Chapter Twenty-Two #2
The president stood at the window, looking at the world outside his gilded cage.
“You wanted see me, Mr. President?”
Nelson turned to him, his face bearing the signs of sleepless nights. He had puffy bags under his eyes and deep dark circles. “Thanks for coming in, Nick.” He gestured to the sitting area. “Can I offer you anything?”
“I’m good, thank you, sir.”
Nelson sat across from him, elbows on knees, shoulders hunched, deeply troubled.
Nick’s heart would’ve gone out to him if he hadn’t been mired in a mess of his own making.
“I wanted you to hear from me that Gloria has decided to move home to Pierre for the remainder of my term.”
Nick kept the fact that he already knew to himself. He wasn’t sure what he should say in response either.
“In fact, she’s planning to file for divorce, so things could get nasty.”
Nastier than they already were? He knew he was expected to express his condolences on the demise of the man’s marriage, but he wanted to send up a cheer for Gloria for dumping the cheating asshole. Good for her for not “standing by her man” after he humiliated her.
“Anyway, I wanted you to know what’s going on.”
“I appreciate the courtesy.”
“I’m still not planning to resign in case you were wondering.”
“Okay.” That was good news.
“Although, I expect the calls for my resignation to get louder when the news hits that Gloria is planning to divorce me.” Nelson raised his head and looked directly at Nick. “I regret that I’ve hurt my wife, my children, my grandchildren and the country this way.”
“Maybe you should say that publicly. It might help.”
“Maybe I will.” He sat up straighter. “Your wife is working on Tara’s case, right?”
“She is.”
“Do you know if she’s figured out who killed her?”
It was interesting to note that the man seemed more grief-stricken when he spoke of Tara than he did when discussing his wife of forty years and her plan to divorce him.
“I’m not sure where the case stands.” And even if he did, he wasn’t at liberty to share that information with anyone, even the president.
“I understand. Of course I’m praying for justice for her. She certainly didn’t deserve what happened to her, and it pains me to think it might’ve happened because of me.”
Now Nick sat up straighter. “Why would you worry about that?”
“Because of the timing. The news broke of our affair, and she was dead soon after. How can that be a coincidence?”
“Mr. President, if you know anything about what happened to Tara, I urge you to share it with Sam as soon as possible. If you hold back information that could be relevant, you can be implicated in a crime.”
“I don’t know anything that would be relevant.”
“Are you sure?”
He looked Nick dead in the eye. “I am.”
“Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?”
“No, not now.”
Nick stood and buttoned his suit coat. “Very good. Then I’ll let you get back to your day.”
“Nick…”
He turned back to face the president, brow raised in inquiry. “I know you don’t approve of my behavior—”
“Whether or not I approve is hardly relevant, sir.”
“Still… I’m sorry that I disappointed you along with everyone else. It was never my intention to cause so much hurt to the people around me.”
“If I might ask… What was your intention when you began the relationship with Tara?”
“I know it may sound silly to you. Hell, it sounds silly to me when I say it out loud. But I fell in love with her. She was young and beautiful and exciting and… I’m the worst sort of cliché, but that’s what happened.”
“Did you know she was expecting a child?”
“I didn’t.” He looked down at the floor.
“I ended things with Tara in January. After the inauguration, I came clean to Gloria. I confessed my indiscretion and begged for her forgiveness.” Nelson glanced at Nick.
“She agreed to work on putting things back together, as long as the affair remained private. Needless to say, after the news went public, all bets were off as far as Gloria was concerned. I hate that she was humiliated in this way.”
What did you think would happen? Nick wanted to ask him, but held his tongue. He had no desire to pile on at this point.
“Do you have any idea how the story became public?”
“It certainly didn’t come from me. My staff is speculating that Tara released it, hoping to put pressure on me to acknowledge the child.
What she didn’t know, however, is that there’s no way I could be the baby’s father.
I, um, had a vasectomy years ago, after our youngest was born.
