Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sam was confused about where she was and what had happened until a searing pain in her left arm brought it all back.
Lucas Tappen had shot her after he’d murdered Mark Ouellette to keep up his end of the bargain with Grace Ouellette.
Teenagers committing murder over an affair between their parents.
Just when she thought she’d seen everything…
“Be still,” Dr. Anderson said as he did something to her arm, which was strangely numb other than a tugging sensation.
“How bad is it?”
“A pretty nasty flesh wound, but you’re going to survive. We’re cleaning and suturing.”
Sam glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was ten after six.
Six… She was supposed to be somewhere at six… Oh shit, fuck, damn, hell, the vice president thing. “I have to go.” She tried to sit up, but was put right back in her place by a nurse.
“Please don’t move. The doctor is suturing your arm.”
“Hurry up, Doc. I have to go to the announcement of the new VP. I promised Nick I’d be there.”
“You’re not going anywhere for a while, Sam. You lost a lot of blood. We need to keep an eye on you for the next couple of hours.”
“Oh, come on! It’s a flesh wound.”
“That resulted in significant blood loss. You need to take it easy and let us monitor your vitals until we’re sure it’s safe to release you.”
Resigned to doing as she was told, Sam asked for Freddie.
“He’s in the waiting room.”
“Can you get him? I need to talk to him. It’s urgent.”
“If you promise not to move, I’ll send someone to get him,” Anderson said.
“I won’t move.”
He nodded to one of the nurses, and she left to get Freddie.
“Do you have a first name?” Sam asked the doctor.
He huffed out a laugh. “I do.”
“What is it?”
“Rob.”
“Huh. I didn’t picture you as a Rob. I thought more like Melvin or Myron. Or maybe Warren.”
“Gee, thanks,” he said, chuckling. “If you don’t watch out, I might slip and poke you with my needle in a spot that’s not numbed up.”
“Don’t do that. I hate needles.”
“I know. So quit making fun of your favorite doctor.”
“Who said you’re my favorite doctor?”
“I have to be the one you see most often.”
“You think you’re so funny.”
“I am funny, and don’t worry, I already punched your frequent-flier card and gave you an extra punch for the holidays.”
She was surrounded by comedic wannabes. “Is this going to hurt later?”
“Like a bitch, which is why you’re going to take the painkillers I’m going to prescribe and take it easy for a few days.”
“I’m on vacation after tomorrow.”
“Including tomorrow.”
“Is she behaving?” Freddie asked when he came into the room.
“As well as she ever does,” Anderson replied.
The two of them shared a laugh at her expense.
“If you two are done, Freddie, I need the BlackBerry. Can you find it for me?”
“Sure.” He located her blood-soaked coat, tossed over a chair, and retrieved the BlackBerry from her pocket. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Since her left arm was completely immobilized, she said, “I need you to call Nick for me. The number is star six nine.”
Both men and the nurse cracked up laughing.
“That’s his warped sense of humor,” Sam said. “Please don’t tell anyone about that, or it’ll be all over the news.”
“Our lips are sealed,” Anderson said.
Freddie dialed the number and handed her the phone.
Sam wasn’t surprised when the call went through to voice mail.
“I’m so sorry about missing the thing with Henderson,” she said.
“I got myself into a bit of a jam at work, which I’m sure you’ve already heard about from my babysitters.
I’m totally fine, and I’ll be home as soon as I can.
I hope it went well, and I’m really, really sorry I missed it.
” She handed the phone back to Freddie. “Can you push the button to end the call?”
“All set.”
“That right there is why I’ll never leave my flip. You close it, and you’re done.”
“Shall we list all the things you can’t do on a flip phone?” Freddie asked.
“No, we shall not. What’s happening with Lucas, and what’re you hearing from Gonzo at the Ouellette office?”
“Lucas is at HQ being processed on multiple charges. Gonzo is at the scene at Mark’s office and waiting for the ME. The rest of the staff had already left for the day, so there were no witnesses, but Gonzo says there’re security cameras. He’s working on getting a warrant.”
“Okay, good,” she said, relieved. “That’s good.”
“See?” Anderson said without looking up from what he was doing to her arm. “They can function without you.”
“But we’d rather not,” Freddie said with a smile for her.
Sam spent three hours steaming in a hospital bed before Anderson signed the discharge papers with orders for her to rest and relax for the next few days so she wouldn’t risk reopening the wound.
“Take me to HQ,” Sam ordered Freddie when they were in her car with him at the wheel.
“The only place I’m taking you is home.”
“I gave you a direct order!”
“Which I’m defying. You heard what the doc said. If you reopen that wound, you’re going to be right back in the hospital again. You’re going home.”
“I’m going to write you up for this.”
“Knock yourself out. Oh wait, you already did that today.”
“You think you’re so funny, but I’m not kidding. I want to check in at work before I go home.”
He drove toward Pennsylvania Avenue. “I’ll check in at work and report back to you.”
“I mean it when I say you’re going to take a rap for this.”
“Okay.”
“At what point did you stop being afraid of me as your boss?”
“Um, like, the first day?”
“That is not true! You were afraid of me for a long time after that.”
“Nope.”
“Yes!”
“Not even kinda.”
While she fumed at his insubordination, he drove up to the White House security gate.
“I’ve got the first lady,” he said, showing his badge and ID as required by the Secret Service.
The agent working the gate bent to make sure Sam was actually in the car before waving them through.
Freddie drove up to the entrance and put the car in park before getting out to come around to help her.
“I don’t need help. My arm is injured, not my legs.”
