Chapter Thirty-Four
As Collins stood to greet Nick with a handshake, Sam was shocked by how many beeping machines and other pieces of equipment surrounded the bed, as well as how tiny Nicoletta looked.
In the back of her mind, she’d suspected another con, even if she’d come to trust Collins to be forthright with her. But this…
The woman was seriously ill and attached to oxygen and numerous other monitors.
Sam looked to Nick, who seemed stricken by the same realization.
Collins went to the bedside. “Sweetheart, your son and daughter-in-law are here to see you.”
Nick approached his mother’s bed as her eyes fluttered open.
She smiled when she saw him. “You came,” she said softly.
“I came. I’m sorry you’re not feeling well.”
“Don’t recommend pneumonia.” Every word seemed to cost her something, and her eyes closed for a few seconds before she seemed to force them open so as not to miss a second with her son.
“Do you want to sit up a little, sweetheart?” Collins asked.
“Yes, please.”
Collins pressed a button that raised her up in the bed.
Sam noticed that Nicoletta, who’d always been a formidable presence, had been severely diminished by her illness. Dark hair formed a striking halo around her pale face. Even in illness, she was still beautiful.
“Sam is here, too,” Nick said, reaching back for her.
Sam took his hand and stood at his side. “Hello, Nicoletta.”
“Thank you for coming.” She lifted her hand toward Nick.
He took hold of it.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “You’re so handsome. I think that every time I see you on TV and in pictures. Like a movie star.”
“He gets embarrassed when I tell him that,” Sam said.
“When anyone says that,” Nick added with the usual annoyance that commentary always provoked.
“Well,” Nicoletta said, taking a breath, “it’s true.”
“I agree,” Sam said.
“We finally agree on something,” Nicoletta said.
Sam smiled because, hey, that was funny.
“The children… are well?”
“They are,” Nick said. “They keep us busy—and laughing.”
“Tell me about them.”
“We have four now,” Nick said.
“Read that. Collins…”
“I read the news story to her about the adoption,” he said. “We were delighted for you.”
“Thank you,” Nick said. “Elijah is the oldest. He’s about to be twenty-one and is finishing his junior year at Princeton. He’s married to his childhood love, Candace, and they’re very happy together.”
“They’re so young,” Nicoletta said.
“They are, but they spent a lot of time apart and are thrilled to be back together. He’s a wonderful big brother to Scotty, as well as the twins, Aubrey and Alden. Scotty is fourteen going on forty and has recently begun drinking coffee in the morning because, and I quote, ‘a man needs caffeine.’”
“He’s not wrong about that,” Collins said.
“Not at all,” Nick said. “The twins are six and just the cutest little people in the world.”
“Lately,” Sam said, “there’s been a lot of talk about chickens and eggs and whether you’ll have a chicken if you eat an egg.”
Nicoletta smiled and coughed out a laugh. “That’s so sweet. Happy for you.”
“We feel blessed to have them in our lives.”
“Lucky.”
“Yes, we are.” Nick glanced at Collins. “We don’t want to tire you out.”
“I’m okay,” Nicoletta said. “My son, the president, came to see me. Best medicine.” Her gaze took in Sam. “Both of you. Thank you.”
Sam didn’t want to like this version of the woman who’d caused Nick so much pain, but it felt petty not to nod and smile, so she did both while feeling confused about whether this version could be trusted.
Her dad used to say that people didn’t change, they just went through the motions to make others think they had.
But this didn’t feel like that…
Nicoletta dozed off for a few minutes and then seemed to force herself awake so she wouldn’t miss out on the time with Nick.
“I have to go soon,” he said. “I’m leaving for Greenland tonight.”
“I read about the NATO meeting,” Collins said.
Nick nodded. “Will you keep us posted on how she’s doing?”
“I will.”
“I hope you feel much better soon, Mom,” Nick said.
“Me, too. This is no fun.”
Nick released Sam’s hand so he could lean over the bed to kiss her forehead.
“Good son,” she whispered. “Better than I deserve.”
“Take care and be well.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Collins said. “I’ll be right back, sweetheart.”
“Nick…”
He turned back to her.
“Thank you for coming.”
Nodding, he said, “Of course.”
“You, too, Sam.”
“Feel better.”
Nick put his hand on Sam’s lower back to guide her from the room.
“It means so much to her that you came,” Collins said.
“What are the doctors saying?” Nick asked when they were in the hallway. Every nurse, doctor and visitor in the unit stared at them in disbelief that the president and first lady were there.