I’ve provided documentation to that effect to the police. ”
Nick couldn’t believe he was standing in the Oval Office discussing the president’s affair and his vasectomy. It was too sordid to be believed.
“I want to thank you for your support and your loyalty,” Nelson said.
“I want to be clear about something. I do not support or approve of what you did to your wife, who is a decent, wonderful, lovely woman. She certainly didn’t deserve this, especially when she was dealing with a life-threatening illness. This whole thing makes me sick, frankly.”
“I understand. All I can do is apologize for my behavior and try to do better in the future.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me.”
“And yet I feel the need to anyway. Your tenure as vice president has been far more dramatic than you ever could’ve anticipated, and that’s due to me and my son.”
Nick couldn’t deny that, so he didn’t say anything.
“At any rate, I’ve taken enough of your time. Thanks for coming in.”
“No problem.” Nick left the Oval Office and headed back to his own office with Brant in tow. He felt like he needed a shower after that conversation. “I need a minute,” he told Terry as he ducked into his office and shut the door. He withdrew his phone and called Sam.
“Hey.” She sounded rushed and maybe a little breathless. “What’s up?”
“I met with Nelson again. He told me he fell in love with Tara but ended it after the inauguration. He said he didn’t know Tara was expecting and was as shocked as everyone else when the news broke about the child.
He confirmed that Tara didn’t know about the vasectomy.
He told Gloria about the affair, and they were working on putting things back together.
Her only stipulation was that the affair remain private.
When the news leaked, that blew the lid off their marriage.
She’s moving back to Pierre and planning to divorce him. ”
“Whoa. You did good work, deputy. This is all very helpful.”
He laughed at the title she’d given him. “It was so surreal being in the Oval Office talking about his affair and his vasectomy.”
“Indeed. I never imagined the day would come when the president’s vasectomy would figure into one of my cases.”
“They didn’t cover presidential vasectomies at the academy?”
“Believe it or not, that never came up.” She winced audibly. “Bad pun.”
“Stop,” he said, laughing. “I don’t need that visual in my head.”
“You said head.”
He choked on a laugh. “Sam! Knock it off.”
“Your behavior is not very vice presidential.”
“No, it isn’t, and that’s because my wife has the sense of humor of a junior high school boy.”
“Aw, thanks. That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“In other news, are you making any progress on the case?”
“I’m digging in hard on where the story about the affair came from and tracing it back to its origins. We’re hobbled without her phone and the dating app is still stonewalling. A woman is dead and all they care about is protecting their bottom line.”
“Along with the privacy of their millions of users.”
“To hell with privacy. A woman is dead!”
“She’s very lucky to have you working on her behalf, babe.”
“You know what I’m most afraid of with this one?”
“What’s that?”
“That the media will slut shame her for playing the field after her breakup. I’m trying to finesse it so no one knows about anyone other than the baby’s father and Nelson, but it’s like trying to keep a lid on a pressure cooker.
Everyone and their brother is digging into her background and looking for dirt.
When there’s dirt to be found, they’ll find it. ”
“Hopefully, you can solve the case before they get too far.”
“That’s the goal. I’ve got to get back to it. Thanks for the help.”
“Anytime. Call me if you need me.”
“I will. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” As he ended the call, he glanced at the clock and tried not to groan at the idea of another eight hours before they’d be together again.
Even after all this time, he still counted the hours until he could see her.
He would never understand men like Nelson or why they hurt the women they loved.
He’d rather be dead than do anything to hurt Sam.
She was the most important thing in his life, along with their kids.
All he wanted was as much time as he could get with her and their family.
This had been a tough time for her, and watching her soldier on the way she had made him so proud of her.
He sat behind his desk and fired up his computer.
Opening the browser, he did a search for local florists, found one that could deliver that day and placed an order for flowers to be delivered to her at work.
It was corny and clichéd and she’d probably be pissed for the public display of affection, but as he composed the message and placed the order, he couldn’t find it in him to care if she was pissed. He loved her, and he wanted the whole damned world to know it.