Page 112 of State of Alert

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Sam’s phone rang with a local number she didn’t recognize. “Holland.”

“It’s Cori Sawyer.”

“Judge Sawyer. How nice to hear from you.”

“If I can call you Sam, you should call me Cori.”

Sam had liked the federal judge from the first time she met her. “Deal.”

“I wanted to thank you for catching Harlan Peckham and allowing me to breathe deeply again for the first time in days.”

She wanted to say that she did what she could for the people, but she wouldn’t be flippant with a federal judge, even if Cori had begun to feel like a friend. “I’m glad we got him, but I wish we could’ve done it before we lost Tom and nearly lost Avery.”

“Tom’s death is a terrible tragedy, but I’m deeply grateful to hear that Agent Hill is on the mend, especially after he just became a daddy again.”

“Yes, for sure. He and his wife are close friends of ours. We’re very relieved.”

“Of course I knew you were friendly with him and his wife. In addition to my relief at hearing Harlan is in jailwhere he belongs, I have a second reason for my call. I wanted to invite you and your husband to a dinner party next month. I’m known for my parties, and I think you’d enjoy it. I promise a friendly group who’ll be thrilled to meet you both.”

Sam wanted to say no. She had no desire to spend a Saturday night with people she didn’t know when she didn’t get enough time with the people shedidwant to see.

“I bet that sounds like hell to you,” Cori said with a laugh.

Sam laughed at the blunt statement. “Not at all.”

“Sure it does, but I think you’ll enjoy it, and if you don’t, you can feel free to leave whenever you’d like.”

“It’s nice of you to ask us. We’d love to come, if we’re free.”

“I’ll plan it for a night that works for your schedule.”

“There’ll be Secret Service nonsense.”

“That’s no problem at all. Who should I talk to about coordinating things?”

“Lilia Von Nostrand at the White House. I’ll send you her contact info.”

“Excellent, and I’ll look forward to seeing you soon. Thank you again for what you do, Sam. I’m sure the cases blur together after a while, but there’re real people who are safer because of you.”

“That’s nice of you to say. I don’t get to hear from the people we save very often.”

“Well, now you have, and I’m deeply grateful. I’ll see you soon.”

“Thanks for calling, Cori.”

“Of course.”

Sam closed the phone and glanced into the morgue, where Lindsey was at her desk, coffee cup in hand as she stared at her computer screen.

Sam experienced a rare feeling of anxiety as she stopped in to see her friend. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Lindsey said without looking away from thecomputer. “I was going to hit you up to let you know that the sailor’s body has been returned to his family.”

“Thank you for handling that.”

“What’s the plan for Juan now?”

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