"Anyone have anything they want me to let the Secretary know on this update," Blake stood up from his space at the conference room table and grabbed his phone.
"Let her know that the press inquiries are still flooding in," Daisy sighed. "I'm on it."
"Right," Matt nodded. "She is going to have to make some kind of statement or appearance to quiet them down. We can wait until tomorrow, but she is going to have to say something before the investigation wraps up, even if it isn't a full-on interview."
"Right," Blake frowned. "She is gonna love that."
"FBI has confirmed the preliminary id," Jay chimed in. "Still looking into his background but it looks like he was forty years old, single, born and raised in Philadelphia. So far there is no word on any kind of State connection or any other connection for that matter to the Secretary."
"What about a connection to Nadine," Matt asked. "I mean, he could have been after her right?"
"They are checking," Jay nodded. "But they are pretty sure from the footage that isn't what happened. I mean, it looks like he stabbed Nadine because she got in the way."
"This whole thing is nuts," Daisy threw up her hands. "Who in their right mind would try to assassinate the Secretary of State," she paused and looked at the bewildered faces around the room. "Right," she sighed. "Sorry guys."
"I'm gonna make the call," Blake strolled out of the room toward the Secretary's office to give himself some privacy.
"They are looking into the guys mental history," Jay said when Blake was gone. "So far there is no indication that he was ever hospitalized or under a doctor's care for mental health issues. I agree though that this could turn into a major problem."
"We can't lose another Secretary of State, especially to an assassination," Matt shook his head somberly. "No one else is going to want the appointment."
"Not funny," Daisy scowled at him.
"Wasn't supposed to be," he kept his eyes on his laptop. "Did you send out the that tweet yet about Nadine being released from the hospital?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Just checking," he answered. "Maybe we should follow it up tomorrow with something about her doing well."
"I don't know. I will talk to the Secretary at the morning meeting. Nadine was pretty definitive about not wanting too much press about what happened."
"She's not going to get much choice," Jay shook his head. "This is INTERNATIONAL news and it's not going to go away until they figure out why this guy went all the way to the UN from Philadelphia to try to kill Secretary McCord."
"I hate this," another email pinged on Daisy's laptop. "I have to go call this one, he needs to hear my no means no voice," she pushed herself out of her chair and went to her office.
"How are you doing man," Jay looked at Matt.
"I'm fine," Matt never looked up from his work.
"That was a really brave thing that you did yesterday." He paused and frowned at the fact that his friend seemed to be paying little attention to him. "I mean you could have gotten yourself in really bad shape."
"Yeah," Matt sighed, looked up, and leaned back in the chair. "I don't know man, I just had to do it. For the first time, I got to be the one who was actually able to make something better, make it happen you know. It was a good feeling to know I was helping. But like I said," he sat up and returned to his work. "If the shoe were on the other foot, she'd do the same for me."
Henry carefully unlocked the door to Nadine's apartment and pushed it open. His military and intelligence training made him survey the open area before walking inside. Stevie trailed after him with a duffle bag, garment bag, and a tote bag in hand. The apartment was grand and impressive. It had a modern and upscale feel. The furniture looked brand new but Henry could tell that it had been purchased some time ago. The kitchen was immaculate with only one rocks glass sitting in the sink to betray that anyone had ever been there. The windows looked out over the Potomac River giving a breathtaking view that Stevie was certain she could look at for hours and still not fully appreciate.
"Well," Henry smiled. "Looks like Nadine has very good taste. Shall we," he held out his hand for the tote bag.
"Right," she smiled. "You start in the bathroom. I will take the bedroom," she winked at her father who immediately blushed and averted his eyes. "Oh come on," she chuckled. "It's not like you've never seen another woman's bedroom or another woman's underwear."
"It's weird," Henry half growled at her. "Nadine is such a private person."
"I know," Stevie stopped and put her serious expression back on. "Besides, I think that she feels a little uncomfortable with the idea of staying with us and letting us help her. She looked really out of her element earlier."
"Yeah," Henry led the way down the hallway looking for the master bedroom. Luckily, it was the only thing to find on the first-floor other than a half-bath. "This is really a lot to deal with for her right now."
