Page 119 of The Love You Fight For
I release Sam’s father, then stand and step to the side. A tall woman with close-cropped red hair towers over the senator.
“Thom Harper,” she says smoothly, “you’re under arrest.”
Sam isquiet as I follow the agent’s car through the city.
I keep glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. Keep waiting for her to give some sign that she’s okay, but her cold, detached demeanor is still in place.
I reach over and take her hand in mine. She gives me a soft smile, but she still doesn’t speak, so I follow her lead, keeping my mouth shut and my face blank. The time to ask questions will come, but right now, my only role is to support Sam.
I follow the agent into an underground garage and park. Sam’s father is taken through a set of doors, then the tall, red-haired agent turns toward us. When Sam opens her door, I do the same, and silently, we walk toward the woman who arrested her father.
The agent smiles at Sam, then at me, and Sam smiles back.
“Agent Sexton, this is Chris. Chris, this is Special Agent Lynnette Sexton of the FBI.”
Agent Sexton nods at me, so I nod back, and then she turns to Sam.
“How do you feel?” she asks Sam, and Sam shrugs.
“Strange. Good, I think, but strange. It’s almost like I don’t know how to feel.”
Agent Sexton lets out a light chuckle and raises her eyebrows in understanding.
“That often happens when a multiple-year-long project comes to an end. I’ve experienced it a few times as well. It always helps to findsomething new to focus on. Get a hobby, Ms. Harper. Go to therapy.”
The agent says the last part almost teasingly and Sam rolls her eyes and sighs before glancing back at the agent with a smirk. Then her playful smirk turns into a genuine, soft smile.
“Thank you for letting me do this tonight. I know it’s all against protocol, but I really appreciate it.”
The agent smiles again, and this time it’s wide and real, almost proud, and she laughs.
“You’d have found a way to have the last word either way. At least the live-televised portion will help the case against him.”
Sam shrugs but doesn’t deny it, and Agent Sexton nods at the doors.
“Ready?”
Sam takes a deep breath, her fingers tightening around mine, and then she nods. We follow Agent Sexton through the doors and into an elevator as she scans a badge, and then the elevator moves. When the doors open, we step into a nondescript office-type waiting area.
“This way,” Agent Sexton says, and we follow her down a hall before stopping outside a black door. “He’s in there. You sure you want to do it? You could just leave it here and be done with it.”
Sam shakes her head, but she doesn’t let go of my hand.
“No, I need him to know. I’ll be fast.”
“I have to leave someone in there. You can’t do it privately.”
“It’s fine. None of it is a secret anymore.” Sam looks up at me. “Would you come with me?”
“I’m with you for as long as you want me to be,” I tell her honestly, giving her hand a squeeze.
I mean it. I’m here as long as she needs me. As long as she wants me, I’m by her side. She smiles and holds my gaze for a few breaths, then looks back at the door.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
The agent reaches up and knocks twice, then a security officer opens the door wide, and I follow Sam into the room. It’s plain andwhite, just like the rest of the office has appeared. There’s a table in the middle with a single chair, and on it sits Sam’s father with his hands in handcuffs.
When he sees Sam, he sneers.
