Chapter 36

It wasn't long before I was joining Amy in rolling my eyes in disgust, but not at Cindi, Katie and Becky. I was rolling them at the local cops. I was also more than rolling my eyes. I was ready to take them on just like we did the bad guys. I was beginning to wonder what we had gone through all of this for.

Look, I'm not naïve. I knew someone had just tried to kidnap or kill the President of the United States and his family. Such things have to be investigated thoroughly. I knew that. But damn it, as far as they knew, we were just innocent victims and I felt they were treating us like criminals.

I was afraid things might get sticky when the Secret Service whisked the President and his family away a short time after they 'rescued' us. He had vouched for us and that was fine — while he was there. I saw Valerie and Christina give us sad looks as they were escorted away. They wanted to spend more time with their new friends and heroes. I think the President really expected us to join them again shortly.

The debriefing with the Secret Service was exactly as I expected. They were professional to the nth degree. They asked relevant questions to get to the bottom of what had happened. I had the impression that they knew a little more than they let on and didn't quite believe us on everything, but they didn't press the issue. I wondered if some of the agents had survived the original action and had talked from their hospital beds. The problem came in when the locals took over.

I have a great deal of respect for the law enforcement community. They have a tough job. I know; I had been an FBI agent for years. I wouldn't want their job; hell, I hadn't wanted their job and had given it up. But police departments have assholes just like every profession, and there is never an excuse to throw your weight around when it is not necessary.

There is no way to sugar coat it; the two police officers that interviewed us were assholes, plain and simple. I think they were irritated that they had not been involved in the biggest story of the year and were trying to make up for it. They grilled me endlessly. I didn't mind that. It was when they started in on Cindi and Amy that I started to get a little upset.

I had insisted that I be present when they interviewed Amy and Cindi. They didn't like it but they couldn't say no, as both of them were underage. When they started to go into the story again for the third time, with a derogatory attitude, and they started making disparaging remarks about Cindi, I started to get irritated.

"We've gone over all this three times. How many more times do you want to hear it? It isn't going to change any," I told them, maybe a little belligerently. It was bad enough to have watched my precious girls risk their lives just a short time before, but I was not going to sit there and watch them being harassed by men who were supposed to be on our side.

"We'll keep going over it until we are satisfied," he answered haughtily. I looked at him coldly.

"Are you charging us with anything?" I asked softly. I saw Amy's and Cindi's eyes pop open a little wider, suddenly alert. They had not heard that tone of voice from me often, but they knew what it meant. I saw Amy shift her weight to free up her hands. I was surprised to see Cindi do the same thing. I wondered if the action today had awakened something in sweet, timid little Cindi.

"Not yet," was his smart aleck answer. I reached over and put my hand on Cindi's arm and guided her up out of the chair.

"Come on, Cin. It's time for us to go," I said softly, in the same tone of voice. I saw Cindi and Amy both blink once in surprise, then suddenly get much more alert. They remembered and understood.

Years ago, when they were little girls, I had taught Cindi and Amy a code word in case things went bad and I needed their attention. If I called Cindi 'Cin' or Amy 'Ames' it was a sign that I needed their attention and to follow my lead, to be prepared for anything. Amy sometimes called Cindi 'Cin', but it didn't mean anything until it came from me. I probably shouldn't have used it then, but I was wired from everything that had happened today and I just wasn't going to take any more of this crap. Mess with me if you want, but start in on my daughters, or any of my girls, and you were asking for trouble.

Needless to say, the cops didn't like my move. The nearest one grabbed my arm and pulled out his handcuffs, trying, I think, to intimidate me.

"Hold it right there, buddy. One more step and I will arrest all of you," he said threateningly. I took one more step and he started to pull me towards him. That was when the room practically exploded into action, from a most unexpected source.

