The Boy Who Knew Everything (15 page)

While Conrad was oblivious, Piper clearly saw the uneasy looks of concern on the kids' faces and a trembling creeping up Jasper's legs.

“Conrad?” Piper tugged at his shoulder.

“We need to move out.” Conrad didn't look up.

Turning her back so that the others couldn't see her, Piper poked Conrad's shoulder hard. “Conrad,” she whispered, “you can't just tell 'em like that. They're freaking out. You gotta give them more direction or something.”

“Huh?” Conrad looked up from his computer and saw what Piper saw: Lily fidgeting nervously with her sash, Violet at half her normal size, and random sparks flying from Kimber's fingers. Despite the fact that they were under a time crunch, Conrad took a deep breath and came out from behind his computer. Jasper was the youngest and the smallest, and Conrad bent down to his level and looked him in the eye. “Am I a good leader?”

“Y-yes. You're the b-b-best, C-Conrad.”

“Well, I trained you all to be leaders, not followers, and you are ready. All of you. But on this mission, since I'm not going to be with you, I am assigning a new leader. That leader is going to be you, Jasper.”

“M-m-me?”

“Absolutely. Take over until I get back.”

“You th-think I can l-lead?”

“I don't think, I know.”

Jasper's reed-thin body grew a half inch with the honor. His mouth found strength he didn't know he had and pulled itself into a proud line. “Okay,” he said. “Okay.”

Turning to face his team, Jasper's voice suddenly became strong and louder than anyone had ever heard it. “We move out in five. Smitty, prepare the necessary equipment. Myrtle, you're in charge of packing.”

So it was that in five short minutes Piper was pressing her face against the window of the helicopter and waving good-bye to her parents and the other kids, who, by Jasper's orders, would depart for their own mission as soon as the helicopter was on its way. Piper waved back to Betty and Joe and noticed that Jasper stood slightly in front of the others, his back ramrod straight. Betty was having a hard time containing Fido in her arms as he struggled madly to follow after Conrad.

“Hush now,” Betty chided the strange creature. “There's no point carrying on because you can't go. Simple as that.”

Poor Fido hated to be left behind. Sometimes Conrad let him come on missions, but not this one, and Fido didn't understand. He whined and snarfled but Betty held him firmly.

“They always come back,” Betty told Fido. “We just have to wait for them. But they always come home eventually.”

Soon the farm was out of sight and Piper availed herself of the multitude of snacks in the luxurious interior while Conrad consumed the thick file Abigail had given him.

“So Aletha's been missing for seventy-four hours and twenty-two minutes?” He flipped quickly through the pages.

“That's right,” Abigail confirmed.

Conrad paused on various pages, reading quickly. “No evidence of forced entry. No evidence of anyone coming or going from her room. She went to bed late that night. Why?”

“She's only four years old. Her normal bedtime is seven o'clock, but there was a garden party that afternoon and it went late.”

“I'm going to need to see her room.”

“Yes, I planned for that.” Abigail briefly consulted her watch. “The president is in Ottawa until nine o'clock this evening and is expected to return to the White House after midnight. By the time we land, you'll have a few hours.” Abigail hesitated and started fiddling with the hem on her skirt. “Of course you'll have to leave before he returns.”

Piper watched as Conrad quickly looked up from the file to his mother. A slight flush rose up the side of his cheeks and his jaw clenched.

“I suppose it's best to keep the dead dead,” Conrad remarked.

“He was wrong to say that about you.” Abigail kept her eyes firmly on her hem. “I believed him.”

“People believe anything he says,” Conrad said with some amount of kindness.

They arrived in Washington, D.C., as the sun was setting and the lights of the city were coming up. The Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial caught Piper's eye and she made a mental note to herself that, if the opportunity presented itself, she would have her own private flight that evening to explore the city.

The helicopter landed on the South Lawn, and the marines escorted Abigail and the kids from the helicopter. An assistant was waiting on the lawn and quickly guided them in through a side door and then down the hall and into the private quarters.

