Chapter Three
Sam and Nick spent all day Sunday with their three kids, while ignoring the incessant ringing of Nick’s personal cell phone.
After a trip to the twins’ favorite playground in their old neighborhood, they went to the movies, played video games at the movie theater for an hour and then home for pizza.
It had been a perfect family day that the Secret Service had helped them pull off with a minimum of fuss.
The Nelson affair story dominated the news cycle, but by focusing on their family, the second couple had been able to avoid the unfolding drama for one more day.
Overnight, storm clouds rolled into the District, and rumbles of thunder shook the house in the morning as Sam and Nick tried to get three kids up and moving.
Aubrey was scared of the thunder and clung to Sam, who felt guilty that she had to get to work and had to send the little girl to school.
She’d much rather stay home and snuggle with her all day the way Aubrey’s mother probably would’ve done.
While investigating the murders of Jameson and Cleo Armstrong, she’d learned that Cleo had been the kind of fully engaged mother that Sam could never be—crafts and baking and playdates and elaborate birthday parties.
While she had nothing but admiration and awe for the kind of mother Cleo had been, Sam considered it a good day for her family if everyone was fed and bathed.
Nick took over with Aubrey when he saw that the little girl’s anxiety was upsetting Sam.
“Is she okay?” Sam asked when he came in from seeing off the Secret Service details taking Aubrey and Alden to kindergarten and Scotty to middle school.
“She was giggling by the time they left. Alden told her the thunder was Mommy and Daddy bowling in heaven, and she shouldn’t be upset. That it was their way of saying hello.”
Sam placed her hand over her heart. “Dear God, I’m going to sob.”
“I know. I had a lump the size of an orange in my throat and so did the agents.”
“He’s very wise for someone so young.”
“He reminds me of Scotty when I first knew him.”
“Like Scotty, he’s seen far too much.” Alden had witnessed part of the assault his parents had endured.
Nick hugged her and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Yes, he has. Are you okay?”
“I will be, but it kills me to see Aubrey upset and not be able to comfort her.”
“She’s okay, so try to shake it off so it doesn’t ruin your day.”
He released her and dropped the morning papers on the table.
They eyed them with trepidation.
“I’m almost afraid to look,” she said.
“I’m completely afraid to look.” Nick flipped open the Washington Star, which boasted the banner headline Nelson Acknowledges Affair, Denies Fathering Child.
“Ugh,” Sam said.
“That about sums it up.”
Sam stood over his shoulder as they read the salacious details about the president’s affair with the campaign staffer.
“Sources tell the Star that the affair began during the campaign, during which time the president and Ms. Weber were near-constant companions.”
Reading the words out loud, Sam felt her stomach start to ache again as the ramifications compounded. Nelson had barely hung on after his son was charged in a series of politically motivated murders, and now this…
“The affair is bad enough,” Nick said, “but when word gets out that it happened while his wife had cancer? People will never forgive him for that.”
“They don’t have to forgive him. They need to keep him around for three more years.”
“Which is a big ask after this.”
That didn’t help Sam’s stomach. “What’re your people saying?”
“I haven’t looked yet.”
“Are you in denial?”
He looked up at her. “Aren’t you?”
“Hell, yes. I can’t believe this is happening so soon after the other thing.
I mean how much scandal can one administration handle?
Not to mention the fuel he’s giving the opposition for the next election cycle.
Look at them, they’ll say, they elected a president—twice—whose son was a murderer and who cheated on his wife at her lowest moment. ”
Sam liked to think that the next election cycle wouldn’t be their problem, but with Nick as the heir apparent, it was still very much their concern.
Or his concern, she should say. She tried to stay detached from the realities of his role as vice president.
Not that she didn’t fully support him. She did, but she supported him from inside a comfortable bubble that kept her insulated from the possibility that he might have to become president at any moment.
Despite his promotion to vice president, they’d managed to eke out a fairly normal existence.
Other than the ever-present Secret Service that surrounded him and the three children, and Nick’s inability to move freely, life was still relatively similar to what it had been before. Well, it was for her anyway.
