The President's Daughter: A Thriller

In the Oval Office, FBI Director Lisa Blair briefs President Pamela Barnes on Keating’s disappearance. Blair informs her that Keating left a note. President Barnes focuses on the note’s final line: “I am just going outside and may be some time” (395). An FBI psychologist explains that the line is a quote from Captain Lawrence Oates, who sacrificed himself during an Antarctic expedition.

Richard Barnes enters with news from the Secret Service: Keating is aboard an Air Force tanker at Pease. Realizing that Keating has launched a rogue rescue mission, President Barnes calls the Pentagon and speaks with Colonel Susan Sinclair, ordering her to ground the aircraft. She then instructs Director Blair to dispatch FBI agents to the base.

Aboard the tanker, Keating uses a satellite phone to call his contacts in Mossad and Saudi intelligence. His team member, Navy SEAL Nick Zeppos, receives a call confirming that a SEAL platoon is at their destination, providing 16 additional operators. The rest of the team—David Stahl, Alejandro Lopez, and Claire Boone—prepares for departure.

As the KC-135 begins to taxi, the engines wind down. Captain Josephs emerges from the cockpit and walks to the cargo bay. He informs Keating and his team that he has received a direct order from the Pentagon to stand down.

In New York City, Jiang Lijun is summoned to a secure office, where Li Baodong orders him to Libya. Li reveals that Mel is alive and being held by Al-Asheed. Li then confronts Jiang with drone footage from a prior meeting with Al-Asheed, proving Jiang violated orders.

Li reveals a state secret: The 1999 US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was not an accident but a targeted strike China allowed in exchange for a downed F-117 stealth aircraft. Jiang’s father was deliberately sacrificed in the deal. Shattered, Jiang accepts his new mission to retrieve Mel, with Li instructing him to succeed, no matter what the cost.

At a hotel in Washington, DC, Samantha, in town for a conference, worries about her husband’s mission. Keating calls her on a burner phone to report that the White House has grounded his flight. The call disconnects, and Samantha resolves to take matters into her own hands.

She quickly leaves her hotel room, ignores colleagues in the lobby, and hails a taxi. She directs the driver to take her to the White House, determined to confront President Barnes.

As President Barnes prepares to leave the Oval Office, a staff member informs her that Samantha is at the gate. Barnes agrees to the meeting. Once inside the Oval Office, Samantha pleads with the president to allow Keating’s plane to depart, explaining that he has proof Mel is alive. Citing national security risks, Barnes refuses.

When Barnes states nothing can change her mind, Samantha walks to the president’s desk. She places a small thumb drive on the Resolute Desk and tells Barnes it contains information that can destroy her presidency.

Richard Barnes engaging in sexual misconduct with underage individuals in Macau. Samantha explains that she received the video during the primary campaign but chose not to use it. She offers a deal: Allow Keating’s flight to take off, and the video will never be released.

Defeated, President Barnes capitulates. She calls the Pentagon, reverses her command, and clears the tanker for departure. Samantha retrieves the thumb drive and leaves. Once outside, she touches the drive in her purse, which contains only a backup copy of her archaeology speech notes.

From the cockpit, Keating watches Colonel Tighe arguing with two FBI agents on the tarmac. Captain Josephs explains that Tighe is stalling, telling the agents that the plane’s airstair is broken and that using the crew ladder requires a lengthy safety course.

Suddenly, a crew member announces that the Pentagon has cleared them for takeoff. The team buckles in as the jet engines restart. The tanker taxis to the runway and takes off, beginning the 12-hour flight to Tunisia and leaving the FBI agents behind.

Held captive in a van in northwest Libya, Mel waits for an opportunity. Over a week has passed since her faked execution. When one guard leaves and the other falls asleep, she acts. Having convinced a guard to move her restraints to her front, she repeatedly slams her cuffed wrists against a metal hub until the plastic breaks. She then cuts the bonds on her ankles.

Deciding against trying to steal the guard’s rifle, she slips out of the van, injuring her ankle. She limps away and, after falling, uses her knowledge of the stars to find the North Star. Orienting herself, she heads north toward the Mediterranean Sea.

At his home in northwest Libya, tribal leader Omar al-Muntasser refuses to shelter Al-Asheed, fearing an American drone strike. Omar provides Al-Asheed with food and fuel but orders him to leave. Outside, Asim learns from his cousin Faraj and two guards that Mel has escaped.

Enraged, Asim has the convoy stop. As the two guards blame each other, Asim executes them both. He orders Faraj to dispose of the bodies and declares they will find the girl and kill her.

Late at night in the White House, President Barnes is drinking when her husband Richard returns. He angrily demands to know why she allowed Keating’s flight to depart. Barnes confronts him about Macau, revealing Samantha’s extortion.

She informs Richard that he is now a security risk and must resign as chief of staff, citing medical reasons. She tells him that while he may remain First Gentleman, he is stripped of all political influence and is no longer welcome in her bedroom.

At dawn, after walking all night, Mel is exhausted, thirsty, and in pain from her ankle. She has hidden from two passing vehicles. She uses the angle of shadows to confirm that she is still heading north. She finds plastic bags on the roadside and uses them to protect her feet.

Coming to a fork, she chooses the path that appears to head more directly north. Soon, a white Toyota pickup approaches. After hesitating, Mel runs into the road, waving a blanket and shouting for help. The truck, carrying two women and two children, stops to pick her up.

While taking shelter in the town of Al Sheyab, Al-Asheed is approached by his cousin Faraj. Faraj presents a young captive woman he found at a local market. The woman is French and was formerly married to a deceased ISIS fighter.

Asim inspects the terrified woman and declares that she will work for his purposes. He orders Faraj to continue the hunt for Mel and find her by evening. As Faraj leads the French girl away, Al-Asheed calmly resumes his meal.

Jiang Lijun travels in a three-vehicle convoy in Libya with a hired tribal leader, Walid Ali Osman, and his militia, heading toward the Nafusa Mountains. Jiang reflects on his father’s death and resolves that this mission to find Mel will be his last.

One of Walid’s operatives receives a report via satellite phone stating that an American teenage girl is at a family compound less than an hour away. Realizing it must be Mel, Jiang orders the driver to accelerate toward her location.

After her rescue, Mel is taken to an Amazigh family home, where she receives food, water, and medical care. A woman named Tala Abrika, who speaks English, listens to Mel’s story and arranges for her cousin, Abu Sag, to drive Mel to a nearby town to use a phone.

On the road, Abu claims he is low on fuel and pulls into a remote service station. He tells Mel to wait in the vehicle. A moment later, the passenger door opens to reveal Faraj. Abu stands beside him, having betrayed Mel for money. Mel fights back but is overpowered and recaptured.