She rested against him, letting him hold her up when it was too much to do it herself. Sam slept through most of the ride to the airport in the pearly dawn light and woke when they stopped to pick up Avery. The Secret Service handled everything with their usual dispatch and they were loaded onto Air Force Two a short time later.

Sam insisted on walking up the stairs to the plane herself, which, in hindsight, was a mistake.

Nick belted her into her seat and sat next to her.

Avery sat across the aisle from them.

Though she kept her eyes closed, Sam heard the stewards offering food and beverages and Nick encouraging Avery to have whatever he wanted. Both men ordered breakfast and coffee. Nick asked for ginger ale and water for her.

Sam hoped she could handle the smell of the food.

That was the last thought she had before the wheels touching down at Andrews Air Force Base jarred her out of a sound sleep.

“Welcome back, babe.” Nick offered a glass of ice water, and she took a greedy drink.

“I can’t believe I slept through an entire flight. I need to get sick more often if that’s what it takes to sleep when I fly.”

“You’ve got a little more color in your cheeks than you had earlier.”

“I actually feel better.”

“I’m so glad to hear that.”

Surrounded by Nick’s detail, they got off the plane and into one of the ever-present black SUVs for the ride into the city.

She fired off a text to Freddie. What’s going on?

Waiting game. Everyone is in position. WVSP is calling the shots, so we’re on standby.

Ugh.

No kidding. Cold up here.

Sam closed her phone but kept it in hand in case there were updates.

“Anything new?” Avery asked.

“Nothing yet.”

“Other than the fact that you have the director’s wife in custody, or I suppose that doesn’t count as anything.”

“I figured you already knew that, so it would be redundant to mention it.”

“What do you hope to gain by taking her in?”

“Information about her relationship with her husband, among other things.”

“What other things?”

“After what we heard yesterday, you have to ask? We want to know the true nature of her relationship with Jacoby too.”

“What’re you suggesting?”

“Nothing. Yet.” As she said the words, another thought occurred to her. How old were Mark and Maura Hamilton when their younger brother became part of their family? What did they remember from that time? She couldn’t wait to get back on the job.

Avery clicked away on his phone for a few minutes before sending her an angry glare. “Were you going to tell me that you guys have Jacoby’s house in the mountains surrounded?”