“I heard you!” he says, his voice booming. Catching himself, Lamb falls awkwardly silent. It’s getting too personal. “I don’t know what you want from me,” he says to Nora.

“You told me you’d help him.”

“I said I’d talk to him.” Weighing the facts, Lamb throws me one last look. Like the best of the bigshots, he doesn’t give a hint of what he’s thinking. He just sits there, his steel features unmoving. Eventually, he says, “Nora, do you mind excusing us for a second?”

“No way,” she shoots back. “I’m the one who brought him h-”

“Nora… ”

“There’s no way I’m leaving without a-”

“Nora!”

Like a scolded dog, she shrinks down in her seat. I’ve never heard Lamb raise his voice. And I’ve never seen Nora so shaken. That’s why he looked after her all those summers-Lamb’s one of the few people who can tell her no. Understanding the stakes, Nora rises and heads for the door. As it’s about to close behind her, she calls out, “He’s going to tell me everything anyway.” The door slams shut.

Alone in the office, there’s an awkward pause hanging in the air. My eyes jump over Lamb’s shoulder as I try to lose myself in office decor. Studying the colonial landscape oil painting behind him, I realize for the first time that he doesn’t have an ego wall. He doesn’t need one. He’s just there to protect his friend.

“Do you care about her?” he asks.

“What?”

“Nora. Do you care about her?”

“Of course I care about her. I’ve always cared about her.”

Rapping his knuckle lightly against his desk, Lamb looks off in the distance, gathering his thoughts. “Do you even know her?” he eventually asks.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s not a trick question-do you know her? Do you really know who she is?”

“I-I think so,” I stammer. “I’m trying to.”

He nods, as if that’s an answer. Eventually, his strong voice creaks forward. “When she was younger-seventh, eighth grade-she started playing field hockey. Fast. Heavy contact. They signed her up so she would have some real girlfriends, and she used to play for hours-on the carpets, outside our farm-anywhere she could lug her stick. She used to make Chris play against her. But for Nora, the best part wasn’t just the physical side; she loved being on the team. Leaning on each other, having someone to celebrate with-that’s what made it worth it. But when her father finally got elected Governor… well, security concerns meant that team sports were out. Instead, she got an image consultant who did her clothes shopping for her and her mom. It seems silly now, but that’s how they saw it.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“If you care about her, you should know that.”

“If I didn’t care about her, I wouldn’t have lied about the money.”

The way his shoulders slack, I can tell that’s what he needed to hear. In some ways, I’m not surprised. Now that the FBI knows we’re dating, we’re all stuck at the epicenter. Nora, Simon, myself… one wrong move and we all go down. To be honest, I don’t think Lamb would care if I was the one who was sucked in. But from the steely look on his face, and the coldly pragmatic way he asked if I cared about her, he’s not letting me take his goddaughter-or the President-along for the ride.

He picks up the FBI folder on his desk and hands it to me. “I assume she told you about the other files in Caroline’s office. There were fifteen altogether-some on her desk; others in her drawers. The FBI’s treating them as a preliminary suspect list.”

“One of the files was mine.”

He nods to himself, almost as if it were a test. “In the back of Vaughn’s FBI file is the list of everyone they’ve cleared so far.” I flip to the list and see three more judicial nominees. The other two are the names Nora showed me. Five down, ten to go. The suspect list is shrinking. And they still haven’t gotten to me.

“I don’t have to tell you, Michael-if Nora’s linked to a drug dealer… much less a murderer… ”

He doesn’t have to finish the sentence. We all know what’s at stake here. “Does this mean you’re going to help?” I ask.

His voice is slow and methodical. “I’m not going to interfere with this investigation… ”

“Of course.”

“… but I’ll do what I can.”

I sit up in my chair. “I appreciate you believing me.”

“It’s not you,” he says matter-of-factly. “I believe her.” Watching my reaction, he adds, “They’re my family, Michael. I held Nora in my arms eight hours after she was born. When she calls me seven times in two hours, demanding that I start taking some action to protect you, I tend to take notice.”

“She called you seven times?”

“That’s just today,” he says. “She’s a complicated girl, Michael. She did almost everything you asked. And if she’s worried about you… that’s enough for me.”

I look nervously at Lamb. “Does that mean she told the President?”

“Son, if you’re asking me about their private conversations, there’s nothing for me to say. But if I were you… ” He pauses, making sure I get the point. “I’d pray that he never finds out. Forget about the fact that with a quiet directive, he can wipe out a small city halfway around the world, or that he’s always followed around by a military aide carrying the nuclear codes in a leather satchel. Because when it all comes down, none of that compares to being a father with a hurt daughter.”

“What’d he say?” Nora asks as soon as she sees me.

“Nothing.” With my chin, I motion at Lamb’s assistant, who can hear every word.

Nora turns to her and says, “Do you think you can-”

“Actually, I was about to get myself some coffee,” the woman volunteers with that now familiar look in her eyes. You don’t say no to the First Daughter. Within thirty seconds, Lamb’s assistant is gone.

“So what’d he say?” Nora demands as she wipes her nose. “Is he going to help?”

“He’s your godfather isn’t he?” I snap.

“What’s wrong with you?”

This is no time to hold back. “Did you let Vaughn into the building?”

“What? Are you out of your fucking head? What’d Larry tell you?”

“He didn’t tell me anything-I saw it for myself. That brown vial in the bar… the rumors of Ecstasy… and Special K. Vaughn’s dealing both, for chrissakes.”

“And that makes me a customer?” she explodes under her breath. “Is that what you think? That I’m a junkie?”

“No, I-”

“I’m not garbage, Michael! Do you hear me? I’m not!”

I stepped over a line with this one. “Nora-calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down! I take this shit every day from the gossipmongers-I don’t need to take it from you! I mean, if I wanted to buy, do you really think I’d bring a drug-dealing murderer in here? Do I look that stupid to you? They’re after my ass too-not just yours! And even if they weren’t, I don’t need your name. When I bring someone inside, they don’t ID my guests!”

I go to grab her hand, but she slaps me away. Her face is a rage of red. Unable to contain herself, she snaps, “Were you the one who told the FBI we were dating?”

My mouth practically falls open. “You really think I’d-”

“Answer the question!” she demands.

“How can you even think that?”

“Everyone wants something, Michael. Even a little scandal makes you famous.”

“Nora… ” Once again, I reach out for her hand, but when she tries to slap me away, I grab her by the wrist, refusing to let go.

“Get the hell off me!” she growls as she fights against me.

Holding tight, I quickly slide her hand into my own. All of her fingers are taut. Not just now… that’s how she always is. In her world, with the stakes this high, all she can do is brace for the crash. That’s all she knows. “Please, Nora-listen to me.”

“I don’t want t-”

“Just listen!” Stepping forward, I put my other hand on her shoulder. “I don’t want to be famous.”