“I’ve got nowhere else to be but sitting right here hoping to hear something before I go insane.”
Sam squeezed her shoulder, wishing there was something more she could do for Tracy. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve got to go back to Tracy’s house,” Sam told Nick in the living room.
“Brant told me the Secret Service is assisting in the search. I was coming to tell you that.”
“That’s great news. We’ll take all the help we can get.”
“I also called Scotty so he doesn’t hear about it on the news.”
“Oh cripes. I never even thought of that. Should you reach out to Eli, too?”
“I will. Do you want me to stay with Tracy while you’re gone?”
“That would help.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “Thank you.”
“I want to be out there looking for him.”
“I know, but we’ve got everyone on duty watching for him. You’re better off here, providing support to Tracy.”
“Sure I am,” he said with frustration, “but whatever. It is what it is.”
“I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“I’ll be here.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too. Be safe out there.”
“Not going far.”
When she stepped out of the house, Agent Quigley greeted her. “Where to?”
“Back to Tracy’s.”
“Got it.” He held the door for her and had them on the way in a matter of seconds, with a young female agent she didn’t recognize riding shotgun.
Agent Quigley, who went by Q, had been filling in on Sam’s detail while one of her regular agents, Jimmy McFarland, recovered from being shot while protecting her. Apparently, Q had drawn the weekend shift.
“Anything new?” Q asked.
“Not yet. Our IT lieutenant is working on the devices at the house and asked me to come there.”
“Hopefully, he’s found a thread for you to pull.”
“I can’t pull the threads on this one. But I can help find the threads in the first place.”
“They told you not to work the case?”
“In so many words. I don’t care about who’s in charge. I just want to find my nephew. Before I had kids of my own… They were my kids, you know? Brooke, Ethan, Abby, Jack, Ella. They made the infertility bearable because I had them. I love them like they’re my own.”
“How’s your sister doing?” Q asked.
“Terrible. I can’t bear this for her and Mike. It’s horrible not to know where he is.”
