He had no idea what was going on.
The nearest Secret Service man to her was twenty feet away.
She thought fast. Only one idea came to her mind, and she didn't like it. The black tube stopped moving, and she knew there were no other options.
Adriana pumped her legs as fast as she could, leaping onto the stage and sprinting at the president.
"Shooter!" she yelled as she ducked her head and drove her shoulder into the president's midsection. The form tackle would have made any football defensive coach proud.
Adriana and Dawkins hit the deck a half second before gunfire erupted.
The chain gun whined loudly amid a constant series of pops, sending dozens of rounds at the stage per second. The podium was torn apart almost instantly as bullets shredded the wood.
The two nearest Secret Service men charged the stage to cover the president while four others zeroed in on the source of the gunfire and drew their weapons.
Panic flooded the ballroom. Men and women ducked under their tables. Several women screamed. Two or three people closest to the exit ran for the doors.
Adriana held the president down until one of the Secret Service agents arrived.
The gunfire from the spotlight window had stopped and been replaced by loud pops from the other guards' weapons. Sparks flashed off the spotlight. The bright bulb suddenly exploded as one of the rounds struck it in the center, turning the big tube dark.
Police rushed out of the room toward the access door outside to make sure the shooter couldn't escape.
One of the guards pulled Adriana off the president and pinned her to the stage. He drew his weapon and pressed it to the back of her head.
"Don't move," he barked.
Dawkins was lying facedown with his head turned toward her. One of his guards was lying on top of him to protect the president.
"Put that gun away," Dawkins ordered. "This woman just saved my life."
"Yes, sir," the guard said and stepped away from Adriana.
The gunfire had ceased, but the chaos had only just begun.
"Get him out of here!" she said in a commanding voice to the guard atop the president. "Now!"
The two Secret Service men glanced at each other and then nodded. They knew what to do. Two more joined them as they ushered the president off the stage to the right and out through a side door.
Adriana stood up and scanned the room. Everyone was in a panic. Or were they?
One man in the far right corner in the back was walking calmly toward an exit door. Adriana frowned. The guy was way too collected for a civilian.
She glanced back at the spotlight window. Through the opening, she saw security forces rushing through the room.
No one had noticed the man leaving in the corner.
Adriana took a deep breath and leaped off the stage.
Chapter 11
Sean stared out at the grand view from atop the hill. Tommy stood next to him, also admiring the landscape that rolled out before them. He tightened the gear bag strapped to his back, making sure it was snug enough to stay in place for some light spelunking.
They stood atop Boy's Mountain just a couple of miles outside the little town of Ringgold. It was — for Sean — a very real homecoming. His parents had owned the property for nearly thirty years, moving here from Chattanooga when he was in high school.
The rise was more of a large hill than an actual mountain. White Oak Mountain — just a few thousand yards away — was taller and longer, stretching far into Tennessee and deep into Georgia, nearly reaching all the way to Summerville. Still, the little mountain provided incredible vistas, especially on a clear, cold day.
"I can see why your folks never sold this place," Tommy said. "You can see all the way to the Blue Ridge Mountains from here."
"Yep," Sean nodded. "I don't miss living here, but every time I come back it gets harder and harder to leave."
After taking in the scenery for another minute or two, Tommy turned to his friend and asked if he'd made arrangements for them to search the property next door.
"Yeah, I spoke to the lady who owns the place. She said it's cool for us to walk around down there. With it being winter, snakes won't be a problem."
Tommy tightened the zipper on his coat. "No kidding. A reptile would be frozen solid in this weather."
The two trudged beyond Sean's father's shed and began the short descent toward the cave. After only two minutes, they arrived at one of the Confederate trenches. Even a casual observer would have realized the earthworks were a military trench. The position was perfectly placed to take out an enemy as they rounded the bend on the Old Federal Road several hundred feet below. Soldiers could have poured musket fire and cannon balls into the bottleneck, obliterating anyone who crossed their path. Due to the trench's position, anyone going through the pass wouldn't realize what was happening until it was too late.
"You ever bring a metal detector up here and look around?" Tommy asked.
"Oddly enough, I never have."
"Really?"
Sean chuckled. "We've been friends for about thirty years. If I'd done something like that, I would have invited you to join me."
"That's true." He pointed to a strange opening in the earth another hundred feet away. "Is that the cave over there?"
"Yep," Sean said as he marched forward, through the shallow trench and down the hill.
Tommy followed close behind, kicking dead leaves with the tips of his shoes along the way.
"How long did you say it's been since you went down there?"
"I don't know. Twenty years?" Sean said. "Last time I went in, we had to use a rope to climb out. The hill leading down into the cave is kind of steep."
"Do we need a rope?"
"Not sure. We'll know in a second."
The two traversed the face of the mountain until they reached a broad opening in the earth. The cave mouth was about twenty feet in diameter. To get to the actual entrance, they had to lower themselves down a steep incline, fifteen feet to the bottom where the ground leveled off. It wasn't a straight drop to the entrance, but having something to hold on to as they made their way down was definitely a plus. Lucky for Sean and Tommy, someone had left a fifty-foot extension cord tied to a pine tree.
Sean tested the makeshift rope by pulling on it and then leaning back, putting all his weight on the cord.
"Looks like this will hold," he said, giving it one last tug.
Tommy wasn't as convinced. "Maybe we should go check out your dad's shed and see if there's a rope or something else in there."
"Shed's locked, and my parents aren't around. Don't worry. This will hold."
Sean started lowering himself down the steep slope one hand over the other. It took him less than half a minute to reach the bottom. When his feet were on flat ground, he called up to Tommy and gave him the all-clear.
Tommy stared at the dingy orange cord. He tentatively picked it up and gave the thing a few test pulls of his own. Satisfied it would hold, he started inching his way down the hill.
Sean watched as his friend methodically descended the slope like a sloth climbing down a tree.
"Take your time, buddy. We have all day."
Tommy's forearms burned from the strain. He couldn't imagine doing this same stunt six months prior. "Shut up. I don't exactly trust your rope thingy. Feels like it could break loose any second. And don't make any jokes about me being out of shape, either."
"I wasn't going to. You're in the best shape of your life, probably fitter than me. Seriously, you're doing fine. Just a few more steps."
Tommy's feet touched the dirt in front of the cave, and he let the cord fall to the ground. He clenched his fingers into a fist several times to get the feeling back and to help with the tightness in his forearms.