The Heart: Prologue

Jeffrey Daniel Harrison stood at the podium, as a sea of people looked on. The Convention Center in downtown Richmond was lined with red, white and blue banners, balloons, posters, hats and any other paraphernalia available to mankind. The atmosphere in the room was more than electrifying; it was explosive. He looked to his left and saw his wife Tracy beaming with love and pride in her eyes. The intensity of the unspoken message that passed between them was more than he could handle. He stepped away from his podium, placed his arm around Tracy’s expanded waistline, then proceeded to give her the most passionate kiss ever witnessed by a national television audience. The crowd cheered louder, as they basked in the joy of knowing they had just elected another African American for President of the United States, which essentially meant that the country was progressing into becoming exactly what the Declaration of Independence states:  We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. American’s hearts were warmed by the knowledge that the couple standing before them truly loved each other and The White House on Pennsylvania Avenue would once again be filled with children—an American family they could all look up to.

As the cameras scanned over the crowd, the commentator spoke in awe of the array of people and the hope that America had become, truly one nation under God. Every ethnic group imaginable stood side by side cheering at the prospect of having a better future under the leadership of Jeffrey Daniel Harrison, President of the United States.

A hush came over the crowd as they waited to hear the words from the man who they believed had jumped the first hurdle to becoming the new leader of the free world. Every eye was looking toward the stage where the Harrison family and friends smiled brightly. The attendees waited patiently, anticipating the words of encouragement and hope they had become accustomed to receiving from the young man facing them.

Jeffrey Daniel Harrison, better known to all as JD, returned to the podium, smiled and looked at the eager faces in the crowed. “Marrying my wife was the smartest thing I have ever done.” He bowed his head and chuckled, “Her love has made me rich beyond my imagination in so many ways. The most prominent is being able to stand before you today and accept the faith you have placed in me, to be the next President of the United States of America.” The crowd cheered wildly, peaking to a frenzy, as JD scanned the room smiling.

A Secret Service agent whispered into his earpiece. “We have another President with rock star status, we need to tighten up.” At the command the agents on the stage moved closer to the family, as more agents entered into the room at floor level and spread throughout the crowd of thousands. JD continued with his speech as the agents moved about unnoticed, but vigilant. Midway through the speech, JD reached down to pick up his two-year-old daughter, Gabrielle who was tugging at his pants. She captured his cheeks between her small hands and kissed her daddy. As the crowd clapped, Gabrielle joined in smiling. JD smiled at his daughter and turned back to his speech. She then laid her head on his shoulder, put her thumb in her mouth and listened as her daddy talked.

Brian Thompson, the President-Elect’s personal bodyguard, scanned the room from his position directly behind JD. His trained eyes took in each level of the room searching for anything he considered a threat to the family on stage. After scanning the top levels of seats, his eyes drifted to the rafters, where some of the television cameramen took shots of the crowd below. A stream of light caught his eye as he scanned over the cameras. It was only a split second that it took his eyes to go back to the light, another second for recognition, then one more second for his body to react before shots rang out, with center stage as their target. The loud sound of the automatic weapons continued to flow through the air like shock waves. Awe and then screams filled the room.

Secret Service sprang into action, covering the children and Tracy as ordered by the President-Elect. JD covered Gabrielle as Brian immediately hit him from behind propelling him forward. He hit the floor with Gabrielle beneath him and that’s when he heard a heart-wrenching scream that he was certain came from Tracy. With Brian and agents’ bodies surrounding him, his movement was limited, and his line of sight was blocked. Reaching out he grabbed her hand, “Tracy!” he yelled out, to no avail. When the firing stopped, the room was half-empty, the crowd was still buzzing, and agents were surrounding the stage with weapons drawn.  JD looked down at Gabrielle, who was now crying. “It’s alright Gabby, Daddy has you. It’s alright.” He held her tightly as he scrambled to stand. Tracy was pulling her hand from his frantically reaching for something. Following her line of vision, he saw the blood and his heart literally stopped.

The frenzy that followed was all a blur as JD scrambled to get to the body on the floor next to Tracy. His mind snapped as he realized his worst nightmare had occurred. How would he live his life knowing he was responsible for the events happening at that moment? How many lives would come to an end on that night, trying to accomplish a dream.