Chapter Seventeen
After they conferred with the children—or Aubrey, who’d spoken for both of them—about what they’d like to have from home, Sam ushered Ms. Finklestein out the door as Nick’s chief of staff, Terry O’Connor, came up the ramp. “Hey, Terry.”
“Hi, Sam. Heard you’ve caught another homicide.”
“Look at you, speaking the lingo.”
“That’s what happens when you live with the medical examiner.”
“She’s raised you right. Come in. Nick is in the shower. He’ll be down shortly.”
“I talked to him briefly this morning, and he indicated there might be a complication with the trip?”
Shelby emerged from the kitchen with Noah asleep on her chest and Aubrey and Alden holding her hands.
“Meet the complications,” she said in a low tone only Terry could hear. “Terry, this is Alden and Aubrey. They’re staying with us for a while.” To Shelby, Sam said, “My sister left a bag of clothes for the kids.”
“Great,” Shelby said. “We were going to go upstairs and take showers and get dressed.” She gestured for the kids to go ahead of her and took the bag from Sam.
“Thank you, Shelby.”
“It’s no problem at all. They’re adorable.”
“Yes, they are.” Add Shelby to the list of people becoming invested in the children. It would hurt like hell when they had to turn them over to someone else, even if that someone else was their family member.
“The dining room is probably the only place you’ll get some quiet today, Terry,” Sam said, gesturing for him to go ahead and make himself comfortable there. “I’ll send Nick in as soon as he comes down.”
“Thanks, Sam.”
Left alone in the living room, she decided to call Gonzo to check on him before she moved on to Elijah Beauclair. Gonzo’s phone rang several times before he took the call.
“Hey, Sam. I hope you got the message I gave Carlucci and Dominguez.”
“I did. I’m calling to see how you’re feeling.”
“I’m okay.”
“What happened?”
“Things got a little intense last night with Christina, and I don’t know… I guess my heart rate and blood pressure bottomed out. I don’t remember much of it.”
“It’s a good thing you were already there when it happened.”
“Yeah.”
“What’s up with Christina?” Sam asked, even though she already knew. She wanted to hear his take on it.
“She says we’re done. I don’t know anything more than that. The nurses told me they released Alex this morning, and they went home. I haven’t heard from her.”
He sounded so broken. Sam couldn’t think of a better way to describe the vibe coming from him. Closing her eyes, she searched for the right words. “I’m sorry.” That was all she could think of to say. “Maybe this is a bump in the road, and she’ll feel differently after she gets some rest.”
“I don’t think so. She seemed pretty sure last night.”
Sam had gotten the same impression. “How long are you going to be there?”
“Until later today. They wanted to monitor me for at least twelve hours before they release me.”
“If you need somewhere to stay, we can squeeze you in here.”
“Thanks, but I’ll figure something out. I heard you took in the Beauclair kids.”
“Yeah, much to the Secret Service’s dismay.”
He grunted out a laugh. “I’ll bet.” After a pause, he said, “I’m sorry about the shit I said last night. It was uncalled-for.”
Yes, it had been, but Sam decided to let it go due to the bigger things he was currently dealing with. “Gonzo… I want you to do something for me.”
“Um, okay.”
“Will you talk to Trulo?” she asked.
“Aw, come on, Sam,” he said on a groan. “Been there, done that. Don’t make me go there again.”
“You’re not yourself, Tommy. Anyone who knows you can see it. I want you to feel better and get back on track.”
“Are you saying I’m not doing the job?”
“Did those words ever come out of my mouth? I’m worried about you, my friend, not my colleague. But I won’t lie to you. I’m worried about your personal issues eventually leaking into the job. If that happens, I can’t promise I’ll be able to protect you.”
He had no response to that.
“I’m going to ask Trulo to stop by today. It’s up to you if you talk to him or not, but I’d encourage you to try. He helped a lot after Stahl attacked me.”
His deep sigh came through loud and clear. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Tell him how you feel, Tommy. Tell someone, before it ruins your life.”
“Hasn’t it already?”
“Not yet it hasn’t. You can still put things back together, but you have to want to. Let us help you, please?”
After another long pause, he said, “I’ll talk to him.”
“Thank you.”
“Not sure what good it’ll do.”
“Give him a chance to help you. That’s all I ask.”
“Yeah, all right.”
“I’ll call him now.”
“What’s happening on the case?”
“Don’t worry about that. We’ve got it covered. Just focus on you right now and take care of yourself. Please? A lot of people care very much about you.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll check in later.”
“Okay.”
Sam ended the call and put through another to Trulo, who answered on the first ring.
