Fatal Threat
Page 17
“Oh God, what did she say?”
“Just that I ruined his life and he’s dead because of me.”
“For fuck’s sake. Of course you know none of that is true.”
“Yeah, I do, but it bugs me that she only has half the story—the false half.”
“What do you care what she thinks?”
“I don’t.”
“But it’s still hard to be blamed for things that weren’t your fault.”
“Something like that. I was no angel in that marriage, but I tried to make it work even when I knew from the beginning it was probably a mistake to marry him.”
“He wasn’t the one meant for you. You know that now. No sense gnashing your teeth about a past that can’t be changed.”
“Also true. Changing the subject, why did I get the feeling back there that you’re not as excited as a bride should be a few days before a wedding she’s been looking forward to for ages?”
“I’m excited about the wedding.”
“Then what is it?”
“Will.”
“Ah, yes. I should’ve guessed that.”
“I’m worried he’s making big decisions while in a bad place mentally.”
“I don’t think he is.”
“You don’t?”
Sam shook her head. “If you ask me, he’s been making this decision for months. We’ve all seen it, you probably more than any of us.”
“I never expected him to actually leave.”
“Even though he’s been talking about it for some time now?”
“Yeah,” Jeannie said with a sigh, “even though.”
“I’ll talk to him as soon as I can. I promise you, if I get the feeling he has even the slightest doubt about his decision, I’ll be all over it.”
“But you don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“No, I don’t. I’m sorry. I’m sure that losing your partner this way feels like another blow on top of all the others you’ve had to sustain in the last year.”
“I’m trying not to make it about me.”
“Of course it’s about you and me and the rest of the squad. My dad warned me this was possible, so I wasn’t as surprised as I probably should’ve been to hear he’d made the move. I’ve sort of been expecting it, if I’m being honest.”
“I wish I could say the same. I’ve been so caught up in the wedding that I wasn’t paying attention. I was blindsided.”
“The timing is unfortunate.”
“He said he tried to wait until after the wedding but he couldn’t.”
“He’s still coming, though, right?”
“Yeah, he’ll be there. He promised we’ll still be close friends, but it’ll be different. How could it not be?”
“I wish there was something wise I could say to make you feel better.”
“It helps to talk about it. Thanks for that.”
They arrived at the dress shop, where Sam was forced to stand perfectly still while the seamstress made tiny adjustments to a dress that already fit her perfectly. It was a burgundy silk floor-length gown that wrapped around one shoulder while leaving the other bare. She felt rather sexy in it and couldn’t wait to see Nick’s reaction.
When they were finished, Jeannie drove her home. At the Secret Service checkpoint on Ninth Street, Jeannie flashed her badge and was allowed to drive Sam to her front door. The street was clear of Secret Service vehicles, which meant her guys weren’t home yet. Hopefully, they’d be here soon because she really, really needed to see them.
“I’m sorry if I’ve been a lousy bridesmaid,” Sam said. “But if I can do anything for you this week, you know where I am.”
“You haven’t been lousy at all. I’m thrilled you’re in the wedding. I feel bad taking the rest of the week off when you’re dealing with Peter’s murder.”
Sam reached over to put her hand on Jeannie’s arm. “Don’t feel bad about anything. This is your time to shine. Put all the crap aside and just enjoy every minute of it.”
“I’ll try. Thank you for everything. You’ll never know what your friendship has meant to me.”
“Back atcha.” Sam drew her into a hug and then got out of the car. Leaning into the open passenger-side window, she said. “Thanks for not turning into a bridezilla.”
Laughing, Jeannie said, “There’s still time for that. See you Saturday.”
“I’ll be there with bells on.”
“Can’t wait to see that.” Jeannie waved as she drove off.
Sam went up the ramp to her front door, which was opened by the agent on duty.
“Evening, Mrs. Cappuano.”
“Evening, Nate.” She dropped her purse on the sofa and went into the kitchen, where Shelby stood watch over a pot on the stove. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Shelby kept her back to Sam, which was odd.
“I texted you earlier.”
“I know. I got it.”
“What’s going on, Shelby?”
“You already know.”
“What happened?”
“If it’s all right with you, I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Of course. Whatever you want, but are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay, and I think I might be in labor, but other than that, everything is fine.” Her voice caught on a sob.
Sam went over to her, put her hands on Shelby’s shoulders and was shocked when Shelby shook her off.
“Don’t. Please don’t.”
What the hell? “We should get you to the hospital.”
“I have a car coming in ten minutes.”
“Who will be with you?”
“No one. I’ll be fine by myself.”
“You can’t have a baby by yourself.”
“Watch me.”
Sam had no idea what to say to that. “I want to help.”
