Page 48 of State of Suspense

“I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Make it a quick minute. We’re in a hurry.”

Four minutes later, Sam’s head was about to blow off her neck. “Where the hell is he?”

Freddie pounded on the door again as he looked through the glass on the right side of the door. “He’s going out the back!”

They took off running, going in opposite directions toward the back of the block-long building.

Sam was aware of one of her Secret Service agents running after her, but she didn’t take the time to figure out which one. Her chest and legs burned from the effort, proving she’d fallen badly out of shape while dining on White House cuisine. She rounded the corner and slammed head-on into Bryant, who was running even faster than she was. The impact sent both of them flying.

She managed to grab his shirt before she landed hard on her right hand, crying out from the pain that radiated from wrist to shoulder. Part of him had connected with her left cheek, which hurt like the devil as she forced herself to keep her wits about her, to grab her cuffs, to get them on him and then to try to catch her breath while managing a hand that didn’t want to work the way it was supposed to.

And then a sharp pain from the vicinity of her hip registered, overtaking every other concern. If she’d rebroken her recently healed hip, she would kill Bryant with her bare hands.

Chapter Nine

She wasn’t sure how long she sat on top of Bryant, struggling to breathe, before Freddie appeared. When he saw her sitting on top of the congressman, he stepped up his pace.

“Look at you. I called for backup. Should be here any second.”

Sam glanced up at him.

He gasped. “You’re hurt.”

“Nah, I’m fine.”

“Your face is bleeding.”

She reached up to see what he was talking about and came away with bloodstained fingers. “Son of a bitch.” Why did these things always have to happen right before a big event? Never failed.

“This is police brutality!” Bryant shouted.

“Shut up. You ran from us. Why’d you do that?”

“Cuz I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

Sam moved carefully to get up, waving off Freddie’s offer of help. Searing pain from her hip had her biting back a gasp.

“What happened to your hand?” Freddie asked.

“Nothing. Why?”

“It’s bleeding and hanging like it’s broken.”

“It’s not broken.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Nope.”

“Sam…”

“Let’s get him back to HQ so we can ask our questions.”

Bryant resisted Freddie’s attempt to walk him toward the corner, where an MPD cruiser awaited. “I want my lawyer! You’ll regret treating me this way. I’m still a United States congressman!”

Sam gave him a scathing look. “Tell it to the judge.”

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