Chapter Twenty-Six
Sam emerged from the shower at ten after six the next morning, energized after her romantic night with Nick.
He stood at the sink, a towel around his hips, running a razor over his face.
She took a moment to drink in the sight of the muscles on his back flexing, the narrow hips and the tight butt visible through the towel.
“What’re you staring at?” he asked with amusement in his tone.
“My sexy husband.”
In the mirror she watched him roll his eyes, which didn’t surprise her. He always became flustered when she commented on his supreme sexiness.
“I got a text from Trevor,” he said of his communications director. “They’ve sent over a link to my mother’s full interview.”
“Let’s watch it together.”
He put down the razor, wiped the remaining shaving cream from his face with a hand towel and then turned to her.
Drawing her into his arms, he said, “I say we don’t watch it.
I say we don’t give her the ten or fifteen minutes of our lives we could never get back listening to her spew lies about me.
I don’t want to see her face or hear her voice. I want nothing to do with her.”
“I think that’s a very wise plan,” Sam said even though she was dying to watch it.
“We already know the so-called bombshells that are coming from the interview, and my team is taking steps to debunk them. I’m not in the mood for the deep funk I always end up in when she comes around.”
Sam had witnessed that funk firsthand. She’d seen him affected by the scent of Chanel No. 5 on other women because it reminded him of the woman who’d given birth to him and then treated him with callous disregard his entire life.
“I won’t let her touch you,” Sam said fiercely, wishing she could somehow protect him from the pain his mother always caused him.
He tightened his hold on her, his lips soft against her forehead. “I have everything I need right here. She can go fuck herself.”
Sam laughed at his unusually forceful words. “Are you okay?”
“I’m great. I’ve got the world’s sexiest wife, a son I adore, friends who’d do anything for me. What else do I need?”
“Nothing,” she said. “Nothing at all.” She raised her face to kiss him. “I hate to say I have to get going.”
“I hate to say I do, too.”
She kissed him again and left the bathroom, heading for the room across the hall that she used as a closet.
Her ringing cell phone had her backtracking to the bedside table, where it was plugged into the charger.
Ever since the night she’d slept through Arnold’s shooting, she kept her phone nearby at all times.
A quick glance at the caller ID yielded a number she didn’t recognize. “Holland.”
“This is Detective Green from Fairfax County.”
“Oh, hey, how’re you?”
“I’m about to make an arrest in the Rose Samuels case. We’re bringing in your guy Lonergan.”
Her backbone tingled with the sensation she often experienced when following a hot lead in an investigation. “Really?”
“Yep. You were spot-on with that hunch. We’ve had him under surveillance for the last few days and have seen him with several other known prostitutes.
We’ve got enough to bring him in on that, and we’ve got a warrant to search his place.
We’re hoping to find something that ties him to Rose.
I thought you might like to be there when it goes down. ”
“I’d love to. Where are you?”
He gave her an address in Adams Morgan.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Sounds good. See you then.”
Sam went into her closet, threw on jeans, a sleeveless top and running shoes in anticipation of a long day.
She went back into her room to get her weapon, badge, cuffs and notebook and then sent a text to Freddie to let him know she might be a few minutes late due to the call from Detective Green about the Samuels case.
Nick came out of the bathroom dressed in navy blue suit pants and a light blue dress shirt with a red-and-blue-striped tie.
“What’s the plan for Scotty today?” she asked.
“He’s going to Ryan’s house for the afternoon,” Nick said of Scotty’s friend from school. “Darcy has all the information, and they’ll take him right after lunch.”
“I’m glad he has something fun to do.”
“Me, too.”
Sam kissed him. “Have a good day.”
“Be careful out there.”
“Always am,” she shot over her shoulder as she left the room and headed downstairs, where she grabbed a granola bar and a bottle of water before heading for the front door, nodding to Nate on the way out. “Morning.”
“Morning, Mrs. Cappuano.”
As she stepped out her front door, she left Mrs. Cappuano behind and slipped into her role as Lieutenant Holland.
Sometimes she felt like she was leading a dual existence, skirting the line between her two roles, as well as the third and most important role as Scotty’s mother.
With him on summer vacation, he liked to sleep in, so she didn’t see him until dinnertime a lot of days.
