“Say it again,” Sam said. “I didn’t hear you the first two times.”

Both men laughed—as she hoped they would—and the tension marking the chief’s face seemed to ease ever so slightly.

“We’ve all got your back, Chief,” Sam said. “Please don’t give up.”

“I appreciate the pep talk. Hopefully tomorrow will take some of the heat off.”

“How do you plan to explain where it all went wrong?” Sam asked.

“I’m going to tell the truth. We had built a strong narcotics case against Billy Springer and his associates, and I allowed Vice the time to finish their case before we charged Billy in the murders of his brother and his brother’s friends. It was my call. It was the right call at the moment, but our narcotics investigation was compromised, which led to the events at Billy’s grandmother’s home in Friendship Heights.”

“And when they ask how the investigation was compromised?”

“I’m going to say we are conducting an internal inquiry to determine how that happened, but we don’t know yet. And believe me, I want to know as badly as Bill Springer does.”

Sam thought about it for a long moment. “It might just work. The public will appreciate your honesty.”

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”

“We will,” Sam said. “No matter what, we’ve got your back.”

“And I appreciate that more than you know. I’ll let you get going so you can go home at some point.”

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Bright and early,” he said with a grimace as he left them.

“He’s taking this hard,” Sam said, filled with concern as she watched the chief walk away.

“It’s because he knows he fucked up. He never should’ve put the homicide investigation on hold for the narcs. It shouldn’t have happened. We told him so at the time.”

“Do you think he should resign?”

“Absolutely not. Billy Springer was a murdering, drug-dealing douche bag who got exactly what he had coming to him. The only one who can’t seem to get his head around that is his father.”

“The guy’s got a big bully pulpit.”

Malone grinned at her. “Ours is bigger. He’s about to find out how much bigger it is. Now let’s go track down some scumbags and call it a day.”

* * *

“What should we have for dinner?” Nick asked Scotty, who was playing a game on his Xbox, which had been moved upstairs from the den to the room Nick was now using as an office.

“Whatever you want is fine with me.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

The one-word answer surprised him. He’d been warned that the teenage years would bring about a child he barely recognized, but he’d refused to believe Scotty would ever be “typical.” So while his better judgment told him to leave it alone, his intuition told him to dig deeper.

Moving from the doorway to the sofa they’d hauled up the stairs together, Nick sat next to him. “Hey, buddy?”

“Yeah?”

“Pause the game for a second, will you?”

Always obedient, Scotty did as he was told.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Are you bummed you have to go back to school tomorrow?”

“Totally bummed. I love vacation.”

“So here’s the thing... From the minute you came home earlier, I could tell something was off. I’m still new to this fatherhood gig, but I’d like to think I know you pretty well by now. Is it just the end of vacation that’s got you down?”

Scotty fiddled with the game controller, and when he looked up at Nick, his eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Isn’t there anything that can be done for Skip?” he asked softly. “I hate seeing him in bed all the time and in pain. I don’t want to ask Sam about it because I know she’s upset too.”

Touched by his concern for his new grandfather, Nick said, “They’re talking to the doctors about it, and they’re hoping he’s going to improve with time.”

“I miss him,” Scotty said, wiping away a tear. “He’s always asleep when I go over there now.”

“That’s because of the medicine they’re giving him.”

“That’s what Celia said too.”

“I know it’s upsetting. It is for all of us, but they’re doing everything they can for him, and we have to hope he’s going to get better with time. His body is very fragile. It has been since the shooting, but it’s more so now since the surgery.”

“I hate that he’s in pain.”

“I do too, but the pain could turn out to be a good thing.”

“How is that possible?”

“It could be a sign that he’s getting back function in his extremities since the bullet was removed.”

“Does that mean he’ll walk again?”

“I don’t think he’ll recover to that point, but I’ve learned not to rule anything out where he’s concerned. He’s tough as nails. He should’ve died the day he was shot, but look how far he’s come since then.”

“I barely remember my own grandpa because he died when I was so young. Being around Skip... I like having a grandpa again.”

“I know, buddy. He’s the best. I’ll tell you what... Tomorrow when I get to work, I’ll make some calls. I bet there’s someone somewhere who knows something we don’t know.”

“Like in the government?”

Nick shrugged. “Maybe. There’s all sorts of stuff going on and maybe someone is working on something that will help him.”

“That’d be awesome.”

“Do me a favor, and don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to get the family’s hopes up if there’s nothing we can do, okay?”

Scotty nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Nick.”

“You know you can come to me with anything, right? Anything at all.”

“I know, but you’re starting your new job and you’re busy—”

“I’m never too busy for you. Ever. When you’re forty and have your own kids, I’ll still be right here.”

“I’m still getting used to that.” He looked down at the floor before glancing up at Nick, tentatively. “Do you think, at some point—not now—but maybe someday, it would be okay if I called you Dad?”

Moved to tears and stunned speechless by the emotional gut punch, Nick stared at him.

“It’s okay if you don’t want me to—”

Nick put his arm around Scotty and drew him into a hug. “I want you to,” he said gruffly. “Right now, today, tomorrow, whenever you want to. It would be the greatest honor of my life to be called Dad by you.”

“You’re the vice president of the whole country,” Scotty said dryly. “You’ve had greater honors.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Thanks,” Scotty said. “You know... For everything.”

“You don’t need to thank me. Sam and I are so happy to have you as part of our family. The day you told us you wanted to stay for good—best day of our lives.” Nick’s ringing phone ended the moment. “This might be Sam.” He smiled at Scotty as he released him and pulled his phone out of his pocket, seeing his friend Andy’s number on the caller ID. “I gotta grab this.”

“Go ahead,” Scotty said.

“Hey, Andy.”

“Mr. Vice President. How goes it?”

“It’s Nick, and it’s going fine. You?”

“Good. I actually had a night away with Elsa for New Year’s Eve while her parents had the baby. We just got back and I saw that I missed a call from Sam. I tried to call her, but got her voice mail, so I figured I’d try you.” Nick got up from the sofa. “Be right back,” he said to Scotty. He went into the hallway. “Did you hear the news about Lori Phillips?”

“What news?”

Nick filled him in on what had happened.

“Oh my God. That must be why Gonzo has called me four times too. Tell me he didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Sam says he’s not a suspect, but the media isn’t buying. They’re crucifying him.”

“Holy shit. Do you know why Sam called me?”

“I don’t, but she might be looking for info about the custody case.”

“There’s not much I can really tell her in light of my confidentiality requirements.”

“I doubt she’d be looking to you to violate confidentiality.”

“I left her a message. Tell her I’m around all night if she wants to call me. I’ll help if I can.”