LITMIR.BIZ

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with your wife, sir.”

      “That’s all right,” Debra said. I was just leaving. “I’ll go up and see Kate. You’ll join me after Agent Henderson is finished?

      “Yes, sweetheart.”

      Walking past him, she smiled, blowing Trey a kiss from the door, slipping out and leaving the door ajar.

      “What is it? My mother...” Trey said, his blue eyes, so like his mother’s, looking immediately worried.

      Dan shook his head. “She’s fine. Everything is quiet.”

      “But something is bothering you.”

      “Yes. Were you aware that Captain Winston moved off the estate?”

      “I’m aware. We argued about it, but, Dan, Sam is a mess right now and he’s understandably upset about Mike Harris. He wanted to be on his own. He’s rented a house over near Six Forks Road. Under the circumstances, I can understand his pain. He and Mike were extremely close.”

      “Do you think it’s a good idea for him to be at a different location rather than here at the estate where we can give him protection?”

      “You’re talking about Sam, right?” Trey laughed. “Dan, he’s a U.S. Army Ranger. He can take care of himself. He wasn’t targeted. My mother was.”

      “With all due respect, sir, he and Harris were captured and detained at the same Afghani camp, and now with Harris going off the grid, I...”

      “You know I value your opinion. Hell, man, you saved my mother. I’m glad to finally see you up and about.”

      “Yeah, on a cushy security detail,” he groused.

      Trey smiled. “The estate is pretty cushy.”

      Dan laughed. “Yes, sir.”

      “What is it about Sam that is bothering you?”

      “During my recovery, I had time to think about this. What could have happened at that place or to them...I mean, for such a dedicated soldier like Harris to turn against his own country and try to commit murder? As you said, sir, Harris was tough, both mentally and physically. He was in Special Forces. It just makes me twitch and spin conspiracy theories.”

      “Like what?”

      “I wasn’t here that night and I didn’t witness Harris’s meltdown, but another agent was and he was described as being disoriented. Thad even discovered the chief of police was involved and that this might go higher than we all think.”

      “I’m aware of that, but all we can do at this point is let the feds do their job, while it’s business as usual for us.”

      “But, sir. If Harris and your brother were captured together and your brother even admitted that there might be government involvement...aren’t you worried that Captain Winston—”

      “What the hell are you saying? Are you accusing my brother of being involved in some crazy political organization?”

      “Not exactly.”

      Trey stiffened and his mouth flattened out. “Well, you’d better explain it and explain it to me good. Sam has been through enough and I won’t take anything said about him lightly.”

      “I understand, sir. I’m just concerned that he’s out there alone with all that’s come to light.”

      “I trust Sam with my life. He would never hurt anyone in this family, ever. Is that clear?”

      “Yes, sir.”

      “Don’t bring this up again.”

      Trey walked past him and out the library door. Dan stood there absorbing everything he’d said, but he was still not convinced that Captain Winston wasn’t somehow compromised in this whole situation. His instincts were honed and he’d almost felt that sniper even before the first bullets started to fly.

      He was getting a hinky feeling about Trey’s brother.

      His vow was to protect the former vice president of the United States. He didn’t answer to Trey Winston, although the man had powerful connections and could cause quite a few problems with his superiors. But Dan was never one to give a damn about chain of command. He’d taken a bullet for Kate Winston and he wasn’t about to let anything else happen to her.

      Dan was going to keep his eye on Sam Winston whenever he was anywhere near his mother.

      Chapter 2

      Sam stepped into the foyer of his family’s estate. He paused in the hall, not sure if his mother was upstairs or down in the sitting room.

      “If you’re looking for your mother, she’s out near the pool enjoying a cup of tea.”

      Maddie Fitzgerald smiled at Sam, her plump face and eyes crinkling. She had been at the Adair Estate ever since Sam could remember. He adored her. She used to sneak him a chocolate chip cookie every day before dinner, saying that a strapping boy like him needed the calories and it wouldn’t at all ruin his dinner.

      “I was. Thanks, Maddie.”

      “How are you, Sam?”

      Her sympathetic eyes roved over his face as she squeezed his forearm.

      “I’m trying to just take one day at a time.”

      “Best way to handle it. I just took a batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven.” She winked at him. “I’ll be serving luncheon in about fifteen minutes, but I’m sure it won’t spoil your lunch.”

      He laughed even though he was here to deliver very unhappy news. With all the death and betrayals they had all experienced in the past few months, the news about Dr. Owens would be taken hard.

      “I’ll come by the kitchen before I leave,” he said.

      Sam made his way through the house. When he got to the pool area and walked down the stairs, Agent Dan Henderson moved in front of him.

      “Captain Winston? Is everything all right?”

      “No, not really,” he said to the dedicated agent. He was probably about six years younger than Sam, tall, fit, his dark blond hair combed off his face, his green eyes wary and alert. He filled out his suit jacket with a pair of broad shoulders that had sheltered his mother during the shooting. Sam was humbled by the younger man who, from reports he’d heard, had selflessly and courageously thrown himself in front of his mother. The bullet had almost killed him.

      “Sam.”

      Sam turned around to find his brother Trey, dressed as usual in a dark gray summer-weight, impeccably cut suit with a red power tie, coming down the stairs. His wife, Debra, her belly slightly rounded with their child, was beside him.

      Debra hugged him hard and didn’t let go for a few minutes. Sam indulged her. She was a good match for his brother and he was happy for them. “Hello, Debra. How are you doing?”

      “Fine. We’re happy to see you, Sam. How about you?”

      She clasped his upper arms after she let him go, her sweet, pretty face full of concern. She’d been working for his mother ever since she’d been in the White House. He forced a smile for her sake and said, “One day at a time.”

      She nodded and let him go. He shook Trey’s hand and got a jolt to his mind as he remembered the dream when he’d fallen asleep on the delectable Olivia Marshall’s massage table. He shifted his shoulders, letting go of his brother’s hand early. Trey gave him a quizzical look, but his mother was there to interrupt Sam’s gaze as she enveloped him in a hug.

      “My boy. It’s good to see you. Come sit down, all of you.”

      They moved toward the small table set up on the patio, the turquoise water of the pool looked inviting even in the early spring heat.

      As

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