Amy sat on the love seat in her father’s office, her husband’s arm resting across her shoulders. What had started as a simple inquiry had escalated into a full-blown family council.
Seth had helped Brent set up a secure video conference, and Amy could now see both of her brothers on the iPad screens set on the desk in front of her.
Her father had taken the chair beside them so they could all be seen as well. “I had planned on talking to everyone about this the next time we were together, but I didn’t want to discuss the possibilities with Amy and Brent without including the rest of you.”
“What possibilities?” Matt, her oldest brother, asked.
“The possibility of running for president.”
“Dad, you would be great.” This came from Charlie.
“I agree,” Charlie’s wife, Kendra, said.
Amy watched the interaction between the newlyweds, remembering how it had felt to think her whole future was a blank slate of blessings to come. She supposed it was a good thing she hadn’t known then that children wouldn’t come easily to them.
Her father’s voice cut through her thoughts. “I’ll be honest with you. I’m a stronger candidate if you are all willing to be involved in my campaign, but I want you to do what is best for you and your individual families. The scrutiny of the press can be difficult.”
“I doubt the press can find anything on me if they haven’t already,” Kendra said. A famous singer in her own right, she had grown up in the spotlight because of her father, who was one of his generation’s best-known actors. If anyone could handle the press, it was Kendra.
“I agree, Kendra, but this would end Charlie’s ability to work undercover for the FBI.”
“Dad, I’m married to Kendra. Undercover work has been out of my job description for a while now.”
“Matt, CJ, what do you think? It’s not just the two of you we need to consider but also your children.”
One of those children, six-year-old Kailey, ran in front of them, her younger brother chasing closely behind.
Amy experienced another pang of longing.
“I’ll be honest,” Matt began. “The majority of your campaign is going to be during my baseball season. I don’t know how much use I’ll be to you.”
“Matt, I’m not talking about being on the campaign trail. If and when you’re available, that would be great, but more it’s about your willingness to be associated with me and your mom.”
“Why wouldn’t we be willing to be associated with our own family?”
“Because it’s possible the opponent will try to dissect our family dynamics and try to use it against us,” Jim said. “Kendra’s from California but has a home in Tennessee. Matt and CJ live in Florida.”
“You think people will think our family has located themselves where there’s a high concentration of electoral votes,” Charlie said now.
“Exactly.”
Amy tried to imagine what it would be like to have her father occupy the highest political office in the country. She wasn’t quite able to wrap her mind around it.
“The truth is,” Jim continued, “you are all a very impressive bunch. A professional baseball player, an Olympian, an FBI agent, a popular singer, a Navy SEAL, and an intelligence officer. You run the gamut of who people look up to in this country.”
Brent looked down at Amy as though silently asking if she approved. Though she couldn’t begin to imagine the changes that would result in her life, she found herself nodding.
Brent shifted again. “I can’t count how many times Amy’s been frustrated with someone up our chain of command and I thought she was going to pick up the phone and call the Oval Office. I have to say, I’ll feel a lot better knowing Jim is on the other end of that kind of phone call instead of a man I’ve never met.”
Amy chuckled, and laughter from several others joined hers.
Visible on the edge of the screen beside Charlie, Amy’s mother focused on her father. “Honey, I think you have your answer.”
“I’ve been praying about this for some time, and I keep circling back to the fact that I need our family to remain my first priority,” Jim said. “Are you all sure you can support me in this?”
Yeses and nods abounded.
“How soon would you announce your candidacy?”
“That’s still another year off, but the party will start putting things in motion as soon as I give them my answer.”
“Good luck, Dad,” Charlie said. “I’ll vote for you.”
“If any of you don’t plan on voting for me, I should hang it up before I even get started.”
“Just be prepared to win,” Matt said.
They all chatted for a few minutes about the logistics of what would be happening behind the political scenes for the next several months. Amy marveled at the number of meetings her father would be involved in over the course of the next year. How anyone kept their plans a secret for such a candidacy was beyond her.
* * *
Kade wanted things to go back to the way they were before the most recent shooting. Though he normally didn’t care to fall into a routine, he could admit now that he had come to enjoy the rhythm he and Renee had developed over the past few days. She gave him the silence he needed when he needed it. Other times she asked questions and challenged his mind to break up what would otherwise be another monotonous day.
Why he thought of his days as monotonous now when he hadn’t before, he couldn’t say. Wandering into the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator and then the freezer. Some frozen brownies caught his eye, and he called out to Renee. “Do you like brownie sundaes?”
“I love brownie sundaes.” She looked up from the notebook she held in her lap. “Why?”
“I thought I would make us dessert.”
“First Chinese food and then dessert?” Her humor went a long way toward erasing the tension from earlier. “Who are you?”
“Someone who knows the best places to pick up desserts that freeze well.” He slid two brownies into the microwave and pulled out some vanilla ice cream.
Renee joined him in the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”
“Grab a couple bowls.” Kade pulled the brownies out of the microwave and heated some hot fudge. He and Renee dished up their ice cream and sat at the kitchen table together.
“These brownies are seriously good. Where did you get them?”
“A little restaurant in southern Virginia.” Kade took a bite, savoring the combination of hot-and-cold sweetness.
“You’ll have to give me the address. These would be worth the drive.”