"I don't know what to say to her honestly," Stevie looked at the perfectly made bed before setting her empty bags on top of the comforter. "I mean, I really want to be able to say something that lets her know how grateful I am for what she did for mom. I just, I don't know if there are words for that."
"I know what you mean," Henry disappeared into the master bath. "I don't know that there are either."
"Did anyone ever save your life, when you were in the military," she called to him as she started to open drawers and pull out underclothes so as to finish that part of her task before her father finished his own.
"Well," Henry called back. "In a way, I suppose. Not the way they may have if I had been in the infantry but there were definitely gun battles with enemy planes and things like that and I had help from my buddies."
"What did you say to them," she asked as she hid the unmentionables away in the bottom of the duffle bag.
"That's the thing about the military," Henry answered. "You don't always have to say something. There is a lot of subtext just in how you shake hands with someone or in buying them a beer. It's hard to explain."
"I think I understand," Stevie moved on to another drawer and a less embarrassing element of her job. "Kind of like me and Jarath. I don't always have to say something I can just bring him a glass of wine and he knows that I want him to tell me what is bothering him."
"A little," Henry conceded. Stevie could hear the opening and closing of drawers from the bathroom. "On an unrelated note, I am so glad that Nadine is not your mom," he chuckled. "Everything has a place where it belongs and it is in that place."
"No digging required," Stevie asked with a smile.
"Right," Henry laughed. "You know, I think if we just do our best to be there for Nadine and help her however we can, she will understand how we feel. Even if we don't really have the words to tell her," he told his daughter as he appeared in the bathroom doorway.
"I think I have everything," Stevie laid several hangers inside the garment bag. "Can I see that list again?"
"Yeah," Henry set the full tote bag on the floor by the bed and handed Stevie his phone. "She has a pair of glasses on there and Blake wrote nightstand in parenthesis," Henry looked at the aforementioned piece of furniture. "They are probably in the drawer." He looked at Stevie who was consulting the phone and then the bags on the bed.
"Right," Stevie answered unaware of what her father was trying to convey.
"I don't see them laying on top," he said with an air of reluctance.
Stevie looked up from the phone and instantly recognized her father's expression. "Ah," she smiled. "You are uncomfortable venturing into uncharted territory?"
"Well, um," Henry tried to think of a reasonable explanation. "I…"
"No worries dad," she tossed him the phone and went to the nightstand. "Here they are," she pulled out a small glasses case and opened it to confirm its contents. "Oh," she reached back into the drawer, prompting Henry to turn his head away. "Relax," she laughed when she realized what he had done. "It's a book. Looks like she's in the middle of it."
"Oh," Henry turned back to face his daughter. "Right."
"Awfully jumpy dad," she smiled mischievously, placed the book in the duffle bag, and closed the drawer. "Did you get everything from the bathroom?"
"Yes," Henry nodded once and picked up the tote bag. "Let's get out of here huh?"
"Alright," Stevie smiled, zipped up her bags and followed her father out of the apartment.
Henry locked the door, slipped the key into his pocket, and took the duffle bag from Stevie. Together they rode the elevator down to the parking garage and headed out. They stopped at the pharmacy and Henry was able to pick up Nadine's prescription for pain medicine with the information that Blake had sent him. While he waited for the pharmacist to bring it to him, he thought about what Stevie had said. He desperately wanted Nadine to know that he felt indebted to her, but he didn't know how to do it. Had the advice he had given Stevie been right? Would it be enough just to help her through this and be there for her?
"Heading home," Stevie asked as Henry climbed back into the car.
"I think that we need to make one more stop," he smiled. "You know the surprise thing happening tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Stevie raised her eyebrows. "The one we are forbidden to speak of until it actually happens?"
"Right," Henry nodded. "I thought, maybe, it would be a good idea to have a really nice bottle of champagne on hand in case everything goes according to plan."
Stevie smiled wide and nodded. "Good idea. Make sure you pick up sparkling cider too, for Allison and Jason,"
"Good idea," Henry smiled.
