Page 144 of State of Alert

“How the hell would I know?”

“Sam! Language.”

“That counts as a swear?”

“I’ve been asking for a list,” Avery said, grinning at his wife, “but so far, it seems the rules are being made up as we go.”

When Maisie started to fuss, Shelby took her from her daddy. “Thanks for popping in, Sam. We’ll miss having ya’ll right downstairs. I’m going to put this little girl down for the night. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Sleep tight, little one,” Sam said.

“We’re moving out next week,” Avery added when they were alone. “Thank you again for having us for all this time.”

“I wish you could stay. We like having you here.”

“I’d stay forever if I wasn’t getting flak at work about being too cozy with POTUS and FLOTUS.”

“To hell with them. They’re just jealous.”

He got up to walk her out. “Probably, but the flak is a distraction.”

“It’s good to see you up and about,” Sam said. “I didn’t care for you getting shot, so please don’t let that happen again.”

“I’ll try not to. Hey, before you go… Heard an interesting rumor through the grapevine.”

“What’s that?”

“Juan Rodriguez might not be dead after all.”

Having learned her lesson with her colleagues, she quickly decided to tell Avery the truth. “He’s not.”

“How long have you known?”

“Almost from the start.”

“Hmmm.”

“Hmmm what?”

“Apparently, his best friend and roommate is making some noise about you interviewing him as part of a homicide investigation when you might’ve known he was alive.”

Sam hadn’t seen that coming, even though she was glad to know Isaac had been told the truth. “I was doing what NCIS asked me to do as a matter of national security.”

“You really interviewed the roommate, knowing the guy was alive?”

“Yes! They asked me to conduct the investigation the way I normally would, so that’s what I did.”

“Huh.”

Exasperated now, Sam said, “What else is on your mind, Avery?”

“I think you should expect some trouble over this, Sam. People are a bit… incredulous… that you’d put the guy through it, knowing his friend is alive.”

“Anything else?”

“That’s it.”

She reached for the doorknob to leave. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

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