A little spurt of hope shot through him at the thought of seeing her after this ordeal ended. The possibility of her relocating to the CIA’s training facility in the southern part of the state popped into his mind, and he wondered if it was even possible to pursue a relationship beyond this current crisis.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t respond to Renee. He was nearly done with his dessert when his phone rang.
“Yeah?” Kade said, already identifying the number as Brent’s.
“You didn’t tell me the guy you want us to grab is in Woodbridge.”
“Didn’t think it would matter.”
“It definitely matters. You realize the military isn’t authorized to pull a mission like this on U.S. soil, right?”
“Never stopped you before.”
“We’ve operated in the U.S. when one of our own was in danger but never abducting someone,” Brent clarified. “Hate to break it to you, but none of us has any interest in getting arrested.”
“You won’t get arrested if you don’t get caught.”
“And if someone does get caught?” Brent asked.
“Worst case, your father-in-law can pardon you once he’s president.”
“How did you know . . . ?”
“I’m a guardian. You’d be amazed at what I know.” Kade considered the other man’s concerns and tried to understand them. When he had to deal with dicey situations, he could always disappear and relocate. A few of the other guardians had done exactly that when they had popped up on someone’s radar. Brent and the rest of his squad had homes and families.
“Would you feel better if I override all the traffic cameras in the area?”
“I’d feel better if we don’t do this at all,” Brent countered. He paused, and Kade waited for him to work through the possibilities. “How about this: We’ll put him under surveillance for the next week. If we grab him without anything more than knowing he was near Renee’s house, we don’t have much to get him to talk.”
“He’s CIA,” Kade reminded him. “I doubt you’ll be able to pick up much from outside the gates.”
“That’s true, but two members of our squad are married to CIA employees. Maybe it’s time to enlist their help.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Only if they leave an electronic footprint. If we send both of them in, they can work together to track his movements and see who he interacts with outside his office.”
“True.” The practical side of Kade knew Brent’s plan made sense, and he admitted he didn’t mind the idea of keeping Renee around a bit longer. Another side of him wanted all threats neutralized now. “We’ll try it your way first,” Kade finally said. “But if we don’t get what we want, we need to bring him in for questioning.”
“Deal.”
* * *
“I don’t like it.” Seth crossed his arms over his broad chest and stared down his commanding officer. He had spoken to Vanessa two hours earlier to discover she and the guardians’ programmer had already searched for and found the tracker in the CIA’s database that had identified Renee Niezen to whoever was behind this mess. Now he was faced with the possibility of his wife becoming even more intimately involved in this mission.
“I’m not crazy about it either,” Brent said, “but I see this as our best option.”
“Logistically, it’s going to complicate things as well,” Seth said. “You’ll bring Paige down to stay here, but Damian is on protection detail in New York. We’re running out of bedrooms here as it is.”
“That’s why I was planning on sending Tristan and Quinn to New York to take over up there,” Brent said. “We can send them right after church in the morning. That way we have extra coverage for Jim while he’s away from the house. Once we’re back here, they can leave.”
“And you’ll have Damian and Craig escort Vanessa and Paige down here,” Seth finished for him.
“Exactly. Craig asked permission to take Sienna to Virginia Beach tomorrow anyway because she has to be at work on Monday. He can drop everyone off on his way.”
Seth listened, saw Brent’s logic, and still felt his gut turn to stone at the idea of Vanessa coming into harm’s way. Though he and Vanessa hadn’t discussed when and how they would share their news, he found himself compelled to make sure Brent understood the source of his reservations. “Look, Brent, what you’re saying makes sense, but there’s something you need to know.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re still keeping it quiet, but Vanessa’s pregnant.”
“That’s great.” Brent said the words, but Seth noticed a stiffness in him he hadn’t expected. It lasted only an instant before Brent reached over and slapped him on the back. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, but you can understand why I’m hesitant to involve my wife in this.”
“I understand, but you know how good she is at what she does. If all we need her to do is help Paige know if this guy is coming or going from his office, no one will be the wiser.”
“I know you. You’ll want a tracking device on this guy, and planting one would put her in danger.”
“Okay, so we plant one ourselves and keep her out of it.”
Seth mulled over the dangers involved and had to admit Brent was right. Vanessa was one of the best undercover operatives he had ever worked with. Since her current job was training the CIA’s next generation of spies, it wouldn’t be hard for her to work out of headquarters for a week or so, and she would have the flexibility to move freely through most offices.
“Fine. You win, but I’m still not crazy about the idea.”
“You’ll feel better after you plant a tracker on Barrett’s car.”
Seth accepted Brent’s comment as truth. “Who do you want me to take with me?”
“Take Quinn. Tristan’s up next on lookout duty, and Jay could use a break.”
“We’ll take care of it tonight.”
“That’s what I figured,” Brent said. “And congratulations again on the baby. I’m excited for you.”
“Thanks.” Seth thought about Brent’s flash of tension, and an unsettling reality presented itself. Brent had been the first of their squad to get married, yet Tristan already had a child, and now both Vanessa and Quinn’s wife, Taylor, were expecting their first. Could it be that Brent and Amy didn’t have children yet because they couldn’t?
Pondering that thought, he moved through the Whitmores’ house in search of Quinn. Regardless of Brent’s situation, he was determined to do everything he could to keep his wife and baby safe.