let me know what’s happening. I’m responsible for the employees I hired for this event.”
“I will. Anything missing from your office?”
“No.”
“Let me talk with Dan again.”
When Dan came back on the phone, he said, “I’ll let Security know what’s developing.”
“Tara Wilkins needs to be found. Her residence checked. We don’t have any idea what’s going on. I’m not even sure it was Tara Wilkins in the costume, but I’m going to see if Max can follow the scent from the clothing. I’ll let you know what I find.”
“Good. In the meantime, I’m escorting Miss Barrow to the doctor’s office.”
Nicholas heard a protest coming from the background, and he smiled. Dan was going to have his hands full getting her to go. “Have fun. I’ll check in later.”
“Chicken,” Dan whispered. “You left me with the toughest job. Anyone can follow a dog around.”
Nicholas chuckled and disconnected the call, then let Max smell the yellow feathery costume. “Find.”
As Max sniffed the air, Nicholas couldn’t get the sound of Selena’s voice out of his mind. What he had seen of her around the White House only reinforced the image of a woman dedicated to doing a good job. Did she think she had failed at her job by hiring Tara Wilkins?
As Nicholas followed Max through several areas of the Easter Egg Roll, he scanned his surroundings, wondering if the person who had discarded Miss Chick’s costume was still here. If so, Max would find her—or possibly him. He had a photo on his phone of the volunteer who was supposed to be Miss Chick. If she wasn’t the one who ran into Selena, then where was she?
Passing the Storytime Stage, Max dodged around the adults and children attending and finally came to a stop at the entrance to the women’s restroom on the west side of the lawn.
Was the person still inside?
Nicholas started to look for a female security officer, but before he could, his rottweiler sniffed the ground then the air and took off toward the nearby exit to the event. When Nicholas emerged onto West Executive Avenue, Max halted in the middle of the road then trotted toward E Street. Near the Souvenir Egg Pickup, his K-9 came to another stop then wandered around the area but never picked up the scent again.
“Sorry, boy.” Nicholas petted his dog. “She must have gotten into a vehicle. At least we know how she left and an approximate time.”
Could that woman also be the same one who had gone through General Meyer’s office? The intruder couldn’t have picked a better day, with thirty thousand visitors and over a thousand volunteers. He’d have to watch a lot of security tapes to see if he could pinpoint who had ransacked the general’s office and who had stolen Selena’s keys. And why her keys? To rob her? Nothing was missing from her office.
Was something else going on here involving Michael Jeffries’s case? That could be the connection between what had happened in General Meyer’s office and in Selena’s. Selena was a first cousin to Erin Eagleton—a person of interest in Congressman Jeffries’s shooting and the murder of his son. When the Capitol K-9 Unit had begun investigating, Selena had been questioned to determine if she had helped Erin Eagleton disappear. They couldn’t find anything to indicate she had assisted her cousin. Yet.
Did someone think Selena knew something? Did she? Had she helped her cousin somehow? He hoped not. He would hate to have to arrest her if he discovered she had.
Security had been breached with the two break-ins —likely by someone who had been at the White House before, possibly a frequent visitor or staff member. This probably wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment theft, and he would have to let General Meyer know about this latest development just as soon as he spoke to Selena again.
Max barked, interrupting Nicholas’s thoughts.
“Come on, boy. Back to the party.” Nicholas shortened the leash as they headed to the White House to find Selena.
A voice came over Nicholas’s earbud. “We’ve found Tara Wilkins.”
With Selena’s keys in her possession? Or, had someone hurt Tara and taken the costume?
“Where is Wilkins? Is she all right?” Nicholas asked Security as he neared the White House.
“She was found drugged in the ground-floor restroom of the West Wing. The last time she was seen was in the Situation Room where kids were playing video games. Someone must have caught her in the restroom, and then stuffed her into a stall. One of our Secret Service agents found her. She talked to Tara, but the woman doesn’t know who grabbed her. She’s with the doctor in an examination room.”
“I’m on my way now.”
“I let Agent Calvert know about Miss Wilkins. He’s already at the medical office with Miss Barrow. He’s going to talk with her.”
“So am I,” Nicholas said to the man who manned the communication in the security office at the White House.
“Since he’s working with you on the break-in at General Meyer’s office, I’d like him to be included on anything concerning Selena Barrow. There could be a connection between what happened in her office and General Meyer’s.”
“I agree.” Nicholas ended the call and moved inside.
He entered the Diplomatic Reception Room on the ground floor of the main-residence part of the White House. With Max beside him, he crossed the oval-shaped room of pale blue and bright yellow dominating the decor. Over the mantel hung a portrait of George Washington.
The doctor’s office was located next to the Map Room off the central hall. When Nicholas went inside, Dan stood near the entrance into the examination area, with Selena sitting in a chair in the reception room.
Nicholas immediately went to her and took the seat next to her. She looked tired and frazzled. He couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t even noon and a lot had occurred in a few hours. He took her hand. “Are you still okay? No slurred speech, double vision or stumbling.” He glanced toward his friend then Selena.
“No. I’m fine. Just angry. Dan said I could talk to Tara when you two finish. She’s here because of me. I need to make sure she’ll be all right. I want to find out what happened to her. Who did this? In the White House?”
“I understand. I want to find out the same things.” His gaze locked with hers. “And I will.”
“I appreciate it.” Her eyes slid closed for a few seconds before connecting with his again.
Rising, he gestured toward Selena and said to Max, “Sit. Stay.” When Selena glanced from his K-9 to him, he added, “I thought he could keep you company.”
She petted Max. “Thanks.”
Before he could head into the exam room, Dan pulled him aside to a private area. “Security is concerned about the link to the break-in
