Page 24 of State of Alert

Sam held his gaze for a long moment before she looked away. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes, you do.”

Surprised by his tone, she looked up at him again. “What do you mean?”

“You can’t keep this from him, Sam. He’ll never forgive you, even if your intentions are pure. I read the statement the White House released that said the president is heartbroken by the senseless murder of his aide, who’d also become a friend during the months they’d worked closely together.”

“Nick likes him a lot, and Juan took a huge risk to warn him of what the Joint Chiefs were planning.”

“How will you look him in the eye and keep this from him?”

“I don’t know! They said it was in his best interest that henotknow.”

“What do you think is in his best interest?”

“How do I know how these things work in official Washington? They’re already looking for ways to get rid of him. If they find out he knew that Juan’s death was faked by NCIS, would they impeach him for going along with that?”

“His party has control of Congress. He won’t be impeached.”

“See? I don’t even know how these things work. They’ll find another way to tear him apart and undermine his administration.”

“They’ll do that for as long as he’s in office, Sam.”

“Do you see why he didn’t want to run?”

“I’ve always understood why he didn’t want to run.”

Sam dropped into one of his visitor chairs. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes, you do.”

“What if I tell him and he ends up caught up in some massive scandal or something that he could’ve avoided if I’d kept my promise to NCIS?”

“He’ll know how to manage the information.”

“The NCIS agent, Truver, said they felt it was in his very best interest to know nothing about this. Why would she say that if it wasn’t true?”

“I don’t know, but think of it this way… You tell him. He has the information. No one but the two of you will know he has it.”

“That’s true.”

“Maybe they expect you to tell him, so they won’t have to. They want him to be able to say later that he wasn’t in the loop on the investigation that included him and his administration.”

That possibility hadn’t occurred to her. “You think?”

“No clue, but if I were you, and I thank God above every daythat I’m not you, I’d protect my husband. He is national security, you know?”

“You’re right, as always.” She glanced at him, suddenly feeling emotional. “I appreciate you talking through the personal aspect of this as well as the professional.”

“I’m always here for you. You know that.”

“I do, and that makes all the difference, especially since October.”

“I hope you know that works both ways. If I can’t have my buddy around, having his daughter in my daily life helps to fill the void a bit.”

“Really?”

He smiled. “Yes, Sam. Really.”

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