Page 52 of State of Affairs (First Family 1)

“Lieutenant Holland, this is Captain Bruce,” Gonzo said, “and Lieutenant Dorsey, the hostage negotiator.”

“Good to meet you both.” Sam sensed instant hostility from both men. Awesome. She could never understand why some officers hated her on sight, when they’d never even met her. Apparently, her reputation preceded her.

“Glad you could make it, Lieutenant,” Dorsey said. “We’ve been talking to the suspect, and he’s very interested in speaking to you personally.”

“I heard. Let’s get me in there.”

“So you’re just going to walk in there, no big deal?” Bruce asked.

Sam gave him a perplexed look. “He wants to talk to me. I want to get my detective’s family members out of there. So yeah, I’m going to walk in there, no big deal. Is that a problem?”

“Not for me,” Bruce said.

“Captain, why don’t you just say what’s on your mind so we can get back to doing our jobs here?”

“I’m just wondering what business the first lady has at a crime scene and how much of a clusterfuck it’s gonna be for me if the first lady gets herself killed on my watch.”

Sam bit back the bitchy reply that burned on the tip of her tongue, which would’ve been something like, Mind your own fucking business. Instead, she said, “Right now, I’m not the first lady. I’m a police commander intent on saving the lives of one of my detectives’ family members. If you’re done wasting time, I’m ready to get to it.”

Gonzo grunted under his breath, which meant he was trying not to laugh.

Giving Sam an openly hostile look, Bruce said, “Fine. Get him on the phone, then.”

Dorsey made the call. “Ezra, I have Lieutenant Holland here, and she’d like to talk to you.” He handed the phone to Sam.

“Hey, Ezra. This is Sam Holland. I heard you wanted to talk to me.”

“Why do you go by Holland when you’re married to the president?”

That was his first question? “I’m Holland on the job. You wanted to talk to me. What can I do for you?”

“I want you to help me.”

“With what?”

“I need you to talk to Gigi. She respects the hell out of you, and if you tell her she needs to listen to me, she’ll do it.”

“I’m afraid I can’t recommend she do that while you’re holding her family and she’s in the hospital with injuries you inflicted.”

“That wasn’t my fault! She wouldn’t listen to me. I tried to tell her…” A muffled sound that might’ve been a sob came through the phone. “I love her so much.”

“If that’s the case, why did you hurt her?”

“I didn’t mean to. I was so scared she would leave me. She stopped taking my calls and wouldn’t answer my texts. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Ezra, you have to know if you hurt her family, you’ll never see her again. Tell me you understand that.”

“I don’t want to hurt them.”

“Then let them go. They haven’t done anything to deserve being put in this position. Please let them go.”

“I can’t do that. If they’re here with me, then Gigi will have to talk to me.”

“She’s in the hospital, Ezra. They had to do surgery to remove her spleen because it ruptured after you punched her in the stomach. Did you know she had surgery?”

“No,” he said, sniffling. “I love her so much. I just wish she’d listen to me.”

“What else can I do to help you? Besides bring her here. If I got her on the phone, would you let her family go?”