Free Undercover by Danielle Steel Page B

as the Secret Service pressed around him. By previous arrangement, Marshall had hung back to stand near Melissa, and there were additional agents with her and the kids.
    They were given a tour of the hospital, and then came back outside, for Amelia to cut the ribbon. She was hopping up and down, she was so excited, and she stood in front of her mother during innumerable speeches, as Marshall watched the crowd, out of habit and reflex more than any real concern. It was a benign event, but he examined all the faces around them. And then suddenly in slow motion, he saw a man step forward and lift a high-powered rifle to his shoulder, take aim at the president, and in the flash of an instant shift it to Melissa, as Marshall shouted a warning. Three Secret Service men threw the president to the ground and covered him with their bodies, and Marshall leaped toward Melissa, knocking her to the ground as Amelia screamed. All hell broke loose by then. Secret Service men were everywhere. The shooter was grabbed by two of them, the president was still on the ground with two Secret Service men on top of him, the crowd was running away screaming, and Melissa was groaning. She had hit her head when she hit the ground. Brad was tackled in the arms of a Secret Service man, and Marshall was on top of Amelia. He had pulled her down and grabbed her, but he had heard a bullet whiz past them, and as he looked down at her beneath him, he could see blood everywhere, it was all over her face and his hands. He had no idea where she had been hit, but he knew she had been. He tried to pick her up and run to safety with her, but he couldn’t. His left arm wouldn’t pick her up, and she looked at him with terrified eyes, not even crying.
    “Am I going to die?” she asked him in a hoarse whisper. Her mother was on her knees by then, trying to cradle her daughter as Marshall told her not to move her, and to lie down. She was injured herself and deathly pale.
    “Don’t move, baby,” he said to Amelia, as he laid her down gently, as police and Secret Service rushed to help them, with the president right behind them, surrounded by agents protecting him. They put her on a stretcher and took her into the hospital, with Melissa running beside them, looking dazed, the president supporting her, and Brad running with them. A battalion of Secret Service and police had surrounded them. Doctors came from everywhere, and all eyes focused on Amelia and the blood on her face. Everyone but Secret Service and the first family were cleared from the room, as they took Amelia’s clothes off and examined her face and body. A bullet had barely grazed the side of her head, there was no point of entry, and no serious damage. It was a superficial wound, only because Marshall had yanked her away so quickly and saved her. Another inch or two, and she would have been shot in the head and killed. When Melissa realized what had nearly happened to her daughter, she fainted on the spot, and doctors were brought in to examine her too. Phillip was afraid she would go into labor. He and his son had sustained no damage. Amelia was treated for shock and possible infection for the wound. They put a bandage on her head after shaving and cleaning the area, but the wound was only a flesh wound and a very small one. Marshall had never taken his eyes off her from the moment they entered the hospital, and as the president turned to thank him, Amelia smiled at Marshall.
    “You saved me, Marsh,” Amelia said, and Marshall smiled with tears of relief running down his cheeks.
    Melissa was conscious again by then, and they had determined that she had sustained a mild concussion when she fell to the ground, and they were going to do a sonogram to check on the baby, but it was moving, and they already found a heartbeat. A potential tragedy had been averted thanks to Marshall, his quick reflexes, unfailing instincts, and reactions. The president turned to put an arm on his shoulder to thank him with