“No, thank you.” Shelby hooked a pink leather purse over her shoulder and walked out of the kitchen without another word to Sam, who followed her.
“Shelby—”
Without turning to face her, Shelby said, “Please accept my resignation, effective immediately. I’ve enjoyed working with your family, but I’m not able to continue after today. Thank you for the opportunity.”
Stunned speechless, Sam wasn’t able to form a reply before the front door clicked shut behind Shelby. She ran for the door and threw it open to see Shelby walking toward the Secret Service checkpoint, where a yellow cab waited for her.
She got into the car, and it took off like a shot.
“What the hell just happened?”
“Ma’am?” Nate looked on with obvious interest. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, sure.” Nothing was all right, but it was none of his business. As Sam walked up the ramp, a motorcade pulled onto Ninth Street from the other end and came to a stop in front of the house.
Sam went down the ramp and stood on the sidewalk, waiting to greet Nick or Scotty, perhaps both.
Nick emerged from the back of the third SUV, a big smile on his handsome face. “What a nice surprise to have the little wife waiting to greet the conquering hero as he returns from battle.”
Usually that would make her laugh, but she couldn’t find the humor after what’d just happened with Shelby. “Hey.”
Nick kissed her cheek and put his arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“Shelby and Avery broke up, and she just quit her job.”
He stopped halfway up the ramp. “What? Why?”
“She wouldn’t say. Hell, she wouldn’t even look at me. And she’s in labor. I said I’d take her to the hospital, but she refused. She said she’d be fine having the baby alone.”
“What’s that about?”
“Don’t bother. He’ll be here in twenty minutes. They’re going to brief us on the threat investigation.”
“What could’ve happened that would cause her to break up with him right before the baby is born?”
“I can’t begin to guess.”
They were about to go inside when a second motorcade appeared on the street, this one bearing their son. Nick took her hand to escort her back down to the sidewalk to wait for him.
“Let’s not say anything to him about Shelby until we know what’s going on,” Sam said.
“Agreed, but we do need to break the news about baseball camp.”
Dreading that, Sam sighed. “I know.”
The second the agent opened the back door, Scotty came bursting out, full of energy.
“Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I’m free at last,” he proclaimed, raising his arms to the sky in victory.
His parents laughed and drew him into a group hug.
“Is our long national nightmare over?” he asked.
“You’ve been watching too much television,” Sam said, endlessly amused by him.
“There’s never enough television.” He loved to watch the political news shows on cable almost as much as he enjoyed his sports channels. “I feel so out of the loop after days in that cave. Got a lot of catching up to do.”
The three of them went up the ramp and into the house.
“What’s for dinner?” Scotty asked. “I’m starving.”
“Shelby left something,” Sam said. “Not sure what it is.”
“She’s the best cook ever. I’m sure it’ll be awesome.”
They followed him into the kitchen to investigate further.
“Ohhh,” Scotty said, “fried chicken and her special mashed potatoes. Can I eat right now?”
“Go for it,” Nick said. “We’re going to wait a bit. We’ve got some people on the way over.”
They sat with Scotty while he devoured the chicken, potatoes and green beans Shelby had made.
“Why’re you guys acting weird?” he asked over a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
Sam and Nick exchanged glances. They’d hardly said a word since they sat down, which was probably what had Scotty asking.
“We need to talk about baseball camp, pal,” Nick said, his grim expression telling the story.
Scotty crumpled. “Oh, come on! I have a detail! They have to let me go back! It’s my favorite thing in the whole world!”
Sam’s heart broke at the sight of tears in his eyes.
“We know it is,” Nick said, “but until the FBI and the Secret Service are sure they have the guy who threatened us, we can’t take any chances with your safety.”
Sam could see this was hurting Nick almost as much as it did Scotty. And because he was so insightful, Scotty could see that too.
“May I be excused?” he muttered.
“Sure,” Nick said.
Scotty got up, put his plate in the sink and left the room.
Nick dropped his head into his hands. “I hate this fucking job.”
Sam stood and bent to wrap her arms around him from behind. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m the one who should be sorry for upending our already-chaotic lives and making things worse than they already were.”
“We’ve been down this road before, and you agreed that you always would’ve wondered what might’ve been if you hadn’t taken this opportunity.”
“That would’ve been better than disappointing my son.”
“He’ll get over it.”
Nick put his hands over hers to keep her wrapped around him. “He shouldn’t have to get over it. He should be able to enjoy something he looks forward to all year without having to worry about his safety. I’m going to talk to them when they get here for the briefing. There’s got to be something we can do to let him attend that camp.”
“It’s worth asking for sure.” Sam kissed his cheek. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry to lose it.”
“That doesn’t count as losing it. It’s a tough situation, and I don’t blame you for being upset.”
