Page 31 of State of Retribution (First Family #9)

S am was refilling her coffee when Shelby Faircloth Hill popped her head into the kitchen. “Morning.”

“Hey, Tink. How’s it going?”

Shelby wore a pink sweater over leggings. She was back to work very part time as the White House social secretary after giving birth to her daughter, Maisie. “Hanging in there. Just dropped the kids off with the nanny. That whole process was a lot easier when we were living here.”

“I’ll bet. How’s the new place?”

Shelby shrugged. “It’s lovely but doesn’t feel like home yet.”

“That can take a minute, but you’ll get there.”

“I really miss the townhouse where Avery, Noah and I became a family.”

“I know you do, and no one should be forced to move the way you were.” Shelby and Noah had been taken hostage in their home by Willy and Amber Peckham, criminals from Avery’s past. The Hill family was now living behind iron gates with a top-of-the-line security system protecting them.

“That’s true, and I do feel safe in the new place. It’s just not home yet, but it will be.”

“Have a party soon. Having your people there will make it feel more like home.”

“That’s a good idea. We’ll do that soon.”

“Don’t forget to invite us.”

Shelby laughed. “As if.”

“We miss you around here.”

“We miss being here. I’m trying to get Avery to be my butler, but he’s not having it.”

Laughing, Sam said, “I can’t imagine why not.”

“Neither can I. I’m not giving up on it just yet.” She tipped her head. “Heard about what happened yesterday. How’re you doing?”

“I’m okay as long as Jimmy is.”

“Were you hurt at all?”

“Some bruises, aches and pains here and there, but nothing I can’t handle. Could’ve been much worse all around.”

“What the heck is going on this week?”

“I don’t know, but it’s got me temporarily grounded.”

“For real?”

“Yep. We have a meeting with the Secret Service at nine. I’m hoping we can work something out to get me back out there.”

“Gosh, this is all so upsetting. Here you two are, trying to serve the people and getting nothing but… crap in return.”

“Was that nearly a swear out of your sweet mouth, Shelby Lynn?”

She scowled. “It makes me very angry when people are mean to my friends who are like family.”

Sam hugged her friend. “Thank you for being our family and coming back to work when you should be on maternity leave. It means everything to us to have our people close by.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, and honestly, being at work gives me a little bit of a break. Two kids is more than twice as much, especially when the older one is used to having me all to himself.”

“I’ve heard that.”

“How will Angela do three by herself?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll all pitch in and get her through it.”

“Yes, we will. I’d better get to it before it’s time to feed Ms. Maisie again.”

“Thanks for everything, Tink.”

“Love you,” Shelby said as she walked away.

“Love you, too.”

With thirty minutes until the Secret Service meeting, Sam went into her room to finish making herself presentable and to summon the fortitude to once again fight for the career that meant so much to her.

Secret Service Director Ambrose Pierce had asked for a few minutes alone with Nick ahead of the nine o’clock meeting. At eight forty-five, Director Pierce was shown into the Oval Office. Nick got up to greet him with a handshake and the offer of coffee.

“Already had my allotment for the day, Mr. President.” Pierce was about six foot three, with the burly build of a former college football player. He had a shock of white hair and blue eyes.

“Have a seat.”

They settled on sofas facing each other.

“You asked for this meeting,” Nick said. “What can I do for you?”

“It’s been quite a week for all of us, and I wanted to touch base to let you know that our team has been assessing both incidents and thoroughly reviewing what went right and what went wrong in both cases. We take these things extremely seriously, as you can imagine.”

“I have no doubt you all are doing everything possible to keep our family safe. I was glad to hear that Agent McFarland had a good night and is expected to make a full recovery.”

“That’s a huge relief to all of us. He’s an excellent young agent.”

“My wife speaks very highly of him and Agent Rogers.”

“They speak highly of her as well. They admire the way she does the job while managing everything that goes along with being a mother and first lady.”

“It’s a balancing act, to be certain, but she’s making it work.”

“Yesterday’s incident has put everyone on edge, sir. Our collective feeling is that it’s becoming much more dangerous for her to be so exposed on the job.”

Nick’s heart sank. That the most sophisticated security organization in the world thought it was too dangerous for Sam to do her job made him want to forget all about the deal he’d made with her after becoming president.

The husband who loved his wife with all his heart wanted her off the job immediately.