Suddenly there was a blur of blond hair between the officer and me. Before I could even react, more importantly, before Amy got there, Cindi had the officer against the wall, his shirt front held bunched up in her hand. She lazily grabbed his pistol and tossed it into the far corner of the room. The handcuffs followed quickly afterwards. I looked over at Amy and saw she had the other officer's arm twisted behind his back. I looked just in time to see his pistol and handcuffs land in the opposite corner. I was probably the only one in the room that noticed both pistols and handcuffs disappear as soon as they stopped sliding on the floor. Bless you, Sarah! I distinctly heard Cindi speak softly, a dangerous tone to her voice, into the ear of the cop she was holding.

"You ever touch my Daddy again without his permission and I will fucking kill you! Do you understand me?" She jerked his shirt up tighter for emphasis, pushing him even harder against the wall. I caught a glimpse of her pretty blue eyes. Flat and devoid of all expression. I looked at Amy's eyes and saw them twinkle with surprise and amusement. 'About time' they seemed to say. Amy sometimes finds amusement in the strangest places from the strangest things. I certainly didn't find this amusing.

Cindi? Pretty, sweet, gentle Cindi? Classy Cindi, who hated to sweat, was getting physical? My Cindi? What was going on here? Before I had time to even consider what was happening, the door to the interrogation room opened. I saw a beautiful sight — Julie, Sammi, Katie, Becky, Megan, Victoria, Rhonda, John, and Sarah walked into the room, taking positions around the room that were to our benefit defensively. Interesting; I had seen the officers lock that door when we came in. I wondered idly if Katie had disabled the video cameras and speakers too; otherwise, we could expect company real soon. Katie looked at me and smiled, nodding her head slightly. Shit. Now what? I took out my cell phone and hit speed dial.

"Hello?"

"Dad. I kinda got an emergency here. Cindi and Amy have a couple of cops at bay that were threatening to do bodily harm to your little granddaughters." Ok, so it wasn't exactly true, but I knew my Dad and threats to his granddaughters would get action faster than anything. "We all know how that is going to end. I hate the sight of blood. I need your help!" I would have called the President, but I figured he would be harder to get a hold of. That did give me an idea, though.

"Where are you?" He asked, all business. When I told him, he sounded relieved.

"Ah. Right next door. I will have somebody there in 60 seconds. Just hold on for a minute, Son. Tell Amy and Cindi not to hurt them any worse until we get there," he said and hung up. I turned to my girls.

"Do any of you have Valerie or Christina's cell phone number?" Cindi reached into her pocket, grabbed her cell phone, and flipped it to Sarah.

"Do you mind, Sarah? I'm a little busy right now," she said, giving her cop a dangerous look and tightening her hold a little. I just couldn't get over Cindi looking dangerous. God, she was cute that way! As long as it wasn't directed at me, I decided.

Sarah smiled, pulling out her own cell phone as she deftly caught Cindi's cell phone without even looking at it as it flew through the air. Another one?

"No offense, but I think I'll use mine. They'll recognize my caller ID number," Sarah giggled, although it was a nervous giggle. The call was answered on the first ring.

"Chris, let me talk to your dad, now. It's an emergency. Yeah, I'll call you later," Sarah said into the phone. Everyone's eyes widened at that. Sarah giggled again. "He might not answer his cell phone, even if it was me, if he's in a meeting. Chris always answers. And he never says no or refuses to talk to those girls, no matter what he's doing." I could certainly understand that. I saw her almost come to attention as she started talking on the phone again. He still had that affect on her.

"Jeff, I kinda got a situation here. Some of DC's finest are getting physical with Patrick and Amy and Cindi have them pinned against a wall. Somebody is going to get hurt and it ain't gonna be us. Can you help me?... yeah, David and Russ would be perfect... no, no need, just tell me where they are... fine, have everyone there close their eyes for about 30 seconds... yeah, this falls under the stuff you can't talk about <giggle>... thanks Jeff... I love you." Sarah hung up as we all stared at her. Did she just get to talk to the President that quickly? And excuse me, but did she just tell him she loved him? Oh my God!

Sarah tilted her head slightly and concentrated for a second. Ten seconds later, David and Russ walked into the room, looking a little confused, but just as professional as ever. Three men in suits walked in right behind them. I recognized one of them as the man Dad had been talking to at Elizabeth's funeral when I walked up to him. His name was John. Yeah, right.

