Page 157 of State of Alert

“It’s not insanity to predict that my gorgeous, sexy, intelligent husband is going to have a very successful presidency, and if he decides he wants to continue being president for four more years, his wife would support him.”

“When is this ‘successful’ portion of the program going to begin?”

“It already has.”

He gave her a skeptical look. “Doesn’t seem that way.”

“It does to me. Other people’s opinions are none of our business.”

“Even admirals and generals with thirty-plus years of experience?”

“Especially them. They’re envious of your meteoric rise to power and your popularity with regular people. They thought you’d be weak and easy to manipulate because you’re young. They found out otherwise.”

“Only because Juan warned me. I can’t imagine how it would’ve gone down if they’d caught me by surprise.”

“They wouldn’t have succeeded.”

“Brant said the Secret Service would’ve taken them into custody and escorted them from the premises.”

“They were never going to succeed at that mission, which was fueled by their own hubris and sense of importance.”

“It shook me. I can’t deny that.”

“Of course it did, but remember, they were Nelson’s people, not yours. Put your own people in these important positions and get to work.”

“Terry and I are working on that now, with Graham’s help. I don’t have enough people on my bench, but he does.” Nick slid across the seat, put an arm around her and snuggled her in close. “Enough about me. I want to talk about how amazing my sexy wife was this morning, talking about the history of the U.S. Attorneys. I had no idea they went so far back that George Washington chose the first ones.”

“Wait, I know something you don’t about the government?”

“Yep.”

“True confession. Roni wrote that part.”

Nick laughed and kissed the top of her head. “You knew it before I did.”

“There is that.”

“You did a great job. You were warm, compassionate, sincere, and your affection for Tom was very apparent.”

“He saved my ass once upon a time, as Ramsey so eloquently noted.”

“I hope they lock that guy up. He’s a ticking time bomb waiting for a place to detonate.”

When Sam’s phone rang, she fished it out of her pocket and took the call from Gonzo. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Ohio State Police called to tell us they found Jada Myerson, bound and gagged in a motel room off Interstate 70 outside of Columbus.”

“Oh my God,” Sam said.

“I’m going to send some of our people to pick her up and bring her home. Just wanted to run that by you first.”

“Do it. We need her to tell us where Bonnie and Clyde are headed.”

“Bellamy’s mother has been calling every thirty minutes, asking if we’ve found her son. We’ve told her that if she hears from him to tell him to turn himself in and to let us know. She refuses to believe it’s possible he’s involved in anything criminal.”

“Her baby would never do something like this. I’m feeling the buzz. These two planned the whole thing, brought Jada in as a coconspirator and then turned on her when things got hot. They’re too stupid to realize she has all the dirt on them.”

“I wonder why they didn’t kill her, too,” Gonzo said.

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