well.”
“You were scared I was going to die.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were.”
Sam pulled into the closest Metro station and brought the car to an abrupt stop. “Get out.”
“Love you too.”
“If you’re still talking, you’re not doing what you were told.”
“Have a lovely evening, Lieutenant.”
“Yeah, yeah, you too. Don’t sprain anything.”
“It does get rather athletic at times.”
“Out!”
Still laughing, he got out of the car, shut the door and took off jogging into the station.
“Freaking pain in my ass,” she muttered as she pulled out of the station and back into traffic, paying no mind whatsoever to whether her detail was following her. Keeping up was their problem, not hers. The phone rang, and she took the call from the department shrink, Dr. Trulo, on the Bluetooth.
“What’s up, Doc?” she asked, amusing herself.
“Checking in about our first meeting tomorrow night.”
“Ahhh…”
“Honestly, Sam. Don’t tell me you actually forgot.”
“I didn’t forget.”
“Liar.”
“Everyone is a comedian today. What’s the plan?”
“I’ve reserved the lieutenants’ lounge for seven o’clock for the grief group meeting.”
Hearing that, Sam wanted to scream at realizing she’d miss another night with her kids, even if it was for a good cause. “I always forget we have a lounge.”
“You do, and you were supposed to reserve it. It’s a good thing I checked.”
“One thing you need to realize about working on a special project with me, Doc, is that you always have to check.”
His laughter rang through the car’s speakers and made her smile. Where she’d once resisted his attempts to shrink her, he’d since become a trusted friend and colleague. “I figured that out a while ago, which is why I also called all the people on your list to let them know our first meeting is scheduled for tomorrow night.”
“You’re nothing if not thorough.”
“You’ve got a lot on your plate. I don’t mind doing a little extra. The only one on your list I couldn’t get in touch with was Roni Connolly.”
“And she’s the one I most wanted to get there.” Sam sighed, resigned to another delay in getting to her family. “I’ll stop to talk to her on the way home. See if I can convince her to join us.”
“Will I need to remind you tomorrow that you have somewhere to be tomorrow night?”
“Might not be a bad idea.”
“You’ll be glad to know that your friend Officer Charles has agreed to help with the administrative aspects of our group.”
“Is that so? Well, that’s awesome news.” The young officer had impressed the hell out of Sam with her attention to detail in planning the police funeral for her father. She’d pleaded with the chief to share Officer Charles with her and was thrilled to know she’d be involved in the grief group.
“It is indeed. She can’t make the first meeting because she’s on duty, but she’s going to be helping behind the scenes. You should talk to her about her own history with violent crime and how she came to be a police officer. Fascinating young woman.”
“I’ll do that, and yes, she is.”
“All right, then. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Thanks for all you did to get this off the ground, Doc.”
“It was your idea. I just took the ball and ran with it.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Have a good evening, Lieutenant.”
“You too.”
Though everything in her desperately wanted to get home to her family, she took a detour back into town and parked outside Roni Connolly’s building. In the vestibule, she pressed the button for 3C and waited for a response. When there was no answer, she pressed the button a second time.
“Yes?”
“Roni, it’s Sam Holland. Could I come up for a minute?”
“Um, sure.” She buzzed her into the building, and Sam went inside, letting the door slam behind her.
Hearing pounding on the door had her looking back to see the two agents glowering at her. She went back to let them in. “See if you can keep up, gentlemen.” Without waiting for them to reply, she spun around and took the stairs to the third floor two at a time. Outside 3C, she knocked.
Roni opened the door and stepped aside to invite Sam inside.
Sam held up a hand to the two agents, who’d followed her up the stairs. “Wait here.”
She could tell Vernon wanted to object to being told to wait outside, but Sam didn’t stick around to hear his concerns.
“This is a nice surprise,” Roni said in a dull, flat tone that was in direct contrast to the woman she’d been before Sam had shattered her world with the news of her young