Chapter Thirty-Two
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
P eter Wagner had been chosen to conduct the interview. Sam had met him once before, during the whirlwind days that followed Nelson’s sudden death and Nick’s ascension to the presidency. He’d handled their inaugural interview as the first couple with kindness and compassion, and she was relieved to see his familiar, friendly face. Wagner was a TV personality known for big interviews with the most important people in the news. Apparently, they met that criterion, which would never not be preposterous to her.
Like the last time, Wagner was done up in pancake makeup that looked ridiculous to the naked eye but gave him the look he wanted on camera. He shook their hands, thanked them for doing the interview and invited them to be seated across from him.
The Map Room was a maze of lights, cables and cords that Sam stepped over to take her seat.
A young woman dressed all in black clipped a microphone to her lapel and tucked the other end of it into Sam’s pocket. This was all done with the kind of efficiency Sam appreciated in others. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure, ma’am. ”
Ginger and Davida suddenly appeared to refresh her hair and makeup. “Thank you, ladies.”
“No problem.”
Sam noticed Lilia standing off to the side and gave her a thumbs-up to thank her for making sure Ginger and Davida were there to ensure Sam looked her best on TV.
Nick reached for her hand. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
Peter launched into his introduction. “I’m delighted to sit down today for my second visit with President Nick Cappuano and First Lady Samantha Holland Cappuano for a wide-ranging interview as they approach their six-month anniversary in the White House. Can you believe it’s already been almost six months?”
“Not at all,” Nick said. “It’s gone by fast.”
“And hasn’t been without its difficulties. You’ve faced enormous backlash as the youngest president in U.S. history, as well as for the fact that you were never elected to this office. What do you say to the detractors who won’t let either of those things go?”
“I understand the concern with having the youngest president, and I can see why people worry that I wasn’t elected. But the thing is, President Nelson was resoundingly elected—twice. He chose me to take the place of Vice President Gooding. The Senate confirmed me. All the proper steps were followed, and our Constitution worked as the founders intended when the former vice president fell ill while in office and then again when President Nelson died suddenly. I’m not sure what else I can say about how I became president other than all the traditional steps were followed.”
“How much do you feel these issues have dogged your first six months in office?”
“They haven’t stopped me from doing the job I was asked to do when President Nelson died. Every day, I’m doing what’s necessary to keep our country safe, prosperous and moving toward a sustainable future with a focus on economic growth, national security, strengthening partnerships with our allies around the world, undertaking measures to address our changing climate and an all-new focus on sensible gun control. These are the issues that everyday Americans have told me matter most to them, so that’s where my focus shall remain.”
Sam was so proud of him that the buttons on her blouse would’ve popped right off if she’d been wearing one. The silly thought nearly made her laugh at the worst possible moment.
“Mrs. Cappuano, you’ve had your own challenges during the transition while you make history as the first first lady to work outside the White House. Can you tell us how that’s been going for you?”
“It’s been an interesting and exciting time for our family.” She glanced at Nick and took comfort from the warmth in his eyes as he looked at her. “I think we’ve made a smooth transition. Our children are doing remarkably well and have adjusted to their new home and circumstances with tremendous resilience. As for me, the job unfortunately continues at the same pace it did before.”
“You recently closed the investigation into the murder of U.S. Attorney Tom Forrester with a takedown of the suspect on a city street. That video has been viewed more than fifteen million times. What do you say to that?”
“It boggles my mind that so many people are interested in me or my work. I’m thankful that we arrested the man who murdered an outstanding public servant, a husband and father and a friend to so many.”
“Including you?”
“Yes. I considered Tom a friend.”
“He once did a rather spectacular favor for you, did he not?”
Blindsided, Sam glanced at Nick and noticed a tick in his cheek that hadn’t been there before. “If you’re referring to what I think you’re referring to, it wasn’t a favor at all. Whether to file charges against me after an unfortunate accident in which a colleague was injured was decided by an impartial grand jury. Tom did his job by presenting the case to the grand jury. There were no favors.”
