“Do you want me to resume my shift this afternoon, sir?”
Chambers smiled. “Oh, I think you deserve a couple of days off, don’t you? Why don’t you report back on Thursday?”
“I’d like that, sir. Thank you.”
As soon as he left the White House, Nick went directly to Homeland Security. He’d already contacted Evelyn Cramer the night before and told her he would be in her office sometime that morning.
He was shown into her office as soon as he was announced.
Evelyn Cramer was a petite woman with a white halo of hair around her grandmotherly face. She looked nothing like a tenacious bulldog who could unearth secrets, then bury them even deeper.
She held out her hand and smiled. “I’m relieved to see you, Agent Logan. You said you had good news for me. I’m eager to hear it.”
“The president and his family are safely out of the hands of the terrorists.”
“Thank God!” she said. “That is good news. How did you manage to rescue them from the high seas while skiing in Colorado, if I may be so bold as to ask?”
“What makes you think I had anything to do with their rescue?”
She gave him a look that bored right through him. “Because your assignment was to get to the bottom of all this. If it meant rescuing our president, you would do it.”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid you have entirely too much faith in my abilities, Mrs. Cramer.”
“You’re saying that you had nothing to do with it?”
“Not exactly. But if I hadn’t gotten some information that led me to where they were holding him, I wouldn’t have been able to—”
She leaned back in her chair and smiled. “I rest my case.”
“Don’t make me out as a hero on this one. It was just dumb luck that I managed to find them. As a matter of fact, they were being held in chains on the tanker that blew up in New Orleans last night.”
“What? Did you set that off?”
“No, ma’am. I swear I had nothing to do with that explosion. I’m wondering about the reason for it, though.”
“Where is the president now?”
“He and his family are at home in Boulder with local security coverage.”
She nodded. “Who knows about this?”
“You’re the only one in D.C. I’ve told. It’s up to you how you want to handle the news.”
“Why the security?”
“We weren’t certain who could be trusted to protect them. Steve Rippy was one of the men who betrayed him.”
“You’re certain about that?”
“Very certain.”
“Where is Rippy now?”
“Dead.”
“I see.”
They looked at each other without expression. After several minutes of silence, Evelyn said, “Well, we were able to do a bit of sleuthing, ourselves. We’ve picked up the members of the terrorist group who were making the phone calls. From them, we were able to pick up two other agents who were working with them.”
Nick asked, “What about Sam Masters?”
She frowned. “That’s right, you know Sam. He hasn’t been detained. Should he be?”
“It was Sam who told me where I could find the Sullivans.”
“Are you vouching for the man?”
“I suppose I am. I don’t think he had any idea what he was getting into when he joined the group. He certainly didn’t do it for the money. Maybe he was bored and looking for something to do with his spare time.”
She made a note on the file in front of her. “Thank you for that piece of information. We also managed to find the security ship.”
“And?”
“The crew and agents had been bound and left on board by the two agents we arrested. They were fortunate that everyone was still alive and as well as could be expected, given their circumstances.”
“Where were they?”
“Off the coast of Mississippi, not far from Biloxi.”
“So what do we do now?”
“I would say that we let those who knew about the kidnap ping be advised that the president has been found and is safe, that those responsible for all of this mayhem have been arrested and are behind bars, and that peace reigns across our nation once again.”
“You’re saying that we can trust the men in the White House to do their job protecting the president.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying…and the sooner the better.”
“Then I’ll leave all of this in your very capable hands.”
She stood and shook hands with him. “I appreciate all you’ve done for us, more than I can possibly say. Take care of yourself now.”
“Yes, ma’am, I intend to.”
Chapter 19
Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, January 8
Ashley appreciated being home although the family quarters seemed dread fully empty. She didn’t want to speak to anyone about her recent experiences. Nick had stressed to her the need not to discuss anything with anyone, including the vice president.
She decided to stay in her room and rest. At least she had the fact that she would see him this afternoon to look forward to. She took a long leisurely soak in the tub, emptying her mind of all thought. She had another two weeks before she needed to return to school.
Would Nick be assigned to her there, as well? Somehow the thought of being followed around by Nick wasn’t nearly as upsetting as it had been a couple of weeks ago. Her perception of him had made a definite shift in that time.
Later she took her time finding just the right clothes to wear. Nick had seen her in jeans and ski clothes. Now she wanted him to see her looking as feminine as possible.
By the time four o’clock rolled around she was more than ready to speak to the agents outside her door. She opened the door. She did not recognize either man.
“Where is Agent Logan?” she asked.
“I don’t know, ma’am.”
“Oh.” She closed the door and walked over to the phone. After looking up the number in the White House directory, she rang the detail leader’s office. The phone was answered immediately. “Chambers.”
