Page 14 of State of the Union (First Family 3)

“I read about that, too. He tried to kill the first lady—twice.”

“She wasn’t the first lady then, but yes, he did.”

“And the deputy chief was involved in her father’s shooting. I’m not surprised the MPD is a mess if those are the people running it.”

“Not everyone in the MPD is like them. Most of us are dedicated professionals who give our cases one hundred percent for as long as they’re ours, and Carisma’s is mine now.”

LaToya blinked back tears as she looked away. “I’ve waited a long time for someone to care about my daughter. She’d be twenty-four now, but when I think of her, she’s still thirteen and full of attitude, sass and sweetness. I love all my children, but she was my first, so that made her extra special.”

“I’m expecting my first, so I get that.”

“I’m happy for you that you were able to put your life back together.”

“It wasn’t easy, and some days it’s still a work in progress, but I’m trying.”

“It’s been hard for me to move forward without knowing what happened to my baby or if she’s still alive. Even if she isn’t… It would help me move forward if I knew.”

“I’ll do all I can to get you some answers. Let’s start by going over everything you remember about the last few days before Carisma and Daniella disappeared, and we’ll go from there.”

Sam woke the day after Christmas feeling confused and out of sorts about why her alarm hadn’t gone off, until she remembered she was on vacation, and her mood immediately improved.

Nick was curled up to her, his arm around her waist.

Since she hadn’t seen him again after he was called to the Situation Room the night before, she wondered what time he’d gotten to bed.

When she tried to ease out of his embrace without waking him, he tightened his arm around her.

“Don’t go.”

“Gotta pee.”

“Come back.”

“I will.”

Sam used the bathroom and brushed her hair and teeth before returning to bed.

He raised his arm, inviting her to rejoin him.

“What time did you get to bed?”

“Four.”

“Yikes. What’s going on?”

“Not worth getting into. It’s handled. For now, anyway.”

“And we’re not at war?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Excellent work.”

His grunt of laughter made her smile. “In case I forget to tell you, this job sucks.”

“But the room service is something else.”

“There is that, and today, we get to fly on Marine One and check out our super-cool presidential retreat for the first time.”

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