After his Saturday morning security briefing and update with Leo, the President was ready for a change of pace.
"Want to go for a walk, Abbey?"
"Sure."
They grabbed their jackets and sunglasses and made their way to the beach. Two agents followed them, but at a distance trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.
"I just love walking on a beach, don't you?" Jed looked over at his wife. The wind off the ocean was blowing her hair in every direction, but to him that only made her more desirable.
"I really do. I don't know if it's because it's rare that we get to this or it's because of the water. I mean, look over that horizon. It's never ending."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Would you like to buy a house on the water when we leave office, Abbey? I mean, we would live at the farm as our permanent residence but we could have a place on the water too."
"I don't know, Jed. I mean it is a lot of upkeep to have a place like this on the water."
"I know, but think about staying close to the water with the kids and grandkids. Or even getting away just the two of us, just like this."
"It does sound enticing, doesn't it?"
"Well, we do have a few years to think about it, but for a change of pace I think it would be great."
They walked on in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
The wind picked up and brought a chill with it.
"I'm getting a little cold. Maybe we should go back." Abbey said, rubbing her arms.
"Sure."
They turned into the wind, this time the sand was blowing from the beach into their face. So the talking was held to a minimum until they reached the cover of the back porch. Shaking the sand out of their hair, they both took off their jackets and made their way into the kitchen.
They threw their sunglasses onto the kitchen island and hung their jackets on the hooks by the door.
"Want something to drink?"
"Yes. How about some of that iced tea you made this morning?"
"Sounds good." Abbey got the pitcher out of the refrigerator and pulled two glasses out of the cabinet.
After putting a few cubes into the glasses, she poured each of them a full glass, and put the pitcher back in the refrigerator.
They each took a glass and went into the den, where one of the agents had started a fire. They each set down in a rocking chair facing the fire and drank their tea. It didn't take long before they were each yawning.
"I didn't realize how tired I was," Jed said, barely able to keep his eyes open.
"Me, either. I guess all the activities of the past few months have finally hit both of us. You know that's not unusual. Sometimes you just run out of energy and your body says enough is enough. I'm going to the bedroom. You want to come with me?"
"No, I think I'll just lay down on the sofa. Enjoy your nap."
"Okay."
Abbey got up but immediately sat back down. She closed her eyes and was out like a light. Her head dropped down and she was sound asleep.
Jed's head dropped down suddenly as well. He didn't even try to get up.
Two men had been listening from the kitchen. When they heard no more talking from the den, they entered and went over to the First Couple.
Making sure they were indeed out, they took out syringes and injected additional sedatives into each individual.
Only then did they speak.
"Now, we have them. Get the other five in here. And make sure Marks can't help them. We need to make sure that he won't be able to wake up. You hear me? GO! NOW!"
Agent Winston left to do his task. That left Agent Abraham alone. "Well, Jenna, sorry we had to do what we did. But there were too many people around. We couldn't take the risk. But this is perfect. Allah is great. And he shall reward us for taking down the leader of the Great Satan and his wife."