Chapter Twenty-Six #2
Green used Sam’s radio to call in the request for EMS, which would summon District paramedics.
Sam met Ruby’s frantic gaze as she began to gently remove the duct tape over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said. “This is going to hurt but only for a second.” She pulled the tape off with one quick yank that brought tears to the young woman’s eyes.
“Thank God,” she whispered.
“Paramedics are on their way,” Sam said. “Are you able to walk?”
“I’m not sure. He hasn’t fed me or given me water in a couple of days.”
“Sit right there until they come.” Sam wrapped a sheet around the girl’s naked body, noting the bruises, scratches and other marks.
Ruby began to cry. “I need to call my parents. They have to be frantic.”
“They are. They’ve been looking for you the whole time you’ve been missing.” She offered her phone. “Why don’t you give them a call?”
“Would that be all right?”
“It’s perfectly fine. Tell them you’ll be transported to the George Washington University Hospital Center emergency department.”
Ruby’s hands shook as she dialed the number and pressed Send. She looked up at Sam, who sat next to her and put an arm around the girl’s shoulders.
“Mom? It’s me. Ruby.”
Sam could hear her mother’s scream come through the phone followed by, “Oh my God! Ruby! Oh God. Where are you?”
“The police found me. I’m being transported to the hospital.” She gave her mother the information Sam had provided.
“We’ll be there, sweetheart. We love you so much. We’ll be right there.”
Ruby ended the call and broke down into soft sobs. “I thought I’d never see them again.”
Sam held her until the paramedics came and took over. She was glad to see two women leading the team and waited to make sure Ruby was comfortable with them before leaving the room.
Green met her in the living room, which was now swarming with cops.
“Did you suspect he might have her?” Sam asked.
“Not for one second,” Green said, seeming slightly shell-shocked. “But I was damned glad to realize it was her.”
“I was, too. You did great work here, Detective. Congratulations on a huge arrest.”
“You get ninety percent of the credit. He wasn’t on our radar until you pointed us in his direction.”
“It takes a village to catch a murdering, raping bastard.”
“That it does.”
Sam eyed the young man with newfound interest. Keeping her voice low so no one else could hear her, she said, “I have a couple of openings on my squad that’ll be advertised soon. You ought to think about applying.”
His mouth opened and then snapped closed. “You…You’re serious?”
“Dead serious. I like the way you work. You’d be an asset to my team.”
“I…I’ll definitely apply.”
“Great. I’ll keep an eye out for your application and take it to my brass with my endorsement.”
Green released a deep breath. “Pardon me while I take a moment to say holy fuck.”
Sam cracked up laughing. “You might be saying that for different reasons after a couple of months under my command.”
“It would be a huge honor to serve under your command.”
“Excellent sucking up. I’ll remember that. Send me the fives on this one?”
“You got it.”
“Thanks for letting me be here for this.”
“Appreciate the assist.”
Sam went in to check on Ruby, who was being loaded onto a gurney for transport. She tucked her business card into Ruby’s hand. “Call me if I can do anything at all for you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re going to be okay now,” Sam said, though she knew a long journey lay ahead for her.
Ruby nodded. With a shy smile, she added, “My friends won’t believe I got to meet you. We think you’re so cool.”
“Thank you. That’s nice of you to say. I’ll be checking on you.”
The paramedics took her away, and Sam followed them out of the building after a more-than-satisfying start to her day.
She took a call from Archie. “Morning.”
“Hey, I’m glad I caught you. Have you seen the papers today?”
“Not yet.” Her stomach turned, and the glow of the successful operation faded into the past that quickly. “What’s up?”
“Your ex had a lot to say in the interview he gave before he was killed, including the fact that you and I used to sleep together.”
Before she could tell Archie that the info had been tortured out of Peter, Sam immediately thought of Nick, who had no idea that Archie was a former lover. She’d never thought to mention it to him because it wasn’t something he needed to know. “Ugh.”
“Yeah,” Archie said grimly. “HQ is abuzz about it.”
“Shit, fuck, damn, hell.”
“What you said.”
“I’m so sorry, Archie.”
“Not your fault. When Cruz told me you were coming in late because you were helping out with something for Fairfax, I figured I’d give you a call and a heads-up.”
“I’m glad you did. Thank you. I’ll be in shortly.”
“See you then.”
For a second, Sam sat paralyzed with rare indecision over what she should do next. Of course what she had to do was a no-brainer. She hit the first name on her speed-dial list and waited for her husband to answer the phone.
“Hey, babe. How’d it go with the Fairfax raid?”
“We found Ruby Denton.”
“No way! That’s awesome. Is she okay?”
“She will be. In time. The guy who called in the floater on the Anacostia had her tied up and gagged in his bed.”
“Oh my God. That poor girl.”
“We got the guy who took her and killed Rose Samuels. He’s totally screwed.”
“Thank goodness you found her and nailed him.”
“So, um, listen… The reason I called…”
“What is it, Samantha?”
“I never told you that after Peter and I split, I was briefly involved with someone I work with.”
After a long pause, he said, “Who?”
“Lieutenant Archelotta.”
Dead silence.
“Nick. Say something.”
“Why’re you telling me this now?”
“Because I heard Peter disclosed it in the interview.”
“And how did he know about it?”
“I have no idea! He was stalking me. He probably followed us or stared in the window or something equally creepy.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before now?”
“Because! It doesn’t matter. It was a month. Six weeks tops. It was a rebound after a bad marriage and didn’t mean a thing to either of us.”
“Still, I would’ve liked to know that you fooled around with someone you work with every day.”
“Why? So you can go all alpha dog and lift your leg and pee on me in front of him, too?”
“Samantha, honestly.”
“Don’t ‘honestly’ me. I’ve seen the way you act around Avery, and nothing has ever happened between us. I’ve slept with Archie, so you’ll have to pardon me if I say I wasn’t interested in finding out how you’d act around him.”
“You say it was years ago and it was over almost before it began, right?”
“Yes,” she said, exasperated.
“Then I can’t see where we have any problem.”
“If that’s the case, then why do you have such a problem with Avery?”
“Because that is far from over from his point of view. Case in point, him saying your name while having sex with his fiancée.”
She started the car and pointed it in the direction of HQ, even if that was the last place she wanted to be with the whole building talking about her having sex with Archie years ago. “I have to go now.”
“Because you don’t want to talk about this anymore?”
“For one thing.”
“May I say something else?”
“May I stop you?”
“Stop being snarky and listen to me. Are you listening?”
“I’m listening.”
“I hate every man who put his hands on you from the day we met until the day we saw each other again. If it’s one or two or four or six, I hate them all.”
“It was only three,” she said, unreasonably moved by his pronouncement.
“I know about two of them now. Who was the third?”
“I’m not telling you until you provide a full accounting of all your exes.”
“Do I know him?”
“Bye, Nick. Have a nice day, Nick. I love you, Nick.”
“We’re not finished with this.”
“Hanging up now.” She slapped the phone closed and shook her head with amusement, even though she had no doubt there’d be hell to pay when she got home. Whatever. Hell with him was the closest thing to heaven she’d experienced on this earth.