“Fair enough. What do you have to say to Lieutenant Commander Isaac Erickson, who’s accusing you of lying to him as part of the investigation into the alleged death of his closest friend and roommate, Lieutenant Commander Rodriguez?”
“Lieutenant Commander Erickson is not aware of all the facts of that case, and once he is, I’m sure he’ll have a better understanding of what transpired.”
“Did you lie to him?”
“I did what was necessary as part of a very complex investigation that involves multiple agencies and jurisdictions.”
“Is Lieutenant Commander Rodriguez alive?”
“I defer that question to NCIS, which is overseeing that investigation.”
“It’s a simple yes-or-no question, ma’am.”
“It’s not my question to answer.”
He didn’t like that. Too bad. She was doing her best to honor Truver’s wishes while not getting herself into deeper shit than she was already in.
“Mr. President, I understand you were close to Lieutenant Commander Rodriguez.”
“Yes.”
“His death must’ve been a terrible shock to you.”
“It was.”
“Do you know if he’s alive, sir?”
“As my wife said, NCIS is running that investigation, and we’re eager to get all the facts before we comment.” After a beat, Nick added, “Let’s move on to other topics, Peter.”
Sam released a silent deep breath full of relief when Peter began a series of questions about Nick’s thoughts on pressing domestic and foreign relations matters that demonstrated his command of the issues facing the country. She hoped people would see how smart and capable he was and would stop questioning his ability to do the job.
He dazzled her with his deep understanding of complex issues overseas and with common sense solutions to a wide variety of domestic concerns. She had to school her expression to not come across like a teenager in love with the football team captain, but she was truly and deeply in love—and wildly impressed.
“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to sit down with us,” Peter said as he wrapped things up.
“Thanks for having us,” Nick said.
They turned over their microphones and gave each other a relieved look as they greeted their staffers.
“Well done, you two,” Lilia said. “As always.”
“What Lilia said,” Terry added. “Spot-on.”
“Let’s hope it helps to take some of the pressure off,” Nick said.
“Can you make sure the part about Juan gets released ASAP?” Sam asked them.
“Trevor is on that,” Terry said.
“Thank you so much.”
“I need a moment with my first lady before we leave. Meet you in the foyer in ten?”
“I’ll see you there,” Terry said.
“Thanks for everything, Lilia,” Sam said.
“Happy to help.”
Nick took Sam by the hand and led her into the room next door, closing the door behind them.
“You’re going to get everyone talking about the first couple hooking up in the China Room.”
Smiling, he put his arms around her. “We won’t be here long enough for a proper hookup.”
“Damn. You had me all excited.”
He looked around before bringing his gaze back to hers. “We could be quick. ”
“As good as that sounds, I have to go to work.”
“I hate when you’re responsible that way.”
“I hate when you go away and make me sleep alone.”
“I’ll be right back. I promise.”
“It’s two nights , Nicholas.”
“I’ll miss you every second of both those nights and all the daytime, too, Samantha.”
“Swoon,” she whispered. “Hurry back. Nothing is fun without you.”
“You know there’s nowhere else I want to be but right here with you and our kids. Well… maybe not right here , but you get what I mean.”
Sam laughed. “You just told the people how much you love being their president, so you’d better not let anyone else hear you say that.”
“When did I say that?”
“Everything you said was full of enthusiasm for the task before you. I was wildly impressed.”
He kissed her neck. “Wildly?”
“Mmm. Extremely wildly.”
“Don’t talk dirty to me when you don’t have time to follow through.”
She curled her hand around his neck and combed her fingers through his hair, breathing in the rich, clean scent of home while she could. “Go before I make a scene about you leaving.”
“Don’t want to.”
“Love you more than ice cream,” she said.
“Love you more than anything.”
Sam laughed. “Leave it to you to find a way to top ice cream.”
“I only speak the truth.”
They held on tightly for another few minutes before reluctantly separating and returning to reality, where Terry waited to accompany him to California .
In the foyer, Sam kissed Nick once more and waved him off as he walked out to board Marine One for the trip to Joint Base Andrews.
