Page 156 of State of Alert

“Why’d you take us out the side?” Nick asked Brant when they were standing next to The Beast. Sam had gotten in ahead of him to call Freddie.

“A massive gathering of press materialized while you were inside, and from what we heard, they were planning to ambush the first lady about the Juan Rodriguez situation. Over the last hour, every major media outlet has reported on the story.”

“What’re they saying?”

“That she interviewed his grief-stricken roommate while knowing that Juan wasn’t dead.”

“Shit.”

“From what I can see, it’s blowing up into a big story.”

“Just what we needed.”

“Yes, sir, that was my thought as well. We’re still going back to the White House?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Brant held the door for Nick until he was settled inside the car, next to Sam, who was still on the phone.

“What is?” she asked. “Seriously? Okay, well, we’re going to address it in the interview. Yes, I hear you. I’ll be there soon.”She slapped the phone closed. “The shit storm with Juan’s roommate has gone nuclear.”

“I heard. Brant said every major outlet has published or aired something on it while we were at the funeral.”

“So I heard. I’m sorry if this causes a problem for you.”

“Don’t worry about me. This doesn’t even count as a problem in the grand scheme of things.”

“It’ll make me look like an asshole.”

He reached for her hand. “You’ll explain why you did it in the interview, and we’ll ask them to release that portion of it ASAP. It’ll be fine.”

“I wish I shared your optimism. Between this and Ramsey’s outburst, it’s going to be an I-hate-Sam-Holland kinda day.”

“Not for me. Every day is an I-love-Sam-Holland kind of day.”

“Thank goodness for that.” She released a deep sigh that was part agony for the loss of Tom and part relief that her speech hadn’t been a disaster. “My heart aches for Leslie and her girls and what they’re going through. I can’t imagine it.”

“You did a beautiful job speaking about Tom. I’m sure it meant a lot to them.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so. Don’t let the haters get you down. Remember our mantra—they can’t touch us unless we let them. You did what you thought was right, what you’d been asked to do by NCIS in the interest of national security. You’ll say that as much as you disliked having to go through the motions with the roommate and others, you’d do it again for the same reasons if it came to that, which you hope it never does.”

“You’re good at this. You ought to run for office.”

Snorting with laughter, he said, “No fucking way am I ever doing that again.”

“Never say never.”

“I’m saying it, and you should be, too. Three years of this madness will be more than enough for me.”

“If you wake up one day and decide you want more, I’d support you. I hope you know that.”

He felt her forehead as if checking for a fever.

She swatted his hand away. “I’m serious.”

“I know. It’s terrifying. Are you sure you’re not feverish or under the influence of something that would explain this insanity?”

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