“Hello, this is Ashley. I was trying to locate Agent Logan.”
“He’s taken some days off, ma’am. Could someone else help you?”
“Oh. No, thank you.” She hung up and stared at the phone in bewilderment.
Days off? How could that be? What had they done to him? She couldn’t let this happen. That he might disappear had never crossed her mind. So here she’d been, working on being as alluring as possible, and he might have been captured and was being held somewhere.
Just like before there was no one she could trust. Only now she didn’t have Nick with her, either. She had to find him.
When Nick walked into Ron’s hospital room later that after noon, he discovered that Ron already had visitors. Two little girls dressed in colorful dresses and shiny patent-leather shoes were sitting on the bed with him. A very attractive woman stood at the foot of the bed, watching the three of them with a smile on her face.
“Nick! Good to see you, man. Come on in and meet my family.”
“You’re looking a lot better than you did last time I saw you,” Nick said with a grin. He held out his hand to the woman. “Nick Logan.”
“Janine Stevenson,” she said, taking his hand in a firm clasp. “These are our daughters, Corinne and Sasha.”
So this was Ron’s former wife. Nick nodded to the girls who watched him with eyes just like their father’s. “I can’t stay long. I heard they finally released you from the Colorado hospital. I know you’re glad to be back here.”
“You got that right. I called Janine once I could make some sense after being so doped up. Explained to her what had happened. We’ve been on the phone daily ever since.”
Janine smiled. “Ron’s told me some really nice things about you, Mr. Logan.”
“Nick.”
“Nick. He said you saved his life. For that, you
have our undying gratitude.”
Nick could feel his ears burning. He shrugged. “Please don’t give me any credit. Ron would have done the same thing in my place.”
“Uh-huh. He told me not to waste my breath trying to thank you, but I had to try.”
Nick looked over at Ron, who was grinning from ear to ear. “You put her up to this, didn’t you?”
“Nope. Not me. I didn’t think my worthless hide was worth saving, anyway.”
“Please don’t even joke about it, Ronnie,” Janine said, coming around the bed. She leaned down and kissed him. “All I’ve been able to think about since you called was that the call could have been someone else informing me you’d been killed.” She shuddered. “It doesn’t bear thinking about.”
Nick noticed that each of the girls had coloring books and were busy adding lots of color to the pages. “Budding artists, I see.”
They giggled, but didn’t say anything.
“So how are you and Ashley getting along these days?” Ron asked. “Still fighting?”
Nick grinned. “Naw. I gave up on that. She always wins, anyway.”
“When did you get back?”
“Last night.”
“Everything all right at work?”
“Yep, everything’s fine. The president is back from his vacation, but he’s a little under the weather. Guess he caught a flu bug. I’ve got a couple of days off. I’ll probably use them by sleeping around the clock.” He nodded toward Ron. “I’m going to miss working with you, so hurry up and heal, will you?”
“I’m doing my very best.”
“Well, you take care of yourself,” Nick said, backing toward the door. “Any idea when they’re going to let you out of here?”
“The doctor mentioned the end of the week, provided I had someone to help me for a few days at home.”
Janine said, “I told him that he would be coming home with us. He’s going to have all the help he can handle for as long as he wants.”
Nick looked at Ron and smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. Really glad. I’ll keep in touch.”
“You do that. I’d like to hear how Ashley finally managed to get you to see things her way.”
Nick laughed. “Now that’s a story that will take a little time in the telling.”
By the time he left the hospital, Nick realized that he was going to be fighting the five-o’clock traffic getting back home. Not that it mattered. He had no plans for the night.
After parking in his usual spot, he took the elevator to the lobby. He wanted to speak to the manager of the apartments about a leak he’d discovered that morning in the bathroom sink. As soon as he stepped into the lobby he spotted an agent. What could have happened in the few hours since he left the White House? He walked over to him and said, “Are you waiting for me, Tim?”
The agent smiled. “In a manner of speaking. You have a visitor waiting for you upstairs.”
Ashley.
He forgot about the water leak or speaking to the manager. Instead, he took the elevator to his floor. As soon as he entered the hallway, he saw her leaning against his door and talking to the other agent assigned to her.
“Sorry,” he said, walking up to them and fishing in his pocket for his key. “I wasn’t expecting company.” He gave Ashley a quick glance before meeting the agent’s gaze.
Agent Kelly nodded. “I’ll wait downstairs. Give us a call when you’re ready to return, Ms. Sullivan.”
Nick opened the door and motioned for her to enter. As soon as he closed the door, he asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Wasting my time worrying about you, from the looks of things.”
“Why would you worry about me?”