“Could still go either way, but I have to think your visit will turn out to be the best medicine.”
“Let me give you my number so you have it,” Nick said, reciting the number for the BlackBerry, which Collins punched into his phone. “Keep me posted?”
“I will. Thank you again for coming.”
Nick shook his hand. “Thank you for taking such good care of her.”
“I love her,” Collins said somewhat helplessly.
“Take care of yourself, too.” Regardless of his questionable judgment in women, he seemed like a decent man, and Sam appreciated whatever magic he’d performed to soften Nicoletta’s sharp edges.
Because he looked like he needed it, Sam gave Collins a quick hug before she and Nick were ushered into the elevator by Brant and the other agents.
Sam curled her hands around Nick’s arm as they rode to the lobby in silence. They waited for a minute before Brant signaled for them to head for The Beast. People in the lobby called to them, and Nick waved but kept moving, swept up in the scrum of Secret Service that surrounded them.
Only when they were safely back in the car did Sam turn to take an assessing look at him.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you really?”
“Yes, that was actually a nice visit. Thank you for being there with me.”
“I’d never let you see her alone.”
“I’m not sure if it’s because she’s so ill or if it’s Collins’s influence wearing off on her, but it seems to me that…”
“Something has changed,” she said.
“Yes.”
“I see it, too, but here’s the thing… I want that to be true for your sake—and even for hers, since living her life as a grifting narcissist must’ve been exhausting.
But more than anything, I want you to reserve judgment.
We need to make sure this new version of her is going to stick before we open any doors to her. ”
“I agree.”
“But?”
“No buts. You’re right. It’s just that I can’t recall the last time I came away from seeing her not feeling like complete and utter shit. In fact, I don’t think that’s ever happened.”
“I’m glad that finally happened, but it shouldn’t have taken more than thirty-eight years. You’re still within your rights to hold her at arm’s length.”
“I know, and don’t worry. I’m not throwing open the door to her. In fact, with less than thirty minutes with you for the next four days, we’ve got better things to talk about.”
She looked up at him. “Such as?”
With his index finger on her chin, he tilted her face up to receive his kiss. “More of this, to start with.”
“I’m always down with more of that.”
Sam kissed him like she wasn’t going to see him for four days, which seemed interminable to her when he’d be back in no time. But four whole days without him…
“Easy, babe,” he said with a chuckle. “We can’t do it in The Beast.”
“Why not? We have before.”
He groaned. “Not enough time. We’re almost there.”
“Freaking Secret Service and their freaking efficiency. Don’t they know we have sex to have before they whisk you away from me for days and days?”
Smiling, he kissed her nose and then her lips. “You’ll be fine.”
“No, I won’t. I can’t sleep when you’re not there, and when I can’t sleep, I get a little cranky and—”
“A little cranky?”
“Are you trying to piss me off before you go so I won’t miss you so much?”
“Is it working?”
“Not at all.”
“I have to try harder to make you mad.”
She held on tight to him. “Don’t do that.”
“I gotta go. We’re already running late because of the hospital detour.”
“Not yet.”
“You could still come with me.”
“Don’t tempt me to walk away from all my other responsibilities.”
“I’m just saying… You can do whatever you want.”
“I can’t leave the kids without giving them a heads-up.” When the car came to a stop on the tarmac next to Air Force One, which waited to take him away from her, she reluctantly released him, sat up and straightened her hair and clothes while he did the same.
“Am I presentable?” he asked.
She gave him a heated perusal. “Except for that,” she said, pointing at the noticeable bulge in his pants.
“Quit looking at me like that!”
Sam lost it laughing.
“It won’t be funny when the media is commenting on my boner.”
“It’d get them talking about something other than your former VP.”
“That is true.”
Being silly with him was almost as much fun as kissing his face off. “I miss you already.”
“I miss you, too. I’ll call you later to tuck you in, okay?”
“Don’t forget.”
“I won’t.” He crooked his finger at her for one more kiss before he knocked on the window to tell Brant he was ready to go. His lead agent had learned to wait for his signal when she was with him. “Your detail is waiting to take you back to the White House.”
“I can’t go in this car?”
“Not without me.”
“The rules of this place are weird.”
“Tell me about it.” He kissed her again. “Be good while I’m gone, and don’t get into any trouble.”
“The only trouble I want is the kind I get into with you, so get your shit done and hurry home, you hear me?”
“I hear you, and I love you.”
“I love you more.” She raised a brow, daring him to argue with her.
“We’ll have that fight when I get home.”
