Chapter 228 - :

"Is the President serious right now? Why did he have to acknowledge that friggin kid among all people?" John shouted with hostility.

Looking at the TV broadcasting the news and covering this year's Correspondent's Dinner, Marcus shrugged.

"He's just trying to boost his approval rating with young people."

"You think I don't know that?" John said scatingly, looking at his brother. "I'm asking why it has to be him? He's the reason why our daughters have been kidnapped!"

"Listen brother, I hate that smart a** kid as much as you do but he's not responsible for this, the kidnappers are and he has no link with them."

"How can you be sure? Despite all your energy and influence, you still don't know who they are!"

"Because I kept an eye on him, he's too smart for his own good. Do I need to remind you that he knows what I really do?" Marcus said.

"Yes, you were careless and he got the better of you."

"Can you two please stop!" Victoria Livingston shouted, exasperated. "I talk with Diane after what happens and we agree to put that on kids being kids, just leave this kid alone for god's sake. We have more important matters to care about right now!"

Surprised by the outburst, the two brothers look at Victoria with apprehension.

"When did you talk to her? You never said anything about it!" John said.

"I was protecting you, like I ever do. Do I need to remind you that Robert Lyndon is donating to your campaign?" Victoria answered.

"He's a minor donor, I could still win without his money." John did not appear very concerned about the issue.

"Do I need to remind you how protective the Lyndon are with their family? You heard the rumors as well as I did. You are also under the false assumption that him pulling away his support would be the worth he could do, he could very well put his influence and money to support your opponent for the Senate. Just stop, we don't need that, especially right now! I just want my babies back!"

"You are right, Dear." John finally nodded before straightening himself suddenly. "Wait, did you hear that?"

"I did." Marcus said. "Stay here, I'm going to check if everything is alright in the hallway.

Walking quickly to the door, Marcus pulled a 9mm from his back and turned the safety off before opening the door. Expecting to see the two security guards that he posted on the hallway, Marcus was surprised to see the two of them on the floor, unconscious. Lifting his gun, he aimed it at the two unknown people in the hallway who were looking at him impassively.

"Freeze! Hand in the air, Now!" Marcus shouted.

To his surprise, none of the two people even flinched when they saw him pull a gun at him. Marcus' eyes fell on the taller of the two first. He was a tall male around forty years old with short brown hair and a muscular stature.

'Military type, no doubt about it." Marcus thought before focusing his eyes on the second person.

She was twenty years something and a knock out by almost every male standart. Long flowing blond hair framing a comely face. Even if he looked at her for a second, Marcus did not linger on her attractive face as he had other things on his mind right now.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"The President sent us, we are here to help you bring your nieces back home." The man said.

"I want to see your badges."

"We don't have badges, we are not government officials. You can call us concerned citizens if you want." The girl answered impassively.

Hearing her response, Marcus frowned and his jaw tightened on the edges. He knew it was a load of crap and as much as he wanted to shoot them, if there was even one chance they were telling the truth and that they were indeed here to find his nieces, he was going to try it. He was that desperate. Making his decision, he lowered his gun for the little effect it had on them.

"If you are here to help, why did you knock out our security?" Marcus asked, still annoyed.

"Don't look at me, I wasn't the one who did it." The man said, lifting his hand in the air before tilting his head in the direction of the girl near him.

"They deserved it. We told them that we were expected and it was important. The two just laugh in our faces before telling us to get out. What determined their fate was when the one who is currently to your right tried to grope me. At least he's still alive, I was pretty lenient on this I think." The girl said.

"I'm not sure he's going to have children though, that last blow was just vicious." Jon grumbles under his breath, which earns him a glare from Lucy while Marcus didn't seem to hear it.

"Alright, come inside then." Marcus said, shaking his head.

Making way for the two of them to enter the room, Marcus then closed the door, leaving the two security agents outside still knocked out. Seeing two people entering their hotel room, John and Victoria rise from the couch and direct a curious look in the direction of Marcus who starts to explain.

