Sam and Freddie were on the way back to HQ when she received a call from Captain Malone.
“We’ve got Ivanov and Amara, and we received a tip on where to find the bombers that we passed on to the FBI.”
Go, Nick.
“Is it safe to come back?”
“Lindsey took Amara home to her house. She’s asking for you.”
“I’ll stop there on the way back. Can we put some Patrol officers there just to be on the safe side?”
“Already requested that.”
“Oh, great. Thanks. How’d they make the drop?”
“Pushed him out the back of a truck on a gurney and stopped long enough for her to jump out before they took off. The gurney crashed into a tree.”
“Jeez. What do we know about who delivered the bombs?”
“After we were given the names, Archie tracked them down online. Two teenage boys probably hired to do a favor of dropping off a backpack in the HQ lobby. Now that we’re back up and running, he’s got them on video making the drop.”
“How’re you holding up?”
“I’ve had better days. You got the word about Jeannie having the baby?”
“I did. Thank God they’re both all right.”
“You said it, and Joe is apparently chomping at the bit to get back to work, which is also a relief.”
“Yes, it is.”
“We need to find out why the Russians wanted Ivanov back bad enough to bomb our house.”
“He was dumped by them initially, and then they were so desperate to get him back that they bombed our building? That’s bizarre, right?”
“It says to me that someone much higher up told them to get him back as soon as they heard his body was in our custody. I’d like to know why since they had him in the first place.”
“I’ll work on that as soon as I’ve seen Amara, but Freddie and I will miss the all-hands thing. Is that okay?”
“It’s fine. I called that to reassure people after the bombing and answer any questions they might have. You don’t need to be there.”
“Thanks. I’ll update you later.”
Sam gave Q Lindsey’s address in Adams Morgan. Then she texted Lindsey to tell her they were coming and updated Freddie on the new info Malone had provided.
“So it was the Russians, and the goal was to get Ivanov.”
“It seems so.”
“Which lets you off the hook you put yourself on.”
“I guess it does, which is a relief.” She glanced at him. “I never mean to make it about me. I hope you know that.”
“Of course I do. It’s a natural leap to make in light of current events.”
“Is that what we’re calling my tenure as first lady? Current events?”
“I think it’s a good code for when we need to refer to that part of your life.”
