Page 25 of State of Retribution (First Family #9)

A s Erica ushered the Priors out of the room, Archie felt Harlowe’s body go slack with relief.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said.

“I remembered something. Of course it had to be something I’d rather forget.”

“That must’ve been a terrible thing to go through.”

“I’m pretty sure it was awful.”

“It’s over now. In the past. Whatever it was, whatever he was, he’s no one to you now.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“I get now why you wanted to relocate.”

“I had to get out of there after the divorce. I remember feeling smothered and outraged that my own parents weren’t fully supporting me.

I came back to the place where I was happy before I made the mistake of marrying my childhood friend.

” She glanced at him. “I wish I didn’t remember him.

” She shuddered. “He fooled me. He fooled everyone. There was a whole other side to him that no one saw until it was too late for me.”

“Did he hit you?”

She nodded. “Always in places where no one would see the evidence.” Looking up at him with big eyes, she said, “I liked it better when I couldn’t remember that.”

“Is there any chance he followed you here and could’ve done this to you?”

Her shocked expression made him sorry for not asking the question in a gentler way. “I… I don’t think so. He was told to stay away from me when the charges were dropped.”

“That doesn’t always work to stop someone with an agenda. Would he know to look for you here?”

She hesitated before nodding. “I never wanted to move back to Pittsburgh. I fell in love with DC during college and wanted to live here forever, but he had a better job than mine and wouldn’t consider relocating, so I did. But he’d probably guess that I’d come back here as soon as I could.”

“Would you mind if Erica looked into his whereabouts during the time you were missing and asked your parents if they told him where you were?”

“N-no. I don’t mind. But they wouldn’t have done that. Would they?”

Those last two words were full of hurt and bewilderment. His almost primal need to protect her from any more hurt confirmed that he’d probably fallen in love with her the minute he saw her and would do anything he could to keep her safe. “I really hope not.”

“FLOTUS is on the way home, sir,” Nick’s lead agent, John Brantley Jr., said as he accompanied Nick for the walk “home” to the residence.

“Thanks, Brant. Let’s meet her in the foyer. What’re you hearing from the field?”

“Nothing other than that they’re widening the net in their search for the drone that fired the shot.”

“And how is Agent McFarland?”

“Out of surgery and in recovery. His wife is with him, and his parents are on the way.”

“That’s a relief. My wife is quite fond of him and Vernon.”

“Yes, sir. They’re great agents and good people. We’re all happy to hear the news from the hospital.”

“Today was a tough day for you guys, but I hope you know how thankful I am… How incredibly grateful…” Nick’s voice failed him as he was overcome by what could’ve happened.

“We know, sir. Agent McFarland did everything right when it mattered.”

“He sure did, but the fact that it happened in the first place will give me nightmares.”

“Us, too, sir.”

Hearing that his precious wife was involved in a Secret Service worst-case scenario did nothing to settle the disquiet raging within him.

“I’m not sure what to do, Brant. If I ask her to give up the thing that makes her who she is, she’ll never forgive me. But if I don’t, how will I live with myself if something happens to her?”

“It’s a dilemma, to be certain, sir.”

“Do you know what the meeting is about tomorrow?”

“I do, but I’ve been asked to refrain from discussing it until then.”

“I’m sure there’ll be additional agenda items after today.”

“Yes, sir.”

Nick had felt as if he had a thousand-pound weight on his shoulders since the incident on Monday. It had gotten much heavier after today’s events.

When they reached the lobby area, Chief Usher Gideon Lawson was consulting with George, one of the other ushers.

“Good evening, Mr. President.”

Nick nodded to them. “Evening, Gideon and George.”

“We were told that Mrs. Cappuano is on her way home.”

“That’s why I’m here, too.”

“Yes, sir. We’re relieved to hear she’s uninjured and that Agent McFarland is expected to make a full recovery.”

“Me, too.” The understatement of my lifetime .

Sam’s SUV came rolling up the driveway five minutes later. The others moved aside so Nick was the one waiting for her when she came through the door and stepped straight into his embrace.

“Hey,” she said. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Thanks for coming home.”

“I do what I can for you.”

“Welcome home, Mrs. Cappuano,” Gideon said.

“Thank you,” she said, her gaze including him, George and Brant.

Nick put his arm around her shoulders and headed for the red-carpeted stairs to the residence. “Rarely have I ever been this happy to see you.”