David and Russ were all business, as usual. The first thing Russ did was walk up to Cindi and talk quietly in her ear, with his hand on her shoulder. I saw her visibly relax. He gently removed her hand from the front of the cop's shirt and just as gently moved her away a few feet. I noticed David dealing just as carefully with Amy. The cop that was being close and intimate with Cindi turned around, snarling, and started to talk. Russ snapped his Secret Service badge in front of his face.

"Don't move and not another word if you ever want to work as a police officer again. These people are close personal friends of the President of the United States. Your dealings with them are terminated as of now. I can have the President himself tell you that if you would like," he said as he pulled his cell phone / radio out of his pocket. I thought for a minute the jerk was going to request that. But he didn't. He wasn't smart enough to keep quiet, though.

"You can't do that! You have no jurisdiction here if you are not guarding the President. These people are being interrogated by us. We have the right to continue until we are finished!" I certainly wouldn't have talked to Russ that way. I had a feeling by the look on Russ' face that the jerk was going to regret it. Russ smiled coldly.

"You're absolutely right. I have no jurisdiction here. You can continue to ask the same asinine, ridiculous questions you have been asking for the last hour. Please, do continue. Then I will simply call the President. He will call the Police Commissioner, who will call the Chief of Police, who will leave the dinner he is having with the Mayor and will come down here, take charge of these desperate, dangerous prisoners, who I am sure are on the FBI's top ten list of most wanted, dangerous, female teenage criminals, and hand them over to me. I will then take them out of here, leaving you to explain to the Chief of Police, and the Police Commissioner and Mayor, who will undoubtedly come along when they hear who you are holding for interrogation, because I will be sure the President tells them, just why the hell you are interrogating ten Presidential Medal of Freedom holders against the President's express wishes." Russ leaned in and continued quietly. "You will either be a hero or a goat; I am sure the DC law enforcement community is desperately looking for goats right about now. Do you get my drift, or should I snow some more?" The jerk cop didn't answer him.

The men Dad sent moved around the room like dark shadows, talking to everyone. The cop Cindi had detained started getting belligerent with one of them, once he figured out he couldn't win with Russ. Before you could blink, almost, he was no longer in the room, as he had been escorted out by the other two. Poor guy; he was just doing his job. Ok, ok, I hoped they'd throw the book at him. The third man smiled at Cindi, gave her a thumbs up sign, and then introduced himself to me. What a shock — his name was John. He gave me his card. Imagine that — John didn't have a last name.

"I think everything is under control here. It looks like you will be going back to the White House with David and Russ. They're good people. Call me if you ever have any more problems."

I was glad to be getting out of that place. There were two black Suburbans waiting outside. We piled into them and headed for the White House. I had a wiggling bundle of energy cuddled up to me all the way there. Her name was Cindi. I hoped she calmed down before we got there. Damn, she had been ready to take on the whole DC police force for me. I wasn't sure I could cope with Amy, Megan and Cindi. It reminded me of Charlie's Angels.

When we arrived at the White House, it looked like World War III had broken out, or something. There were Secret Service agents everywhere. Russ and David had to show their ID's three times just to get in. It didn't seem to matter if the agents guarding the area knew you or not. That was interesting enough. It became really interesting when we were checked out by several FBI agents that Victoria and I knew personally. Considering how long it had been since we were part of the Agency, that meant high level people indeed. With all this added security, you would think someone had tried to kill the President or something. Oh, wait...

We were delivered around the back. I guess the powers that be decided our public arrival so soon after the events of the evening was not something they wanted to explain.

As soon as we got inside, we were attacked by two incoming heat-emitting missiles better known as the President's daughters. The Secret Service waited patiently while we were mobbed. They could have helped protect us a little from the bodily harm we suffered! After Valerie and Christina (I'm sorry, you just don't call the President's daughter 'Chris'!) were done jumping up and down, squealing, and otherwise very noisily saying 'hello' to the girls, whom I will point out that they had just seen an hour ago, it was my turn. I held up my hand and they stopped immediately, worried that they had done something wrong. I couldn't resist. I turned to Cindi, mock serious.

