“As you once told me, armadas are for ships,” she retorted, thrilled to see him already relaxing in a way he hadn’t in months.

  “You do listen to me!”

  “Hush. No one listens to you the way I do.”

  “Have I told you yet today that I would cease to exist without you right here next to me to keep it real?”

  “Not yet, slacker. I’m here for all the sweet nothings you’ve been saving for this time away.”

  “I’ve got a lot of sweet nothings in inventory with your name on them.”

  “I thought we’d take Marine One to Dewey.”

  “I told them I wanted to drive because that’s the only way I could be completely alone with you for the time it would take to get there.”

  Sam leaned across the console between their seats to kiss him. “You know what we haven’t done yet?”

  “There’s something we haven’t done?”

  “Uh-huh.” She released her seat belt and moved over to straddle him, loving the look of surprise in his sexy hazel eyes. “Beast sex.”

  He put his hands on her ass and pulled her in tight against his instant erection. “Alarm bells are sounding at Secret Service headquarters because the first lady isn’t seat-belted, and there’s extra weight on top of the president.”

  Sam froze. “Really?”

  Nick laughed so hard, he had tears in his eyes.

  Pretending to be mad, she tried to pull back from him and found out once again that he was much stronger than her. Not that he ever used his strength inappropriately.

  “Are you done laughing at me yet?” she asked on a huff of annoyance.

  “Not quite.”

  Smiling, Sam planted a kiss on lips still quivering with laughter. “I might take back my offer of Beast sex since you laughed at me.”

  “I was laughing with you. Not at you.”

  “You were the only one laughing!”

  “This is the best hour I’ve had since Thanksgiving.”

  “That’s very offensive. I’ve done some of my finest work in the White House residence.”

  “Yes, you have, but I’m so happy to be out of there for more than an hour or two. I’m going to start traveling more after this vacation. I can’t take being cooped up in there.”

  “I was thinking about that. You should start running again. It’d get you out of there every day.”

  “That would be such a production.”

  “Not for you. Tell Brant what you want to do, and he’ll make it happen. Stop worrying about putting them out. That’s their job—to make it so you can do what you want.”

  “That’s true, and you’re right that I spend too much time worrying about inconveniencing them.”

  “We’ll work on your mindset shift when we return. But for now…” She pushed against him suggestively. “Are we for or against Beast sex?”

  “I’m scared there might be cameras.”

  Again, she froze. “For real?”

  “I’m not entirely sure.”

  “How can we find out?”

  “We could ask Brant, but that’d be the same as saying, ‘Hey, Brant. We want to have sex back here. Is anyone watching?’”

  “And you’d be opposed to coming right out and asking him that?”

  He gave her a look that said, Seriously?

  “What? He knows we have sex. Hell, the whole world knows that. Exhibit A: Saturday Night Live.”

  “Funniest thing ever.” He hummed the tune to “My Humps” by the Black Eyed Peas, which had become their anthem on the comedy show, much to her horror and his amusement.

  Sam smacked him on the shoulder. “No, it wasn’t.”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “Are we going to fight about that or have Beast sex?”

  “You can’t ever say the words ‘Beast sex’ outside of this vehicle. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes, Mr. President. The mood for Beast sex is slipping away…”

  “Please hold.” He raised the cover of the center console and pulled out a phone she’d never noticed before. “Random question for you, Brant. Are there cameras back here?” He listened to whatever Brant was saying while Sam basically gave him a lap dance that had the fingers on his free hand digging into her hip. “Okay, got it. Thanks.”

  “What’s the verdict?”

  “There’re cameras, but they’re used only in an emergency, not during routine conveyance.”

  Sam shivered dramatically. “I love when you say things like ‘routine conveyance.’”

  “I love when you lap-dance me when I’m on the phone.”

  “I can do that more often, if you’d like.”

  “I’d like.” He unbuttoned her blouse and freed her breasts from the black lace bra she’d bought for the trip.

  “Someone has been doing some shopping, I see.”

  She could barely think, let alone speak, when he touched her breasts and ran his thumbs over her nipples. “Perhaps.”

  “You’re the sexiest first lady in history.”

  “I have nothing on Eleanor Roosevelt.”

  He snorted with laughter.

  “Her brain was sexy.”

  “Yours is, too. Every part of you is sexy.”

  “I never thought so until you made me believe it.”

  “That’s a crying shame.” He buried his face between her breasts and seemed to breathe her in as she wrapped her arms around his neck and let her head fall back in surrender.

  No one had ever made her feel the way he did.

  “It’s okay.” She gasped as he drew her left nipple into his mouth, running his tongue over it until she was breathless. “I never cared about such things until I cared about you.”

  “In case I’ve forgotten to say so… You caring about me has made my life worth living.”

  “Two whole years married. And they said it would never last.”

  He pulled back to look at her, his expression stunned. “Who said that?”

  Sam laughed. “No one. It’s just a saying.” She framed his face and kissed him with the love and desire that had powered them through two of the most wonderful—and tumultuous—years of their lives. As she kissed him, she worked on his belt, button and zipper.