She sat down on the sofa and looked at him. “Now there’s a good question. You told me you’d be working this afternoon. Instead, I’m told you have a few days off. How am I supposed to interpret that? I actually thought about the possibility that you’d been kid napped and were being held somewhere.”
“Ah, Ashley,” he said, sitting down beside her and pulling her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I should have let you know.”
“No kidding.”
He kissed her. “I missed you today.”
“I must be completely out of my mind, but I missed you, too. I was getting used to spending twenty-four hours a day with you. So I’m having withdrawal symptoms.” She sat up. “I’m sure I’ll get over it.”
He got up and walked into the kitchen. “How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know. A while.”
“Are you hungry?” he asked, opening the refrigerator.
“I don’t think your withered apple is going to be much nourishment for the two of us, do you?”
He turned and looked at her. “You’re really ticked off at me, aren’t you?”
She got up from the sofa and sauntered over to the kitchen counter, opposite him. “You could say that. Do you know how foolish I feel—now that I know you’re all right—rushing over here trying to find out what horrible thing could have happened to you?”
He grinned. “What did you expect to find? A note on the door telling you I’d been abducted?”
Her mouth twitched into a reluctant smile. “Who knows what I was thinking. This whole thing has made me crazy.”
“So what can I do to make it up to you for not having been captured by unknown terrorists?”
She propped her chin on her hand. “You could take me out to dinner,” she said thoughtfully.
He eyed her warily. “Like a date?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“You know that our being seen out together will start tongues wagging, don’t you?”
“Whose reputation are you concerned about? Yours or mine?” She straightened and looked him squarely in the eye.
“Well, it’s not mine. It’s just that everything you do is news. Once the media sees us out as a couple…” He let his words trail off.
“I’m not asking for a lifetime commitment here, you know. Just dinner.”
Only then did it hit him how she was dressed. Gone was the tom boyish look. Instead, she wore a designer dress that flattered her figure. She’d done some kind of intricate thing with her hair. In short, the woman looked stunning.
He walked out of the kitchen and paused beside her. “I think dinner is the safest suggestion you could have made.” He held out his hand and she took it.
They stopped at the lobby to inform the men protecting her where they were going before getting his car from the parking garage.
It was early enough that they were seated at a well-known restaurant without reservations. Nick had a hunch that the two agents seated at a nearby table were very curious about them.
He couldn’t blame them in the least.
“What have you found out today?”
“The men responsible for the kidnapping have been arrested, as well as the agents who helped them.”
Her eyes widened. “Really! How can you be so calm? This is wonderful news.”
“I agree.” He held up his glass in a toast. “The mystery is solved.”
“What about that agent in Colorado?”
“Sam? I’m not sure. I reported his help in locating your family. Who knows if that will be enough to get him out of this mess.”
“What happens to a rogue agent like the ones involved in this case?”
“None of them can be publicly charged with what they managed to pull off. The facts will never be released. However, I’m sure enough charges will be found to keep them in jail for a considerable length of time.”
“What about my family?”
“It’s my guess that Air Force One will bring them home today.”
“That’s wonderful news!”
“Now you and your family will have time for that discussion about sharing a room with me.”
“I can handle them.”
“Shall I be watching for a shotgun?”
She reached over and touched his hand. “Absolute
ly not. You’ve definitely gone beyond the call of duty on this one. Besides, I have all of these things to do to get ready for school. I’ll probably be so busy in the next two weeks I won’t have time to—”
“Ashley?”
“Yes?”
“You aren’t going to make this easy for me, are you?”
She looked at him, confused. “Make what easy?”
“I’ve been working on how to make this noble gesture to get out of your life.”
“Oh, is that what it is? Well, don’t bother. I’ve been telling you all along—there’s no commitment necessary.”
“Except for the one I want to make.”
She stared at him un certainly. “Nick?” she whispered. “What are you saying?”
“That despite your bad temper, your stubbornness and this determination you have to always get your own way, I love you more than words can possibly express. If the truth were known, some of those traits are probably what made me fall in love with you in the first place.”
“Nick, you have, without a doubt, the worst timing of anyone I’ve ever known.”
He blinked at her. “Excuse me?”
“Why couldn’t you have told me you loved me when we were in bed together?” she teased. “Or at least in the privacy of your apartment, so that I could respond in an appropriate manner. Now all I can do is…is…”
“Behave yourself in public like a well-brought-up young lady is expected to do.”
“You did this on purpose?”
“I’m not going to make love to you again until we’re married—that is, if you decide you want to get married, and if you decide that it’s me you want to marry—so it’s much less stressful on my nervous system not to spend time alone with you.”
“You’re doing it again. You’ve decided that you’re going to make all the rules in our relationship.”
He lifted his brows. “So we do have a relationship?”
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