“Lieutenant,” he said. “To what do I owe the honor?”
Sam smiled. “Good morning, Doc. I need a favor.”
“Whatever I can do.”
“My sergeant, Tommy Gonzales, is in the hospital after suffering some sort of attack that resulted in his heart rate and blood pressure bottoming out.”
“Hmm.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m wondering if he’s on anything. Like opiates, for example.”
The words struck fear in Sam’s heart. Of course, she and her team were well aware of the epidemic raging all around them and regularly saw signs of it on the job. But Gonzo wouldn’t… Oh God, would he?
“Sam?”
“I’m processing this possibility. I honestly don’t know. The thought never occurred to me. He’s been in bad shape since he lost his partner, but we thought he was doing better. Now I don’t know. I just don’t know. And his girlfriend, who’s been a mother to his child, broke up with him last night.”
“Ouch. Sounds like things are piling up on the guy.”
“Indeed. They’re monitoring him for the day at GW. If there’s any chance you can go over there and talk to him, I’d appreciate it.”
“I’m on it. Thanks for letting me know.”
“If there’s anything I can do to support him, say the word. I’ll do whatever he needs.”
“Will do. Try not to worry. Grief is a process, and it’s never pretty.”
“Thanks, Doc. I appreciate your help.”
“You got it.”
Sam closed her phone, hoping Trulo could get through to Gonzo, that someone could get through to him before whatever was going on got any worse.
Nick came down the stairs, fresh from the shower and dressed for the day in the jeans and sweater he’d had on earlier. He came over to sit next to her on the sofa.
“Terry is waiting for you in the dining room.”
“First things first. How’d it go with Ms. Picklestein?”
“Stop!” Sam said, laughing. “Don’t put that in my head, or I’ll end up calling her that!”
“You gotta admit, the name fits.”
“You should’ve seen her after she caught sight of you, shirtless and sweaty. She was positively giddy.”
He grimaced. “Stop it. She was not.”
“Oh yes she was. Even Picklesteins know a smoking hot man when they see one.”
Rolling his eyes, he said, “Anyway, about the kids…”
Sam smiled at his predictable deflection and studied his handsome, freshly shaven face.
“What?” He rubbed his cheek. “Did I miss some shaving cream?”
“Nope.”
“Then what’re you looking at?”
“My wonderful, sexy, amazing husband, who let me bring two kids home, even if it caused him headaches, and is doing everything he can to protect them while they’re with us. I appreciate it—and you—very much.”
“My headaches are nothing compared to their heartache.”
“Isn’t that the truth?”
“Have they been told anything yet?”
Sam shook her head. “I’m going to call their older brother now and discuss the best way to broach that topic.”
“You ought to make that call somewhere they can’t overhear it.”
“I will.”
“And when the time comes to tell them, we’ll do it together.”
“Okay.”
Nick leaned in to kiss her. “What if they can’t find anyone who will take them?”
The question landed like a punch to her gut. “They will. They have family.”
“What if?” he asked again, looking madly vulnerable.
She shook her head. “I can’t go there. I’m already worried about how attached to them everyone is getting—you, me, Scotty, Shelby…”
“Think about it anyway. Just in case.”
“In case of what?” she asked, feeling more undone by the second.
“Sam. Take a breath. I’m simply asking you to consider what we’ll do if Picklestein can’t find anyone to take them.”
“We… We can’t, Nick. It’s too much. They’ll need everything, and we…”
“Could give them anything and everything they need.”
She shook her head. “Please. Don’t do this to me. It’s already going to be hard enough to hand them over to their family members.”
“Fair enough.” He kissed her forehead and then her lips. “I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. I appreciate what you’re saying, but I can’t go there.”
“I understand, babe.” He kissed her again. “Maybe the little ones will take a nap this afternoon and we can score some time alone on this unexpected day at home.”
“That’d be nice.”
“Let’s try to make it happen.” After stealing one more kiss, he got up. “I’d better go see what I can do about this trip I’m supposed to take, since we now have two extra kids living with us. I probably shouldn’t be out of the country while that’s happening at home.”
“Definitely not,” she said, smiling. “Keep me posted.”
“Will do.”
She enjoyed the fine sight of him walking into the dining room to find Terry before she took her phone and went upstairs.
Outside the bathroom in the hallway, she could hear Aubrey chattering and Shelby talking, but still nothing from Alden.
She wished there was something she could do or say that would make everything better for him, but there was nothing anyone could do to reduce the impact of what he and his sister would have to be told—soon.
With that in mind, Sam went into her bedroom to place the call to Elijah.