“I hope so.”
He reached up to touch his ear piece. “I’m receiving word that Mrs. Cappuano is on the way home with her detail.”
“That’s good news.”
“Hopefully, you both can get some rest.”
Nick suspected rest would be the last thing on Sam’s to-do list with Ethan missing. “I hope so, too.”
He parted company with Brant as he went upstairs to the residence, where Cory, one of the new agents, stood guard.
“Good morning, Mr. President.”
“Morning, Cory.”
Nick looked in on the twins and Scotty, all of whom were sound asleep, before heading to the suite he shared with Sam, feeling exhausted and as anxious as he’d been the day they’d learned armed drones had been dispatched toward the Easter Egg Roll.
Their family had been through a lot in recent months. Ethan’s disappearance was almost too much to bear. He couldn’t imagine how Tracy, Mike, Brooke and Abby must be feeling.
When Sam came in fifteen minutes later, he’d changed into sweats and a T-shirt and was waiting for her with a glass of wine.
“Sit for a minute,” he said.
“I’m not sure if I can. If I stop moving, I might be tempted to scream my head off.”
“If that’s what you need to do…”
“I would if I thought it’d make any difference.”
She took the glass as she sat next to him on the sofa. “I looked in on my kids, sleeping peacefully, always under the watch of world-class security. We’re so lucky this could never happen to us and that Scotty isn’t allowed to run around DC on his own with his friends.”
“Thank goodness for the small mercies of the presidency, huh?”
“Yeah. Remind me to never complain about any of it ever again.”
“You’re still allowed to complain about the shitty parts. Is there anything new?”
“Archie was able to tie Ethan and Tomas to the missing girl through text messages they sent to her quite some time after they went dark to their parents.”
“What does that mean?”
“We’re not sure yet. He’s got people working on the data overnight, looking for more info. Patrol is currently looking for all of them. Not sure what else we could do that we’re not doing. And on top of that, we had a murder at a hotel that’s got my whole team recalled for a canvass of nearly two hundred rooms and their occupants.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, so…”
“Do you think you could try to get some sleep?”
“I suppose I should try so I can give it my all tomorrow.”
“Finish the wine. It’ll help you sleep.”
They sat in silence for the time it took her to consume the wine. Then she got up to change into pajama pants and a T-shirt. She set her alarm for six before sliding into bed next to him.
“Come here.”
She turned toward him, resting her head on his chest as he held her close. “I’ve dealt with a lot of shit on this job, a lot of things that struck far too close to home, but this… Not knowing where he is… It’s making me crazy.”
