State of Affairs Read online

  “We agree, but you need to be prepared to answer questions about your qualifications and experience.”

  “Is it okay to remind them that I was chosen by the president with the full understanding that if I was called to step in for him, I’d be the youngest president in history?”

  Trevor looked to the others for consensus.

  “I don’t see a problem with that,” Christina said. “It’s the truth. Nelson put his faith in you when he asked you to replace Gooding. The people who twice elected Nelson should have some faith in him, that he knew what he was doing.”

  “I’m not afraid to remind people of that if need be,” Nick said, even though he was fully aware that the primary reason Nelson had chosen him was to benefit from the popularity Nick had enjoyed as a senator.

  “The other most pressing question we’re receiving,” Trevor said with a nervous glance toward Sam, “is about Mrs. Cappuano continuing her role as a lieutenant with the Metro PD.”

  “Are they for or against it?” Sam asked.

  “Pretty evenly split,” Trevor replied. “Women are, in general, far more supportive than men.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Sam asked, feeling irked. “They think I ought to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Is there anyone left out there that doesn’t know that the pregnant part is a problem for me?”

  “We don’t care what other people think,” Nick said. “What matters is what we think, and we think you’re an amazing detective doing the job you were born to do.”

  How did he do that? How did he take her from steaming mad to swooning with a couple of perfect words? She relaxed against him, and he squeezed her shoulder, fully aware of his superpowers where she was concerned.

  “What else should we be prepared for, Trevor?” Nick asked.

  “Lots of questions about Ruskin and what happened in Iran.”

  “I’ll take care of that.” To Terry, Nick said, “Did we receive the secretary’s letter?”

  “We did.”

  “Excellent. I’ll announce his resignation during the interview. That’ll give them a sound bite to promote it.”

  The staff filed out a few minutes later, and Lilia took Sam to the in-house salon to have her hair and makeup done for the interview.

  “I could seriously get used to this,” Sam said to Davida, the hairstylist.

  “We’re here for you, ma’am, so take full advantage of us.”

  Another woman named Kendra did Sam’s nails, while Davida gave her a blow-dry that left her hair looking sleek and shiny.

  “Why does it never look like that when I do it?”

  “Everyone says that,” Davida said, laughing.

  The makeup artist, Ginger, was equally talented, and by the time they were finished with her, Sam felt as ready for prime time as she’d ever be.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Peter Wagner, a TV personality known for his interviews of famous and infamous people, had scored the coveted interview with the new first couple. Nick told Sam they’d chosen Wagner because they knew he’d be thorough and ask the questions most people had about their new first couple, but he wouldn’t come at them with his claws out.

  Nick met Sam in the Blue Room, which had been transformed into a TV studio with lights, cameras and wires running across the carpeting.

  “Whoa,” Nick said. “You look gorgeous. Your hair is so…”

  “Brushed?”

  He laughed. “I was going to say shiny and smooth.”

  “Thanks to our new in-house salon. Don’t get used to it. When we’re back to normal, my hair will be too.”

  “You know I think you’re gorgeous all the time.” He gave her an ass grab that no one else could see, to make his point.

  They were shown to side-by-side plush blue chairs.

  Nick started to sit next to her but stopped short. “These chairs won’t do. Can we get something like a love seat?”

  “Yes, sir, Mr. President,” one of the White House staffers said.

  “I’d like to sit next to my wife, not separate from her.”

  Sam smiled at him. Could he be any more adorable?

  “I couldn’t hold your hand in those chairs.”

  She reached out a hand to him, and he took it, giving it a careful squeeze in light of her injuries. “You’re giving away all our secrets, love.”

  “They’ll find out soon enough.”

  Standing in the middle of the beautiful, historic room, surrounded by strangers, there was only him, only them.

  A love seat was brought in from another room and positioned where the TV producer wanted it. Then they were wired with microphones.

  Nick scowled at the young man who attached the microphone to Sam’s lapel.

  “Stop that,” she whispered. “He’s just doing his job.”

  “He needs to keep his hands off my wife.”

  Sam rolled her eyes at him.

  Wagner came in, looking ridiculous in his pancake makeup.

  Apparently, Nick didn’t need that. He was perfect just the way he was. His olive-toned skin was made for prime time.

  Wagner shook hands with both of them. “Mr. President, Mrs. Cappuano, thank you so much for doing this. I’m honored to be your first interview in your new roles.”

  Sam had been prepared to automatically dislike him, but he didn’t seem totally awful. She set a low bar for the media, and most of them lived up to her expectations, with few exceptions, such as her friend Darren. Not that she’d ever let him know she considered him a friend.

  When the cameras were rolling, Wagner recited a prepared opening. “I’m honored tonight to have landed the most-sought-after interview in the world this week, with America’s new first couple, President Nick Cappuano and First Lady Samantha Cappuano. We’re so honored to have you here with us tonight.”

