Chapter Twenty-Six
As Sam drove to HQ, she thought about what Brant had said about the two of them having the same goals. That was certainly true. Nothing mattered to her more than the safety of her loved ones.
Her phone rang, and she took the call from Gonzo. “How’re you feeling?”
“I’m okay, but I wanted to let you know that I’m going to be out for a while.”
“Trulo told me he suggested you take some time off.”
“That’s not what this is.” He paused before he said, “I’m going to rehab, Sam.”
Stunned, she said, “For what?”
“I, um, I’m apparently addicted to pain meds. I’ve been relying on them to get by, and it, well, it’s gotten out of hand.”
Unable to process what he’d said while driving, she pulled over and came to a stop. “You’re hooked on pills?”
“Yes.”
“Please tell me you haven’t done anything illegal to get them.”
“I wish I could,” he said with a deep sigh.
“Oh, my fucking God, Gonzo.” Her mind raced with the implications.
“I’m so sorry, Sam,” he said tearfully. “I’ve been a disaster since Arnold died, and I fucked up. But I’m going to fix it. I swear to God, I’m going to fix it. The place I’m going treats PTSD, too.”
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“Just tell me I still have a job to come back to.”
“You know you have my full support, but if it gets out—”
“It won’t.”
Sam wished she shared his certainty. “Are you still at GW?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be by to see you this morning.”
“Okay.”
“I hope you know how much we all care about you, Tommy.”
“I do,” he said softly. “It means the world.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
Reeling, she ended the call, pulled back into traffic and tried to make sense of what he’d told her. At least he was taking the steps necessary to get it under control, but he was addicted to pain meds. And she’d never noticed. What did that say about her as a friend and commander?
At HQ, the first person she encountered upon entering the lobby was the chief. Great. She’d expected to have two more hours to prepare for this meeting.
“A word, Lieutenant,” he said, his expression stern. Or possibly annoyed. She took a closer look. Definitely annoyed.
She began to tell him that she had a meeting to get to with Captain Malone, but the chief beat the captain every day and twice on Sundays.
Farnsworth, the man she’d called Uncle Joe growing up, led her from the lobby to his suite of offices where his faithful assistant, Helen, was already on duty, looking far more perky than anyone should at six in the morning.
“Close the door,” the chief said as Sam followed him into his office.
He went around the desk and sat, gesturing for her to take one of his visitor chairs.
“Just when I think I have you figured out, Lieutenant, you throw me a curveball. I spend one day in meetings at City Hall and come back to the news that you have custody of the Beauclair children. I think to myself, that can’t be possible because she’s the lead investigator of their parents’ murders.
” He folded his hands on the desk and directed his steely glare at her.
“Would you care to tell me how you ended up with custody of the Beauclair children while investigating their parents’ murders? ”
“It just sort of happened,” Sam said, trying not to squirm. “It was very late, and they needed a place to go. Nick and I are licensed foster parents. It was that simple.”
“As you and I both know, there’s nothing simple about it, and it’s a conflict of interest for you to be caring for the children of your murder victims.”
“I understand.”
“The children will be immediately removed from your custody—”
“But—”
He held up a hand to silence her. “Or you will be removed from the case. One or the other, Lieutenant. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I pick the kids,” she said without hesitation.
His brows went up, and his mouth opened before snapping closed. “Very well. You’re off the case.”
“Before you decide anything, I found out in the middle of the night that one of the children currently in my custody witnessed his parents being tortured and possibly murdered. My plan today was to figure out how best to use this witness account to help us nail the people who committed these murders. In light of this development, I shall be taking an unplanned personal day to tend to my foster children, who need me very much right now.” Sam stood, preparing to make a grand exit.
“I’m sorry to leave you in the lurch with Sergeant Gonzales in the hospital, but I’m sure Captain Malone can oversee the investigation in my absence. ”
“You think I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m wise to you, Lieutenant.”
“I’m following your orders. Sir.”
“Sit down.”
She sat.
“What did the child tell you?”
“Just to be clear—are you asking me that as your lieutenant in charge of the Homicide division or as the foster parent to the child in question?”
“Sam,” he said through gritted teeth, “I swear to God…”
She told him what Alden had revealed in the middle of the night.
