letter?”
Sighing, he looked defeated when he said, “I don’t know. How do I let everyone out of here and go about my life with full protection while hoping whoever made the threat doesn’t make good on it with someone who isn’t protected?”
“Are you guys fighting?” Scotty asked in a small voice from the doorway.
Nick said “no” as Sam said “yes.”
After a second, the three of them laughed.
“I love how you fight about whether or not you’re fighting,” Scotty said, seeming relieved that they were at least laughing.
“This is a stressful situation for all of us, buddy,” Nick said. “No one wants to be stuck in this dungeon, least of all your mother.”
Scotty snorted with laughter. “She’s like a toddler in situations like this.”
“Um, excuse me, the toddler is in the room.”
His smile lit up his face and made his eyes dance with mischief.
Sam loved him so damned much. He always made everything better, even shitty situations like this one. “You know what I need right now?”
“Am I allowed to hear this?” Scotty asked.
“Ewww, knock it off, brat!”
“Well, I do have to witness an awful lot of kissing in my house. I’ve learned to be wary.”
“How does he know words like wary?” Sam asked Nick.
“It was your idea to send him to school,” he replied, making Scotty laugh again.
Sam rolled her eyes. “What I was going to say is I want to play one of those video games where I get to shoot people. I really need to shoot someone.”
“I can set you up,” Scotty said. “Step into my office.”
“He’s too smart for our own good,” Sam said to Nick as they followed their son into the common area where the Secret Service had placed Scotty’s game station. They knew what it would take to entertain him in the underground bunker.
“He’s perfect,” Nick said, his lips close to her ear.
She shivered from his touch. “He sure is.”
MUCH LATER, AFTER having had the satisfaction of shooting thousands of bad guys, Sam lay awake next to Nick, thinking it through from all possible angles. At times like this, it was nearly impossible to turn off her detective’s brain. Her dad always advised starting from the beginning when a case stalled out, so that’s what she did.
After months of having the agents close by at all times, one thing was clear to her—they didn’t overreact unless they had a damned good reason to. In the course of a week, they must get all kinds of threats against the first and second families. What had been so different about this one to warrant a reaction like this?
“What aren’t you telling me?” she asked, knowing Nick was still awake. His breathing was deeper when he was asleep.
“What do you mean?”
“It doesn’t add up. Your office receives a letter with a threat, and the Secret Service goes dragnet on us. How many threats do they receive directed at us and the Nelsons in a given week?”
“A lot. Brant told me they’ve had more threats toward me in six months than they had toward Gooding in three years.”
The thought of lunatics threatening her husband made her queasy. “Why such an uptick?”
“They think it was because I was appointed rather than elected.”
“What was different about this one?”
“I told you what it said.”
“You told me part of it. Now would be a great time to tell me what we’re really doing stuck in this cement prison.”
After a long silence, she heard his deep sigh. Then his hand found hers, and he linked their fingers. “The smudged postmark.”
“What about it?”
“The FBI has seen that particular mark once before in a threat that was traced to a faction of the Islamic State that’s known for brutality against women and children. They think there’s something in the timing of the letter being sent while I was in Iran, and they’ve got counterterrorism people looking into that angle.”
Sam’s mouth went dry, and her heart began to beat wildly. “Why didn’t you tell me this before now?”
“I didn’t see the point in scaring you further when everyone is with us and perfectly safe.”
Sam pulled her hand free of his. “You didn’t see the point. Remember how pissed you’d get when I kept things from you? You tell me we’re better than that, but I guess that only applies to my work, not yours.” She sat up and reached for the T-shirt she’d left at the foot of the bed.
“Where’re you going?”
“I want to talk to Brant about getting me out of here. I can’t help figure this out if I’m stuck down here.”
“You’re not leaving, Samantha.”
“You don’t get to decide that for me. I don’t have Secret Service protection. That was our deal when you took this job, and I expect you to honor our agreement. I don’t technically have to be here.” She pulled on shorts and jammed her feet into flip-flops.
“Please don’t do this.”
“What am I doing?”
“You’re putting me in an impossible position. I already feel impotent enough that I can’t do a fucking thing to protect my family, because I’m not allowed to breathe without the Secret Service’s permission.”
“That’s your situation. Not mine.”
“Sam, you’re my wife.”
“Do you honestly think I need you to tell me that? I know who I’m married to, and if someone threatens you and our loved ones, they threaten me too. All I’m asking for is a chance to do something about it rather than being trapped here with my thumb up my ass, hoping someone else will figure out who the fuck sent that letter. Let me go do what I do best.”
“No.”
“Again with the one-word answer.”
“The Secret Service won’t let you out of here unless I specifically authorize you to leave, so don’t try anything.”
She headed for the door to their room. “I hope you’re enjoying your little power trip.”
“Sam,
