for help and found Lenore’s son, Calvin, shot to death outside their Southeast home.
Sam walked toward Lenore and hugged her. “It’s so nice to see you.”
“You too. I’m sorry about your dad.”
“Thank you. You look gorgeous, as always.” Lenore was always dressed to the nines, her nails done and her makeup perfectly applied. Sam recalled feeling like a slouch next to Lenore when she’d first known her.
“You’re too kind.”
“How’ve you been?” Sam asked.
“Oh, you know…” Lenore shrugged. “It’s been almost fifteen years, but it doesn’t ever get any easier. Calvin would’ve been thirty next month, which is so hard to believe. I have trouble picturing him as a thirty-year-old. He’s frozen forever at fifteen.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Do you have a minute?”
She didn’t, but she’d make time. Sam had never forgotten Calvin Worthington or his mother’s gut-wrenching grief. “Come on in.” She led the way to her office in the pit and gestured for Lenore to go ahead of her.
When Freddie caught her eye, his brow lifted in inquiry. Sam raised her index finger to let him know she needed only a minute, and then they’d hit the streets.
“Have a seat.” Sam went around to sit behind her desk. “What can I do for you?”
“I read about how you solved your dad’s case after almost four years, and I know fifteen is a lot longer, but I wondered if maybe you might be willing to take another look at Calvin’s case. There were so many things that didn’t make sense, and I just thought that you…” Her voice broke, and she looked down. “I’ve followed your career. I know you’re the best.” She looked up at Sam, her chin quivering. “Doesn’t my Calvin deserve the best?”
Sam swallowed the lump in her throat. She’d thought of Calvin often over the years. When he’d been killed, he was just two years older than Scotty was now. “He does. Of course he does.”
Lenore’s eyes brightened with hope. “So you’ll look at it?”
“I’ll mention it to my commanders and ask if we can put some people on it. It’ll completely depend on what they say. If it were up to me, I’d do it in a second, but it’s not.”
“I understand,” she said with a sigh. “I appreciate anything you can do. You were always so kind to me and my family, and it meant a lot to us. Even if there’s nothing you can do, we won’t forget that.”
Sam had stayed with Lenore, her mother and daughter for two hours while they waited for the medical examiner to arrive. She’d made herself available to them in the days that followed and had spoken with Lenore several times over the years at events for victims. “I’m starting a new grief group for people who’ve lost loved ones to violent crime. I think it would mean a lot to people starting out on this journey to have your voice in that group. It would mean a lot to me.”
“Tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”
Sam handed her a flyer Dr. Trulo had made that included the details of the grief group’s first meeting.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll consult with my command about a fresh look at Calvin’s case and let you know. Is your number the same?”
She nodded. “It’ll never change until I get the call that they’ve found my baby’s killer. I’d be afraid to miss that call.”
“I’ll get back to you. It may not be this week, but as soon as I can.”
“I’ll look forward to hearing from you, and I’ll be at the grief group.”
“It was good to see you, Lenore.”
“You too. I was so, so happy to read that you’d nailed the guys who shot your dad.”
“Thank you. It was a relief to finally know, even if the answers were shocking.”
Lenore stood to leave. “I can only imagine. But at least now you know.”
“Yes, we do. I’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you for your time.”
A minute after Lenore left the office, Freddie appeared in the doorway. “What was that about?”
“A homicide from my first year on the job. I was in Patrol, took the call for a shooting in Southeast. Calvin, a fifteen-year-old, was already dead in the driveway when I got there. That was his mother.”
“Oh, wow. Did you remember her?”
Sam nodded. “I’ve never forgotten her.”
“Did we get whoever did it?”
Sam shook her head. “The case was never closed. That’s why she was here. She heard we closed my dad’s case and wondered if we might take another look at Calvin’s.”