For a long moment after she finished speaking, he stared at the far wall. He was so still that she wondered if he was breathing. Then he shifted his gaze toward her and said, “What’s your plan for using him as a witness?”
“My goal is to do everything I can to not have to use him as a witness. If we can sew up the case using other means, then that’s what we’ll do. I’m due to meet with Malone about our next steps.” She glanced at her watch. “Ten minutes ago.” Clearing her throat, she added, “Sir.”
“I assume you’ll be consulting with Dr. Trulo about counseling and care for the child?”
“He’s second on my list for the day.”
After another extended silence, the chief said, “Carry on.”
“Sir?”
“Work the case.”
“I’m not relocating the kids at this point, because it wouldn’t be in their best interest. Their older brother is with them, and an aunt and uncle may be stepping up to take custody.
I won’t have them for much longer.” Everything inside her rejected that realization, but with so many other things to deal with, she refused to get sucked into that rabbit hole.
Not now, anyway. There would be plenty of time after they were gone to fall apart.
Right now, they needed her to find the people who’d murdered their parents and ruined their charmed lives.
Hopefully, someday it would matter to them that she’d gotten justice for their family.
The chief returned her mulish stare with one of his own. “I’d like your assurances that this sort of conflict won’t happen again.”
“I’d like to promise you that, but I’m not sure I can guarantee I wouldn’t do the same thing again if I saw other children in distress.”
“Perhaps you need to spend some time thinking about your priorities, Lieutenant.”
Sam nearly recoiled from the shock of that statement. “Wow. Really?”
“Yes, really! You can’t go around taking in the children of murder victims when you’re the lead investigator on the case!”
“Why not?” Even knowing she was stepping way out of line couldn’t stop her from doing it anyway. “The kids had nothing to do with it. They’re innocent victims. And if I hadn’t taken in the Beauclair children, we might never have known that Alden witnessed the murders. Think about that.”
He rubbed his face with his hands, and when he looked up at her, she saw exhaustion in his eyes. “You know why I haven’t retired when I could’ve quite some time ago?”
Stunned by the unexpected segue, she shook her head.
“One word: You. Y-o-u. You are the reason I can’t retire.”
Sam had no idea what to say to that.
“Anyone else in this job would have your badge and your ass in a sling before the first week was out. What people say about you in the department? That you get away with murder even as you investigate murders?” Leaning forward, he said, “It’s true.
You do. After you close this case, I want you to take an unpaid week off and think about whether you and this job are going to be able to coexist in the future.
I’m putting you on notice, Lieutenant. I won’t always be here to run interference for you. ”
Though his words shocked her, she didn’t hear much after “unpaid week off.” If she could close the Beauclair case before the weekend, she would be free to accompany Nick to Europe where she could do some “thinking” about whether she had a future as a member of the MPD.
The timing would be convenient, but she couldn’t let the chief know that.
She gave him a defiant look. “I’m sorry if you feel my performance is less than satisfactory, sir.”
“No one thinks your performance is unsatisfactory, Lieutenant. It’s your methodology that could use some fine-tuning.”
They engaged in a staring contest that ended when the chief looked away. “Get to work, Lieutenant, and keep a lid on the fact that the kids are with you. We don’t need that all over the news. Am I clear?”
“Yes, sir.” Sam got the hell out of there before he changed his mind about taking her off the case, but as she made her way to the detectives’ pit, his words echoed through her mind.
You are the reason I can’t retire. Well, damn.
That kinda hurt. And he thought she got away with murder while catching murderers?
That was also news to her. In her mind, she did what she had to in order to get the job done, and if he thought someone could do it better, they were welcome to try.
Okay, well, not really, but she did an ugly job the best way she knew how. Later, when she had time to breathe, she would talk to her father about the things the chief had said and get his take on it. What if he felt the same way Farnsworth did but had never said so? Wouldn’t that beat all?
Shaking off those unpleasant thoughts, Sam found Malone in his office. “Sorry I’m late. I got waylaid by the chief.”
“Who wasn’t at all happy to hear you’re fostering the Beauclair kids.”
“I know. My ears are still ringing.”
“He wants you off the case.”