“I can think of a few times when you were happier.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry this happened.”

“As am I, but deeply, deeply thankful that Jimmy will be okay. His first baby is due in June… That was all I could think about until I heard…” She took a second to collect herself. “That he’d be okay.”

“Thank God for that.”

“What do the kids know?”

“Scotty texted me that he heard the news, but he said the twins don’t know, and I think we should keep it that way.”

“Agreed. They don’t need to know, especially when Aubrey is already having a tough day.”

“Eli also texted both of us to say holy shit and thank goodness you’re okay. Not sure if you’ve seen that yet.”

“I’ll reply to him and a million other people later.”

Though they could hear the sound of voices coming from the third-floor conservatory, Nick stopped her from heading in that direction and waylaid her into the family kitchen. “I need one minute for this.” He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight. “Just this.”

Sam relaxed into his warm embrace as the adrenaline she’d brought home with her seemed to leave her system in one big whoosh that left her legs feeling weak.

“Another close call,” he said. “Too many of those.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. It’s not your fault. It’s mine.”

“How so?”

“I sent our already high profile into the stratosphere, and now everyone is gunning for both of us.”

“Not everyone. Just today, I heard from multiple people who are very pleased to have us in the White House and think you’re doing a great job. I think one of them wants to date you if the opportunity presents itself.”

He scowled. “I’m off the market, and my wife has a very sharp, very rusty steak knife that she’s not afraid to use.”

“That’s right, and don’t forget it.”

“I wish we could take our kids and run away somewhere that no one could find us, where we could live happily ever after without anyone wanting to kill us or run us out of town or expect us to fix everything that’s wrong with the world.”

“Let’s go to Bora Bora tonight after the kids are in bed. We need the getaway, even if it’s imaginary.”

“Yes, please.”

“My dad used to tell us that no matter what was bringing us down at any given moment, it wouldn’t always be that way. ‘This too shall pass,’ he’d say. Let’s remember that on days like today, okay?”

“I wish he was here to tell us that himself.”

“I wish that every single day.”

“So do I. I miss him like crazy. He would’ve loved all this, except for the drones with guns and the randos shooting at his daughter, of course.”

“Of course,” she said with a laugh. “Let’s go check on our kids. Scotty will be anxious to see me.”

Nick gave her one more tight squeeze. “More of this later, yes?”

“Absolutely.”

Holding hands, they went upstairs to the conservatory, where Sam’s mom, Brenda, as well as Shelby, Noah and baby Maisie were hanging out with the kids.

When he saw them coming, Scotty got up and came to hug Sam. “Thanks for not getting shot.”

She clung to him, resting her face on the top of his silky head. “I do what I can for the people.”

“Please don’t do that to me again.”

“I’ll try not to.”

She kept expecting him to release her, but he didn’t, so she held on until he let go.

As he pulled back from her, she saw tears in his eyes that broke her heart. “I’m okay, buddy. I promise.”

“And Jimmy is, too?”

“He will be.”

“That’s good.”

Sam’s mom came over to give her a hug. “Nice to see you.”

“Nice to be seen.”

“You’re all right?”

“I’m fine as long as Jimmy is.”

“Too close for comfort.”

“Indeed.”

The twins finished the show they’d been watching and came running over to see Sam and Nick, chirping about the show, their day, the snack they’d had and how funny Grandma Brenda was—all in the space of ten seconds.

Sam knelt to embrace them both, breathing in the scents of shampoo and sugar that came with them.

She was relieved to see Aubrey in good spirits.

Rebecca had advised they do everything in their power to reassure Aubrey that the police were working on figuring out what happened at the Easter Egg Roll and that she should try not to worry because their family was very well protected.

Sam would make a point of having a one-on-one conversation with the little girl before bedtime, and Nick had agreed to do the same.

Eli planned to FaceTime with them after dinner.

Sam got about two seconds of closeness with the twins before they were squirming to bust loose. As she stood, her phone rang with a call from Freddie.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“Two things. First, Walters got something on the video review from Friday night. He’s got an obvious struggle between two people and a white sedan idling nearby that took off after one person pushed the other in and jumped in after.

It was too dark to get any other identifying features of the car or people, but it’s something. ”

“Sure is.”

“On that same note, he’s put together a list of busier locations around the city with dark areas. We’ve asked Patrol to give those spots some added attention.”