Aletha's room was in the east bedroom on the second floor. The bedroom that the president shared with the First Lady was at the end of the hall on the opposite side. As soon as they walked into Aletha's room they saw a fireplace on the far wall flanked on either side by bookshelves.

Piper was not surprised to find that the little girl's room was nothing short of a designer's paradise: antique dolls lined the bookshelves and a large dollhouse, complete with detailed furniture, curtains, and functioning lights, sat on a table in front of the fireplace. Bright and colorful learning toys were stocked on the shelves next to every imaginable children's book. Next to the only window in the room was a puppet theater with a cast of puppets neatly arranged on it and ready to take the stage. The canopy bed was opposite the fireplace and was covered in sparkling butterflies and fairies floating above a thick comforter.

“I feel like I'm in a toy store,” Piper said.

The assistant was handing each of them a pair of surgical gloves and cloth boots to place on their feet.

“Nothing has been touched, of course,” Abigail said. “You need to keep these on and be careful not to move anything, touch anything, or leave anything behind.”

“Fine.” Conrad held on to the file and the tablet. “We've got it from here. We'll call you if we need you.”

The assistant looked to Abigail, alarmed. “I'd be happy to stay—” she began.

“That won't be necessary,” Conrad cut her short. “We have a lot of work to do.” He didn't want anyone getting in the way.

The assistant glanced again at Abigail, who waved her hand. “Fine. Nothing must be disturbed. Bernice will wait outside while you investigate. If you need anything, or me, just call her and she'll see to it.”

“Understood.”

“You have ninety minutes.” Abigail checked her watch again as she left the room.

Bernice glared at them before closing the door and locking Piper and Conrad inside. Conrad immediately set about his investigation.

“I think your ma feels bad.”

“I think she should feel bad.” Conrad carefully opened the closet door and peeked inside. It was lined by row after row of outfits.

After Piper circled the room five or ten times and carefully poked through a few things she wasn't sure what to do next, and so she took to looking out the window. It was nighttime but the street was busy below with traffic and pedestrians. Meanwhile, after taking a quick tour of the attached bathroom, Conrad lay the file on the floor, spreading the photos all around and carefully looking from one to the next, and then back at the room. After a full hour passed, Piper grew antsy.

“So, call me crazy, but someone musta snuck in here and snatched her.”

“Nope, that didn't happen.” Conrad spoke with certainty.

“Well, she didn't just disappear.”

“You're right about that.”

“So, if no one took her and she didn't disappear, where is she?” Piper worried that Bernice or Abigail was going to come through the door at any moment.

“I don't specifically know.”

“Great. So she's just going to stay missing forever.”

“No.” Conrad snatched up a few pictures. “She was never missing. Look at this.”

He handed the pictures to Piper and she looked at them. “What do you see?” he pressed her.

Piper shrugged, flipping through the pictures. “Aletha's room. Her stuff, her bed, her dollhouse.”

“Look more closely. Start with the dollhouse.” Conrad pulled out the dollhouse picture and handed it back to Piper. “Look,” he said, pointing.

Piper looked again, and then looked back to Conrad, shrugging. “It's the dollhouse.”

“Come closer.” Conrad pulled her to the dollhouse. “No one's touched anything, right? The room's been sealed and these were taken as soon as they found her missing. But look here.” He pointed to the dollhouse. “The curtains in the dollhouse are closed. But they're not closed now; they've been opened.”

Piper looked from the picture to the dollhouse, and a shiver ran up and down her neck.

“Now look at this.” Conrad handed Piper a picture of the bookshelf. This time Piper was careful to look more closely, but she still couldn't see what he saw.

“Two books are missing, and this book here…” He pulled out a copy of
Angelina Ballerina
. “This one was replaced. Someone's been reading the books.”

Piper felt creepy crawlies tingling across her back. “What is going on?” she whispered.

“Aletha is hiding,” Conrad said in a low voice. “When she feels it's safe, she comes out. She gets bored and plays with her toys.”

“Hiding?” Piper looked around. “Where?”