“Ready to go?” Vernon asked her after the chopper had lifted off, taking her whole heart with it.
She felt unsettled, off her game and despondent after saying goodbye to him for a few days, but she had work to do and a team waiting for her to join them. When Nick got back, she needed to talk to him about the call from Collins Worthy and Scotty having to sit in a classroom and listen to others criticize the job his father was doing running the country. But those things would keep for now.
“I’m going to run upstairs to change,” she said to Vernon, “and then we can go.”
“Ready when you are.”
Sam arrived to a screaming match in the pit between Gonzo and Frank Myerson, who was demanding to be released from custody.
“What’s going on here, gentlemen?”
Frank spun around to her, his face red and his eyes wide. “I demand to know why I’m being treated like a criminal when you don’t have one scrap of evidence that I had anything to do with my wife’s murder!”
“One of your minor children is our prime suspect, and as such, we need your help and cooperation.”
“You want me to help you nail my kid? That’s not going to happen.”
Sam gave him an assessing look. “We found Jada.”
That stopped him short. “Where?”
“Bound and gagged in a motel room in Columbus.”
“What?”
“Apparently left there by Zoe and Zeke.”
“Why would they do that to her? ”
“Maybe she was getting in the way of their plan?”
“Zoe didn’t kill her mother.”
“Then why is she on the run? Why would she ditch Jada in a strange place?”
“I don’t know! But she’s not a killer, and I’m not about to help you make her out to be one.”
“Sergeant Gonzales, please escort Mr. Myerson back to lockup until he’s willing to help us find the person or people who killed his wife.”
“I didn’t do it, and neither did my kid! You can’t hold me unless you’re going to charge me!”
“Sergeant, please charge Mr. Myerson with obstructing a homicide investigation. Perhaps by the time he’s arraigned, we’ll know more about where his daughter is.”
“This is complete bullshit. I want my lawyer. Get Dunning over here.”
“We’ll get right on that,” Sam said. “In the meantime, Sergeant Gonzales will get you processed and settled downstairs.”
“That place is a hellhole. I’ll be filing a lawsuit against you and this department for harassment of a grieving family.”
“Knock yourself out.”
He ranted all the way to Central Booking as Gonzo half dragged him away.
“He’s unhinged,” Freddie said.
“I suppose I would be, too, if it was becoming clear to me that my own kid was capable of murder.”
“Probably.”
“Will you call Dunning and get him over here?”
“Yep. Does this mean he’s un-fired?”
“I guess so. Where are we with Jada?”
“She’s dehydrated and traumatized. She’s receiving care at a local hospital, and then she’ll be brought back here by the marshals. Since they were already on the job in Ohio, we decided not to send anyone out there. ”
“Do we have an ETA on her arrival?”
“Around four o’clock this afternoon.”
“Okay. What else did I miss?”
“Archie was here looking for you. He seemed stressed about something.”
“I’ll run up and check in with him.” Sam unlocked her office door and draped her coat over a chair. Her cell phone rang with a call from Darren Tabor that she took, feeling exasperated, the way she always did when he called. “Yes, Darren?”
“The whole world is on fire about you lying in the Rodriguez case. Are you going to address that or let it fester?”
“I’m gonna let it fester.”
“Seriously?”
Sam left her office and headed for the stairs. “We did a sit-down with Peter Wagner earlier. It’ll be dealt with there.”
“You gave him an exclusive? What the hell, Sam? I thought we were friends.”
“We’re not friends. We know each other through work.”
“Wow, that hurts. I think of you as a friend.”
“Stop being sensitive, Darren. You know we’re not friends in the traditional sense of the word. We have an adversarial relationship that involves you wanting me to tell you things I can’t or won’t.”
“What can you say on the record about the Rodriguez case?”
“I’ll tell you this… It’s a very complicated situation that involves multiple agencies and jurisdictions. We’re not the lead on that case, so there’s not much I’m able to say about it.”
“Did you lie to Juan’s roommate?”
“No comment.”
“Sam, come on! People want to know!”
“It’s not my story to tell. You should contact Agent Truver with NCIS.”
