It was past midnight when Zoey finally arrived at the Residence, but Jed was up, waiting on her arrival. The minute she saw her father, the tears started up again.
"Daddy, have you heard anything?"
"No, sweetheart, I haven't. We are searching every source we have, but no one is talking. They are all denying that they had anything to do with taking your mother."
"I don't understand it, Daddy. She just went to the bathroom to cool off. How could she be there one minute and gone the next? How could the Secret Service allow that to happen?"
He kept hugging his youngest while answering her. "I don't know, sweetie. I don't know. But we have to have hope that she's okay and will be brought home soon. Are you hungry?"
"No. The plane had every snack I could have ever wanted. The flight attendant was so nice. It even had a bedroom where I took a couple of naps. They didn't last very long, but at least I was able to close my eyes occasionally. You will have to thank Lord John for being so nice."
"I will. Now, I'm tired. Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"
Zoey pulled out her father's grasp and laughed. "Daddy, really. I'm not four."
"Well, I just thought…"
"I know Daddy and I appreciate it, but I'm okay. Really. Is Charlie still here?"
"I think so. In fact, I think he's still in the West Wing if you want to see him."
"I think I will try and find him. I'm still kind of wound up and although I'm on London time, there's no way I can sleep."
Jed kissed Zoey on her forehead. "You go ahead. I still have to run a country tomorrow and need my beauty sleep."
They both laughed. It felt good to have each other once again.
"'Nite, Daddy. I'll see you sometime tomorrow."
"'Nite, Zoey. I'm glad you're home."
"So am I."
Jed went back to his bedroom alone. He was hoping that Zoey would agree to keep him company tonight, but wasn't surprised when she wanted to see Charlie instead.
For some reason, he was lonelier than normal. Well, he knew the reason, At least when Abbey went on business trips as First Lady or went to the farm, he knew that she was coming back at some point. He could always reach her and talk to her. But now, he didn't know if she was coming back. And he couldn't just pick up the phone and talk to her. That put a different perspective on everything. He put on his pajamas and turned down the covers, but didn't really want to get into bed. This was the first night that he knew that Abbey wasn't on her way home. And he didn't really know if she would ever come home.
He picked up some briefing papers and tried to read, but his mind was too confused and scattered to do any concentrated work. All he could really do was turn off the light and try to sleep. As he finally fell asleep, he prayed that he would dream of the day his wife was once more by his side, secure in his arms, warmed by his love, and never threatened by any person ever again meaning him or her any harm.
As Jed slept, the group that had left Bristol arrived in Belfast on schedule and before sunrise. They hurried off and lifted the casket from underneath the plane. They carried it a short distance to another waiting van where they slid it in the back and slammed the doors. Another two-hour drive was still ahead before they knew they were safe and they could secure their precious cargo away from prying eyes. The package to be delivered at sunset today would start a hunt for them that they were determined would be unsuccessful. But they had to be safe in their hiding place before that hunt began and their cargo secure. The Irishman could take no chances of anything going wrong at this stage of the game. if he was going to win the battle against the American President who thought he had outsmarted the head of Sinn Fein. In the end, Sinn Fein always won. And the American President would lose more than he ever imagined.