Chapter Twenty-Five #2
“You know it. Young Freddie tried to freak me out and tell me I wouldn’t be able to get another flip phone, but he was wrong. Do you know how much I love it when he’s wrong?”
“Almost as much as you love it when I’m wrong?”
“He’s wrong way more than you are, so it’s more fun with him.”
That earned her a glare from her partner, who was leading her toward the food court where she’d gain three pounds breathing the air while he shoveled crap into his face and retained his zero body fat ratio.
Nick laughed, and the sexy sound made her shiver in anticipation of seeing him soon. “How close to done are you?”
“Very. I need to hit HQ, dump off Freddie, do a couple of things and then I’ll be home.”
“Let’s go out tonight. Just you and me.”
“Like on a date?”
“Yeah.”
“Can we do that?”
“Hell, yes, we can do that.”
“Poor Brant. You can’t throw this at him at the last minute.”
“He won’t mind.”
“Sure he won’t.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“I’ll let you surprise me.”
“All right. I’m on it.”
“Hey, Nick?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“This is the best call I’ll ever make on my new phone.”
“Aww, thanks. Love you.”
“Love you, too. See you soon.” She slapped the phone closed with gusto. “Hurry up. I gotta get home. Hot date with my hot husband to get ready for.”
“It’s cool that you guys are going out.”
“We don’t get to do it enough anymore. The gilded cage gets old after a while.”
“I’m sure it does. I’d go mad being surrounded by security all the time and not being able to do whatever I wanted.”
“I know. Me, too. My greatest fear is that I’ll one day have to put up with that, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle it.”
“Does he say anything about whether he plans to run?”
Sam knew she could trust Freddie not to repeat anything she said on the topic. “Not much. I don’t think he wants to, to be honest, but the pressure from all sides is so immense, I’m not sure how he’d ever get out of it.”
“He shouldn’t do it unless he really wants to.”
“I agree. He says he doesn’t have the fire in the belly to be president, and I’d imagine that’s a key component. Of course, you can’t repeat that to anyone, even Elin.”
“I never would.”
“He’s told Graham that he doesn’t think he wants to do it.” No one wanted Nick to be president more than Graham did. “But of course Graham doesn’t want to hear that. He’s got his heart set on seeing Nick in the Oval Office, and you can’t tell him that it’s not going to happen.”
“I get that Graham is super important to him, but it’s Nick’s life—and yours. If it’s not what you both want, you shouldn’t be pressured into doing it. We all know he’d be great at it, so you can’t think of it in terms of four years. You have to look at it as eight years.”
“And then a lifetime of Secret Service protection afterward. I have hives thinking about that.”
“Hey!” A teenage girl screamed in Sam’s direction. “It’s the second lady! Oh my God. You guys! Look!”
The girl’s announcement led to a mob of teens swarming around Sam, who was instantly on alert for trouble.
“Back up,” Freddie said with unusual force. “Right now.”
The teens did as he asked.
“I’m happy to say hi to you guys,” Sam said. “But you’ve got to give me a little room.”
“I think you’re so cool, and your husband is hot.”
Sam tried to hide the grimace. “Thank you.” She shook hands with each of them, signed a few autographs and then made her escape. “Stay in school and out of trouble.” They beat feet away from the teen mob. “That was intense.”
“That, right there, is why you should have a detail.”
“Shut your face. And don’t tell my husband that happened, you got me?”
“I got you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“So you say.”
“Hurry up and get some food. I need to be done with this day.”
Freddie bought six tacos, which he ate in the car on the way back to HQ.
“If you get one shred of lettuce in my car, you’re having the whole thing detailed.”
“Got it,” he said over a mouthful.
The smell was making her mouth water. He’d polished off all six tacos and a large cola by the time they got back to the house.
“You’re disgusting.”
“I’m a growing boy. Leave me alone.”
“I’m going to tell your wife you already had dinner.”
“Why would you do that to me, Sam? I thought we were friends.”
They bickered their way into the morgue entrance and through the corridors that led to the pit, while he sucked on the last of his drink, intentionally making obnoxious noises to irritate her.
In the pit, she found the day shift handing things off to Carlucci and Dominguez, who were working until midnight.
“Meeting in five, everyone.”
“Lieutenant, the phone company came through with Tara’s calls and text log,” Green said. “We’re going through it now.”
While she was thrilled to hear they had the vital info they’d been waiting for, she hoped she’d still be able to get out of there in time to enjoy the night out with Nick.
“Focus first on the dates of January 31 to February 6,” Sam said. “We believe that’s when her child was most likely conceived. And then cover the most recent two weeks.”
“On it,” Green said.
The team assembled in the conference room, where Sam and Freddie briefed them on the meeting with Finley.
“I want a full run on him,” Sam said to Carlucci.
“We’ll get on that tonight.”
“Check his wife, too,” Sam said on a hunch.
Freddie shot her a questioning look.
“Who’s to say she didn’t know?” Sam asked.
“We’ll work on the Finleys tonight,” Carlucci said.
“I’ll take the phone records home with me and keep going on that,” Green said.
“Make sure you record the time on your sheet. I’ll authorize the OT.”
“Will do, thanks.”
“One more thing we need to talk about.” This needed to be said while everyone was there.
“Ramsey is digging for shit on us. Everyone needs to make sure they’re dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s—all the time, but right now, in particular.
If there’s anything to be found on us, he’s coming for it. Let’s not give him anything to find.”
“I wish they could get rid of scum like him,” O’Brien said. “He makes us all look bad.”
“Agreed,” Sam said, “but it’s not that simple. He made me his enemy long before shit got real between the two of us, and I’m sorry that my shit with him is raining down on you guys. Watch your backs. That’s all I can say. Day shift, go home. Night shift, call me if anything pops on the phone log.”
“Will do, Lieutenant,” Carlucci said.
They filed out of the conference room, and Sam headed straight for her office, determined to get the hell out of there while the getting was good. She was on her way to a clean getaway when she ran into Dr. Trulo in the hallway.