LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER TWO

      NO ONE SAID a word.

      Silence had never felt heavier or more oppressive. Why wouldn’t they tell her what was wrong? Out the front windshield she noticed several other black SUVs had joined their caravan. They moved with stealthy speed, emergency lights flashing as they flew through notoriously clogged District streets. Drivers who regularly ignored police sirens got the fuck out of the way for the Secret Service.

      While trying to control her galloping heart and frantic need to know what was happening, she made herself watch the world go by outside the car, trying to figure out where they were taking her. When they hung a left, she realized they weren’t going to her home.

      How did she even know these guys were actually with the Secret Service? What if terrorists pretending to be federal agents had kidnapped her?

      “I want to see your badges. Up close. Right now.”

      The one sitting closest to her handed his over.

      Sam studied it carefully. Thomas J. Jackson, United States Secret Service. The badge seemed legit. She gave the others the same scrutiny, noting the one in charge was named Daniel Cooley. “What do you want with me?”

      “We’ll brief you fully when we arrive at our destination,” Jackson said.

      “Which is where?”

      “We’re not at liberty to share that information.”

      “Tell me one thing.” She swallowed the largest ball of fear that had ever lodged in any throat ever and forced herself to ask the most unimaginable question of her life. “Is my husband dead?”

      Jackson, bless his heart, took mercy on her. “No, ma’am.”

      Sam rested her head back against the seat, closed her eyes and released the breath she’d been holding from the second she realized the Secret Service had come for her. Adrenaline coursed through her system, making her feel amped and drained at the same time. “And my son?”

      “He’s fine.”

      She’d never been more afraid at any time in her life than she’d been in the last ten minutes, and it would be perfectly all right with her if she never felt that way again—ever. Then it dawned on her that Jackson had said Nick wasn’t dead. He hadn’t said he was fine either. Was he hurt? Clinging to life? Taken hostage? Being held for ransom? On a flight that’d been hijacked?

      One after another, the scenarios went through her mind, each more horrifying than the last. What if... Oh God, I can’t even... I just can’t.

      They drove for quite some time before the driver took an abrupt right onto a ramp that descended into what looked like a parking garage. The car stopped in front of a security door that rose to admit them, and the car lurched forward into darkness.

      Sam spun around in her seat to watch the door close behind them. What the actual fuck was happening? And where the fuck was she?

      The door next to her opened, and one of the agents held out a hand, as if to help her from the car. “Right this way, ma’am.”

      She ignored his hand and got out on her own, hoping there’d be some answers at the other end of “right this way.” All four agents surrounded her as they traveled down a long corridor that ended at a closed door.

      Cooley punched in a code on a keypad next to the door, and it slid open to reveal another dark room. Sam blinked several times, her eyes protesting the darkness after the bright sunshine outside.

      “Ma’am?” He gestured for her to go in ahead of them.

      She didn’t want to go in there. Every instinct was telling her not to step forward, to run away, but she knew they’d never let her escape. This was reminding her far too much of the march down the stairs into hell in Marissa Springer’s basement.

      “Wh-what is this place?” Sam hated the hitch in her voice that made her sound nervous.

      “It’s a secure facility,” Cooley said. “You’ll be safe here.”

      “How do I know that?”

      “You have to trust us.”

      “Why should I trust you? I’ve never laid eyes on any of you before you showed up at my crime scene and basically snatched me without any information as to why I was being snatched. You’ll have to pardon me if I’m currently running a little low on trust.”

      “I understand how you must feel, Mrs.—”

      “Do you? Do you really? Is your husband the vice president of the United States? Is he protected by the agency that just snatched me from a crime scene for no reason that I’ve been made aware of? Is he in Iran, a country not exactly known for its hospitality toward Americans? Do you not know if your husband is injured or worse? If you can’t answer yes to any of those questions, then you actually have no fucking idea how I must feel!”

      “I’m sorry. You’re right. I don’t know how you feel, but if you’d please come with us, I assure you that everything will be explained in due time.”

      “Due time,” she said with a bitchy-sounding snort. “Is that agency speak for ‘when we get around to it’?”

      “We’ll brief you as soon as we’re authorized to do so.”

      Sam was about to give in and go into the room when she heard a shout from behind her.

      “Mom!”

      She spun around to see Scotty heading toward her, surrounded by his Secret Service detail. The sight of the familiar agents was welcome proof that the four who’d snatched her were legit. Her son ran into her outstretched arms.

      “What’s going on?” he asked. His dark hair was damp with sweat, and his face was flushed from being outside at camp. He was wearing an orange camp T-shirt, a Feds cap and his baseball cleats.

      “I don’t know,” she answered honestly, “but I’m told we’re going to be briefed soon.”

      “Is it Dad? Has something happened?”

      “I’m not sure. They told me he’s alive, but they haven’t said anything more than that.”

      That he visibly crumpled at the news Nick was alive let her know how afraid he’d been, and for that alone, she’d never forgive the Secret Service for this stunt. It was one thing to scare the hell out of her. It was another thing altogether for them to scare the hell out of her kid. As soon as she found out what the fuck was going on, heads were going to roll.

      “If you would.” Cooley again gestured to the room on the other side of the steel door.

      Sam took Scotty by the hand and led him into the huge space, where there were comfortable-looking sofas, tables with books and magazines neatly arranged, and a counter with snacks and drinks on ice.

      “If there’s anything in particular you need,” Cooley said, “please let one of my people know. We’ll do anything we can to ensure your comfort.”

      “When will this briefing I was promised happen?”

      “Shortly.”

      Sensing that was the best answer she was going to get, Sam led Scotty to one of the sofas. “Let me see your phone,” she said to him when they were seated together.

      While the agents conferred with each other in hushed voices, Scotty handed over his smartphone.

      Sam pressed the big button and waited for it to come to life. “How do I get to the internet on this thing?”

      Scotty took it back and pressed a few buttons. “That’s weird. Nothing is happening.”

      “There’s

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