  “Careful. Don’t injure him. We’re going to need him a lot this week.”

  “Then help me!”

  They worked together to free all the important parts.

  Sam gasped as she took him in, slowly, methodically, going for the ultimate effect.

  “Babe. Come on.” His hands dug into the flesh of her ass as he tried to move her along.

  But Sam was in charge and planned to enjoy every second. “Don’t be hasty.” She glanced out the window. “We’re not even to the Bay Bridge yet. We’ve got plenty of time.”

  “Not if you want this to end in a satisfactory way for you. It’s about to end very satisfactorily for me.”

  “Oh, that does sound like a problem.”

  “Not for me.”

  She slid down on him in one swift stroke that had him moaning and gripping her even tighter.

  “Holy shit, that was hot.”

  She loved seeing his head back against the seat, eyes closed and as relaxed as he ever was these days, even if one part of him wasn’t. That was her goal for this week. To get him as relaxed as she possibly could. Well, except for at times like this, of course. Then she wanted him fully engaged with her and not thinking about any of the many things that regularly weighed on him.

  With that in mind, she picked up the pace until they’d fully consummated the Beast and were pulsing with aftershocks as they clung to each other.

  All at once, Sam had a worrisome thought. “Do they check this thing for DNA?”

  Nick laughed. “Stop thinking like a cop.”

  “That’s like asking me not to breathe.”

  “They won’t be checking for DNA.”

  “You’re sure of that?”

  “Fairly certain.”

  “That’s not what I want to hear!”

  “Relax, babe. They work for me. It’s all good.”

  “Oh, listen to you. Mr. Powerful President.”

  “Eh, whatever. It’s my car to do with as I please, and if I want to f—”

  She kissed the word right off his lips.

  “—my wife in the back seat, then that’s what I’m gonna do.”

  “Well, all righty, then.”

  “Wanna do it again?”

  Chapter Four

  While Freddie got Gordon and Tori settled in interrogation rooms, Gonzo returned to the pit, where Captain Malone waited for him.

  “Who’d you bring in?”

  “The vic’s on-again-off-again and his so-called longtime girlfriend, who he was trying to break up with.”

  “You like him for this?”

  “Not him so much as her. She seems a bit undone by him breaking up with her, and his reaction to hearing about Rachel’s death was genuine shock.”

  “When you get things handled here, I need you at Stahl’s.”

  “Let me take care of a few things, and then I’ll get over there.”

  Malone handed him a slip of paper with the 15th Street Northeast address, which Malone had noted was in the Brookland neighborhood.

  “Is that the one they call Little Rome?” Gonzo asked.

  “Yep. Catholic U, Basilica of the National Shrine and Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America are all up there.”

  “Interesting area for a sinner like Stahl to call home.”

  “The irony isn’t lost on me.” Malone held out a sheet of paper. “This is the release that the Public Affairs team came up with. Let me know what you think. It’ll go out after we’ve paid visits to the families. The chief will add a quote expressing his outrage and commitment to getting answers for the families of the missing women—no matter where those answers may lead.”

  The Metropolitan Police Department has received credible information tying former Lieutenant Leonard Stahl, who is serving two life sentences in prison, to as many as twenty missing women. Crime Scene detectives have been dispatched to Stahl’s DC-area home to execute numerous search warrants. This investigation is in the earliest stages, and we’ll have more information as it becomes available.

  We are investigating Stahl’s possible connection to the following missing persons:

  Gonzo scanned the list of women, who ranged in age from nineteen to thirty-two. Their cases predated his tenure with the department, so he didn’t recognize any of the names.

  Anyone with information about Leonard Stahl and his ties to any of the missing women is asked to contact the MPD information line.

  Gonzo handed the page back to Malone. “It looks okay to me.”

  “We’re hoping to notify the families in person in the next few days, and then we’ll release the statement to the public. We expect there to be a lot of anger from the families, which is certainly understandable.”

  “I can’t even imagine what the reaction will be.”

  “We’re hoping we can keep a lid on it until we’re ready to comment. We’ve got people dispatched to each of the twenty families to provide the update within the next two days.”

  “God, what a mess.”

  “You said it. Get with Lucas and Haggerty as soon as you can.”

  “Will do, Cap.”

  Gonzo used his key to unlock the door to Sam’s office and then shut it behind him. He left the light off and went straight to her desk to get the most dreaded task handled. As a parent himself, he simply couldn’t fathom being on the other end of a phone call like this. He hoped to God he never was.

  He stared at the phone for a minute, preparing himself as well as he could, before he picked up the receiver and dialed the number in St. Louis that Rachel’s roommate had given him.

  A woman answered, sounding wary after seeing the MPD number on her caller ID. “Hello?”

  “Mrs. Fortier?”

  “Yes. What’s wrong? Why are you calling from the Metro PD? Is that in Washington?”

  “Yes, ma’am. This is Sergeant Thomas Gonzales.”

  “Oh God! What? Is Rachel okay?”

  “Ma’am, I’m sorry to have to inform you that she was found dead in her bed this morn—”

  The woman’s shrieks pierced his heart and touched his soul.

