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Disclaimer- see Part 1 "That's Karma For You" - Part 22 "What do you think is going to happen?" Rachel asked Caitlin in a hushed voice. It'd been almost an hour since Grant had spoken to Agent Johnson. "My father will call." Caitlin answered closely watching her three captors. Tyler and the black haired man seemed antsy but Grant...he still had that cocky arrogance about him. He knew the President would call. "Why hasn't he called yet?" Olivia asked shakily. Caitlin looked at her friend and took her hand. "He's making me stew for fighting with him." At Rachel and Olivia's shocked expressions she quietly laughed. "It's nice to see you can joke around." Rachel said aggravated. "Rachel it's all I have." Caitlin answered softly. "The Secret Service and FBI are probably prepping my father and they are probably starting to go over different scenarios." "What kind of scenarios?" Olivia asked. The ringing of the phone prevented Caitlin from answering. ********* "Ok sir, the call is routed in here as well as to the FBI and Service command center out at the location. Talk to the man, find out what he wants and the condition of the hostages. Don't agree to anything, just say that you'll put men on it." Agent Miller, the FBI representative explained to the President. The President merely nodded his head. "Make the call." Agent Miller instructed his men. The President looked around the room. Abbie sat next to Leo while Zoey, who had been brought from school, sat on her other side. Josh stood near the door holding Donna in his arms. Mrs. Landingham and Margaret stood at the open door to the Oval Office, not wanting to intrude but desperate to know Caitlin's condition. Toby and CJ sat on the couch opposite to the First Lady, next to Sam who still sat with his head in his hands, his breath coming in ragged measure. "We've got the connection sir." Agent Miller said as he hit the speaker button on the phone. He motioned for the President to begin. The President took a deep breath, "This is President Josiah Bartlet." He paused waiting. "Well well well." Came a low, menacing voice over the phone. "Little ole me talking to the President of the USA. The kids back home would never believe it." The voice finished sarcastically. The President closed his eyes and willed himself to remain calm. "And who am I speaking with?" "The man who can change your life with the flick of a finger. Oh but I assume you meant my name. We'll start with Grant and if your real good maybe I'll give you my last name." "Ok Grant. You are holding something very precious to me and I'd like to know what I can do to assure her safe return." "Ah yes, the lovely Miss Bartlet. I must say, she truly is lovely, with this fire in her eyes. I would bet that she is truly...hmm...passionate. Yeah that's one way to describe it." Grant said crudely suggestive. Sam's head snapped up and he would have leaped off the couch if CJ hadn't quickly taken his hand and squeezed it. He looked at her helplessly, but resisted the urge to run to the phone. "Grant..." the President began. "The thing is Mr. President, my boys and I, we haven't actually completely decided what we want yet but we do have a few things to start with." Grant interrupted the President "First of all, kindly remove those snipers off the building across the street. They're making me very nervous, my hands are even shaking a little. Might not be too healthy." Grant said ominously. "Next, we're getting kinda hungry, so I guess some pizza would do. And I'll even be nice and ask for enough for my guests. Oh and of course some monetary compensation." "How much?" the President asked sharply. He knew this was coming and he would be ready to get his personal accountant on the phone to send this bastard a cashier's check. Anything to get Caitlin home safe. "Hmm, that's a very good question Mr. President. Whaddya think boys? Well since an opportunity like this might not come again, let's start with 3 million and we'll go from there." Agent Miller was frantically writing notes to the President. Bartlet glanced down at them, fighting the urge to just tell the man he would pay it. He couldn't, he had to think of his position. No dammit he had to think of his daughter. He felt hands on his arm and turned to see Abbie's understanding eyes. He took a deep breath. "It'll take some time, but we'll have the food sent in immediately." "And the snipers?" Grant asked almost sweetly. The President looked to Butterfield and Miller. They both nodded. "Look out your window they are moving as we speak." There was a pause on the line. "Very good Mr. President. I think we can work together. Now don't take too long on that last matter, I'm not a patient man." "My daughter" the President said in a rush. "I want to speak with her." "Well since you asked so nicely." Grant answered then distantly his voice was heard, "Daddy wants to talk to you." There was another pause. "Oh so *now* you want to talk to me." Caitlin's voice came across the line, jokingly but a little shaky. Sam let out his breath in a relieved half sigh, half sob. He felt as if the chains that had been wrapped around his heart and lungs had been released with just the sound of her voice. "Caitlin..." The President and the First Lady said together. "Are you ok?" The President asked continuing to hold on to his wife. "Peachy" Caitlin answered, then more seriously. "I'm ok, really." "How is everyone?" he asked. "At worst, shaken up." "Is...Grant still on the line?" The President asked. Caitlin paused. "No" The President leaned down close to the phone. "I'm going to get you out of there sweetheart." "I know Dad, I..." suddenly Caitlin was cut off. "Ok that's enough." Grant's voice returned. "Maybe some more later. After I hear some progress on my money. And then we'll talk about our...travel arrangements." Then the line went dead. TBC
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