“They’re not talking. ”
“So what makes you think I will? It’s their case, not mine. I have to go, Darren.”
She closed the phone before he could try to continue the conversation that was going nowhere fast. On the second floor, she walked into the IT department, where Archie’s team was hard at work. Sam would be bored stiff being chained to a computer all day. She preferred being out and about, talking to people and hunting down leads the old-fashioned way, even if that was much more complicated these days when everyone recognized her as the president’s wife.
“Hey,” she said in the doorway to Archie’s office. “Heard you were looking for me.”
He waved her in. “Close the door.”
Sam shut the door and sat in the chair in front of his desk. “What’s up?”
“The girlfriend has gone silent.”
“I hear that happens these days. It’s called ghosting.”
“Except I don’t think she’d do that. She mentioned how it’d been done to her and how she’d never do that to someone else.”
“Huh. What’re you thinking?”
“I’m not sure what to think, but my gut’s telling me she’s in some kind of trouble.”
“What does she do for work?”
“She’s a sales rep for a food company.”
“That’s not usually considered dangerous.”
“No, it isn’t, but something isn’t right. I know it.”
“What can I do?”
“Would it be wrong for me to ask you to put one of your people on looking into it and figuring out where she is?”
Sam thought about that for a second. Technically, the answer was yes, it would be wrong, but Archie was always there for her and her team, and she wanted to help him out if she could. “Give me everything you have on her, and I’ll take it from there. ”
“Yourself?”
“Probably not.”
“Who will you put on it?”
“Does that matter?”
“No, I guess it doesn’t.”
“I promise it’ll be handled with the utmost discretion.”
“Thank you.” He ripped a sheet of paper out of a notebook and handed it to her. “No digital paper trail, right?”
“Right.”
“Thanks, Sam.”
“You’re welcome. Try to chill. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for whatever’s going on.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I usually am.”
He grunted out a laugh. “Walked right into that one.”
“Yes, you did.”
“I heard Ramsey disrupted the funeral this morning.”
“Yep.”
“What the hell could he be thinking?”
“He quit thinking a long time ago.”
“Malone told me they’re pushing to keep him in lockup until he stands trial on the other charges he’s facing. Enough is enough.”
“Glad to hear it. I agree on the enough part.”
“Thought you would. What’s the latest with the Myerson case?”
“The younger daughter was found bound and gagged in a motel room in Ohio, which leads me to believe that things between her and her sister went south on the road. She’s being treated in the hospital now and will be delivered back here by the marshals later today. They’re still looking for the other sister and her boyfriend.”
“You think they killed the mother?”
“There’s not a single scrap of evidence leading in any other direction than right back to them. The fact that they ran—and abandoned the sister—doesn’t help their case either.”
“No, it doesn’t. Hopefully, the sister can shed some light.”
“That’s the goal. I’ll get back to you with anything we learn about your friend.”
“This is way outside the bounds of friendship.”
“No, it isn’t. Try to breathe. I’m on it.”
As she was going down the stairs, SVU Detective Erica Lucas was on the way up.
“Heard about what Ramsey did this morning,” Erica said. “Disgraceful.”
“Truly.”
“I also heard you gave an awesome eulogy. I’m sorry I missed it. I caught a new case late yesterday and was on it all night.”
“Sounds like a tough one.”
“They all are, but this was especially so. A Jane Doe found by the river. She was raped and beaten, but has no memory of what happened.”
A tingle worked its way down Sam’s spine. What were the odds? “Come with me.” She went back up the stairs and straight to Archie’s office.
“What’s up?” he asked when they appeared in his doorway.
“What does your missing friend look like?”
“Pretty, with long dark hair, brown eyes.”
Sam glanced at Erica.
“The description matches.”
“Matches what?” Archie asked.
“The vic in a new case I caught last night,” Erica said. “A Jane Doe at GW. I can take you there.”
Archie had launched out of his seat and was already around the desk. “Let’s go.”
“Let me know,” Sam said.
“I will,” he said over his shoulder as he rushed out with Erica.