"Is it ok if they hug me? They're not going to hurt me; I promise," I said 'seriously'. Valerie and Christina looked confused. Cindi turned bright red, looking at me with what could be best described as a feral cat look in her eyes. She spontaneously hugged me, whispering in my ear through sudden tears. Tears? Cindi? Ok, that I could live with.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I just snapped. They were not going to hurt you or take you away; not while I was there. I will never let anything happen to you; I love you!" I felt her warm little tongue lick my ear briefly. Fortunately, the Presidential twins couldn't see that. "I may be a little late on the scene, but now I know why Amy does what she does. Can I be your Protector too?" She was still whispering in my ear, her breath hot on the side of my neck. I chuckled. I hoped she had a change of panties, because I could almost guarantee from the way she was acting that hers were wet. It might be an interesting explanation if she had to borrow some from Valerie or Christina.

"Don't apologize, sweetie. You did just fine. And you already are a Protector and a Guardian. Those positions are not assigned. You earn them with the right actions at the right time. No one knows exactly how it happens, but you become one from your actions. You have been one for about half an hour now, honey. Welcome to the G&P Union. Glad to have you aboard." I kissed her softly on the neck. Oops, the twins saw that, as I heard them giggle. I looked at them and they were pouting, looking jealous. Those two were going to be trouble; I just knew it.

Russ and David led us up into the private residence area. I was impressed. Most people never get to see that area of the White House. As we walked into the living room, Grace met us just inside the room. She gave me a very nice hug and an even better kiss.

"I never had the chance to thank you before for what you and the girls did for us. I know we would never have survived without your help. I don't know how we can possibly ever thank you, but if there is ever anything we can do, you only have to ask." She smiled at me gratefully. I didn't put as much into my hug and kiss back as I would have liked to. She was the First Lady, after all. Her smile told me she understood. Now I knew where her daughters got their... playfulness.

The President was next to greet us. He gave me a very warm handshake.

"I would like to add my thanks to you for all you did. If it weren't for you and your family, my family might not even be alive right now. I'm sorry we left you alone with the police. The Secret Service wanted me out of there. Most people think the President is the boss. Not with the Secret Service. They call the shots and I usually behave like a good boy. Crossing their recommendations is usually more trouble than it's worth. If it's any consolation to you, my daughters didn't talk to me all the way home for leaving you guys there. Looks like they were right." His wife joined him as we spoke. We had to speak louder, because of all the noise the teenagers were making, getting reacquainted with their friends that they hadn't seen in YEARS! <Eye roll>.

We sat down and visited for awhile, Megan, Victoria and me. I really liked Jeff (there, I did it. Called him Jeff. Are you happy now, Cindi?!?) I'm about as political as a box turtle; to me they're all alike. They tell you what you want to hear to get elected, then do just what the other guy said he was going to do anyway. Plus they're all crooked. I'm not saying Jeff wasn't all those things, but he was a nice, likeable guy.

We had been talking for a few minutes when I heard the girls 'truth or dare' giggles. You know, the one that goes after 'dare you, double dare you!'. It usually means I'm in trouble or am about to be embarrassed. Valerie and Christina came over, red faced and giggling, and each one sat on one of my legs, getting as close to sitting in my lap as two girls can get at the same time. Then they proceeded to each give me a kiss that would have awakened a dead man. All the girls giggled, then the twins jumped up and ran out of the room, giggling madly. Grace laughed. Jeff laughed also, but with that look on his face that said 'don't ask me, you're on your own, buddy'. As if I didn't have enough teenage girls bothering me endlessly. They were cute, though. Poor me! Grace had that look on her face that said she didn't blame them, and would have done the same thing if she wasn't so grown up and dignified. Now there was an interesting thought. Megan and Victoria smiled at me, their eyes twinkling. They knew what I was thinking. They also knew I would never do it on my own.