Chapter Five #2
“Pretty good, other than being super tired. She heard that should pass in the second trimester.”
“I hope it does. That must be tough to handle when she’s usually so active.”
“It is. She craves sleep and doesn’t feel like working out, which is so not like her.”
“No, it sure isn’t.” Elin worked as a trainer at a gym and was super fit.
“Tell her to try yoga,” Vernon said. “One of my daughters said it was a lifesaver when she was expecting.”
“That’s a good idea,” Freddie said. “I’ll mention it to her.”
“How’s Jimmy doing?” Sam asked Vernon.
“Much better. Itching to get back to work. Another week or two, he should be cleared to return.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“You’ll be rid of me soon, Sam,” Agent Quigley said.
“That makes me sad, Q. We’ll miss you in the rolling therapy session.”
“I’ll miss you guys, too. I’ve learned a lot on this detail.”
“We aim to educate and enlighten.”
Freddie’s snort of laughter was right on time. “Did he sign the NDA?”
“No NDAs required,” Vernon said. “The SUV is a vault. Nothing gets out.”
“That’s right,” Q said. “Your secrets are safe with me. Every night, my wife wants to hear about my day with the badass first lady, and I tell her it was just another day at the office.”
“Well, that’s kind of insulting,” Sam said. “Our goal is to give you days you’ll never forget.”
“And you do, but she doesn’t need to know that.”
That got a laugh out of the other three.
“What’re you working on today?” Vernon asked.
Sam updated him on the case Amara had brought them.
“Wow,” Vernon said. “What a courageous young woman.”
“We all agree. First stop is to arrest her mother while Gonzo and Green grab the stepfather. And then we’ll make sure they never see the light of day again.”
Arresting murdering scumbags was always exciting, but this one felt particularly so, as these two were confident at this point that they’d gotten away with killing a child. Not so fast, assholes.
“Imagine them, going about their days with no idea that the long arm of justice is about to grab them by the throats,” Freddie said.
“I was just thinking the same thing. I’m looking forward to the moment when they realize what’s happening. And I can’t wait for them to find out that Amara witnessed the whole thing and reported it.”
“This is shaping up to be a rare good day on this job.”
“Sure is,” Sam said. “Let’s put Crime Scene on notice that we’ll need them to process the house.”
“Even after all this time?”
“We won’t know what’s there if we don’t look.”
“True. I’ll text Haggerty and ask Malone to get a warrant.”
While he did that, Sam used her secure BlackBerry to text Nick. How’s your day going so far? After a rough start, mine has taken a very interesting turn (in a good way). Will tell you more when I see you.
When he didn’t reply right away, she figured he was in a meeting and put the BlackBerry back in her pocket as they got closer to the M Street Southeast insurance agency, where Thelma Robinson-Bingham was the office manager.
She hoped that Nick’s day was going as well as hers would be after she arrested Thelma.
Nick sat across from his national security advisor, Teresa Howard, one of the few remaining holdovers from the Nelson administration after he and Terry had cleaned house on the others.
Teresa was a straight shooter, and Nick trusted her to have his back and that of the country.
So when she’d told him she needed to discuss some irregularities with him privately, he’d cleared his schedule to accommodate her.
Since she’d never before made such a request, his stomach was in knots as he waited to hear what she had to say.
“Mr. President, we were first alerted in late April by Vice President Henderson’s Secret Service detail that she was receiving regular late-night visits at the Naval Observatory from a man who identified himself as Lionel Prentess from Slovakia.
His passport was scanned and deemed legitimate, as was his other identification.
Vice President Henderson said he was an old friend from when she studied at Oxford and he’d be visiting from time to time for a few weeks while he was in the States.
She mentioned then that she’d be reporting the foreign contact as required for her security clearance. ”
Nick saw nothing to be concerned about with any of this but still braced himself for the rest of the story. Of course Gretchen was allowed to have friends visit her at her official residence, even friends from other countries, as long as she properly disclosed it.