"They claimed the President sent them to bring back Elisabeth and Madison. I'm not sure they said the truth though, they refused to give me an ID so I can even introduce them to you."

"I'm Lucie and he's Jon." Lucie said. "We are sorry to come this late and without giving you time to prepare but as you are very aware, we are pressed for time. Please sit back down."

"Yes, we don't care about the time, we just want our daughters back. We will give you everything that you need." Victoria instantly answers before resuming her sitting position.

"If you are telling the truth, why are you starting only now? We sent those files more than five hours ago! That's inacceptable! My daughters' lives are at stake here!" John said angrily.

"I understand you are under huge stress Senator but we are not your subordinate nor we answer to you in any way. So you are going to calm down or I'm going to smash your skull and then ask our questions to your wife. Now, to answer your question, if you just look by the window, you can see that there is a storm outside that delayed our way here. The principal reason why we are only here now is because we lose more than two hours of our time thanks to the CIA moron to your right who put a spy software in the file that you sent to us." Lucie lashed out.

Taken aback by this answer, John wanted to rebuke the girl in front of him for talking to him that way but something stopped him before he was going to. Even if she was pretty enough to be a supermodel easily, they were something dangerous in her posture and in her brown eyes that made him unsettled deep down. That's when all of what she said registered in his mind. She knew her brother was CIA and they were good enough to spot and dispose of a CIA software, that wasn't something that could be done without a ridiculous amount of skill and training.

"What did you do?" John turned to his brother angrily before there was a loud whistle that made him turn back to the girl named Lucie.

"Listen, we don't care about your family drama, you can sort that later when we are not here. To be honest, you are lucky my boss still accepts the job and that your brother can keep his life, I wouldn't be so generous." Lucie threaten.

Seeing the conversation was not going the right way, Jon quickly intervened.

"Still, despite the time that we lost, we manage to find who was in charge of the kidnapping and in which city they are currently hiding. We came here tonight for information that could help us narrow their position more precisely."

Hearing that last bit of information, the Livingston couple look at each other with something they lacked for some times now. Hope.

"Are you honest with us right now? Did you really manage to find our babies so soon?" Victoria asked.

"Please, don't give us false hope now." John add.

"That is the truth, I have no reason to lie to you and it would be really detrimental for our purpose to do so. I have a question, does one of your daughters need medications? It could help us track them down more quickly." Jon asked with a reassuring smile.

"Hum, Elisabeth has some chronic migraine and needs to take painkillers often but nothing that can't be found at the nearest bodega. Other than that, they are both in perfect health." John answers.

"Alright." Jon said, taking note of it in his mind.

"Do you have enemies Senator? People would want you to hurt you?" Lucie asked before explaining. "We got evidence that implies the kidnapper could have received outside help coming from someone with influence."

"You could throw a rock in that city and it would hit someone who wants to kill me, I'm a republican Senator after all." John sighed tiredly. "But someone like you describe, who would hurt my daughters to make me pay? I don't think so. Still, my office keeps a list of everyone who threatens me by call or letter, I can give you the files right now if you want."

"Please." Lucie said.

Nodding, John got to his feets and walked to their chambers before coming back with a fille at least three inches thick. Taking the files in hand, Lucie starts to peruse it.

"That's a lot of names." She said.

"Like I said, Twenty fives years as a government official. I made a lot of enemies."

"I see that. Thank you for the information, we will be going now, we have still a lot of work to be done. We will keep you posted. Goodnight." Lucie said.

After that, they did not wait to be escorted out and just leave without turning back. Outside, Lucie steps on one of the two mens who were still knocked out outside and starts walking to the stairs while Jon hides an amused smile.

"Well, that could have gone better." He said.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I get cranky when I'm dirty and hungry. Once I showered and I ate something, I would be back to normal." Lucie lied, she had a lot on her mind lately and she had unloaded on them.

"Got it." Jon accepts the explanation, not giving it much thought.

They didn't talk again for the rest of the way to their rooms.