“You were amazing!” Lilia said, grinning widely.

“I’m already getting emails from other organizations who want you to speak to them,” Andrea said, holding up her phone.

Grimacing, Sam looked up at Nick, who beamed with pride. “Great...”

“Welcome to the big time, babe.”

* * *

SAM SPENT THE rest of the day finishing the reports on the Hamilton investigation and attending yet another press briefing about the case. People were riveted by the salacious details of the Hamiltons’ “arrangement” with Dustin Jacoby and the sinister plot behind Taylor’s kidnapping. For days now, it had been the lead story in every newspaper and on every TV newscast and entertainment show.

The news of Forrester’s plans to take Sam’s case to the grand jury had barely made a ripple thanks to the frenzy surrounding the Hamilton case. Sam had heard through the grapevine that Ramsey was furious with Forrester for being a “pussy” about charging her, and he’d been whining about her getting special treatment. It gave her a perverse thrill to hear he was pissed, but she was wise enough after what’d happened with Stahl to keep a close eye on Ramsey. She had a feeling her troubles with him were far from over.

She got home at five-thirty, an hour before her mother was due to arrive for the get-together Angela had arranged. Sam had spoken before two thousand people earlier in the day but was far more nervous about seeing her mother than she’d been about the speech.

When the Secret Service agent working the door admitted her, Scotty ran over to hug her. “I watched the playback on C-Span, and you were awesome. Were you freaking out that you couldn’t read the teleprompter?”

“You know it. I started to sweat.”

“Well you’d never know. You were so good, Mom. Really, really good.”

Hearing him call her Mom never got old. “Aww, thanks, buddy. Means a lot coming from you.”

“I’m still mad that I had to go to school and couldn’t go with you.”

“I know. Sorry about that. It would’ve been a lot more fun with you there.”

“Of course it would’ve.”

Sam laughed and hooked her arm through his. “So come sit with me for a minute. I want to talk to you about something.”

“Whatever it is, I didn’t do it.”

“Said the future politician.”

“You really think I could be a politician?”

She ran her fingers through his hair, earning a predictable scowl. “I think you, Scotty Cappuano, could be anything you want to be as long as you work hard and do well in school.”

“Why’d you have to ruin it by bringing school into it?”

Sam laughed because she’d felt exactly the same way at his age, not that she could tell him that.

“What do you want to talk to me about?”