The Recruit

Chapter 13

Katie thought it was almost laughable how much her parents were babying her. Even Hannah was amused. Of course, her mom didn't hesitate to baby her and didn't bother hiding it. Her dad was a bit more deliberate but was still very protective. The next morning she had woke up with a migraine.

She napped off and on all morning and did feel better when she woke up. When she walked downstairs, in her pajamas and her hair in a mess; Ian and another was sitting at the kitchen table, talking to her dad. She tried to backtrack up the stairs, but it was too late.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Ian asked.

"I'm…fine." Katie said awkwardly.

"Headache gone?" Mike asked.

"Yeah. Pretty much. Kind of a dull roar." Katie admitted.

"Katie; why don't you sit down? Senator Smith would like to hear about what happened." Mike suggested before he stood up and helped her into his chair.

"Katie, it is nice to meet you. Ian has told me a fair amount about you. So…of what you can remember, tell me what happened, please?" Senator Smith requested.

"I was paged out during World Military History. Commander Sanders said that I was to be running. I did argue that I knew that they had decided not to let anyone run due to the temperature of the asphalt. He tacked on two extra miles. I decided to just run and get it over with. The entire time, he was saying things about me running too slow and such. I don't remember much after mile ten." Katie explained.

"Do you remember passing out?" Ian asked.

"No." Katie said.

"So; Commander Sanders is well-connected and he banks on that. You are also well-connected but you don't. I am working with my colleagues to figure out next steps." Senator Smith said.

"What happens in the meantime with Katie and other students he decides to not like?" Mike asked.

"Sir, they still haven't found him. He was nowhere around when I found Katie, and frankly; I wasn't looking. I was just trying to get her to commissary." Ian remarked.

"He is still in the wind. Admiral Chandler has been staying in contact with me. I can't stay for certain, but I would say when Katie passed out, he knew he was in trouble. Katie is the daughter of a member of the Nathan James crew, and a high-ranking one at that. He would be obliterated in the media. When he does surface, he will have a different story and will say that Katie's memory is faulty due to the heat exhaustion." Senator Smith explained.

"Is there anyone that might have heard him telling you to run?" Mike asked Katie.

"I don't know, Dad. My memory is really fuzzy. And besides, even if someone did hear it, they wouldn't go against him for my benefit." Katie answered.

"What about the security cameras?" Ian asked to no one in particular.

"Where?" Mike asked.

"Sir, there are security cameras all around the running track." Ian said.

"Do I want to know how you know that?" Senator Smith asked.

"No, probably not. My point is; if you could find someone in the security office that doesn't like Commander Sanders; we might be able to get that footage." Ian said.

"Or he could just say I went voluntarily, which I did, because I didn't want to argue with him and make it worse." Katie remarked.

"I'll do some checking on the cameras. In the meantime, Admiral Slattery; please just take care of your daughter. Stay out of this. Katie, you take care of yourself." Senator Smith said. Katie was shocked that someone was ordering her dad around, but he only nodded in response. Both Senator Smith and Ian stood up to leave. Katie started to stand but Ian motioned for her to sit.

"I'll see you out." Mike said.

"Thank you for your hospitality. Please thank your wife for that delightful lemon bar. I will have to tell my wife about it." Senator Smith said.

"I can wrap some up for you?" Mike offered.

"Oh, that isn't necess…" Senator Smith started.

"Sure!" Ian said. Katie could only smile in response.

"Give me just a moment." Mike said before walking back into the kitchen.

"Thank you." Katie said simply. She wasn't even sure what she was thinking Senator Smith for. A moment later, her dad stepped out with a plate of her mom's lemon bars.

"Christine will probably get onto me for not giving you more. She loves baking. I actually think she is shopping for some of Katie's favorite things right now." Mike said as he handed Senator Smith the plate.

"I appreciate this…oh! And you might check the alignment in Katie's car. It was pulling to the right really bad." Senator Smith said, explaining that he was the one that delivered her car.

"Thank you. I will definitely look into it." Mike answered with a look down at Katie. She just shrugged in response.

"Dad?" Ian asked.

"I'll let you out." Mike answered. Both Ian and Senator Smith followed him out and Katie sighed. She really didn't want to cause problems when she could have refused to run the day before.