“That was hours ago,” Farnsworth said, his brows furrowing. “She was going there when Conklin and I parted company with her around eleven. She called me about seeing an investigator Mrs. Springer had hired to follow her husband but that didn’t pan out. No one’s heard from her since?”

Malone pulled his phone from his pocket and placed a call, frowning when he apparently got her voice mail. He then sent a text and watched his screen intently. “It delivered but it wasn’t read.”

“Let me try Cruz and see if he’s spoken to her,” Gonzo said with a growing sense of alarm. More than an hour off the grid. That wasn’t like her. At all. “Hey, Freddie.”

“What’s up? Where are you?”

“At HQ with Malone and the chief. We’re wondering if you’ve spoken to Sam recently?”

“Not since this morning when she called about Springer. Why?”

Gonzo shook his head and watched Malone and Farnsworth exchanged concerned glances. “We haven’t heard from her in a while, and we’re just trying to see if anyone else has.”

“Did you call Nick? She usually keeps in touch with him all day, but today may be different since it’s his first day at the White House. I can call Shelby too. She’s probably talked to Sam.”

“Let me know, will you?”

“Yeah, will do.”

“How’s Elin?”

“Sore but better. They’re sending her home soon.”

“What the hell happened?”

Freddie told him about the guy who’d been hassling her at the gym and the fight that had led to her injuries.

“Do we need to have a conversation with this guy?”

“Already done.”

Gonzo turned his back to the chief and captain and walked a short distance away. “What’d you do, Cruz?”

“I took care of it. That’s all you need to know.”

“Took care of it how?”

“I’m going to call around to try to find Sam. I’ll get back to you when I hear something. You do the same?”

“Yeah, but we’re going to talk about the other thing later.”

“Fine, see you.”

The line went dead and Gonzo was left with yet another uneasy feeling. He placed calls to all of the Homicide detectives, none of whom had heard from Sam in the last hour.

“What’re you hearing, Sarge?” Malone asked.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Should we call Nick?” Malone asked. “If anyone’s heard from her, he has.”

“What if he hasn’t, though? He’ll be in a panic. I’d prefer to wait a bit on making that call.”

Malone went to a house phone on the wall and dialed a number. “Archie, it’s Malone. I need you to put a trace on Lieutenant Holland’s phone. Do you have the number?” He paused and then groaned. “So it doesn’t have GPS capability?” After another pause, Malone said, “She’s getting a new phone. Immediately. Thanks anyway, Archie.” He slammed down the receiver.

“I’m going to the Springer house since that was the last place we knew she was,” Gonzo said.

“I’m going with you,” Malone said.

“Me too,” Farnsworth replied.

As they left HQ and headed for MacArthur Boulevard, Gonzo’s chest tightened. He had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

Nick’s first day at the White House passed in a blur of meetings and briefings on everything from national security to the latest situation in Iraq and Syria to an update on the Ebola outbreak in Africa and the efforts being made by the Centers for Disease Control to keep the disease from further encroaching on U.S. borders. Within the West Wing, a fierce debate was under way about sending ground troops to Africa to help contain the virus and offer aid.

He could see both sides of the debate. Containing the disease was in the U.S.’s best interest, but he could also understand the military’s resistance to send troops into such a hot zone.

At quarter to five, Terry knocked on his door and came in. As he took a seat on the other side of Nick’s desk, he looked energized and invigorated by the day they’d put in. “So.”

“So?” Nick asked.

“So far, so good?”

“Yeah, I’d say that. Pretty intense day.”

“I’d venture to guess most days around here are intense.”

“I thought I’d see Nelson at some point.”

“You’re having lunch with him on Friday, and I’m sure he’ll pop in to the reception if he’s able to.”

“Sure, whatever.” Nick aligned the wedding photo of him and Sam on the corner of his desk. That and Scotty’s recent school photo were the only pictures on his desk.

“What’s up?” Terry asked.

“Nothing’s up other than the first day on a new job.”

“Why do you seem, I don’t know, out of sorts maybe?”

Nick shrugged. “I guess I’m sort of hoping I haven’t made a huge mistake.”

“How do you mean?”

“Everything today... It sort of feels like...”

“Like what?”

“Busywork. Stuff they’re throwing at me to keep me involved but on the periphery.”

Terry thought about that for a minute. “They might be easing you in.”

“Maybe.”

“But you don’t think so?”

“It occurs to me that Nelson has already gotten what he needed most from me.”

“A boost in poll numbers,” Terry said, nodding. The numbers showed the American people very much approved of the president’s choice of a new vice president.

“Bingo.” Nick held a pen between his index and middle fingers, letting it dangle. “He used me, Terry.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

Nick raised a brow. “Don’t I? I haven’t heard a single word from him or any member of his team, except Derek, who I talk to regularly anyway, since the day I was sworn in six weeks ago. Not one word.”

“It was the holidays. Everyone was out of town from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. You know how this city works.”

“We still have a country to run. Are you going to tell me Nelson didn’t work—at all—for six weeks? And why did they encourage me to wait until after the first of the year to officially start work?”

“Because they knew you needed time to put a team in place?”

“Six weeks, Terry. That’s a long time for radio silence between the country’s top two leaders.”

“You should talk to Derek about it. Get his feel.”

“You think he’d tell me if Nelson was purposely leaving me out of things?”

“I think you guys have been friends a long time, and if he can tell you anything, he will.”

“True.” While he agreed with Terry, Nick still hated to put Derek in the middle of potential issues between his boss and his longtime friend.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it—yet. It’s early days. It’ll all shake out in the next couple of weeks.”

“I don’t want to be bored. I want to be busy.”

“Then we’ll keep you busy. To start with, you have a slew of interview requests. They want you everywhere—all the Sunday shows and most of the news magazines are clamoring for you.”

“Sure, I’ll do them. Let’s make the rounds. Do we need to clear it with Nelson’s people first?”

“I don’t see why. He asked you because you’re popular, so it’s safe to assume he’d approve of you capitalizing on your popularity.”

“I don’t like that word.”

“Which word? Popularity?”

“No, assume,” Nick said with a chuckle. “It gets people, even vice presidential people, in trouble. Let’s clear it with his team before we do anything. I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Vice President.”

Nick scowled at his friend. “Can it.”

“So I wanted to share a bit of personal news with you.”

“What’s that?”

“I asked Lindsey to marry me on New Year’s Eve and for some strange reason she actually said yes.”

Nick laughed at his choice of words and his befuddled expression. “Congratulations, Terry. I couldn’t be happier for both of you.”

“Thanks. I’m pretty happy too. A year ago, I never could’ve imagined the life I’ve got now.”

“Right there with you.” Nick’s personal cell phone rang and he took the call from his friend Andy. “Hey there.”

“How’s life in the White House?”

“The jury’s still out. Anything new?”