Page 98 of State of Retribution

“For real?”

“Yep.We have a meeting with the Secret Service at nine.I’m hoping we can work something out to get me back out there.”

“Gosh, this is all so upsetting.Here you two are, trying to serve the people and getting nothing but…crapin return.”

“Was that nearly a swear out of your sweet mouth, Shelby Lynn?”

She scowled.“It makes me very angry when people are mean to my friends who are like family.”

Sam hugged her friend.“Thank you for being our family and coming back to work when you should be on maternity leave.It means everything to us to have our people close by.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, and honestly, being at work gives me a little bit of a break.Two kids is more than twice as much, especially when the older one is used to having me all to himself.”

“I’ve heard that.”

“How will Angela do three by herself?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll all pitch in and get her through it.”

“Yes, we will.I’d better get to it before it’s time to feed Ms.Maisie again.”

“Thanks for everything, Tink.”

“Love you,” Shelby said as she walked away.

“Love you, too.”

With thirty minutes until the Secret Service meeting, Sam went into her room to finish making herself presentable and to summon the fortitude to once again fight for the career that meant so much to her.

Secret Service DirectorAmbrose Pierce had asked for a few minutes alone with Nick ahead of the nine o’clock meeting.At eight forty-five, Director Pierce was shown into the Oval Office.Nick got up to greet him with a handshake and the offer of coffee.

“Already had my allotment for the day, Mr.President.”Pierce was about six foot three, with the burly build of a former college football player.He had a shock of white hair and blue eyes.

“Have a seat.”

They settled on sofas facing each other.

“You asked for this meeting,” Nick said.“What can I do for you?”

“It’s been quite a week for all of us, and I wanted to touch base to let you know that our team has been assessing both incidents and thoroughly reviewing what went right and what went wrong in both cases.We take these things extremely seriously, as you can imagine.”

“I have no doubt you all are doing everything possible to keep our family safe.I was glad to hear that Agent McFarland had a good night and is expected to make a full recovery.”

“That’s a huge relief to all of us.He’s an excellent young agent.”

“My wife speaks very highly of him and Agent Rogers.”

“They speak highly of her as well.They admire the way she does the job while managing everything that goes along with being a mother and first lady.”

“It’s a balancing act, to be certain, but she’s making it work.”

“Yesterday’s incident has put everyone on edge, sir.Our collective feeling is that it’s becoming much more dangerous for her to be so exposed on the job.”

Nick’s heart sank.That the most sophisticated security organization in the world thought it was too dangerous for Sam to do her job made him want to forget all about the deal he’d made with her after becoming president.The husband who loved his wife with all his heart wanted her off the job immediately.The husband who knew what it took to make her happy would fight for what she wanted.

“Sam’s job has always been dangerous.I wish this was the first time someone had taken a shot at her, but it’s not, and it probably won’t be the last time either.”

“This is the first time it’s happened on our watch, sir.”

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