Free Undercover by Danielle Steel Page A

his duties on the White House detail. The first family was fond of him too.
    By the first of October, word had gotten out that Marshall was returning to the DEA before the end of the year, to go back to field work. They had promised to tell him where in the next few weeks. And they were due to ship him out in November or December. The president told him how sorry he was to hear it, but said that he admired him for his courage and the kind of work he wanted to do. Brad wanted to hear all of the gory details of his next assignment, none of which Marshall knew yet, and would never have told him. The first lady made him promise to come and see the baby. They had learned it was a girl, and Amelia was thrilled, but she was crushed to hear that Marshall was leaving, and told him that was really mean and stupid of him. She had cried when her mother told her.
    “I’ve got to go fight the bad guys again,” he explained to her, “to keep you and your brother and new sister safe. That’s what I do.”
    “Why can’t someone else fight the bad guys and you stay here?”
    “Because I’m better at it,” he said, teasing her, but in many ways, it was true. “I’ll visit you,” he said, although he knew it wouldn’t be soon, and he didn’t want to mislead her, “whenever I am in Washington. Besides, you’re going to be busy with your baby sister. You won’t miss me at all.” But he knew just how much he would miss her. He had come to love both children in the past eleven months, and had a deep affection and respect for their parents. And he knew he would be sad to leave.
    The children were getting ready for Halloween again in his last weeks on the White House detail. This year Amelia had decided to be the witch in
The
Wizard
of
Oz
with a green face, and Brad was going to be an astronaut in a spacesuit that NASA had sent him, made specially for him in his size. He was very excited about it. Amelia had already practiced walking around the White House several times with her face covered in green face paint. It was a bittersweet memory, remembering he had met them exactly a year before, at Halloween.
    Their mother was eight months pregnant by then, and said she was going as the Great Pumpkin this year. They were all excited about the baby, and in good spirits when the president agreed to dedicate the opening of a children’s hospital in Virginia and bring the children with him. Melissa said she was very tired, but agreed to go anyway. The hospital was important to her because it was going to serve indigent children from all over the country who needed surgeries their parents couldn’t afford. She had spent two years pushing the project, and the president had given it his support, so the whole family was going, and Marshall was assigned to the detail. The ceremony was scheduled for Saturday so the children could attend without missing school, and Amelia was going to cut the ribbon at the dedication. They were looking forward to it, and Marshall had a lump in his throat when he boarded the helicopter, knowing that this would be one of his last official functions with them. He had no illusions about it. He knew he would miss them terribly, particularly the children.
    The helicopter landed on schedule, and a limousine was waiting to take them to the hospital. They had a full complement of Secret Service, with Marshall in the lead. He gave Melissa a hand out of the helicopter and helped her into the limousine. She was moving slowly, and she reminded him constantly of Paloma in the last days of her pregnancy, when it seemed as though her belly could stretch no further. The baby was due in three weeks, she was obviously uncomfortable, and she had been a good sport to come that day.
    A large reception committee was waiting for them at the hospital, and a crowd of onlookers who had come to see the first family, and particularly the children. Amelia could hardly wait to cut the ribbon. The president moved through the crowd shaking hands,