  “Thank you for having us,” Nick said, gracious as always.

  “The first thing I want to talk about is the question that’s on everyone’s mind. What was it like for you to get that call from the White House on Thanksgiving night?”

  “Needless to say, it was shocking on a number of levels. Separate of what it meant for us and our family, we were saddened by the president’s death. I’d been with him the day before, and he was fine. President Nelson was still a relatively young man, and his premature death is a tragedy for his family and our country.”

  “Indeed, it is. Has there been any more information about what might’ve happened to him?”

  “We learned today that President Nelson died of a pulmonary embolism. Mrs. Nelson will release further details when she feels ready.”

  “It’s no secret that you’ve had your challenges with President Nelson and his son Christopher, who’s in prison awaiting trial after targeting you both and murdering Mrs. Cappuano’s ex-husband, Peter Gibson. How does your history with the Nelson family color your impressions of the events of the last few days?”

  Jeez, Sam thought. What’re we supposed to say to that?

  “It doesn’t really. President and Mrs. Nelson assured us that they had no knowledge of what Christopher did, and we believed them. As parents ourselves, we felt their anguish over what happened and weren’t interested in doing anything that would make that worse for them.”

  Leave it to Nick to know just how to handle a question like that.

  “Mrs. Cappuano, you recently led the investigation into the murder of President Nelson’s mistress, Tara Weber. Was that investigation made more difficult by the stakes involved for your husband?”

  Yes, she wanted to say, but didn’t. “Every homicide investigation is complicated for different reasons. There was an intense level of interest in that one due to the president’s previous involvement with the victim, and of course there was a back-burner concern for how it might impact Nick and our family if the president had chosen to resign or had been forced to do so. At the time, though, one hundred percent of my focus was on getting justice for the victim, her newborn son and the r
est of her family.”

  “During that investigation, it was learned that Mrs. Nelson had secretly undergone treatment for ovarian cancer at the same time the president was engaging in an affair with a campaign staffer. Two questions—one, did you know at the time that she was ill, and how did you feel when you heard about the timing of the affair?”

  Yeah, that one is all Nick’s.

  “We did know that Mrs. Nelson had been ill, and like many others, we felt compassion for her at that difficult time. And like most Americans, we have the utmost respect and admiration for Gloria Nelson. She’s been nothing but welcoming and gracious to us while seeing her family through the shocking loss of her husband and their father and grandfather.”

  “Mr. President, just over a week ago, you released a statement indicating you didn’t plan to run in the next election. I’m sure you can understand the concerns of the American people about the possibility that they now have a reluctant president. How would you address those concerns?”

  “As I said in my remarks Friday night, when I accepted President Nelson’s invitation to become his new vice president, I did so with the full understanding and appreciation for the fact that I might have to step up should the need arise. After receiving the news about President Nelson’s death, I took the oath of office with the intention of giving the job and the American people my very best effort for the remainder of President Nelson’s term. I never said I didn’t want to be president. I said I didn’t wish to spend the better part of eighteen months away from my young family campaigning for the job.”

  “Will you run for reelection in the next cycle?”

  “While everything in our lives has changed in the last few days, the one thing that hasn’t changed is we still have a young family. The thought of months away from my wife and children isn’t at all appealing to me. But I’m not thinking about campaigns or elections at the moment. I’m entirely focused on completing the transition to a new administration, with an eye on critical national security and defense matters, as well as continuing the work President Nelson began in the areas of infrastructure, immigration, economic policy and finance, while helping my family to make a smooth transition to our new home.”

  “Mrs. Cappuano, you’re a lieutenant with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, and the American people are interested in your intentions as first lady regarding your current position.”

  “My intention is to keep my current position and continue my career during my tenure as first lady.”

  “I can’t help but wonder how that’s possible with the public nature of your position.”

  “I’ll go to work the same way I did as second lady, and I’ll do the job the taxpayers in the District pay me to do.”

  “From a security perspective—”

  “I’ll be accompanied by a Secret Service detail while on the job.”

  “Which was not the case when you were second lady, correct?”

  “That’s correct.” Sam refused to give him any more than she absolutely had to.

  “Mr. President, how do you feel about your wife being the first first lady to work outside the White House?”

  “I’m extremely proud of the work Sam does to get justice for murder victims and their families, and I love that she’ll make history this way.”

  “Are you concerned about your wife’s safety on the job, Mr. President?”

  Sam held back a groan. For fuck’s sake.

  “I’m always concerned about her when she’s working, but she’s a highly trained police officer surrounded by other highly trained officers. It would never occur to me to ask her to give up the work that means so much to her and many others.”

  Sam squeezed his hand and smiled. “It’s easy to see why I love him so much.”

  Nick’s face flushed with a hint of color that only she would notice.

  She loved to fluster him because it so rarely happened, except with her.

  “Mr. President, you’re the youngest president in American history. Do you feel that comes with a certain level of pressure to prove yourself?”

