He pulled on sweats. “I’m sorry to have brought them here.”

“Not your fault.”

“What’s going on?” Scotty asked from the doorway. “I thought you’d left.”

“I tried to leave, but we’ve been taken over by reporters looking for the scoop on old what’s his name.” She used her thumb to point at Nick.

“So you said yes to the president?” Scotty asked, his eyes widening with excitement.

“Not officially.”

“Then what’re the reporters doing here?”

“That’s a very good question. Let me get Sam out of here, and then we’ll figure it out.”

“This is way cool,” Scotty declared.

“Glad you think so,” Nick replied.

Sam could tell he wasn’t happy about the press encamping outside their house when he hadn’t even officially decided anything. They both knew from the last year in the spotlight how intrusive the media could be at times. That was certainly not going to get better if he took on an even higher-profile position.

Downstairs, he put on his coat and turned to her. “Ready?”

“Let’s do it.”

“Stay here, Scotty,” Nick said before he opened the door to mayhem.

“Senator! Is it true you’re in line for a high-ranking position in the Nelson administration?”

“What was your meeting about with the president?”

“Why was the Secret Service director there?”

“What does Nelson want you to do for him?”

“Is it true Gooding is stepping down, and you’ve been tapped to take his place?”

“Lieutenant, when do you expect an arrest in the MacArthur murders?”

Nick shouldered his way through the crush and got Sam into her car. She waited until he was safely back inside before she drove away, creeping along so she wouldn’t hit anyone, as much as she’d love to mow down the whole lot of them.

If this was what they were in for, Sam wasn’t so sure she was ready for a whole new wave of attention when the initial wave had only begun to die down. But she’d do it for him. Of course she would. Their entire relationship had revolved around her crazy job and her crazier cases. How could she not step up for him when he’d been given such a golden opportunity?

Sam wasn’t surprised to find another crush of reporters gathered outside the main doors at HQ, so she drove around to the morgue entrance. She lived in mortal fear of the day they discovered her “secret” way into the building.

“Oh my God, Sam.” Lindsey pounced the second Sam walked through the door and dragged her into the morgue office. “Terry told me what’s going on. Are you freaking out?”

“Um, no,” Sam said, amused by her friend’s reaction. “Not as much as you are.”

“It’s vice president,” Lindsey whispered. “Of the United States.”