“No.” Conrad squinted for a moment. “The question is not where but why. Why is she hiding? And from whom? And what is making her so afraid?”

Piper edged closer to Conrad, fear seeping into her as she imagined what could have driven Aletha to such an extreme measure. “If she's in danger, then we're in danger.”

“Yes,” Conrad agreed. “My father wants to get her before anyone else does. She knows something.…”

Suddenly the door to the room swung open.

Piper gasped.

Bernice glared at them from the doorway. “Twenty minutes,” Bernice said, her eyebrows raised as though she expected them to defy her.

“Thank you,” Conrad said, waiting for her to leave. Finally she did.

As soon as the door was closed, Conrad spun around and faced Piper, whispering in her ear. “Do exactly as I say, when I say it. We don't have a second to spare.”

Twenty minutes later on the dot, the door to Aletha's room was flung open for a second time. “Time's up,” Bernice said.

When she saw the room was empty, her heart rate shot up. As she carefully checked the room her hands were shaking, and she noticed that her breath was catching in her throat.

She had to be careful when she walked down the hall to the First Lady's sitting room. She couldn't show how alarmed she was, or there would be questions. Abigail was waiting for her.

“They're gone,” Bernice stammered. “I went in and they were gone. I checked the room. They've disappeared … just like Aletha.”

“No.” The color drained from Abigail's face. “I don't believe it.”

 

CHAPTER

20

Construction of the White House began in 1792. The whole place was burned in 1814 and rebuilt from the ground up. For the next 200 years every president who set foot in the place proceeded to make their own changes both large and small. Thomas Jefferson wanted toilets, Ulysses S. Grant had a penchant for Victorian decoration and electric lights. Other presidents not only renovated but added significantly. In all those years of change and evolution small things were forgotten with the passage of time and tenants. Alcoves that had been temporarily boarded up were lost altogether and cupboards and crawlspaces got concealed behind walls until no one even knew they were there anymore.

The fireplace in Aletha's bedroom was originally built in 1792, and even when the White House was burned down it was one of the few things to remain. The bricks were old and the space was wide and ample and full of long-buried secrets.

Piper flew up the chimney but Conrad had to climb it. From his position on the floor he had seen telltale signs that the chimney had been in use and he climbed it with care, following the small handprints that showed him exactly where he could go. Piper held up his flashlight device on his PDA so that they could use that light as a torch.

“There is no way she climbed up here. She's how old?”

“Four.” Conrad grunted, clinging on.

Hovering up above, Piper studied the brick patterns. “And you think she climbed up here to get away?”

“She's been coming up and down here a lot the last three or four days. Look at this.” Conrad pointed to the wall. Flying downward, Piper peered over his shoulder to see fingerprints in the soot.

“Amazing. But where was she going? There's no way out, unless you're smoke.”

“We'll see about that.” Conrad pulled himself up bit by bit. It took all his strength to hoist his body upward and he had to pull on the bricks to do so. Suddenly the brick he was holding gave out and he only just managed to wedge himself in place by throwing his legs out and pushing his back into the wall. Piper quickly flew down to him and picked up the brick off his stomach, where it had thankfully come to rest instead of crashing into the fireplace below.

As Conrad panted they both heard voices below. Bernice and Abigail had figured out that they were missing. Conrad placed his finger on his lips.

“Shhh.”

With the greatest care Piper quietly and gently pulled Conrad up and helped him to find his footing again. Once he was in place they both pushed themselves into the hole that now gaped in the chimney.

“There's a room on the other side,” Piper whispered. Conrad nodded and pointed to the other bricks. One by one they worked together to carefully and silently slide bricks from their place until at last there was a hole just big enough to squeeze through. Piper helped Conrad through first and hovered patiently until he had scrambled safely over to the other side. Wiggling past the hole, she found herself in a small cramped passageway. This time Conrad was using the light from his PDA to discover any clues he could. He didn't have to look hard because he soon found crumpled food wrappers. Holding up a shiny silver one, he turned it over and both Piper and Conrad studied what remained of a cereal bar.