbing a thick fleece from a small closet. The first room they’d entered was what he referred to as the ops room, or command station. But in addition to that, there was a bedroom with four bunks—and extra clothes—a kitchen, and a bathroom. They wouldn’t be staying long enough to use any of those, though.
“Where are we going and what is this place?” she asked again as she tugged the sweatshirt over her head.
“To HICC. But the back way,” he answered. Pausing at the door to the hall, he sent a quick text. Then hitting a few buttons on his phone, he checked the progress of the three intruders. This time, five figures showed on his screen with two of them moving toward the original three. Ethan and Teague doing exactly what they promised.
“Back way?” she asked.
He nodded and started down the hall. Passing through a thick door, he shut it behind them then waited a beat for the security lights to come on. Once the dim lights flickered on, he locked the door then continued forward.
“It is a safe room of sorts,” he answered her prior question. “You saw that. But there’s also a tunnel to a neighbor’s property. Jack was part of my grandfather’s Secret Service detail, both during his presidency and after. When he retired, he decided that he’d lived here long enough that he should buy a place and stay. We’ll follow this tunnel for about thirty minutes to an exit that will take us into his barn. I texted him to let him know we’re coming.”
“Okay.” Sabina drew out the word. “So you’ve known him a long time and can trust him? Is this kind of thing—all these secret tunnels—normal for a presidential family?”
He chuckled at the last question. “I’ve known Jack pretty much my whole life. As to your other question, no, it’s not normal. I shouldn’t laugh, because the reason we have them isn’t a happy one. But you sounded so…not confused, but like you’d just been let in on a secret.”
“Because I have. Even if it’s not a secret about all presidential families, it’s a secret about the Warwick presidential family. Isn’t it?”
He inclined his head. “Yes, it is, actually.”
“Can I ask why? I don’t feel like I deserve an answer given everything I’ve kept from you. But if you’re willing to tell me, I’d like to know.”
He hesitated. Not because he didn’t trust her, though. It was obvious she wasn’t sure if the two of them were on steady ground. Honestly, he wasn’t sure either. But in this moment, he could choose to either answer or not. Both decisions would have repercussions on any future he and Sabina might have.
Unsure if he was making the right decision, Chad braced himself and picked a path. “During Gramps’s tenure at the White House, there were two kidnapping attempts on us grandkids,” he answered baldly. “Everyone in the family took extra precautions after that.”
Behind him, Sabina gasped. “Two?!” she exclaimed. “I don’t even remember hearing about one. That seems like something I would hear about.”
“Not if it’s in the interest of national security to keep it quiet,” Chad answered. He rarely thought about those years of his life. Aside from the death of his parents, he’d had a good childhood. It had been different from most kids, but it was just the way he’d grown up.
Sabina put a hand on his arm, staying him. “Who was it?”
Chad turned and met her gaze. This wasn’t something he talked about outside the family. Hell, it was so long ago that the family never even talked about it anymore. And yet he found himself wanting to tell her.
“The first was me,” he said, his voice so soft it didn’t echo in the tunnel. “I was in fifth grade. It was after my parents died and we were living with my grandparents in DC. Ryan and Josh started classes later than I did, so I was on my way to school on my own. Well, with my Secret Service detail. As a kid, I didn’t really understand what was going on when it happened. There was some commotion outside the car, then a loud bang. I learned later that it was a small bomb meant to disable the vehicle, but it misfired and barely damaged the car. To this day the people who lived on that street would tell you it was a gas leak.”
