Chapter 45

The limo took us to an airfield. A White House helicopter was waiting and airlifted us on the short ride to our destination. Nicole was looking around in concern as the city disappeared behind us. My reassuring smile did not ease it.

"Where, where are we going, Lawrence? I cannot see the monuments anymore."

"I think we are headed to Camp David. The President was reported to be staying there this week."

"A camp? Mon Dieu! I have overdressed."

"My darling Nicole, there is no way anyone could accuse you of being overdressed in that gown!"

I laughed at her. She did not appreciate the humor.

The helicopter settled down on a wide expanse of lawn. In deference to Nicole's perfect hair, the marine corporal let the blades spin down completely before he opened the door. She favored the corporal with an enticing view of her assets. I received an undeserved crisp salute as I exited the helicopter.

"At ease, corporal."

"That would be difficult at the moment, sir. I'm at attention all over," he quipped back.

I shot him an amazed look.

He grinned and finished with an emphatic, "Thank you, sir!" I had the feeling he really was thankful. Maybe this sharing thing could work out after all.

It proved to be a night of predictability as well as one of many surprises. It was predictable in that Nicole wowed the other guests with her charm and her beauty. It was almost comical when one of them, a French physicist who had won the Nobel Prize a few years back, recognized and remembered Nicole from her time at the University. Apparently her admirers had long memories.

"Mademoiselle Nicole! What an honor to see you again!" came an accented shout across the room.

Nicole stiffened in recognition and muttered "Merde" under her breath before slipping a charming smile on her face and going out to meet the man. I was dragged along as an insurance policy, her arm tightly linked in mine.

"Mon Dieu, how you have grown! And what a beauty you have become! Gaston!" he called to his colleague, "come and meet Nicole Le Brech, a student of mine from the University."

Loudly the two old distinguished gentlemen reminisced with Nicole, much of the time in French. Lusting after her young body had not stopped the professors from encouraging her academically, it seems. The physicist had actually followed her career and knew she held several patents from her work with the American company.

I was highly entertained; on several fronts. First, it became obvious that the people who had vetted Nicole had no idea who she really was. They must have cleared her based on my relationship with her, which was a huge no-no. It felt good they were so confident in my abilities, but heads were going to roll on this one.

Second, the President and First Lady were left floundering like us common folk as they found their information on her was sorely inadequate. They didn't know she spoke French, they didn't even know she was French, they didn't know she was a Ph.D., they didn't know she knew the guests of honor, they didn't know shit. I could see their eyes glaze over as the tightly scripted evening they had planned went out the window.

Third, Nicole was begging me, pleading to me with her eyes to rescue her. She would glance over and I would give her the most 'I'm not jealous' look I could manage. She finally caught on that I was teasing her and started to glare at me in anger. I simply reached up and touched a finger to my neck, reminding her of her collar. Her eyes widened as I nodded at the two scientists. She understood. She had been too worried to charm them.

That changed almost immediately. She deftly took charge and began directing the conversation down less technical paths and doing it in English. Finally, she had them relating ribald anecdotes of French University politics that had everybody in stitches. I noticed it was she that had initially mentioned a particularly memorable tale from her time at the University and had asked her professor to relate the story, as she couldn't quite remember all of it.

She slipped away from the enthralled crowd gathered around the two storytellers and came back to my side. Looking up at me she said, "Thank you, Master, for reminding me of my place."

The First Lady, a notorious champion of women's rights, had been standing directly behind Nicole as she had addressed me. She had come over to speak with Nicole and had heard Nicole refer to me as 'Master.' From her thunderous countenance, I couldn't tell which direction this was going to go. The First Lady gave me a murderous glance, which I ignored. I understood it was at my own peril to do so.

"That was nicely done, Miss Le Brech. Nicely done."

I think she meant it as a compliment.

Nicole, back in her element, turned on her charm. The First Lady gave me another black glance as she took Nicole with her into her own private area of influence. I wandered the room, mingling with the guests.

So far, like I said, it had been pretty predictable. The first surprise of the evening came when Gertie showed up at my side.

"Gertie! I didn't know you came to these things."

"I don't. This is the first time I've been here in 10 years. They always ask me to the scientific and medical shindigs, but I never come. When they called to chat about you, for me to clear you, well, I mentioned it might be a good idea if I was here, too, just in case. They were more than happy to let me come along."