“You got shot, Sam. Do what any sane person would do after getting shot and take a minute to recover.”
“I guess I’m not sane, then, because I don’t want to sit around and recover when I could be at work recovering.”
“Have a nice evening,” he said as he walked back to her car.
“I’m going to report that car stolen.”
Laughing, he said, “You do that.”
“I want half-hour updates on what’s happening.”
“You got it.”
The insubordinate ass drove off in her car with a toot and a jaunty wave.
She’d make him pay for this, she thought as she went inside, was greeted by the doorman and headed up to the residence, determined to enjoy the evening with her family if she wasn’t allowed to be at work.
And since when did a detective decide what a lieutenant was allowed to do?
Her cranky mood disappeared when she arrived in the residence to find Aubrey and Alden having a race in the hallway that was being timed by Scotty and Skippy the dog, who was running between Scotty and the twins like the wild child she was.
Only Scotty could see Sam, so she held up a finger to tell him to wait a minute before outing her presence to the twins.
In the meantime, she removed her coat and hung it just so over her shoulder so the kids wouldn’t see the blood.
“Alden wins this one,” Scotty declared. “Best two out of three.”
“What does that mean?” Aubrey asked.
“You won one, and Alden won one. So now we do it one more time to see who wins. Best two out of three.”
The little girl’s wrinkled nose indicated that she still wasn’t sure she understood the term, but she was ready to race again.
“On your mark,” Scotty said. “Get set. Go!”
The twins ran their hearts out, with Aubrey beating Alden by an inch.
Sam stepped into view, and they both ran back to hug her as Skippy came for her like a heat-seeking missile. “Go easy. I hurt my arm.” She bent to give the dog a pat on the head and a scratch behind her soft, silky ears.
“How did you hurt your arm?” Aubrey asked.
“I bumped it,” she said, not wanting them to know she’d been shot.
“Does it hurt?” Alden asked.
“Not yet, but it’s going to later when the medicine they gave me wears off. Did you guys already eat?”
“Not yet,” Celia said when she joined them. “We were waiting to see if you guys got home in time to eat with them.”
“Is Nick here?”
“He got home ten minutes ago and is grabbing a quick shower. The chef prepared barbecue for dinner.”
“Oh, that sounds good.”
Shelby came down the stairs from the third floor nursery, carrying Noah. “Hi there,” she said as the twins ran to greet her and Noah with hugs. “Did everyone have a wonderful day?”
“Everyone but Mom,” Scotty said as he accepted a one-armed hug from Shelby. “She hurt her arm.”
“Are you okay?” Shelby asked.
“I’m fine. Can you stay for dinner?”
“We’d love to. Avery has a meeting tonight, so we’re on our own.”
“It’s barbecue,” Scotty said.
“Yum. We’re here for that.”
“Let me just get changed,” Sam said. “We’ll find you in a minute.
” She gave Scotty a kiss on the forehead before proceeding through their living room, where the white lights on their personal Christmas tree twinkled, into the bedroom where Nick was just coming out of the shower with a towel around his hips.
“I’m so sorry I missed the Henderson thing. ”
“How’s your arm?”
“It’s fine right now. I hear it’ll hurt like a bitch when the numbness wears off.”
Nick winced at the sight of her blood-soaked blouse. “Another close call.”
“He got off a lucky shot.”
Nick kissed her cheek and then her lips. “Too close for comfort.”
“I’m fine. I swear. Did it go okay with Henderson?”
“All good.”
“Did you apologize to her for me?”
“I told her you were detained at work but sent your regards. She said she looks forward to getting to know you.”
“Thanks for covering for me. I really wanted to be there.”
“I know you did. It’s no big deal.”
“This is going to happen sometimes. You’re going to need me for some first lady thing, and the cop thing is going to get in the way.”
“I’m well aware of that, and I don’t want you to worry about it. You’ll do what you can, and I’ll understand when you can’t make something.”
“As long as you know I’d always rather be wherever you and the kids are than anywhere else.”
“That’s what matters, babe.” He gently wrapped his arms around her and held on for a long moment, seeming to need the reassurance that she was really all right. “Let’s not worry about the shit we can’t control.”
“I hear there’s barbecue for dinner,” she said.
“I’m starving.”
“Me, too. Let me grab a shower, and I’ll find you guys in the dining room.”
“You need help?”
“Nah, I’ve got it.”
Nick released her, seeming reluctant to let her go. “Did you get the guy?”
“We got them all. Two homicide cases locked and loaded today. All in all, a very good day that’s better now that I’m home. Oh, and I’m supposed to be on R&R tomorrow, so bonus Thursday off, although I’ll have to call in to work and do some paperwork and stuff.”
“So we’ll both be working from home. Maybe we can sneak some alone time into the schedule.”
“I’m here for that,” she said, borrowing Shelby’s term.
“Me, too.” He kissed her again. “Take your shower.”
“I’ll be quick.”
Dinner was in full swing by the time Sam joined her family in the dining room. The smell of the barbecue made her mouth water as she took in the chatter of kids and adults. “How is it?”
“So good,” Scotty said around a mouthful.
“The best,” Nick added.
Both the twins and Noah had smears of sauce on their faces that only added to their over-the-top cuteness.
As Sam took a seat next to Celia and across from Shelby, she experienced a feeling of profound happiness that caught her by surprise.
She wouldn’t have expected to feel this kind of happiness with the first Christmas without Skip looming.
But with her family gathered around the dinner table like it was any other night in any house in America, Sam was happy.
Nick had been right when he said it didn’t matter where they lived. As long as they were together, they were home. Even if home was the most famous house in the world.