Chapter Twenty-One #2
They went upstairs and stood in the doorway, watching Scotty read to the rapt little ones who hung on his every word.
“My heart,” Sam whispered to Nick.
“I know. I can’t take it.”
“Get a picture, will you?”
He subtly removed his smart phone from his pocket and took the photo, earning a scowl from Scotty even as he never missed a beat in the story. When the book was finished, Alden wanted another.
“You already had two, and that’s enough for tonight,” Scotty told him. “You have to get up early for school and so do I.” He kissed each of them on the tops of their heads and scooted out from between them. “All yours,” he said to his amused parents as he cut between them to exit the room.
Sam and Nick went in to tuck in the twins and kiss them good-night.
“Sweet dreams,” Sam said, caressing Aubrey’s soft hair.
The children’s eyes were heavy with sleep so they tiptoed out of the room, leaving the door cracked open the way the kids liked it.
Next, they popped into Scotty’s room, where he was finishing up some homework while listening to a Capitals’ game on the TV.
“Yes, I took a shower. Yes, my homework is almost done. Yes, my alarm is set and my backpack is ready for the morning. Anything else?”
Sam bit her lip so she wouldn’t laugh out loud at his sauciness. “Am I allowed to ask how your day was?”
“It was fantastic. My algebra teacher was out sick and we had a sub who had no clue what we were supposed to be doing. Best day of eighth grade I’ve had yet.”
Sam couldn’t stop the laughter that exploded out of her at that.
Nick glared at her. “It’s not funny.”
“Yes, it is.”
Scotty offered her a fist bump. “Mom for the win.”
Sam bumped her fist with his. “Thanks for reading to the Littles.”
“I love to read to them. They’re so fun to have around.”
Sam sat on the edge of his bed. “I’m so glad you think so. A lot of thirteen-year-olds would be annoyed by the sudden appearance of two five-year-olds.”
“I’m not most thirteen-year-olds.” There wasn’t an ounce of arrogance in the statement. Only truth.
“No, you’re not, and we’re incredibly thankful for you.”
He flashed a crooked grin. “You guys are okay, too.”
“Gee, thanks, pal.”
“Where are we with the dog discussion?”
“It’s still in the consideration stages. We’ll get back to you when our team makes a decision.”
As he rolled his eyes, Sam leaned in to kiss his cheek, and he allowed it. “Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“Lights out at ten,” Nick said as he followed Sam from the room.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s hope there’s no overtime in the Caps game.”
“Ten.” Nick closed Scotty’s door and followed Sam into their room, where he released a deep breath. “Another long-ass day in the books.”
“How’re you holding up?” Sam locked her service weapon and cuffs into the bedside table drawer and turned to him.
“I’m okay, but the press attention is unprecedented.
The GOP leadership is demanding Nelson’s resignation, but he’s not planning to resign.
He told me that in our meeting earlier, said I don’t need to worry.
If they want him out, they’re going to have to force him out.
The matter is personal, between him and his wife, and has no bearing on his job.
The White House press office released a statement to that effect earlier. ”
“And how was that received?”
“As you might expect. Some people agree that it’s a personal matter between the first couple. Of course the opposition thinks he has a moral obligation to resign. Yada, yada, yada. It was good to hear right from him that he has no plans to resign though.”
“I’m sure it was. I, too, am relieved to hear that news.”
“What’s the latest on the case?”
“We informed Congressman Wilton today that he might be the father of Tara’s child.”
Nick’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”
“Yep. He was one of several guys Tara was seeing around the time the baby was conceived. We’re working on locating the others.” Sam went into the bathroom, stripping off clothes as she went. “What’s your take on Wilton?”
“He’s a good guy.”
“That was my sense as well. He was genuinely shocked to hear that the baby might be his.”
“Anyone would be, especially if the relationship ended.”
“I get the feeling that having a relationship wasn’t a priority for her after the guy she planned to marry broke up with her.
I think she did want a baby more than anything, and was possibly determined to make that happen.
We’re still trying to get the full list of the men she dated around that time.
We’ll get DNA from all of them to determine who fathered the baby.
” A thought occurred to her that had her reaching for the phone to call Freddie.
He answered on the fourth ring. “Hmm?” He’d better answer or she’d have to remind him once again how Homicide detectives are always on duty. She thought he’d learned that lesson after Elin shut off his phone when they were first together.
“You’re not already asleep.”
“How do you know?”
“Wake up and listen to me. It’s entirely possible that Delany didn’t know about all the guys Tara dated. I mean if you’re Tara, do you tell your assistant that you’re going out with several different guys at the same time? I wouldn’t tell you that.”
“I’m extremely glad to hear that.”
“I’m calling Malone to see where we stand with the dating app and the dump of her phone.”
“Do you want me to call him?”
“Nah, go back to bed or whatever you were doing.”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I’m out.” She heard him laughing as she ended the call. “I don’t know why I put up with his nonsense.”
“Because you love him like a brother?” Nick said.
“Ugh, whatever.” She put through the call to Malone, who answered on the first ring. “Thank you for not being a newlywed.”
“Huh?”
“Took Cruz four rings to pick up the damned phone.”
Malone laughed. “You’re spreading the joy around evenly tonight, I see.”
“That’s me. A good time had by all.”
Nick cracked up in the bathroom.
“What can I do for you this evening?”
“You can tell me what the hell is happening with the warrants for Tara’s phone company and the dating app.”
