“I hate to hear that.” He leaned in to kiss her, grimacing when his injured side protested. “I hope you know that even when I’m mad as hell at you, I still love you more than anything.”

“I love you just as much—even when you’re mad as hell at me.”

He kissed her lips, her nose and her forehead. “I’ll leave you to it. Let me know what I can do to help.”

“Keep an eye on our boy. He saw some upsetting stuff. I want to make sure he’s okay.”

“I will.”

“And take it easy too. You’re injured. You should be on the sofa with your feet up and your wife waiting on you hand and foot.”

“Now that you mention it...”

“Later, Senator. As soon as I get some answers, I’m all yours.”

“I’ll be looking forward to later then.”

Sam watched him go, enjoying the back view of him, which was awesome even in sweats and a T-shirt. She never got tired of looking at him and hated to see him compensating for the pain on his left side. More than anything, she wished she could focus only on him today when he was injured and trying hard to be stoic about it. He rarely got her undivided attention for a full day, which was why he’d pitched a fit about their vacation getting screwed up. She certainly understood, but there wasn’t much she could do about it with so many unanswered questions surrounding her niece.

With getting some answers in mind, she picked up the phone to call Gideon Young at the number her sister had given her. He answered on the first ring.

“Mr. Young, this is Lieutenant Sam Holland with the Metro DC Police Department. My niece, Brooke Hogan, is a student at your school.”

“Yes, of course, Lieutenant. What can I do for you?”

“Brooke is currently in the ICU at George Washington University Hospital in the city, suffering from the aftereffects of a drug overdose, alcohol poisoning and sexual assault. I’d like to know how all of that managed to happen when she was supposed to be safely ensconced in your school.”

Silence.

“Mr. Young?”

“I, um, I have no idea what to say. I’m in total shock.”

“You could say that you’ll be thoroughly investigating how this happened.”

“Absolutely. Of course. I can assure you I’ll be looking into this and will find out exactly what happened.”

“I’d also like her room locked until I can get a team down there to deal with her belongings. No one goes in there, you got me?”

“She has a roommate.”

“Get the roommate out of there, and don’t let anyone touch anything of Brooke’s. If her laptop and iPad and other belongings aren’t there, I’ll hold you personally responsible. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.”