Page 9 of State of the Union (First Family 3)

“In the meantime, have a great time with your family and try not to worry.”

“What? Me worry?”

Jeannie laughed. “I’ve got you covered.”

“Thanks, Jeannie, and be careful.”

“Will do.”

Sam closed the phone and sat there for a full minute, thinking about whether she and Jeannie would land in a shit-ton of trouble for pursuing this case after being told not to.

“What’s going on?” Nick asked when he came out of the bathroom.

“Jeannie and Matt are going to Richmond tomorrow to look into a lead on a missing-person case from eleven years ago.”

“Oh wow. Why did I hear you telling her you’re worried about it blowing up in your faces?”

“Because we were told to not pursue the case.”

“Um, why?”

“Remember how I solved one of Stahl’s old murder cases in an afternoon?”

“I do. That was amazing.”

“I agree, but the press is making a thing out of how easily I solved a cold case, and it’s making us look bad rather than good. They don’t want another ‘easily solved’ cold case coming when the FBI is due to release the report of their investigation of the department next month.”

“Ah, I see.”

“But we have a girl missing for eleven years, and Jeannie thinks she’s maybe found the person who took her.”

“You’re going forward with the investigation despite the order?”

“Something like that,” Sam said with a sheepish look. “If she thinks she’s got something solid, we’ll call in the U.S. Marshals and let them take it over the finish line. That way, they get the credit, and we won’t have the press asking how many other cases are sitting on the back burner waiting to be solved once the MPD decides to give a shit.”

“What will Malone and Farnsworth say if they find out she’s in Richmond chasing down leads after they told you guys not to?”

“They won’t be happy, but as Jeannie said, how are we supposed to go on with our lives knowing we might’ve found this girl? She’s no longer a girl, but a full-grown woman now, if she’s even still alive.”

“Playing devil’s advocate… You could call in the marshals now and tell them what you have and let them take it from here.”

“We could do that.”

“But you’re not going to?”

“Jeannie is invested. I want to give her the chance to see it through, almost to the finish line.”

“You know what you’re doing, so I won’t question it. I’ll just say I hope it works out okay and that you guys find the missing girl without getting yourselves in trouble.”

“I’ll try not to cause any bad publicity for you.”

“I don’t care about that, and you know it. I care about you.”

“I’ll be fine. Jeannie and I both believe that finding that girl is what matters. And on that note, I’m back off duty and wondering how we should spend this unexpected moment alone on Christmas Day.”

“I thought we could start with this.” He handed her a long, slender package wrapped in gold paper with a gold bow on top.

“What is it?”