Page 3 of The First Gentleman

Cole sees Maddy shift into commander-in-chief mode. Cool. Crisp. Decisive. “You’ve got a phone,” she says. “Make new arrangements.”

4

They’re getting out!” Ron grabs my sleeve.

Sure enough, I hear the slamming of heavy car doors and see movement at the front of the courthouse steps. The Secret Service is scrambling to clear a path to the podium.

“That takes some brass ones!” Ron calls to me above the rising noise.

A ring of dark suits surrounds President Wright and her broad-shouldered husband.

The president walks up the wide steps and pivots to the podium. The crowd surges forward. Cops push back. Secret Service agents watch the sea of faces. And hands. Especially the hands. Looking for weapons.

President Wright squeezes her husband’s arm just before she leans into the microphones. “Ladies and gentlemen, my dear friends, I will make this short and to the point.”

I hear her voice echo across the parking lot. She pauses after each phrase to let the words sink in.

“I have full faith and confidence in my husband’s innocence,and I trust that the good citizens of New Hampshire, who have stood by my side over the years, will also support my husband during this time of crisis.”

The president turns and kisses her husband’s cheek, making sure the cameras have a good angle. Then, as if it’s an afterthought, she steps up to the mics again and says, “I believe in our legal system, and I’m confident justice will be done here.”

She takes her husband’s hand. The Secret Service team surrounds them. As a unit, they walk up the steps to the courthouse doors.

“Quite a performance,” says Reynolds.

“It was a performance all right. Pure theater. They’re not a couple—they’re a damn criminal enterprise.”

My outburst must surprise Ron. A second later, he heads off to gather quotes.

Once again, I’m alone. I scan the masses. Almost every man, woman, and child is looking toward the courthouse, trying to get one last glimpse of the First Couple.

On the far side of the parking lot, I spot the lone exceptions: a man and a woman, looking straight at me.

I’ve seen these two before. My watchers.

Damn. Not again.

The crowd shifts, and they disappear.

All around me, people are chattering and yelling, but their words are a blanket of white noise. Again my mind whispers,Garrett.I hold out my hand, half expecting to see him reaching for me.

I fight back the tears as reality hits home.

The love of my life, Garrett Wilson, is dead. And I believe the man inside that courthouse is responsible for his death.

The First Gentleman.

He might even have pulled the trigger.

PART

ONE

THE PREVIOUS JANUARY

CHAPTER

1

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