Page 56 of State of Alert

They laughed at how he described his ascension to the presidency.

“What’ve you got going on for the rest of the day?” Leo asked.

“Lunch with the governor and the Baltimore mayor, followed by a fundraiser later in the day.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Does it, though?”

Leo laughed and then immediately sobered. “We were sorry to hear about your colleague Juan.”

“Thank you. It’s been tough. He was a great young man.”

Brant appeared by his side. “Mr. President, we’re ready for you outside.”

“Duty calls.” Nick hugged his dad and Stacy again. “We’re going to Camp David for Easter weekend if you and the boys would like to join us.”

“They’d love that,” Leo said. “We’ll make it happen.”

“I’ll be in touch with the details.”

“Very proud of you, Nicky,” Leo said gruffly. “My son, the president. It’s unreal.”

Nick gave his dad another quick hug. “To me as well, but thank you. That means a lot to me.”

His father’s words filled his heart as the agents hustled him out of the school and into The Beast. After a chaotic childhood in which his parents had played infrequent roles, having his dad in his life and hearing he was proud of him went a long way with Nick, especially after the recent uncomfortable encounter with his deadbeat mother.

Even though he’d told her to get lost, he was quite certain he hadn’t heard the last of her.

The chief calledwhile Sam wason the way to HQ. “Morning.”

“Morning. I received a call this morning from an Agent Truver with NCIS. I believe you’ve met her.”

“That’s right. What’d she want?”

“To ask us to stand down on our investigation into Juan Rodriguez’s murder.”

“Did she say why? Just yesterday, she wanted our help.”

“She didn’t say why, and when I asked, she said the investigation is now classified and under the auspices of the United States Navy.”

“Huh. Well, that helps.” Sam was careful what she said on a phone line that could be subpoenaed.

“My thought exactly.”

“If only something about this didn’t stink to high heaven.”

“Also my thought.”

“What do you want me to do?” Sam asked.

“Let’s keep a low-level eye on what’s happening with the investigation, but back off. We’ve got plenty to keep us busy.”

“Agreed. We’ll focus on the Myerson case we caught last night and wait to hear more from NCIS.”

“Sounds good. Keep me posted on anything you hear about the Rodriguez case. We don’t want to be caught flat-footed on that.”

“Will do.”

---