Her sister Tracy said Scotty’s schedule was entirely normal for teenagers.
It might be normal, but Sam wished she could spend more time with him while he was on vacation, especially now that his summer camp had been derailed.
After she closed this case, she’d take a few days off to spend with him doing whatever he wanted.
Maybe they could even go out to Dewey or Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.
Although that might not be possible if the Secret Service couldn’t arrange something to their satisfaction.
The thing she missed the most since Nick became vice president was the ability to be spontaneous. Now everything had to be planned out in excruciating detail well in advance, which drove her bonkers even if she knew it was necessary to keep Nick and Scotty safe.
Brant was standing on the sidewalk when Sam came down the ramp. “Morning, Mrs. Cappuano.”
“Morning, Brant.” She hesitated but for only a second before she decided to hell with it. She wanted some time with her family this summer. “I have a favor to ask.”
“Sure. What can I do for you?”
“I’d like to arrange a beach getaway for our family. Perhaps in Dewey or Rehoboth before Scotty has to go back to school. Is there any way to make that happen?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“I have no idea whether Nick has time in his schedule, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.”
“I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you—and if we could maybe try to surprise him, that’d be awesome. He doesn’t get many surprises in his life these days.” Thinking of his mother’s interview, she added, “Not good surprises, anyway.”
Brant laughed. “You’re right about that. If we can make it happen, we will.”
“I appreciate that and all you do to keep him safe.”
“It’s a pleasure to work for him, ma’am.”
Sam left him with a smile. Of course his detail liked him as much as everyone else did.
It was almost impossible not to like him, except, of course, if you were the woman who gave birth to him.
Sam would love to have ten minutes alone in a room with that bitch.
It absolutely gutted her to witness his pain when he spoke of his mother and the many ways she’d hurt him over the years.
He was right not to give her the satisfaction of allowing her to hurt him again by watching the interview and witnessing her heartlessness toward him in living, breathing color.
Sam could only hope that the information his office released would discredit Nicoletta to the point that no one would ever again care what she had to say about her son the vice president.
Sam arrived in Adams Morgan and double-parked a block from the address Detective Green had given her, grabbed her Kevlar vest from the trunk of her car and attached her portable radio to her hip.
As she walked toward the town house, Green got out of a parked car and came over to greet her with a handshake.
“Glad you could be here for this,” he said.
“Me, too. Thanks for the heads-up. What’s the plan?”
“Our people are all in place. We were waiting on you.”
Noting the plainclothes police officers positioned outside the house and the snipers on the rooftops across the street, Sam put the vest on over her clothes and drew her weapon. “Ready when you are.”
“This is my partner, Detective James,” Green said of the young man who approached them.
“Nice to meet you,” Sam said, shaking his hand.
“The honor is all mine, ma’am.”
“Let’s do it,” Green said, waving his hand to signal the others.
They went into the building through an unlocked door in the vestibule and took the stairs to the third floor. While Detective James flanked Green on the left, Sam took the right side.
Green hammered on the door with a closed fist. “Police. Open up.” When there was no answer and no sound from inside, he tried again with still no answer. He glanced at his partner and Sam, both of whom nodded. Green used a steel pole known as a ram to force open the door. They rushed in after him.
The living room was clear, so they fanned out to search the other rooms.
Sam went into the bedroom, where Lonergan was naked and asleep facedown in the bed, his arm pinning a naked young woman to the mattress next to him. Her mouth was covered in duct tape, her wrists and ankles were tied and her eyes were wild as she looked at Sam.
Sam immediately recognized her as Ruby Denton.
“In here,” she called to the other cops. She went to Lonergan and made quick work of handcuffing his arms behind his back.
He came to as she secured the second cuff. “What the fuck?”
“You’re under arrest, you fucking scumbag.”
Green came into the room, his eyes widening at the sight of Ruby, and hauled Lonergan to his feet, turning him over to one of the Fairfax patrol officers who’d provided backup.
“You got a knife?” Sam asked Green.
He produced a Swiss Army Knife from his pocket and handed it to her.
Sam used the blade to cut the rope bindings on Ruby’s wrists and ankles, wincing at the raw, abraded skin underneath. “Call for a bus.”