“We’re getting major pushback from both. The phone company says we need to find her phone and then they can help us. The dating app is screaming about the privacy of its users and how it’ll put them out of business if cops start showing up on the doorsteps of the men she dated.”
Frustration boiled up inside her, threatening to spill over into a tirade of epic proportions. A woman was dead. In Sam’s world, nothing was more important than getting justice for her. “Tell me we’re fighting back.”
“Of course we are. There’s a hearing in the morning on both matters. Faith is going to bat for us,” he said of assistant U.S. attorney Faith Miller.
“Okay. Keep me posted.”
“You’ll know when I do.”
“I’m meeting with my squad in the morning.”
“You need me there?”
“Nope.” She most definitely did not need her captain there when she asked her squad to start subtly digging into Sergeant Ramsey.
“Why don’t you take a Skip Holland half day and get some sleep.”
Though meant as a joke, the reminder of one of her dad’s favorite sayings hit Sam like a knife to the heart. “Yeah.” She forced herself to reply for the captain’s sake. “I’ll do that.”
“You okay?”
“Yep. Talk to you tomorrow.” She closed the phone and plugged it in to charge.
For a few minutes, she sat on the edge of the bed, thinking about all the times Skip had teased her about taking a “half day” after a twelve-hour shift.
It had been one of his favorite things to say, and hearing it now from Malone was a reminder that she’d never again hear it from her dad.
Nick sat next to her on the bed and put an arm around her. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t say nothing when it’s obviously something.”
“I can’t get away with anything when you’re around.”
“No, you can’t, so quit trying.”
“Malone said something… One of my dad’s things. It hit me that I’ll never hear him say it again.”
“I’m sure it’s like a fresh wound every time you remember something.”
“It is.”
“What was it this time?”
“No matter how late I worked or how many hours I’d put in, if I told him I was leaving, he’d say, ‘Taking another half day, I see.’ No matter how many times he said it, it was always funny. And no one laughed harder at his own joke than he did.”
“I can picture it.” He caressed her back and arm, offering the kind of comfort she could only get from him. “I know it’s small solace right now, but you’re lucky to have so many amazing memories of him.”
“I know, and I also know you don’t have that with your dad.”
“It was different between us.”
What he meant but didn’t say was that he didn’t see enough of his dad for most of his life to have the kind of inside jokes Sam had with Skip. “I’m very lucky to have had him, and I know it.”
“But that also makes losing him so much harder.”
She nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Even after he was injured so gravely, he never lost his sense of humor or his ability to laugh at his own jokes.”
“What can I do for you?”
“Some power snuggling would be nice.”
“Lucky for you, I’m all charged and ready.”
Sam laughed and nudged him. “You’re always charged and ready.”
“For you? Absolutely. Come on.” He stood and helped her up, turning her toward the bathroom so she could get ready for bed. “I’ll be waiting for you in the snuggling capsule when you’re ready.”
He always made her feel better, no matter what madness had overtaken her life and even in the throes of the most profound grief she’d ever experienced.
She got undressed and while she brushed her teeth, she studied her face in the mirror.
To look at her, you’d never guess that her heart was broken.
But inside… Inside, she ached all the time knowing he was gone forever, especially now that she knew more about why he’d been taken from them too soon.
It was all so pointless. Like most things, it had been about greed and people protecting themselves and their source of wealth at the expense of two great police officers.
The wrongness of that was something it would take her years to accept if she ever accepted it.
“Samantha… I’m waiting for you.”
She wiped the toothpaste from her lips, ran a brush through her hair and shut off the bathroom light.
Propped up on an elbow, Nick watched her walk from the bathroom, around the bed to her side. “Best thing I’ve seen all day.”
She got in bed. “That can’t possibly be true.”
He reached for her and pulled her across the mattress until she was snug against him. “It’s absolutely true.”
“Don’t haul me around like a side of beef.”
“You’re my side of beef, and I’ll haul you around if I feel like it.”
She would’ve argued with him, but he kissed her and fried all the brain cells that objected to being called his side of beef.
“I hate to see you sad.” He cupped her face and ran his thumb over her cheek. “Even though I know you’re going to be for a while.”
“People say time helps. I want to feel better, but I don’t want to ‘get over’ losing him, you know?”
“You’ll never get over losing him. You’ll go forward from here and take him with you.”
“Yes,” she said, her eyes filling. “I will. I love that.” She looked up at him. “You always know what to say to me.”
“That’s because I’m the only one in the whole world who speaks fluent Samantha.”
“Yes, you do, and the rest of the world is thankful to you for that.”
“The rest of the world can eff off. You and our kids are the only ones who matter.”
“You looked so happy when I came in tonight.”
“I am happy. We have it all, babe. Best thing you ever did was bring home our Littles and make our family complete.”
“I’m glad you love them so much and that you finally have the family you always wanted.”
“I do, but everything begins and ends with you. You’re the sun.” He wrapped his arms around her, snuggled her in close to him and made everything better by being there. “Close your eyes, let it all go and get some sleep.”
“I will if you will.”
“I’ll try.”
She hated that he struggled so much with sleep. “You’re going through this ordeal with Nelson, and here I am making it all about me.”
“Hush. I’m fine. You’re fine. We’re fine. Go to sleep.”
She would’ve thought she was too wound up to sleep, but with the steady beat of his heart echoing under her ear, she was able to drift off into peaceful slumber.