Page 151 of State of the Union (First Family 3)

“No.”

“He won’t be happy when he hears you guys brought me in.”

“Okay.” After another beat of silence, Gonzo said, “I’m about one second from cuffing you and making a scene.”

“Let me tell them I’m going.”

“Detective McBride will take care of that.”

While Jeannie went inside, Gonzo escorted Shane to the car and held out his hand. “I’ll hang on to your phone until we get to HQ.”

“Don’t you have to have a warrant to take my phone?”

“Hand it over, or I’ll cuff you.”

“I’m not giving you my phone.”

Gonzo had him cuffed, relieved of his phone and in the back seat of the car before Shane knew what hit him.

“My dad will make you so sorry you did this.”

Gonzo slammed the door in his face.

“All set,” Jeannie said when she rejoined him.

“You know what they say about the apple and the tree? This one didn’t fall far. I ended up having to cuff him because he wouldn’t give me his phone. We don’t need him tipping off his father that we’re bringing him in.”

“You think we can keep a lid on that?”

“We sure as hell can try.” After they were in the car and on their way back to HQ, Gonzo called Sam to let her know.

“How’d it go?”

“As you’d expect.”

“Did he drop his father’s name?”

“Several times.”

“O’Brien has gone to find out where Ramsey is so we can avoid him on the way in. I’ll call you in a few with the intel. If we decide to arrest him, we’ll get one of the central booking clerks to process him in our interview room.”

“Got it.”

It’d taken Candace two days to pack her life in California into three suitcases for the trip to New Jersey.

Eli had thought he’d go crazy watching the seconds, minutes and hours tick by until he could see her again. He’d been a disaster in class, completely spaced out and unable to think of anything other than Candace coming to stay with him indefinitely.

She’d called him in tears the night before after yet another vicious argument with her parents. This time, however, she was eighteen, and they couldn’t stop her from leaving or tell her who she was allowed to care about.

The fight had been so bad that Eli had put her up in a hotel near LAX for her last night in California so her parents couldn’t do something drastic, like lock her away to keep her from him. Until he received the text saying she’d boarded the plane, he’d been unable to eat, sleep, study or take a deep breath.

He’d skipped a class to meet her plane at Newark, getting there two hours before she was due to land. For the first time since his profile had been elevated by Nick’s ascension to the presidency, Eli was recognized by strangers at the airport.

“Oh my God,” one lady said. “You’re Elijah… The president’s… Betty, look! It’s Elijah!”

He smiled at the two women, uncertain of what to say to them. What was he to the president, anyway? Nick and Sam referred to him as their bonus son, which he loved. Apparently, that had made him famous.

The Secret Service agents with him kept the women from getting too close.

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