The husband who knew what it took to make her happy would fight for what she wanted.

“Sam’s job has always been dangerous. I wish this was the first time someone had taken a shot at her, but it’s not, and it probably won’t be the last time either.”

“This is the first time it’s happened on our watch, sir.”

“I hear your concerns, and I respect your position, but my wife will remain on the job for the duration of my presidency. It’s our job, yours and mine, to make that as safe as we possibly can without limiting her ability to move around.”

Ambrose didn’t like that answer. He didn’t like it at all. But he only said, “Yes, sir.”

“Is that all?”

“I also wanted to give you a heads-up as to why we’d originally requested this meeting with you and Mrs. Cappuano. We wanted to speak to you about your high school plans for Scotty.”

“He’ll attend Eastern, beginning in the fall.”

“We wondered if you might consider a private school with enhanced security. Not that the District schools aren’t safe, but the public schools do present some additional challenges for our team that wouldn’t be present in a private school.”

“I hope you’re not referring to socioeconomic or racial concerns.”

“Of course not. We’re mostly focused on logistics versus population.”

Nick wasn’t sure he believed that’s all it was. “Sam and I are both products of public schools, and we’re big supporters of public education.”

“Yes, sir, but we’re looking at it from a security point of view. Having him on a campus with gates would be preferable to a more accessible location.”

“I’d prefer to wait until my wife is present to discuss this any further.”

“Understood. I’ll return with the rest of our team in a few minutes, then.”

“Thank you, Ambrose.”

“My pleasure, Mr. President.”

When he was alone, Nick stewed over the information Ambrose had provided.

Scotty would be heartbroken if he couldn’t attend high school with the friends he’d made in middle school.

Through hockey and other activities, he’d made some good friends, and the thought of disrupting his life any more than it had already been by Secret Service agents and the move to the White House made Nick feel terrible.

With every passing day, his job seemed to make the lives of his family that much more complicated and dangerous, or so it seemed to him. No one would be talking about taking Sam off the job or sending Scotty to private high school if he wasn’t the president.

He disliked a lot of things about this job, but the challenges for his family were right at the top of that list. Hearing Ambrose say his team was concerned about Sam’s job becoming even more dangerous had hit him in his most vulnerable spot.

At his morning briefing, he’d been shown a video of the incident in Adams Morgan.

Nick had braced himself for the sound of the gunshot, for Jimmy’s instant reaction and how he’d saved Sam’s life by diving on top of her, but nothing could’ve prepared him to witness just how close he’d once again come to losing her.

In some ways, he felt like they were playing a gigantic game of Russian roulette by having her working on the streets, hunting down murderers. But if he asked her to quit, he’d be asking her to stop being who she was, and he simply couldn’t do that. Not to mention, she’d never forgive him.

His admin, Julie, came to the door. “Mrs. Cappuano is here, Mr. President.”

Nick forced himself to rally, to smile, to welcome her with a hug. “Nice to see you, Mrs. C.”

“You just saw me two hours ago.”

“That feels like a long time ago.”

“Has it been that kind of day?”

“Aren’t they all that kind of day?”

He sat with her on the sofa, holding her hand and breathing in the distinctive lavender and vanilla scent that came with her.

“Look at us,” Sam said. “Chilling in the Oval Office like it’s no big deal. Just another day.”

“Is it becoming routine?”

“Not quite there yet.”

“Me either. It’s still surreal, even almost six months later.”

“We only have to do five more sets of six months, and then we’re home free.”

“Five more sets. I was better off not knowing that.”

She laughed. “Sorry. What’s the word on the street about this meeting?”

“Among other things, they want to talk about Scotty and high school.”

“What about it?”

“There’s a suggestion coming that we might want to consider private school with enhanced security.”

“He’d hate us for that.”

“That’s what I told Ambrose when he gave me the heads-up about it.”

“We can’t do that to him. He’s made such a nice group of friends, and they’re all excited to stay together at Eastern next year.”

Most of Scotty’s closest school friends had played youth hockey with him and would be continuing into Caps Cup high school hockey next year.

The thought of separating him from them at school broke Nick’s heart.

“That’s what I said to Ambrose, and I mentioned how we’re products of public school and big supporters of the public path. ”

“It makes me sweaty to even think about bringing this up with him.”

“I know. Same.”

“What’d he say about me?”