Chapter Fifteen #2
Sam heard Freddie’s gasp but forced herself not to react. People were often not at their best at times like these.
Then Irma turned, her face ravaged with grief, anger and pure hatred. “You ruined his life. Everything fell apart after he married you. It’s your fault he’s dead!”
Sam decided she’d heard enough and turned to leave the room.
“Go ahead! Walk away! That’s what you do, right? When things aren’t going your way, you leave. Does your new husband know that about you? Does he know that you’ll leave him eventually?”
The last thing Sam heard before she exited the morgue was Freddie telling Irma to shut up.
Good. Someone ought to tell her to shut up.
What did she know about their marriage, anyway?
Only what Peter had told her, and Sam could only imagine what he’d said.
No doubt he’d blamed everything on her. Had he told his mother about the lies he’d told her or the way he’d tried to control her every thought and action? Probably not.
In Irma’s mind, it was Sam’s fault that Peter had built bombs in his apartment and then attached them to her car and Nick’s.
She’d driven him to it, after all. Whatever.
If that’s what his mother needed to believe to get through this, then so be it.
But Sam didn’t have to sit around and listen to it.
She went into her office, shut the door and sat behind her desk.
When she reached for one of many half-consumed bottles of water, she noticed her hands were shaking.
It pissed her off that Irma’s diatribe had rattled her.
What did she care what Peter’s mother thought of her?
She didn’t. But still, being accused of putting him in the morgue was tough to hear.
Her extension rang, and she reached for it, eager to have something else to do besides think about the crap Irma had hurled at her. “Holland.”
“It’s Robach. I might have something for you.”
“I’ll come up.” Sam ended the call and finished the bottle of water, taking a minute to gather herself before continuing to work the case. No matter what she might think of Peter—or his mother—she would do everything she could to get justice for him.
She stepped into the pit as Freddie was returning from the morgue.
“You okay?” he asked, visibly pissed on her behalf.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Ummm…”
“Robach’s got something for us. Let’s go see him and then after that you can give me a ride home. I’ve had enough of this day.”
“Can’t say I blame you.”
They headed for the stairs.
“She was out of line,” Freddie said when they were halfway up.
“It’s the truth as she knows it. How can she possibly know that if Peter hadn’t lied to me about Nick calling, Peter and I never would’ve been stuck in a miserable marriage that ended in epic fashion?
She wouldn’t even know me, but she doesn’t want to hear that today or any day. In her mind, he was the victim.”
“That’s very evolved of you.”
“I’m an evolved kind of gal.”
He snorted with laughter that died out when Sergeant Ramsey started down the stairs toward them—the same stairs he’d fallen down when Sam punched him last winter.
Naturally, he couldn’t walk by without making a comment.
“I bet whatever they did to him was nothing compared to the torture of being married to you,” Ramsey muttered.
“What’s that you say, Ramsey?” Sam called over her shoulder. “You want to marry me? Not if you were the last dick on earth.”
“Fuck you.”
Freddie busted up laughing. “That was awesome.”
“Thank you.”
They entered the area that housed the Vice squad and found Robach in his office.
Sam knocked.
“Come in. Shut the door.”
Freddie followed her in and closed the door behind them.
“I’m not sure if this is anything, but I figured it was worth passing on,” Robach said.
“We’ll take what we can get at this point,” Sam said.
“The sports gambling ring last winter, the arrest of Colin McTavish…”
“Right,” Sam said. “It’s not every day that we arrest a city councilman.”
“It was a big one, and Gibson’s name came up in the course of our investigation. Word on the street is that he was one of McTavish’s lieutenants, but we weren’t able to make a case against him.”
“McTavish was arrested in February,” Sam said. “Is that right?”
“Yes, on the twentieth,” Robach said.
“Peter started his job at the mattress place around the first of March. Coincidental or did he suddenly find himself out of work?”
“I say it’s not a coincidence,” Freddie said.
Sam agreed. “Where’s McTavish now?” she asked.
“Out on personal recognizance awaiting trial.”
“Any objection to us having a chat with him?”
“I don’t, but his attorney probably will.”
“Where can we find him?” Sam asked.
Robach handed her a slip of paper. “At home with an ankle monitor.”
“Thanks for the help.”
“Sure,” he said, giving her a look that said there was more he’d like to say but was choosing not to.
“Something else on your mind, Cap?” she asked, even though she desperately wanted to leave it alone. Her natural curiosity wouldn’t let her.
“Wondering what’s up with your husband and the threat.”
“The FBI has a person of interest in custody.”
“Oh, good.” After a pause, he said, “How do you deal with all the publicity while trying to do your job?”
“Um, mostly I ignore it.”
“Hmm. Interesting.”
“Captain, if you have something to say, please, by all means, get it off your chest.”
“I wonder sometimes if you’re endangering yourself and your closest team members by working cases when the whole world knows who you are. That’s all.”
“That’s all,” Sam said, scoffing. “Well, my closest team members don’t have a problem with it, do they, Detective Cruz?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“There you have it. Nothing to be concerned about.”
“I hope not. Have a good day, Lieutenant.”
“You do the same.”
Sam turned to leave and gave Freddie a little shove to get him out the door ahead of her. “What the fuck was that about?”
“No idea.”
“It sounded to me as if he was trying to make me feel insecure about continuing to work while Nick is vice president.”
“You got all that out of what he said?”
“I did.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. No one in our squad thinks a thing of it, and we’re the ones you’re paid to worry about.”
“True, but can we concede that I was right that he had a bug up his ass with my name on it?”
“We can concede that. You called it, oh wise one.”
“Thank you.”
She caught the roll of his eyes but chose not to comment. Arriving in the pit, they found it deserted except for Gonzo, who was in his cubicle working on his computer.
He looked up at them. “Missing Persons has a possible lead on Ruby Denton.”