“Make sure you give me plenty of notice so I can get my boyfriend out of there.”
“Who is he, and how can I have him killed?”
“No one you know. Go already, before I start weeping dramatically.”
He gave her a heated look and another kiss before he gave the window a couple of knocks.
Brant opened the door and waited for both of them to get out of the car.
Vernon stood by with the back door to her SUV open and waiting for her.
While the press gaggle waiting to board Air Force One photographed every second, Sam hugged Nick. “Be safe.”
He kissed her forehead. “You, too, love.”
And then he walked with Brant and the rest of his detail toward the stairs to the plane.
“Sam?”
She glanced at Vernon, who tipped his head toward the car. “It’ll be loud when they fire up the engines.”
Sighing, she walked toward him and got into the SUV. “Can we watch them take off?”
“Sure, if you want to.”
“I want to.”
Fifteen minutes later, from the spot at the end of the runway that Vernon had found to give her the best view, Sam watched as Air Force One lifted off, taking her whole heart into the endless blue sky.
She felt ridiculous wiping away a tear that suddenly appeared as the plane quickly disappeared from view.
“Thank you,” she said to Vernon.
“No problem at all.”
Of course it was. He and Q were no doubt eager to get home to their own families after a long day on the job.
“Where to?” Vernon asked as they left Joint Base Andrews.
“Home, please.”
As she watched the world go by through the window, she could describe her mood only as bereft, which was insane but true.
She was bereft without him and would be until he returned.
No one had ever told her that finding her true love would mean that being separated from him, for even the shortest amount of time, would be agonizing.
To distract herself from her internal histrionics—a word that made her giggle when using it to describe herself—she checked her messages.
From Lindsey. Call me. Stat.
Sam placed the call.
“Hey, are they off?” Lindsey asked.
“Yeah, just watched them take off.”
“Four whole days.”
“I’m glad I’m not the only one weeping and moaning over that.”
“You’re definitely not the only one.”
“Strangely, that makes me feel better about acting like a teenager in the throes of first love.”
“Right there with you, friend. I’ve got a development on the Bingham case.
Because Louis Bingham’s fingerprints were burned, we took palm prints, and one of them was a direct match for the palm print found on King’s neck during the autopsy.
Since King was strangled, Dr. Morganthau screened for larger prints, so we hoped we might get lucky. ”
“Hot damn. There’s the slam dunk that McDermott wanted.”
“I thought you’d say that.”
“Well done, Linds. Thank you.”
“Just doing my job.”
“You do it very well. If only they’d sent Crime Scene into the house after they found King, they might’ve put this together much sooner.”
“I know. That was an unfortunate oversight in the original investigation.”
“For sure,” Sam said, “but I don’t think there was any malicious intent on the part of the detectives. They didn’t suspect the parents.”
“One of a million judgment calls made over the course of a career. Some turn out better than others.”
“That’s right. How’s Amara?”
“She’s settling in. As soon as Haggerty clears the house, I’ll take her over there to get the rest of her things.”
“Awesome, thank you again. I can’t wait to watch her shine after all this is behind her.”
“Me, too. We’ll get her there.”
“Yes, we will. I’m going to call this into Malone.”
“What are you thinking with the mother?”
“If it was up to me, I’d charge her with misdemeanor failing to report a crime, but as we all know, it’s not up to me.”
“Well, if there’s no more evidence, it’s safe to say McDermott won’t go for charging her with anything more than that.”
“I suppose that’s one good thing about her approach.”
They shared a laugh and said their goodbyes.
Sam called Malone. “Lindsey has a hit on Louis Bingham’s palm print from King Robinson’s autopsy.”
“Excellent,” Malone said. “I’ll let Hope know we’re prepared to go ahead with his arraignment. What about the mother?”
“I say we charge her with failing to report a crime and let her go,” Sam said. “She’s as much a victim of this crime as her children were.”
“I agree, and I’ll get with Hope about that. Hang on a second. Archie just came in.”
Sam heard them talking in the background.
“You’re on speaker, Sam,” Malone said.
“Two things,” Archie said. “We finally got King Robinson’s phone records and found nothing about Louis mentioned there. Apparently, he took Thelma’s warning to keep his mouth shut about Louis seriously. Even though he talked about Louis to his friends, he never put it in writing.”
“Got it,” Sam said. “What’s the other thing?”
“We’ve got film from Glover-Archbold showing what went down with Ivanov and Henderson that you’re going to want to see.”
“I’ll be right there.”