Page 39 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

“I was just thinking that maybe we should consider letting them have the kids.”

If Nick had been struck by lightning, he wouldn’t have been any more shocked than he was to hear that. “What happened, Elijah?” He’d been there when Cleo’s sister and her husband had tried to strong-arm their way into the twins’ lives and had been as appalled by their behavior as Sam and Nick had been.

“Nothing happened.”

“Elijah, I’d like to think you and I have reached the point where we trust each other.”

“We have. Of course we have.”

“Then you need to talk to me and tell me why you’re thinking the kids might belong with people we’ve already agreed wouldn’t be good for them.”

“I can’t tell you. You’ll never look at me the same way again if I do.”

“I’m going to come there.”

“What? You can’t just come here. You need a motorcade and planning and… You can’t.”

“I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

“Nick… Don’t.”

“What time do you have class tomorrow?”

“Not until one.”

“Then you come here. Tell your detail you need to come down right now.”

“Will they do that?”

“I’ll talk to the Secret Service and make it happen.”

“Okay.”

“Whatever is wrong, Eli, we’ll figure it out together. And for the record, there’s nothing you could tell me that would change how Sam and I feel about you or the kids.”

“Don’t be so sure about that.”

Nick hadn’t heard Elijah sound so despondent since his dad and stepmother had been murdered. “I am sure about that. Go tell your detail what you need.”

“Okay.”

As he ended the call, all Nick could think was, What now? What had happened that had upset Elijah to the point that he was considering surrendering custody of the twins to people who hadn’t wanted anything to do with them until their parents’ killer had been caught? When Sam had called them during the course of the investigation, they’d never even asked how the children were or where they were.

Those people would get custody of those beautiful kids over Nick’s cold, dead body. He went downstairs to speak to Nate, the agent positioned at the top of the stairs that led to the residence.

“Good evening, Mr. President,” Nate said. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Yes, Nate. Elijah needs to come here from Princeton right away. He’s speaking to his detail about transport, but I was hoping to add my request for urgency.”

“Of course, sir. We’ll see to that right away.”

Even with the Secret Service motorcade to cut through any traffic, it would still be close to three hours before Eli arrived. Until then, Nick was left to wonder what the hell was going on.

He was about to return to his bedroom when Sam appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking tired after being called back to work. Nick waited for her as she trudged up the red-carpeted stairs and took the hand he held out to her.

“I just heard from Eli’s detail, Mr. President,” Nate said. “We’re all set.”

“Thank you very much, Nate.”