House of Leights (Secret Keepers #3)(12)

Don’t cry, damn it.

“What does it mean, though?” Brad said, and I swallowed my emotions down.

“I don’t know.” I cleared my throat. “I guess that he was here, and that … his work is here somewhere. Maybe he wants me to go to his work…”

Only I had no idea where it was.

“Maiz,” Brad said, urgency in his tone. I flipped my head up and looked at him. He was pointing toward another red flash. I hadn’t seen it in my haste to read the first letter.

He reached out, scooping it up and handing it to me. I opened it and held the letter so we could both read it.

Hansel and Gretel.

Brad growled. “I still don’t know what he’s trying to tell us.”

I blinked a few times, a thought coming to me. “What if he’s telling us to follow the breadcrumbs? Hansel and Gretel style.” I reread the first note, looking for clues. “There’s no sun right now, so it has to be the east thing. But where is the starting point?” A direction was no good if we didn’t have a starting point. “Which way is east in general?” My sense of direction was terrible. I couldn’t read a map. During orientation at school I’d gotten my entire team so lost they had to bring in trackers to find us.

Brad turned in a circle once, stopping and pointing. “I think that way.” We started to walk, counting the steps. We were still in the memorial at thirteen and my confusion was growing. Why couldn’t my dad just make this easy on me? I was tired, stressed, scared, freezing. I didn’t have time for riddles.

“Found it,” Brad said, startling me from my moment of feeling sorry for myself. The note had been wedged into a small space just across from us.

Opening it, I read the next cryptic clue.

A president’s job is never fun. Eighty-seven steps down and you’re almost done.

Well, that was at least a little clearer.

Brad and I wasted no more time. We rushed out of the building and took the steps all the way down to the reflecting pool. It was barely visible in the dark, and I took care not to overstep into the water. On the last step there was another red note:

Take a left and then a right. Find a bush that looks like spike.

“Spike, your old dog?” Brad asked.

I nodded. “Has to be.”

We hurried left first, and then when we reached the end of the water, turned right. There were no signs of any people around, but I was worried that our strange behavior might draw the attention of security. Sooner or later, someone was going to investigate.

As we moved, I kept an eye out for something that might look like a dog.

“There?” Brad asked, sounding unsure.

He was pointing at a plant, huge and bushy, and almost completely hidden in the darkness. But there were a few pinpoints of light behind it that sort of gave it a canine shape.

“I hope so,” I said breathlessly as we changed directions and went further into the shadows.

Our steps slowed as we got closer, and I was holding my breath, silently hoping that this was the last stop. I couldn’t handle the suspense any longer. As we crept around the edge of the bush, a shadow straightened from where it had been crouched.

“Dad!” I exclaimed, managing to keep my voice low even though my tone was excited and relieved.

I threw myself at him and he wrapped his arms around me.

“Where’s Mom?” I asked as I pulled back.

He pressed a finger to my lips, before his eyes darted up to Brad. They exchanged a look and my best friend nodded, not saying a word. Holding my hand tightly, Dad led us through the Mall, always looking over his shoulder. He was acting paranoid – but I hadn’t forgotten my very recent kidnap attempt, so I understood.

We continued ducking in and out of buildings, moving randomly, before we left the Mall and crossed into a street. I knew we were heading away from the White House, but other than that I’d never have been able to retrace our steps.

There were lots of fancy buildings around us, the kind with an abundance of character: stone and marble fronts, small detailing etched into their front doors, and lots of metal accents. I’d never been here before, and in the dark I couldn’t tell if they were houses or condos, but either way, there was some serious money here. You couldn’t live this close to the White House without being in the billionaire club.

A cold breeze hit me, the temperature dropping the closer we got to sunrise. I shivered violently and my father let go of my hand to shuck off his jacket, wrapping it around me. He wore a sweater beneath, blue and striped, so I gratefully accepted his coat. My skin prickled and hurt as the warmth seeped into it, and I realized how close I had come to being seriously frozen.

We resumed our fast walk again, staying in the shadows. When my dad stopped abruptly, I almost crashed into him. He entered a front yard and led us to a set of stairs that seemed to disappear into darkness. If I didn’t trust my father immensely, there was no way I would step one foot on those creepy concrete stairs. But I knew he would not lead me into danger, so down we went. My eyes adjusted, and as we neared the last step, I saw the door.

It was black. Simple looking. My dad reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. As he fit it into a keyhole – the only thing on the door – there was a click, and I almost gasped as a panel opened up. It was like a huge peephole with a computer screen on the other side.