“Yeah, Celia and I did that earlier. She made me iron my own shirts.”

“Good for her,” Nick said. “That’s a valuable skill to learn.”

“Like algebra?” Scotty asked, eyebrow raised.

“Much more useful than algebra,” Nick said.

“So, you admit algebra is useless and ought to be outlawed by the president?”

“I never said that!”

Sam and Scotty lost it laughing.

“That’s what I heard,” Scotty said. “How about you, Mom?”

“Yep, I heard it, too.”

“Just what I need is you guys double-teaming me when the whole world is coming for me.”

“What now?” Sam asked, alarmed to hear that.

“Eh, the usual nonsense. Nothing to worry about.”

They said good night to Scotty and left him and Skippy watching the end of the Caps game.

She glanced at the stairs to the third floor. “Have you seen Ang?”

“She was at dinner with the kids and said she was going to bed.”

“How’d she seem?”

“About the same. Very anxious about the next few days.”

“Aren’t we all?” Sam asked with a sigh. “I need a minute with you before I go back to work.”

“I need a minute with you, too. Something about a car accident yesterday?”

“Oh crap. There’s so much going on that I forgot to tell you. I’m sorry.”

“I heard about it from the tattletales.”

“We can’t live with the Secret Service, and we can’t live without them.”

He chuckled as he guided her into their suite with a hand on her back, closing the door behind them. “That’s a fact. They said it was Ramsey?”

“It was, and now the FBI is involved, which is actually a relief. We haven’t had any luck getting rid of him. Maybe they’ll get it done for us.”

“We can only hope.” He gave her that penetrating look of his, the one that saw all the way through her. “You weren’t hurt at all?”

“My neck is aching a bit, but Lindsey checked it for me, and she said everything seems okay. I’ll get it looked at more thoroughly if it gets worse.”

“Yes, you will.” He held out his arms to her, and she walked into them with relief and gratitude for his steady presence. “Now, what can I do for you, love?”

“Well… You’re either going to be really happy with me or super pissed. I’m not sure which.”

“You have my attention.”

Sam took him by the hand and led him to the sofa, sitting next to him. “A while back, before all this happened,” she said, gesturing to their White House sitting room, “I asked Avery to take an informal look at what your mother is up to.”

“Wait… You asked a top-ranking FBI agent to informally investigate my mother?”

Did he sound mad or shocked or both? Definitely both.

“After that horrible interview she gave, I was looking for a way to get her out of your life permanently—and I sensed it was possible she was up to no good. Turns out I was right.”