Page 63 of State of Retribution (First Family #9)

“Thank you. You know… for everything. All of it.”

“We’re the ones who should be thanking you,” Sam said, giving him a squeeze. “Having you around has made our lives complete.”

“That’s nice to hear.”

“Don’t act like you didn’t already know that.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be cocky or anything.”

As always, he made them laugh.

“Be good, everyone.”

“We’re always good, Sam,” Aubrey said.

“Yes, you sure are. We’ll see you in the morning.”

Nick took hold of her hand as they went downstairs together. “Greatest kids ever and date night with my best girl. Life is good.”

“Sure is, except for the part about having to clean out our old house.” She made a frowny face. “The fun never ends.”

“It’ll be fun because we get to do it together.”

“Yes, it will. Thank you for the reminder that all we need is each other to have fun.”

He patted her ass. “Since when do you need a reminder of that?”

“After this week, my brain is barely functioning.”

The media coverage of the whole mess had been relentless, and they weren’t letting go of the Hector Reese story.

They’d determined that the so-called reporter who’d reached out with questions about the Fitzgerald case was probably either Offenbach or Ramsey, disguising their voice.

Thankfully, the media hadn’t caught wind of that story.

Not yet, anyway. The fact that Ramsey and Offenbach knew about it thanks to that fucking rat Conklin meant it might still become public, which meant she’d also continue to worry about it. That was probably their goal.

In consultation with Jeannie, the chief and Malone, they’d agreed to “play dumb” if that happened. “We have no idea what you’re talking about. That never happened.” Or something to that effect.

Malone believed if the two men had the full details, they would’ve taken it to the media the way they’d done with the Reese case.

Conklin must’ve told them only that Skip—and later Sam and Jeannie—had cut someone a break in a murder case and hadn’t tied it to the Tyler Fitzgerald case, Steven Coyne’s widow, Alice Fitzgerald, or the family she’d had with her second husband.

The last thing in the world Sam wanted was for Alice to be put through another ordeal when she’d already had more than her share after losing her first husband and then her young son to murder.

As they were loaded into The Beast for the ride to Ninth Street, Sam was determined to push the crap out of her mind to enjoy a few hours alone with her love.

When Memphis Rose opened her eyes, she had no idea where she was and was surprised to see Jesse sitting by her side, looking distraught. When she tried to move, her right leg wasn’t having it. A blast of pain made her gasp.

“Easy,” he said. “Don’t try to move around. They want you to stay still.”

“What happened?” Her mouth was so dry, it was hard to speak.

“You got shot in the thigh.”

She had no memory of anything after being in the woods with Jesse and their team, looking for Offenbach. “Hurts.”

He smoothed the hair back from her forehead. “I know, baby.”

Did he call me baby ? What is happening? “Is there water?”

“Yeah, right here.” He held the straw for the best sip of cold water she’d ever taken.

“Did we get him?”

“We did.”

“Anyone killed?”

He shook his head. “An FBI agent got hit in the vest. Busted a rib, but he’s okay.”

“What about the perp?”

“Taken alive.”

“Good.”

“Yeah, he deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life, especially for shooting you.”

“You look rough. Are you okay?”

“I’m better now.”

“How come?”

He dropped his head to rest on their joined hands. “Because you didn’t die.”

“Did you think I would?”

“It was possible. You lost a lot of blood. Took forever to get you out of there, or so it seemed.”

“I’m sorry.”

When his head whipped up, she was shocked to see tears in his eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

“I made you worry.”

“You scared the shit out of me.”

“I’ll try not to do that again.”

“That’d be good. I didn’t enjoy this experience one bit.”

“Are you being funny, Jesse?”

“No, I’m not being funny. Today was one of the worst days I’ve ever had, thinking I was going to lose… well… you.”

“And that would’ve been bad?”

“Yeah. Woulda been a ton of paperwork.”

Her mouth fell open in the second before he laughed. Jesse Best laughed .

“Are you drunk or something?”

“No, but I’d like to be. Anything to forget how close we came to disaster.”

“I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not, but you will be. Your mom and grandmother are on the way.”

“What? You called them? Why?”

“It’s what we do when someone gets hurt on the job. We notify the next of kin.”

“Did you call them yourself?”

“Yes, I called them myself. What kind of jerk do you take me for?”

“Am I allowed to answer that question honestly?”

Scowling, he said, “No, you’re not.”

“More water, please.”

He held the cup and the straw while she took greedy sips of the best-tasting thing she’d ever had.

“When are they coming?”

“They land at DCA at nine.”

