Holding Hands

When the new occupant of the Oval Office turns out to be a well-known conspiracy theorist, his paranoia forces Secret Service Agent Sandy Donaldson to go above and beyond the line of duty. She tries to draw a line between reasonable expectations and absurdity, but is she a Secret Service Agent, a stand-in nanny for the single father in the White House, or the target of a madman?

A MAN WHO WAS NEVER ELECTED BECOMES PRESIDENT

Good deeds never go unpunished. David Tillman was a Chicago lawyer waging a legal vendetta against the wealthy industrialist Charles Erikar. Tillman had zero interest in politics, but then his lifelong friend, a current congressman, dies. Reluctantly, Tillman agrees to the congressman's widow's request to serve out her husband's term, and to be honest, why not? Tillman has no party affiliations, and everyone promises he can serve quietly without stress. But then a plane crash thrusts him into the Speakership and only two steps away from the presidency.

DID THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER ELECTED SHOOT THE PRESIDENT?

When the President of the United States is suddenly assassinated in Chicago, the Director for National Intelligence is positive that David Tillman is the culprit. But without proof, he can't stop him from moving into the Oval Office.

HOW MANY TIMES CAN YOU SURVIVE AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT?

When Sandy saves the new president's life during a second assassination attempt, he orders the Secret Service to assign her as his personal bodyguard. Nobody likes that idea, but he's the boss. Watching him from inside the Oval Office, Sandy is astonished to see what a tangled web he has created in his own mind. The problem is, some of his theories are backed up by facts.

A WASHINGTON REPORTER IS CERTAIN THERE IS A LINK

Sandy's roommate, an investigative journalist, discovers a link that ties Sandy, Tillman, Erikar, and the dead president together. Beyond that, someone keeps leaking information to the DNI, who won't stop investigating President Tillman. When bullets start flying in their direction yet again, Sandy wonders if the President might not be so paranoid after all. The question is, other than Sandy, who wants the man dead?