Nick leaned over the bed to kiss her forehead, his familiar scent letting her know she wasn’t imagining him. He’d really come. His thumbs on her cheeks wiped away dampness. “I’m here, baby. Everything is okay now.”

“Are you mad?”

“What? Why would I be mad?”

“Avery,” she said, swallowing a new wave of nausea. “He was here. In my room.”

“He made sure you were okay until I got here.” His fingertips on her face brushed away the hair that had stuck to her sweaty forehead. “How could I ever be mad about that?”

“He makes you crazy.”

“He took care of you for me. It’s okay.”

Sam wanted to ask how he’d gotten there so fast and who was with Scotty and what was happening with the case, but she couldn’t stay awake any longer. She drifted off only to be awakened sometime later when a wave of nausea had her sitting up in bed.

Nick was there, holding a bucket or maybe it was a trash can while she vomited. He held back her hair until it was over. The cool washcloth he used to wash her face felt like heaven. And when he got back in bed and put his arms around her, warming her chills with the heat of his body, she began to feel the tiniest bit better.

“Who’s with Scotty?”

“Shelby. She was happy to stay since Avery is here.”

“How’d you get here so fast?”

“It wasn’t fast. It took interminable hours.”

“Still, it seemed like you appeared out of nowhere. How’d you do that?”

“For the first time since I accepted this promotion, being vice president finally came in handy. You see, I have this plane on standby that I can use when I need to get somewhere fast.”

“Brant must’ve had an embolism.”

“I think he might be starting to get used to us.”

Sam tried to smile but everything hurt, even her face.

“Go to sleep, babe. I’m right here if you need me.”

Comforted by his presence as much as his sweet love, she curled her hand around his bicep and let sleep drag her into oblivion.

Chapter Twenty-Five

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

JAKE MALONE ENDED the day as he started it—frustrated and infuriated with the interference coming from the FBI, which seemed to be one step ahead of them at every pass. And now he was hearing that Holland was down hard with the flu in Knoxville. What else could go wrong? This case was a freaking nightmare.

He made his way to the chief’s office, waving to Helen, the chief’s admin, on the way by. Her sympathetic smile didn’t do much to assuage his shredded nerves.

“Whose idea was it to suspend Holland right before the FBI director got himself offed?” Malone asked.