Page 49 of State of Alert

“What’s going on in the world?” Sam asked him.

He gave her a look that was all Nick. It still took her breath away whenever she saw her husband in him, proving nurture was every bit as important as nature. “You really want to know?”

“Give me the highlights—or lowlights, such as they are.”

“Troubles in Iraq, which we knew because Dad had to go downstairs last night.”

“What are they doing now?”

“Warring factions causing concern for a wider conflict in the Middle East.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It’s not good.”

“Ah, thank you for that succinct summary.”

“What does that mean, Sam?” Alden asked. “Suc-cinct.”

Sam put an egg sandwich in front of Scotty. “It means summing things up in just a few words.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Thanks, Mom,” he said between bites, before continuing his recitation of the headlines. “There’s flooding in upstate New York and talk of a labor strike in a chicken processing factory in Arkansas.”

“Chickens come from factories?” Aubrey asked, wide-eyed.

“No, silly,” Alden said. “They come fromeggs.”

“Wait, so if Scotty eats the egg that Sam made for him, will he have a chicken?”

Scotty and Sam tried not to laugh, but it exploded out of them anyway.

“No,” Scotty said when he could speak again. “I won’t have a chicken.”

“Why do they need a factory, then?”

“That’s a story for another time.” Sam figured that telling her about chickens being slaughtered so they could be eaten wasn’t the best visual to send Aubrey off to school with. “Go brush your teeth and wash the sugar off your faces.”

After they took off, Sam cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher.

“Nice deflection, Mom. You know we haven’t heard the last of that question.”

“Probably not, but oh my God, when she asked if you would have a chicken…”

“Hilarious.” He put his plate and mug in the sink and kissed Sam’s cheek. “Have a good day.”

“You, too. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She heard him talking to his detail, telling them he needed a minute and then he’d be ready to go.

The twins returned from brushing their teeth, and Sam loaded them up with backpacks and the lunch boxes Nick had packed for them the night before. Sometimes she could make herself believe they were just another ordinary American family going about their morning routine. That was, untilSecret Service agents came to collect the twins to deliver them to school.

Sam kissed them goodbye and waved them off, thankful for the agents who would see to their safety when she and Nick couldn’t.

Glancing at the clock, she called Carlucci for an update before she and Dominguez punched out for the day.

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