Kidnapped at the Capital (2 page)

Instead of waiting for the elevator, KC and Marshall ran down the fire stairs. Donald looked surprised to see them. “Did your mom call?” he asked hopefully.

“No, but the president did,” KC said. “We’re going to the White House. He says my mom is all right. And he said, ‘Tell Donald not to say a word to anyone!’”

Donald’s face turned pink. “The president knows my name?”

KC nodded. “He wanted me to tell you it’s top secret!”

“Please let the president know that these lips are sealed!” Donald closed an
invisible zipper over his mouth.

“I think the car’s here,” Marshall said, pointing through the glass door.

“Oh my,” Donald said.

The car was long and black. A small American flag flew from the antenna.

KC and Marshall hurried to the car just as the driver stepped out. Wearing a suit and tie, he walked smartly around the car and opened the rear door. “I’m here to take KC and Marshall to the White House. Is that you?”

KC looked at the man. He was tall with very short hair. His eyes were hidden behind dark glasses. KC suddenly felt wary.
Is this guy really from the White House?
she wondered. She wasn’t sure she wanted to get into the car.

KC decided to test him. “The president
and I have a password,” she said. “So what’s the password?”

The man hesitated, then shut the door. From a pocket inside his jacket, he pulled out a cell phone. He dialed a number, waited, then spoke. “The young lady wants a password, sir,” the man said.

He handed the phone to KC. “It’s the president,” he told her.

KC put the phone to her ear. “Hi, KC,” the president said. “You are wise to be cautious. I should have thought of the password idea myself. How can I assure you that I’m the president?”

KC felt a little foolish, but she asked anyway. “What were you wearing when you came to my house in February?”

The president laughed. “Good thinking, KC. I was wearing my pajamas.”

KC smiled. “Thanks, sir! See you in a few minutes.” She handed the cell phone to the driver.

He was grinning. “Satisfied?”

“Yes, thank you.”

He opened the door again and KC and Marshall stepped inside.

The car zoomed down Constitution Avenue, then turned through the White House gates. The driver made two more turns and stopped. “The president’s private entrance,” he said. He came around and opened their door. “Someone will come for you in a minute.”

The driver got back into the car and drove away.

Marshall nudged KC’s arm. “Look,” he said.

A marine marched over to them. His
uniform was crisply pressed and his black shoes sparkled. “The president is waiting for you,” he said. “Will you follow me, please?”

He turned and marched away. KC and Marshall hurried to keep up. They went through a door, down a hallway with thick carpeting, and up an elevator.

Finally they came to a wide door. The marine knocked twice with his white-gloved knuckles.

“Yes,” a voice said.

The marine opened the door and stepped aside so KC and Marshall could enter.

The president was sitting in a chair. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and baggy pants. A fluffy orange cat sat in his lap.

“Thank you, sergeant,” the president
said. He looked pale, and the rims of his eyes were red and puffy.

The marine saluted, stepped back, and closed the door.

“Hi, you two,” the president said. His voice was hoarse. “Come on in.” Then he sneezed.

A tall woman came into the room. “Hello, I’m Vice President Mary Kincaid,” she said. “Won’t you have a seat?”

KC and Marshall shook her hand, then sat on a sofa.

“President Thornton hasn’t much of a voice right now,” the vice president said. “So I’ll tell you what we know. At ten forty-two this morning, the president’s secret service men reported that someone had kidnapped President Thornton.”

“Obviously, they were wrong,” the
president said. “For security reasons, the secret service agents hadn’t been told that I sent Casey Marshall to meet you.”

“Unfortunately, they took KC’s mother along with Casey,” Mary Kincaid said.

KC swallowed the lump in her throat. “Does anyone know where they are?”

Mary Kincaid shook her head. “No, but we’ve received a ransom letter by fax. The message assures us that Casey and your mother are safe and well. The kidnappers promise to let them go as soon as the White House meets their demands.”

The room was silent, except for the cat’s purring.

“What do they want?” Marshall asked.

“What they asked for,” the president said, “is the International Space Station.”

The vice president went on. “They want to go aboard the space station,” she stated. “They want to take it over.”

“But aren’t there astronauts living on it now?” Marshall asked.

The president nodded. “Yes, ours as well as astronauts from other countries.”

“So what happens to them if the kidnappers get onboard?” KC asked.

“Everyone will have to leave,” the vice president said. “Apparently, the kidnappers want to be the only folks up there.”

“What are they gonna do with a space station?” Marshall asked.

“That is the question, isn’t it?” the president said. “But more importantly, I want you to know, KC, that we’re doing everything we can to get your mother back.”

“The FBI and others are searching this town,” Mary Kincaid informed the kids. “Every street has a roadblock. Every building is being searched. The bus and train stations and airport are being checked. SWAT team helicopters are in the air right now. We’ll find your mother.”

KC swallowed back her tears. “Thank you,” she said.

“Please be my guest in the White House while we wait this out,” the president offered. “You too, Marshall.”

“Thank you, sir,” KC said. “But is it okay if I go home and feed my cats?”

“I’ll have a car take you,” Mary Kincaid
said. She reached for the telephone.

“Um, we’d rather walk,” KC said. “It’s not far.”

The president scooted the cat off his lap and stood up. “Try not to worry,” he said. “We have a hundred of our best people looking for Casey and your mother. I know we’ll get them back soon.”

He leaned over the desk and scribbled something on a small pad. “Here’s my private phone number,” he said, handing the top sheet to KC. “Call if you need anything at all.”