"Just in case of what?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing. Well, nothing much. Oh, Hell, you know how it is. You say this and then you say that and suddenly they think that maybe some of those drugs we gave you way back then might flare up at any moment, especially in times of stress..."

"Gertie, you didn't! Is that why I have a shadow?"

I nodded to my right, indicating a husky fellow who had been ghosting me all evening.

"Yep. Him, too," she grinned, indicating the other one I had pegged as security on me. "The little guy has a tranquilizer gun full of some of the most amazing stuff. You'd love it! Sure you don't want to flip out? Just a little? I've been dying for a chance to try this new mixture out on a human. The rats we tested just kind of lay there and flopped around. It's most entertaining."

Her eyes glittered in glee and she was enjoying herself way too much. Careful not to show too much emotion, I shook my head.

"So why are you here, really?"

"Honestly? I wouldn't have missed this for the world. You are a very important man to me. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you now, after all I have invested in you. By the way, there were some interesting results on your physical. You haven't had any, uh, unreported surgery or, uh, um, implants have you?"

I blushed and the guy went for the tranquilizer gun. Not wanting to get carted out of the room, I immediately went into my relaxation techniques I had learned to control my special senses. My breathing slowed and my heart rate moderated as I sought the quiet of that inner place. Instinctively I thought of the beach and the sandcastles. It worked better than it ever had before.

"Most impressive, Mr. Sampson. Most impressive! You may have to come and teach us your technique for that. I have never seen you exhibit such self control so quickly."

Gertie's eyes were like flashing diamonds, she was so excited.

Reluctantly, I told her about Dr. Wang. She was pissed I had omitted it in the reports but said, given the circumstances, she understood. She was very interested in the Rosens' work and not just from a scientific perspective I gathered.

"Oh, Gertie. By the way, I met an interesting young woman this morning."

Gertie rolled her eyes. In her opinion, I was always meeting 'interesting' young women.

"Seriously, Gertie. I think you'd like her for the program."

That got her attention. Mostly she held the opinion that I recruited the women for my own little programs. It wasn't true, but it always seemed that there was at least one broken heart after one of my missions.

"She's bright, recovers from shock fairly fast, has a sense of humor ... You'd like her."

"What exactly was the shock she recovered from?"

"Oh, well, uh, I opened the door a little too widely."

"How wide?"

"I threw it all the way open. She was knocking on it. It was 6:00 in the morning. I was pissed. And naked."

"And she saw... ?"

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"Yep."

"She didn't run screaming from the hotel? She didn't faint?"

I shook my head.

"She even made a joke about the situation."

"Damn. I like her all ready. Where can I find her?"

Even though I didn't know her name, I described the young White House intern to her. I could tell that Gertie would make sure they would meet. Accidentally, of course. Gertie would want to make her own assessment of the girl.

I looked up just as the second surprise of the evening came walking over. I had never seen Marion looking so lovely. She greeted Gertie warmly then turned to me.

"Finally made it to the big time, huh, little brother?"

"You're a regular here, too, I take it?"

"Oh, no! This is the first time I've been here in about 5 years."

Where had I heard that line before?

"Let me guess. When they called to ask you about me, you suggested it might be a good idea if you were here to ease the way, lessen the stress?"

She looked at me in astonishment that I had guessed it right the first time. I simply pointed at Gertie. "You two should talk." I walked away with my two shadows, shaking my head.

The evening went late. Nicole had never been allowed to leave the First Lady's side since she had first retrieved her from mine. Nicole had captivated her and her collection of ass-kissing old biddies with whom she surrounded herself. I saw her touch the collar occasionally, look over at me for reassurance and then smile inwardly. I saw the First Lady observe these silent communications between us. She didn't like them, but was clearly puzzled by our relationship and Nicole's obvious intelligence.

With the reputation I had with security and with a guy with the loaded tranquilizer gun watching my back, I avoided any movement towards the President, so he and I didn't speak at all that evening. I really didn't want to try out that happy juice Gertie had so thoughtfully supplied to them. I'm sure they were greatly distressed when the First Lady announced to security and to us simultaneously that she had invited Nicole and me to spend the night at Camp David. It was much too late to return to the city.