  How did anyone survive such a thing?

  He could hear a man’s voice in the background before he came on the phone. “Who is this? What’s happened?”

  Gonzo closed his eyes as he was forced to repeat the news.

  “Oh my God. Not Rachel.”

  “I’m so sorry to have to tell you this news.”

  “If the police are involved, does that mean… Was she murdered?”

  “We won’t know that for sure until the medical examiner completes her work.”

  “What do we do?”

  “I’ll get back to you when we have the ME’s report.”

  “Should we come there?”

  “Not unless you want to, of course. The funeral home you choose will arrange transport home to you in St. Louis.”

  “This can’t be true. We just spoke to her yesterday. Everything was fine.”

  “We’re so sorry for your loss. You said everything was fine yesterday, but could I ask if Rachel was having any challenges or concerns lately?”

  “She… This has been a very difficult school year for her.”

  “How so?”

  “She started seeing that guy Gordon in the fall. We met him when we were there for parents’ weekend, and he seemed like a nice young man. She was very excited about him, but the ex-girlfriend was harassing them.”

  “How so?”

  “Somehow she got Rachel’s number and was texting her that she was fucking around with someone else’s boyfriend and how would she feel if someone did that to her.”

  As Gonzo took notes, he wished he’d turned on the overhead light.

  “We ended up getting her a new phone number, but the ex-girlfriend got ahold of that number, too.”

  “Did you report the harassment to the police?”

  “Rachel didn’t want to. She said Gordon was taking care of it, and she wanted to give him the space to do that.”

  “Why didn’t she block the other woman’s number?”

  “For a while, it was so Gordon could see what Tori was saying to her. Then she did block her, but she continued the harassment from other people’s phones. She was relentless. But it had dropped off lately, so we’d hoped she’d given up on bothering Rachel.”

  “Can you give me both of Rachel’s phone numbers?”

  “Hang on a minute.”

  Gonzo heard him comforting his wife before he came back to the phone and recited the two numbers.

  “The second one is the new one. We… We never thought her problems with Gordon and his ex-girlfriend would put her in danger. If we had…” Sniffing and sounding tearful, he said, “I mean, we thought it was typical college drama, and she told us it was under control. Do you think they hurt her?”

  “We don’t know anything yet. We have Gordon and Tori here and plan to question them about their dealings with Rachel.”

  “The girlfriend is there? She goes to school in Georgia. What’s she doing there?”

  “From what we’ve learned so far, she was visiting for the weekend.”

  “So she and Gordon were still together. What the hell? They must’ve been involved in this.”

  “We’re very early in the investigation. I’ll keep you apprised of any developments, and again, we’re so sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’ll be in touch.”

  After he put down the receiver, Gonzo thought about what Mr. Fortier had told him and how he wanted to deal with Gordon and Tori. He picked up the phone again and dialed Archie’s number.

  “Hey, Sam, I thought you were off.”

  “It’s Gonzo in Sam’s office.”

  “Ah, okay. What’s up?”

  “I need to dump two phones ASAP. Let me give you the numbers.” He recited them both.

  “We need a warrant.”

  “I’ll take care of that.”

  “Let me know when you have it, and I’ll get right on it.”

  Next, he called Malone to ask him to expedite the warrants. “While you’re at it, I want to get warrants for two other phones. I’ll be right back to you with those numbers.”

  “I’ll get it started,” Malone said. “What’re you thinking?”

  “Love triangle gone wrong is the obvious conclusion. I just need to prove it.”

  “I’ll let you get to that and will keep you in the loop about the goings-on at Stahl’s.”

  “Great, thanks.” Gonzo put down the phone just as a knock sounded at the door. “Enter.”

  Cruz stuck his head in. “Gordon and Tori are set in interview one and two.”

  “Did you take their cell phones?”

  “I did, and I got the numbers, too.”

  “God, you’re the best. Let me have them.”

  Gonzo wrote them down and then called Malone back to give him Gordon’s and Tori’s numbers. “I’ve got their phones and Rachel’s and will get them upstairs to Archie.” As he spoke, he gave Freddie the signal to go ahead and deliver the phones.

  After he finished the call, Gonzo went to the pit to talk to Cameron. “Anything on the socials?”

  “Tori Stevens is a piece of work. Nonstop ranting about people who steal other people’s boyfriends and how there ought to be a code among women that other people’s boyfriends are off-limits.”

  “I really like her for this,” Gonzo said. “I’m just trying to figure out how she could’ve gotten into Rachel’s building and her room, killed her without making a mess and returned to Gordon’s room like nothing ever happened.”

  “I asked Archie for pings as well as data,” Cruz said when he returned. “And I asked him to prioritize Tori’s phone to see if the pings put her in Rachel’s building.”

  “Text Lindsey and tell her to let us know the minute she has a time of death.”

  Cruz sent the text. “I heard from Charles that they weren’t able to find any abandoned pizza boxes in the suite or in any of the garbage cans in the building. PG County Crime Scene detectives are looking for them in dumpsters and other garbage cans on campus.”