  “Not particularly. I’ll be thirty-eight in a few weeks, so I’m not exactly a child. I’ve spent my entire adult life—more than fifteen years—working in the highest levels of the legislative and executive branches. I’d contend that my time working for Congress and my understanding of the intricacies of getting things done in this town will be extremely beneficial to my administration and what we’re hoping to accomplish for the American people.”

  “You were criticized for leaving the White House in the midst of the standoff with Iran to attend your children’s birthday party. What do you say to that?”

  “I was exactly where I needed to be that day. I’d been at the White House for fourteen hours on Friday and since early in the morning on Saturday and was waiting for the next briefing on the situation in Iran, which wasn’t due until five o’clock. While I waited, I went home to see the children at their party. At no time was I out of touch with my national security team or the rest of the group that was working feverishly to bring the matter in Iran to a successful conclusion.”

  “I assume you’ve met with Secretary Ruskin since his return from Iran?”

  “I have, and he’s resigned his post as of five o’clock today.”

  Wagner clearly wasn’t expecting that scoop.

  “He’s one of several of President Nelson’s secretaries who’ve chosen not to remain in their posts in my administration. We’ll be vetting replacements for each of them in the next few weeks.”

  “Is Secretary Ruskin’s resignation tied to the events in Iran?”

  “You’d need to speak to him about that.”

  “The Iranian regime has referred to the incident as a misunderstanding. Would you call it that?”

  “My team is doing an in-depth review of the events that took place from the time the secretary and his entourage landed in Tehran until the moment of their departure. When we know more, we’ll report our findings to the American people and the international community. I was relieved that we were able to get the secretary and the others home safely without further escalation of tensions. Several of our international allies were critical in helping us to bring the matter to a peaceful conclusion.”

  Sam was so damned proud of him that she could bust from trying to contain it. The American people hadn’t known how lucky they were to have him, but they’d certainly know it after this interview.

  “Can you tell us who you’re considering to fill the vice president opening?”

  “We have a number of qualified candidates we’re considering and will have more information about that in the next week or two.”

  “We’re hearing you’re considering a woman for the position. Is that true?”

  “It is. I think we’re long overdue to see women at the highest levels of our government. If I’m remembered for nothing else, I’d like it to be that my administration was one of the more inclusive and diverse in history.”

  Wagner asked several questions about Nick’s domestic and international agendas and plans, as well as when he thought he might take his first foreign trip.

  “We’re still working on the schedule for the next few months, but as soon as we know more, we’ll be sure to make our agenda and schedule public.”

  “During your tenure as vice president, you were an advocate for bringing awareness of public service careers to schoolchildren. Do you plan to continue that effort now that you’re president?”

  “Absolutely. I think it’s critically important to the future of our country for children and young people to see a place for them in government. Our country relies on career civil servants to execute tens of thousands of programs and policies that have a direct impact on the daily lives of our citizens. We need smart, thoughtful people to serve in our armed forces and to work on the many challenges facing our country and the world, as well as to manage national security challenges, especially those in the increasingly complex a
rea of cybersecurity. The next generation of diplomats and Peace Corps volunteers are in high school now, and I think it’s essential for them to be aware of the many opportunities they have to serve their country.”

  “Does that include your hopes for your own children?”

  “I hope they’ll do whatever it is that calls to them, the same way Sam and I have. Right now, our thirteen-year-old son Scotty’s most pressing goal is to bring a four-legged friend into our family as soon as possible.”

  “And what do you say to that, Mr. President?”

  “We’re looking forward to visiting one of the local shelters before too much longer so Scotty can pick out a friend to live with us at the White House. But don’t tell him we said that.”

  “Your secret is safe with me. However, as a father myself, let me warn you that you’ll be pressed to deliver on that the minute this interview goes live.”

  Sam and Nick laughed.

  “We’re ready for that,” Nick said.

  “Your family lives locally and remained in your Capitol Hill area home during your tenure as vice president due to the proximity to Mrs. Cappuano’s disabled father. Do you have an idea of when you may move to the White House?”

  “Sam and I will accompany President and Mrs. Nelson, as well as the Nelson family, home to Pierre on Air Force One on Thursday after the funeral.”

  It was news to Sam that she’d be making a trip to South Dakota…

  “We’ll move into the White House after that, but we aren’t exactly sure when yet. The Secret Service is eager to get us settled here, so probably sooner rather than later.”

  “Mrs. Cappuano, you recently lost your father, retired Metro PD Deputy Chief Skip Holland.”

  Sam was immediately on guard against wherever he was going with that line of questioning. “That’s right.”

  “What do you think he’d say about his daughter and son-in-law becoming the nation’s first couple?”

  “Oh, well, I think he’d be thrilled. He loved Nick very much, thought of him as a son and was delighted when he became vice president. I’m just sorry he can’t be part of it. As a proud DC native, he would’ve loved visiting us here.”