Graceful Deception

20. Nothing Like Ruining The Christmas Spirit

Chapter 20

Nothing Like Ruining The Christmas Spirit

You would think that after everything that I'd gone through in the past months with John on all of these break-ins, I would be used to it by now. Maybe even be some sort of an expert. But was I feeling that way as we walked hand-in-hand down the hallway of the White House? Heck, no.

Because it wasn't every day that you stole something in one of the most secure places in the world. Well, okay...it had pretty much been every week for us, but whatever.

But I'd never stolen anything wearing a dress and five-inch heels either.

We were lucky so far, even if it had only been five minutes. We'd managed to stay close behind a small group of people who were walking around, looking at all the decorations. The Secret Service men who were posted along the hallways didn't even suspect a thing. To them, John and I were just a couple who were there for the Holiday Reception.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw John glance down at me and I looked up to see him watching me as we slowly walked down the hallway. I didn't know exactly how to describe that look he was giving me...thoughtful, maybe?

"What?" I asked, smiling slightly.

"Nothing," he said with a shake of his head. "It's just...you look beautiful tonight."

"So you've told me."

"And yet you probably don't believe me, do you?"

I just shrugged. "Maybe. But for right now, we've got a bigger something to think about other than how I look."

John gave my hand a slight squeeze before slowing our pace a little more, which he had a reason for doing. Stella and Ren were casually walking down another hallway when we turned the corner of it, their backs to us. The plan was to follow them and make it seem like we weren't headed for the same place. Both of them glanced back at us for a moment before they passed three Secret Service men before Ren leaned down and whispered something in Stella's ear, which she giggled at.

Seeming like they were going to find a vacant room to be alone in, the two of them quickly darted down one of the hallways to the left. Sure, Secret Service saw them, but they knew who they were, not questioning it at all.

John and I, on the other hand, we had to be sneaky in our pursuit. I released his hand and, instead, wrapped my arm around his, leaning my head against his shoulder as we passed them. I tried to look as innocent as I could, knowing what we were about to do was totally illegal...and surprisingly, it wasn't that hard to pull off.

Both of us glanced behind us, making sure that we weren't being directly watched, before we followed Ren and Stella's lead down the hallway. John was pulling something from his inside jacket pocket then, something that, when I saw it, made me nostalgic.

"Still have that thing, huh?" I said quietly, grinning up at him as he pressed a few icons on the decoder's screen.

He smiled also, though he was still looking at the screen. When he finished whatever he was doing, he slipped it back into his pocket and turned that smile to me. "Of course. It got us through some fun times, huh? Lots of great memories."

"If you want to call it that, sure," I laughed, shaking my head.

"You guys want to stop reminiscing and so we can get this going?" Ren's voice sounded from a darkened doorway before he stepped out into the light, Stella right behind him. He was grinning then. "You can do that later, when we don't have a chance of getting caught, even if that thing just knocked out the security cameras to this area. That just means we've got a limited amount of time now."