Page 5 of State of the Union (First Family 3)

“What do you know?” Sam asked.

“Nothing yet. The device has been disarmed and taken to the lab for further analysis. We should know more in the morning.”

“So it was an active explosive device?” Sam asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Thank you, Brant,” Nick said. “We’ll see you in the morning, or I guess I should say later this morning.”

“Yes, sir. Merry Christmas to you both.”

“You, too. Go home while you can.”

“Yes, sir.”

Nick guided Sam into their suite and closed the door.

She went right to the bedside table where she’d left her cell phone charging earlier and put through a call to the Metro PD headquarters. “Explosives,” she said when the dispatcher answered.

“Please hold.”

“Higgins.”

“Hey, it’s Holland. What’re you hearing about the bomb outside my house?”

“You mean the one outside the White House that got me called in on Christmas Eve?”

“Yes,” she said, exasperated by his need to state the obvious.

“I heard it was sophisticated and could’ve done some major damage if it had detonated.”

That wasn’t what she’d wanted to hear. “Who’s got it?”

“The FBI, but my team and I were on the scene earlier when it was being defused. I don’t know much else, but I’ll let you know if I hear anything from them.”

“Please do.”

“Hope you have a merry Christmas despite all this.”

“We will. You, too. Thanks for the info.”

“You got it.”

Sam slapped the phone closed and thought about what Higgins had told her. A sophisticated bomb that could’ve done some major damage had been left outside the gates to their home, the most protected place on earth.

“How did someone get close enough to the White House to leave a sophisticated bomb at our gate?” Sam asked.

“Am I expected to have an answer to that question?” Nick replied, ducking his head out of the walk-in closet where he’d stripped down to his underwear.

“I’d like an answer to that question from someone,” Sam said. “It’s bad enough we have to worry about someone harming us every time we step foot outside the gates. We ought to feel relatively safe inside the gates with all the security we have.”

Nick sat next to her on the bed and put his arm around her. “Even the best security isn’t foolproof.”

“That’s not a good answer.”

“How about we try to put these worries aside for now so we can get some sleep? Eli warned me the kids will be up crazy early.”

“Sure,” she said, knowing he was right. They needed to sleep while they could, or they’d be wrecks tomorrow with a houseful of guests. But she wouldn’t stop worrying until she knew who’d left the unwelcome package at their gate.

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