Page 65 of The Night Of

Jonathan walked Felicity across the office, his hand on her back. He eyed me as they passed, his gaze a complicated mix of emotions.

“Ma’am?”

She stilled, turning back to me before she and Jonathan reached the Oval Office door.

“Can I ask you a few, final questions?”

She masked her annoyance with a tired smile. Her eyes tightened as she tilted her head. “I’m not sure now is a good time—”

“There are two missing Secret Service agents: Carter and Wilcox. I understand they were on your detail?”

Her forehead creased, a single line appearing between her eyebrows. “Missing? What do you mean?”

“They haven’t shown up for their shifts since…”

“That’s awful. Do you have any idea where they are?”

“No, ma’am. I was wondering, do you?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Nor do I understand why you’d think I might know their whereabouts.”

“Just looking at every possibility, ma’am.” I tried to smile. I failed. She nodded, turned away—

“That night, at Camp David, where did you go when you took your walk?”

Jonathan scowled, glaring daggers at me over Felicity’s shoulder. She sighed as she turned, but she crossed the Oval and stopped in front of me. She stared me right in my eyes. “I was wandering, Sean, as I told you. I was upset. Steven and I had a terrible fight, and I needed to clear my head.”

“Were you on the trails? Did you stay on the road?”

“It’s hard to remember. I was so upset that night, even before Steven—”

“You said you were going to Hickory?”

“Yes. I wanted a drink.”

Jonathan appeared between me and her. He glared at me and rested his hand on the small of Felicity’s back. “Agent Avery, I think Felicity has been throughenoughtoday—”

“It’s okay.” She laid her hand on Jonathan’s chest and smiled.

My molars scraped against one another.

“Did you, in fact, go down to the pool, ma’am?”

“The night is a blur—”

“It’s important. Did you go down to the pool when you went on your walk, ma’am?” My voice shifted, dropping from questioning to interrogating.

“Sean!” Jonathan barked.

“Yes,” Felicity said, cutting off whatever Jonathan was about to say to me. “Yes, Sean, I was at the pool. What does that matter?”

“I saw you. You met someone there.”

She blinked. “I did. I met Andrew. I told you, I was having a terrible night, and I needed to see a friendly face. Andrew is family. He’d seen how bad Steven had become. How different he was. How much he’d changed. At dinner the night before, and then how he behaved at Camp David…” She shook her head. Pressed her hand to her face and closed her eyes. Her watch slid down her wrist, the silk cuff of her shirt puddling around the bezel.

“He seemed to comfort you.”

“Yes, he did. He’s a good man.” She straightened her shoulders. “I’m not sure what you’re implying, but I don’t like it.”