At the sound of voices in the living room, Sam released him and stood upright. “Let’s see what they have to say.”
“Yeah,” he said, still sounding dejected. “And then we’ll tell them what we have to say.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
HOLDING HANDS, SAM and Nick left the kitchen and went into a living room full of people in suits, some FBI, others Secret Service. Avery Hill introduced them to the agents they didn’t already know.
“You’ve got Nevins in custody?” Nick asked.
“We do,” Avery said. “Our Oklahoma field office has taken the lead on bringing him in.”
“And?” Nick asked. “Is he our guy?”
“We don’t think so.”
Sam heard all the air leave Nick’s body in one deep sigh. “Why not?” Sam asked.
“Upon hearing what he was suspected of,” Avery said, “he invited our agents into his home, told them to take a good look around. He doesn’t do things anonymously. If he makes a threat, he puts his name on it. As Lieutenant Holland can attest, guilty people don’t tend to invite us in.”
“And we didn’t know his MO beforehand?” Sam asked.
“We did know that he owns his opinions, but threatening the sitting vice president and his family is a whole other kind of felony. He’d be crazy to put his name on that one, which is why we tracked him down, brought him in, had a conversation and basically ruled him out.”
“So we’re back to square one with our family now out of lockup,” Nick said, “which I might add was all for nothing.”
With his hands on his hips and his hazel eyes shooting daggers at the federal agents, Sam thought he was sexy as hell. She’d tell him so later when they were alone. For now she squelched the thought.
“We’re very sorry, Mr. Vice President,” Avery said. “We’re working the case from every possible angle. We all hoped it would be Nevins and we could put this one to bed.”
“So what’s the next step?” Sam asked.
“We expect to hear from the lab in the next day or so with analysis on the letter and envelope,” Hill said. “In the meantime, we’re going back through every threat we’ve received against the president and vice president over the last year and looking for similarities.”
“In other words,” Sam said, “you’ve got dick.”
Most of the agents looked down at the floor rather than look at her. Whatever. She only spoke the truth.
“What’s being done to protect our family now that they’ve been let out of the pointless lockup?” Sam asked.
“We’ve assigned a detail of agents to each family,” Brant said. “They will be giving particular attention to the children, as they were specifically threatened.”
“That’s good,” Sam said. “We appreciate that, but why couldn’t we have done that from the get-go?”
Brant looked to Nick.
“Because I was out of the country, and that wasn’t good enough for me.”
“What he said,” Brant added with a small smile.
“I want to talk about Scotty and baseball camp,” Nick said. “There has to be a way that we can make it possible for him to go back.”
Debra Nixon, the agent in charge of Scotty’s detail, shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Vice President. We’ve had several meetings on this subject, and we’re all in agreement that we can’t adequately protect Scotty when he’s on that field. We can seal off the perimeter around the field, but we wouldn’t be able to stop a sniper with long-range capacity.”
The word sniper in relation to her son made Sam queasy. Judging by Nick’s rigid posture, he felt the same way.
“What’s the likelihood of a sniper?” Nick asked.
“Low, but it exists, thus our recommendation to forgo the rest of camp,” Debra said. “Not only for Scotty’s safety but for that of the other campers too.”
“He’s extremely disappointed,” Nick said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.
“I’m sure he is,” Debra said sympathetically.
“What if we were able to arrange a separate camp for him after hours?” Sam asked. “Perhaps the Feds organization could make one or two of the players available after a game. No one would expect Scotty to be there at night.”
“We should be able to accommodate something like that,” Debra said, glancing at Brant, who nodded in agreement.
“I’ll reach out to the Feds to see what can be arranged,” Nick said. “I’ll let you know.”
When the others prepared to leave, Sam asked Avery to stick around.
“Could we please have the room for a minute?” Sam asked the remaining Secret Service agents.
“Yes, ma’am.” Brant gestured for the others to follow him into their first-floor office. Nate stepped outside and closed the front door behind him.
“What’s up?” Avery asked when only he, Sam and Nick remained in the room.
Sam took a closer look at him and again noticed his unusually ragged and exhausted-looking appearance. “That’s what I’d like to know. What happened with Shelby?”
“You should ask her.”
“I did. She wouldn’t tell me. She wouldn’t even look at me. In fact, she quit her job and left to have the baby by herself rather than have me go with her.”
His golden eyes bugged. “She’s having the baby? Now?”
“That’s what she said when she left after quitting. You heard that part, right?”
“Yeah.” He blew out a deep breath. “I really fucked up.”
“I figured that out for myself. What’d you do, and how in the hell does it involve us?”
He glanced at Nick and then at Sam and then down at the floor. “I said the wrong name at a critical moment.”