The president sneezed again. He wiped his nose with a handkerchief. “I’m going back to bed. Mary, will you show KC and Marshall the way out?”

“Of course. Come on, kids.”

Mary Kincaid escorted them to the
hall, then signaled to the marine who was waiting. “Please take KC and Marshall to the special exit,” she said.

“Yes, Madam Vice President,” he said.

KC and Marshall followed the marine down the hall, into the elevator, and out the private exit. He gave them a salute as they headed toward Pennsylvania Avenue.

As soon as the marine was out of sight, Marshall stopped KC. “Okay, you’re up to something,” Marshall said. “What’s this about feeding your cats? I saw you fill up their food bowl an hour ago.”

“I know,” KC said. “We’re not going home.”

“We’re not? Where are we going?”

“To look for my mother.” KC started walking again. Marshall hurried to keep up with her.

“But the president told us a hundred guys are already looking,” Marshall said.

“And women, too, Marshall,” KC said. “Not all FBI agents are men, you know.”

“Okay, sue me,” Marshall said. “But how are we supposed to find your mom and Casey?”

They were approaching the Museum of Natural History. Across Madison Drive, they could see the flags flying over the Smithsonian castle.

“By looking for clues,” KC said.

“How can two kids …” Marshall stopped and gave KC a long look. KC didn’t meet his eyes. “Okay,” he said after a minute. “We’ll do whatever you want. Where should we start?”

They ended up on Constitution Avenue, near the Washington Monument.
“Let’s start here,” KC said. “Then we can walk toward the Capitol. And check every building—inside and out!”

“There are a lot of buildings,” Marshall said.

“So we’ll split up,” KC said. “We’ll meet in about half an hour in front of the Air and Space Museum.”

They decided that Marshall would take the buildings on the north side of the Mall. KC would check the south side. She started in the Washington Monument. From there she went to a couple of art museums, then the Smithsonian castle.

KC worked her way along the Mall, looking everywhere she could think of. She searched the sculpture gardens and the carousel. She went in every museum. Luckily, they all had free admission.

KC was hot, tired, and sweaty when she finally met Marshall by the Air and Space Museum. “Any luck?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “But in the Natural History Museum, I saw a tarantula even bigger than Spike!”

KC sat down on the steps outside the space museum. “Do you want to do this one, or should I?”

“Do you really think we’ll find them?” Marshall commented. “I mean—”

“We can’t just go back to the White House and do nothing, Marsh,” KC said. “Someone took my mom and I’m getting her back … even if I have to search every inch of Washington, D.C.!”

“Okay, okay, we’ll check in here,” said Marshall. He shoved open the door of the museum. KC and Marshall were greeted by cool air and a crowd of people.

The room they entered was cavernous. The walls were glass, letting in the sunlight. Airplanes, spacecraft, missiles, rockets, and other things were on display. The Wright brothers’ 1903 Flyer was there, along with the Spirit of St. Louis. Some displays were roped off to keep visitors from touching anything.

“Okay,” KC said, “let’s ask people if they saw the president.”

They split up. KC approached a man with two little boys. They were looking at an exhibit about hot air balloons.

“Excuse me,” KC said. “But have you seen the president today?”

“What president?” the man asked.

“Of the United States,” KC said. “President Thornton.”

“Cool!” one of the boys said. “The president is here!”

The man looked at KC. “Is he really?”

KC sighed. “I don’t know,” she said. “Did you see him? He was with a woman in a purple dress.”

The man shook his head. “Sorry, I was too busy watching my kids.”

KC asked other people. She saw Marshall doing the same thing. Everyone shook their heads, no.

She walked across the room to join Marshall. “No luck, huh?” she asked.

“Nope. But I talked to one guy who shook his hand outside.”

“That was before they disappeared.” KC glanced at a wide set of stairs. A small sign posted by the steps read:

More Displays on Second Floor

“Come on,” she said, starting up the staircase. At the top, she stopped to watch the crowd in the main gallery.

Marshall bumped shoulders with KC. “Let’s keep looking,” he said.

They checked out the second floor displays. They saw war planes and an exhibit about exploring the planets. Marshall stopped in front of a meteorite found in Antarctica.

They came to an open doorway with a sign on a pedestal that read:

A red velvet rope blocked the entrance. A man in a gray uniform was standing on the shiny floor just inside the room.

“This is so neat,” Marshall said. He leaned over the rope for a better look.

In the center of the room stood the lunar module of Apollo 11, the first spacecraft to land on the moon. Under Apollo 11, a circle of dust and rocks represented the moon’s surface. Twenty feet above, two fake astronauts wearing space suits
hung from cables attached to the ceiling.

“Excuse me,” the man said. He was tall and thin, with a deep voice. “This exhibit is closed today.”

“Sorry,” Marshall said.

For about the hundredth time, KC asked, “Have you seen the president in here today? He was with my mother. She was wearing a purple dress.”

The man frowned and shook his head. “I’m too busy to notice who comes in and out,” he said. He left them at the door and walked toward the module.

Near the Apollo 11, the man stooped and picked something off the floor. He stared at it, glanced back at KC and Marshall, then quickly shoved it in his pocket.

“Did you see that?” KC whispered.

“What?” asked Marshall.

“There was a cherry blossom on the floor,” KC said. “That janitor put it in his pocket.”

Marshall shrugged. “So? There are about a million cherry blossoms all over Washington.”

“But this floor has just been cleaned. No one is allowed to walk on it. So how did a cherry blossom get there?”

KC stared at the man in the gray uniform. “And besides, my mother had one in her hair,” she said.