“What time is it now?”

“Seven thirty.”

“You might want to get out of here before they arrive. They’ll drive you batshit crazy.”

“It’s fine.”

Her eyelids were too heavy to stay open. “Seriously, Jesse. Get out while you can.”

“I’m not going anywhere, so quit trying to get rid of me.”

They were the best words he’d ever said to her. Maybe her getting shot in the leg would turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to them. Wouldn’t that be something?

“What should we do for dinner?” Sam asked on the ride to Ninth Street. “Takeout?”

Nick curled his fingers around hers. “We’ll think of something, I’m sure.” Leaning forward in his seat, he looked out the window. “So this is what the outside world looks like. I asked them to take us the long way so I could catch a glimpse of the cherry blossoms.”

“Oh, good call. I haven’t seen them yet either.”

“I always think of our wedding day when they bloom.”

“We got lucky that they came early that year,” Sam said, remembering one of the best days of her life.

“We got lucky in more ways than one that day.”

“Best day ever. Right up there with Scotty’s adoption and April twentieth of this year.”

“Five more days until they’re ours forever,” he said. “I can’t wait.”

“I know. Aubrey is so excited about the party that night.”

“Cutest daughter ever.”

“We have four kids!”

Nick gave her a squeeze. “Look at us.”

“Sometimes when I think about how it all happened… It’s still surreal. When I offered to care for Alden and Aubrey, I never imagined it’d be forever.”

“Or that we’d get Elijah out of it, too.”

“Right. And a daughter-in-law.”

“We have a daughter-in-law .”

His giddiness touched her heart. All she’d ever wanted for him was the family he’d never had before. Seeing him in dad mode was one of her favorite things.

“I’d like to go on the record saying if they make me a grandmother before I’m forty, I’ll never forgive them.”

His laughter sparked hers. “Can you even imagine?”

“Absolutely not. SNL would have a blast with that.”

“They’d be ruthless. Hopefully, they’ll wait a while before they have children. They’re still so young.”

“God, I hadn’t even thought about grandkids. This expedited parenthood thing isn’t for the faint of heart.”

“No kidding.”

“I hope Jameson and Cleo would approve of us,” Sam said.

“I’d like to think they would. If they’re watching, they’re seeing their babies being very well loved by our entire village.”

“For sure, although they might not have chosen for them to grow up in the White House village.”

“But what a cool and unique childhood it’ll be for them. They’ll tell stories about it for the rest of their lives.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Speaking of cool and unique, I received an invitation to meet the king and queen of England at Buckingham Palace.”

Sam sat up so she could see him. “Shut. Right. Up. ”

“I wondered if you might like to come with me.”

“Duh.”

Chuckling, he said, “I thought we might also swing a trip to Paris to see the French president, since we’ll be in the neighborhood.”

“ London and Paris? Am I dreaming? When?”

“June.”

“It’s later in June, so we might get lucky and have the new babies before we go.”

“That’d be good. Can we bring the kids, since they’ll be out of school?”

“Absolutely.”

“I want to do high tea with Aubrey.”

“We’ll do it all, babe.”

“Do you think the Littles will like that kind of trip?”

“They’re usually up for whatever we want to do, especially if Eli and Scotty are there and excited about it.”

“That’s true. They tend to follow their lead. Wow, this just gets more interesting all the time. London and Paris! Sign me up!”

“I’m glad you’re excited about it.”

“It’s even better if we bring the kids and don’t have to miss them.”

“What’ll we do with the terrorist puppy?”

“I’m sure my mom would take her. She loves Miss Skippy.”

“That’d be great. Scotty would feel good leaving Skippy with Nana.”

When they took the turn onto Ninth Street, Sam ran her fingers through her hair.

As the car stopped in front of their home, the first thing Sam noticed was the ramp was gone, and the concrete stairs had been rebuilt.

For a second, all she could do was stare at the vastly different landscape outside their former home.

Then Brant opened the door for them, and Nick took her hand to lead her out of the car.

“That was fast,” she said when they were on the sidewalk. She couldn’t stop staring at the spot where the ramp had once been.

“Craig was able to fit it in yesterday. I should’ve told you that.”

“No, it’s fine. I knew it was imminent.” She glanced to her right to see the one in front of her dad’s home was gone, too. “Everything is different now.”

Nick put his arm around her. “Not everything. Some things are exactly the same, including his overwhelming love for you and the rest of us. He’s so much a part of us, Sam. He always will be.”

Moved by his sweet words, she nodded and went with him up the stairs and into the house they used to call home.

The place was completely empty.