Chapter Eleven #2
“As you all know by now, Lieutenant Holland is determined to continue her career as it was before her husband became the vice president. Questions like these make it more difficult for her to do that.”
“It’s a fair question, Captain,” Darren said.
“Her family has been threatened. The threat was significant enough for the Secret Service to take their immediate and extended family off the grid for a period of days. And now she’s going to be working an investigation with the threat unresolved, at least as far as we know.
You can stand before us and say she’s no different in these circumstances? ”
“She’s a highly trained and decorated police officer who knows how to look out for herself. We’ve left the choice of how to proceed up to her, and she’s chosen to return to work. We ask that you leave her alone to do her job. That’s all I have for now. We’ll update you again when we have more.”
“What do you think the odds are that they’ll do as he asked and leave me alone?” Sam asked.
“Slim to none,” Nick replied. “I don’t like the idea of them chasing you down looking for the scoop.”
“Malone told them there isn’t going to be a scoop,” Gonzo said. “Don’t worry. We’ll be with her. We’ve got her back.”
“Her is in the room,” Sam said, with a smile for Nick. “In case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Oh, we’ve noticed,” Gonzo replied with a cheeky grin that reminded Sam of who he’d been before his partner was murdered. She took comfort in him busting her balls.
“What’s our plan?” Freddie asked.
“First thing is to talk to his coworkers and neighbors to find out who he’d been hanging out with recently.”
“Ready when you are,” Freddie said.
“Me, too,” Gonzo added. “I say the three of us do this together.”
“Strength in numbers?” Sam asked.
“Something like that,” Gonzo said.
“Give me a minute to figure out a few other things, and then we’ll hit it,” Sam said.
“You got it,” Gonzo said. He and Cruz left the room.
“I think that’s my cue, too.” Harry kissed Sam’s cheek. “Be careful out there.”
“I will. Don’t worry.”
“I’ll try not to.”
“Thanks for the soup and the support.”
“Anytime.” Harry stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Sam alone with her husband, who’d been unusually quiet.
“Whatever it is you want to say, let’s get on with it,” she said, spoiling for a fight, if that’s what it took to be able to do her job.
He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, looking sexy and thoughtful and perhaps a bit pissed off. What did it say about her that she wished she could walk over to him and have her wicked way with him, even if he was pissed?
“Roll with me for a second here,” he said after a long, charged silence in which Sam was left to wonder what he was thinking.
“All right…”
“What if Peter was tortured and killed so you’d do exactly what you’re planning to do?”
“Work the case?”
“Yep.” He dropped his arms to his sides and pushed off the wall, then crossed the room to stand in front of her, taking her in with that potent hazel-eyed gaze she loved so much.
“What if they used him to lure you out of hiding? If someone is trying to get at me, by now they certainly know that the best way to ruin me is to harm you.”
“Nick, honey, I hear what you’re saying, but—”
“But you don’t think it’s possible that someone who’s been studying us and how we operate would know that if they struck at someone you used to care about, even if he was a demented douche bag, you’d do exactly what you’re about to do?
Is it so ridiculous to think you’re possibly being set up, Samantha? ”
“No,” she said, sighing. “It’s not ridiculous. It’s a damned good theory.”
He brightened visibly at her acknowledgment. “So you’ll let Gonzo and Freddie take the lead and work the case behind the scenes?”
Sam flattened her hands on his chest. “No, babe, I’m not going to take a backseat. I hear what you’re saying, and I agree it’s a plausible theory. I’ll be very careful, and I’ll have my two best colleagues watching my back. We’ll be fine. I promise.”
He stepped back from her. “Don’t you dare make promises you can’t possibly keep if a terrorist is gunning for you. Look at what they did to Peter. What do you think they’ll do to you if they get ahold of you?”
“They’re not going to get me, Nick. I won’t let them.
Thanks to your astute assessment, I’m now on guard against that scenario.
I promise you I’ll take every precaution to make sure nothing happens to me.
” She closed the small distance between them and slid her arms around his waist. “I have way too much to live for to ever be cavalier about my safety. Please trust me on that.”
“I trust you, Samantha. You know I do. It’s not about you. It’s about people who’d go so far as to threaten to dismember the children in our lives. Remember who you’re dealing with here.”
“I won’t forget. How could I? Let me work this case and figure out who killed Peter.
If it’s connected to the threat, I promise to immediately bring in Avery and the Secret Service and anyone else who needs to be told so we can nail the bastards who threatened us.
I won’t be doing this by myself, Nick. That I can also promise you. ”
“I don’t like it.”
“I know.”
“But that doesn’t matter to you, does it?”
“You and what you think matter to me more than anything.”
They engaged in a visual standoff that lasted long enough to provoke discomfort before he sagged and released a deep sigh. “Please be careful.”
“I always am.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “I love you.”
He wrapped his arms around her and dragged her into a much more passionate kiss than she’d intended. “I love you, too, more than life itself. If something happens to you because of me… Please, Samantha, don’t let that happen.”
“I won’t.” Though she had a ton of work to do, she held on to him for a few more minutes, sensing he needed the reassurance. “What’re you going to do now?”
“I’m going to the White House to figure out what the fuck is going on with this investigation.”
“What about Scotty and the rest of the family?”
“We’ll have to make some decisions about letting them out of the bunker if there’s no movement in the investigation.”
“Call me if you need me.”
“I will.” He kissed her forehead and then her lips again. “I’m sorry I brought this down on us.”
“You didn’t. I’m going to keep telling you that until you believe it.”
“I gotta go before I give in to my baser urges to drag you out of here and take you back to the bunker.”
“Normally I quite like your baser urges, but I’m glad you’re resisting that one.” She kissed him once more. “Go on. Everything is fine here. Call me if you hear anything that might be helpful.”
“I will. You do the same.”
“You got it.”
He still had his arms around her when someone knocked on the door. Nick released her but kept one arm around her.
“Come in,” Sam said.
Brant, the lead agent on Nick’s detail, stepped into the room. “We have a development in the threat investigation.”