They’d declined Secret Service protection for her so she could continue to do her job as the lieutenant in charge of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide division.
For the most part, people left her alone, even if they were endlessly fascinated by her dual roles as a cop and second lady.
But if he became president, they were under no illusions that she’d be able to continue running the streets the way she did now.
The possibility of losing her freedom made Sam a little panicky, which was ridiculous.
So the president had had an affair and possibly produced a love child at sixty-something years old.
People did stupid shit all the time and got away with it.
If only it hadn’t happened while his wife was being treated for cancer.
That detail could be the deal breaker for everyone who mattered.
Sam’s phone rang with a call from Darren Tabor, a reporter with the Washington Star who’d become a friend of sorts over the years.
She took the call. “Morning.”
“Morning. Have you seen the paper?”
“Looking at it now.”
“You could make my day, my life and my career with a comment from yourself and/or the vice president about your feelings on the latest Nelson scandal.”
“It makes me sad, Darren.”
“What does?”
“That after all this time, it seems you don’t know me at all.” Sam had to force herself not to crack up at her own joke.
“Sam! Come on! It’s the story of the year, and you guys certainly have a stake in it.”
She met Nick’s gaze and held it. “That may be true, but I can assure you that I speak for the vice president when I tell you we’ll have no comment about it now or ever.”
Her husband gave a subtle nod of approval.
“How can you say that? If Nelson has to resign—”
“Darren, listen to me. We’re well aware of what could happen, but we’re not going to speculate publicly. And that’s not for attribution.”
“You’re killing me Sam.”
“No, I’m not, because I wouldn’t want to have to deal with the paperwork that would involve.”
His frustrated growl came through the phone loud and clear.
“Have a good day, Darren.”
“Yeah, you, too.”
Sam closed her phone with the satisfying slap that kept her firmly in the 3G while the rest of the world had long ago moved on. “That went rather well, if I do say so myself.”
Nick laughed. “You missed your calling as a political spokesperson, my love.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “That is the last job I could ever do. I don’t possess an ounce of diplomacy or restraint.”
“And that’s why I love you so much.”
Raising a brow in his direction, she said, “That’s why?”
“One of so many reasons, I can’t count them all.”
“And that, right there, is why you’re the politician. You always have the perfect line at the ready.”
“Only when I’m discussing my gorgeous, sexy, non-politically-correct wife.”
“You’re good, Mr. Vice President. I gotta give you that.”
His shit-eating grin made him sexier than he already was if that was possible.
“And now I must leave you to continue cleaning up the absolute mess that my father’s case has made of my life at work. The paperwork never ends.”
“What’s the latest?”
“The three defendants are appearing in court this morning to enter pleas.”
“Are you planning to go?”
“Probably not.”
“If you go, you shouldn’t go alone. I can move some things around—”
She placed a finger over his lips. “No need. If I go, Freddie will be with me, and there’s going to be a lot of court crap over the next few years. You’re not going to be able to go every time.”
“I would if I could. You know that, I hope.”
“Of course I do, and I appreciate it. But it’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint, and we need to pace ourselves.”
“Does that mean you’ll be pacing yourself, too?”
“As much as I can. The arrests were part one. Making sure they’re convicted is part two, and it’s every bit as critical as part one.”
He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “I know it’s hard for you to be patient while the system takes its own sweet time, but you all have put together an airtight case. You’ve done all you can to make sure the U.S. attorney has what he needs to make them pay.”
“That may be true, but until I hear the words guilty, guilty and guilty, it won’t truly be over for me.”
“I know, babe, but please tell me you’ll be careful with my wife in the meantime. She’s my whole world, and when she hurts, I hurt.”
She smiled down at him. “I’ll be careful. I promise. And you, my friend, need to schedule some time with the boss today to get a handle on what we’re looking at with this affair situation.”
“I know,” Nick said glumly. “I already texted Terry to tell him to get me on the schedule.”
Sam leaned in to kiss him goodbye, dreading the long, arduous day ahead until she could be with him again. “Let me know how that goes.”
“You’ll be the first to know.”