understand that, because so was she. It came from using instruments to change the world to suit her wishes. But this was an extreme case. This tough guy was deeply frightened. He really ought not to be, but it was a question of the unknown for him. She knew the odds, and they were actually pretty good, but he was not a doctor, and all men, even the tough ones, she saw, feared the unknown. Well, it wasn’t the first time she’d baby-sat an adult who needed his hand held—and this one had saved Katie’s life.
“Want to walk over to the day-care center?”
“Sure.” O’Day stood.
It wasn’t much of a walk, and her intention was to remind O’Day what this was all about—getting a new life into the world.
“SURGEON’S on the way to the playpen,” Roy Altman told his detail. Kyle Daniel Ryan—SPRITE—was sitting up now, and playing very simply with very rudimentary toys under the watchful eyes of the lionesses, as Altman thought of them, four young female Secret Service agents who fawned over SPRITE like big sisters. But these sisters all carried guns, and they all remembered what had nearly happened to SANDBOX. A nuclear-weapons-storage site was hardly as well-guarded as this particular day-care center.
Outside the playroom was Trenton “Chip” Kelley, the only male agent on the detail, a former Marine captain who would have frightened the average NFL lineman with a mere look.
“Hey, Chip.”
“Hi, Roy. What’s happening?”
“Just strolling over to see the little guy.”
“Who’s the muscle?” Kelley saw that O’Day was carrying heat, but decided he looked like a cop. But his left thumb was still on the button of his “crash alarm,” and his right hand was within a third of a second of his service automatic.
“Bureau. He’s cool,” Altman assured his subordinate.
“’ Kay.” Kelley opened the door.
“Who’d he play for?” O’Day asked Altman, once inside.
“The Bears drafted him, but he scared Ditka too much.” Altman laughed. “Ex-Marine.”
“I believe it.” Then O’Day walked up behind Dr. Ryan. She’d already scooped Kyle up, and his arms were around her neck. The little boy was babbling, still months away from talking, but he knew how to smile when he saw his mommy.
“Want to hold him?” Cathy asked.
O’Day cradled the infant somewhat like a football. The youngest Ryan examined his face dubiously, especially the Zapata mustache, but Mommy’s face was also in sight, and so he didn’t scream.
“Hey, buddy,” O’Day said gently. Some things came automatically. When holding a baby, you don’t stand still. You move a little bit, rhythmically, which the little ones seemed to like.
“It’ll ruin Andrea’s career,” Cathy said.
“Make for a lot better hours for her, and be nice to see her every night, but, yeah, Cathy, be kinda hard for her to run alongside the car with her belly sticking out two feet.” The image was good enough for a laugh. “I suppose they’ll put her on restricted duty.”
“Maybe. Makes for a great disguise, though, doesn’t it?”
O’Day nodded. This wasn’t so bad, holding a kid. He remembered the old Irish adage: True strength lies in gentleness. But what the hell, taking care of kids was also a man’s duty. There was a lot more to being a man than just having a dick.
Cathy saw the display and had to smile. Pat O’Day had saved Katie’s life, and done it like something out of a John Woo movie, except that Pat was a real tough guy, not the movie kind. His scenes weren’t scripted; he’d had to do it for real, making it up as he’d gone along. He was a lot like her husband, a servant of the law, a man who’d sworn an oath to Do the Right Thing every time, and like her husband, clearly a man who took his oaths seriously. One of those oaths concerned Pat’s relationship with Andrea, and they all came down to the same thing: preserve, protect, defend. And now, this tiger with a tie was holding a baby and smiling and swaying back and forth, because that’s what you did with a baby in your arms.
“How’s your daughter?” Cathy asked.
“She and your Katie are good friends. And she’s got a thing going with one of the boys at Giant Steps.”
“Oh?”
“Jason Hunt. I think it’s serious. He gave Megan one of his Hot Wheels cars.” O’Day laughed. That’s when his cell phone went off. “Right side coat pocket,” he told the First Lady.
Cathy fished in his pocket and pulled it out. She flipped it open. “Hello?”
“Who’s this?” a familiar