Chapter Twenty-Four #2
Sam dropped her head to his chest, allowing him to shoulder the burden for her. Before him, before them, she wouldn’t have known how to yield to someone else. He’d shown her how and that there was no shame in sharing the load rather than trying to carry it by herself.
“Let’s go down there and wrap this up,” she said several minutes later.
“I’m with you, babe.”
“That makes all the difference.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “Thanks.”
“Anytime, my love.”
Holding hands, they went back downstairs to a buzz of conversation. Sam nodded to Avery, who’d joined them in her absence. The conversation stopped when they walked into the room.
“Here’s the plan,” Sam said. “Lilia, Andrea, I want a copy of Buzz’s story sent to me as soon as you can get your hands on it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Andrea said. “I’m working my contacts to get a copy.”
“See if you can also get us an advance look at Nick’s mother’s interview.”
“I forwarded that to your email. You should have it.”
“Great work—thank you.”
“Gonzo and Cruz, meet me here at seven a.m. We’re going to start with Buzz and then hunt down Amber Dillon, the reporter who did the interview with Nick’s mother. We’ll work backward from there. Someone set this up, and we’re going to find out who.”
“What can I do?” Avery asked.
“Get me everything the Feds have on Buzz Janson and Amber Dillon.”
Avery nodded and made a note.
“We’ve also got Peter’s neighbor Raul looking at film at HQ, trying to identify someone he said was a new friend of Peter’s named Dante who’d been coming around lately,” Gonzo said. “We think it’s possible he was the one who tortured Peter.”
“Check in with Archie and see where we are with that,” Sam said.
“What about the girlfriend?” Malone asked. “What’re we doing with her?”
“Nothing else for now other than keeping her alive. We believe it’s possible she met the man who might’ve killed Peter.
She gave us a list of possible people, and we’re going to match them to what Raul gives us.
” To her third-shift detectives, Sam said, “Carlucci and Dominguez, you can pick up that angle overnight tonight. Gonzo can brief you.”
“Got it,” Dominguez said. “Will do.”
“Thank you, everyone, for coming on short notice. Keep me posted of any developments overnight.”
The other cops departed, leaving Nick, her father, Avery, Harry, Lilia and Andrea remaining.
“It sure is fun to watch you work, Lieutenant,” Harry said.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Lilia said. “It’s very exciting.”
Harry smiled at her, and if Sam wasn’t mistaken, her formidable chief of staff blushed.
Well, hello there. Because finding Harry a girlfriend was one of Sam’s top personal goals, she asked Andrea if she could speak to her in private for a moment.
That served the dual purpose of leaving Lilia standing alone with Harry next to the fireplace.
“You needed me, ma’am?” Andrea asked.
“Call me Sam, and I wanted to thank you for your hard work. It’s very helpful to have advance copies of those interviews.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll stay on the people to get an advance copy of that one.”
“I appreciate it.” She glanced at Lilia and Harry, whose heads were bent toward each other in conversation. “Do me a favor. Give them a minute to talk, will you?”
Andrea glanced over at Lilia, her brows furrowing until she figured out what Sam was asking. “Oh… Of course.” She smiled. “You’re one heck of a multitasker, aren’t you?”
“So I’ve been told. He’s one of the best guys I know.”
“She’s amazing, as you also know.”
“Precisely.” Sam flashed a smug grin and left Andrea to work on her phone while Sam went over to talk to her dad.
“How’re you holding up, baby girl?”
“I’m okay.”
His sharp blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “I call bullshit.”
“I’m upset about what happened to Peter and the possibility that it happened because he was once involved with me.”
“Understandable. Maybe you should turn the investigation over to your team to finish it up?”
“Maybe I should, but we both know I won’t.”
Skip grunted out a laugh. “Wonder where you get your stubborn streak.”
“Right from you, old man.”
“Who you calling old?”
Sam leaned over to kiss him. “Thanks for coming over when I needed you.”
“I always want to be here when you need me.”
“Love you, Skippy.”
“Love you, too, baby girl. Keep me posted?”
“You know I will.” She walked beside him as he directed his motorized wheelchair to the door, which Nate opened for them.
“Thank you, Nate,” Skip said. Of course he knew the agent’s name. That didn’t surprise Sam in the least.
“My pleasure, Deputy Chief Holland.”
Sam watched her dad navigate his wheelchair down the ramp to the sidewalk that would lead to the ramp at his house, three doors down. One of the agents outside ran ahead to get the door for Skip at his house. “Thank you for that, Nate.”
“Ma’am?”
“Using his title. It pleases him that people remember.”
“Of course,” Nate said. “He deserves our respect and admiration.”
“He certainly does. I appreciate it.”
“My pleasure.”
Sam turned to survey the room, noting with pleasure that Harry was still talking to Lilia, and whatever he’d said had made her laugh. Excellent. Andrea was seated on the sofa, talking on her cell phone. Wait. Where were Nick and Avery? Oh no. No, no, no.