Epilogue
“My name is Nick Cappuano, and I’m the proud husband of Metro Police Lieutenant Sam Holland.
I want to tell you about the day that Leonard Stahl took my wife hostage, wrapped her in razor wire and threatened to set her on fire.
” He said the words in a matter-of-fact tone, but they still gave him chills even after all this time.
Because he was vice president, the networks were providing live coverage of the sentencing portion of Stahl’s trial. It’d been one week since the conviction, during which Sam had barely spoken of it other than to express relief that it was over.
However, it wouldn’t be over for her—or for them—until Stahl was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. That had been Nick’s only goal as he’d prepared his remarks.
In the last week, they’d learned that Congressman Ben Wilton had fathered Tara’s son, and that headline had pushed the Nelson affair news out of the headlines—for now anyway.
Tara’s reputation had taken a beating, but Sam had issued a statement supporting Tara’s right to live her life however she wished to, and to judge her choices when she wasn’t there to defend herself was unfair and disgusting.
Minute by minute, Nick took the jury through the horrifying details of the day Stahl had taken Sam hostage, telling the story from his point of view, starting with the reception he’d been attending in honor of his first day as vice president.
“I was with our son Scotty, and we were waiting for Sam to join us at the White House. My chief of staff took a phone call from my former staffer, Christina Billings, who is engaged to Sam’s colleague Sergeant Thomas Gonzales.
That’s how we heard that Sam was possibly being held hostage at the Springer home on MacArthur Boulevard.
They weren’t a hundred percent sure yet, because Sam had gone there alone, doubling back to close a loop with Mrs. Springer.
I had to beg my new Secret Service detail to take me to what might’ve been an active crime scene.
Needless to say, that took some doing. If I’d had to run there on foot, I would’ve done it because nothing in this world is more important to me than my wife and our children. Nothing.
“Much later, I read the report of what Sam’s colleagues went through that day, tracking her down, figuring out what was going on and trying to get to her before it was too late.
You’ve read the report and heard the testimony so you know that when they burst into that basement they found Sam wrapped in razor wire and Leonard Stahl about to ignite the gasoline he’d spread all around her.
“Imagine, if you will, what that must’ve been like for Sam, to know her body would be ripped to shreds if she so much as moved and a madman was about to set her on fire.
I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s the sort of crime that life imprisonment was invented to deter.
As it was, her colleagues got to her seconds before he would’ve set her on fire. ”
With his composure wavering, Nick took a deep breath, determined to get through this without becoming emotional.
He refused to give that to Stahl, who’d probably relish it.
He’d also refused to so much as glance in the direction of the disgraced lieutenant.
“She was cut all over, from her neck to her feet and everywhere in between. She smelled of gasoline for a week. Do you know what my amazing wife did throughout Stahl’s prolonged attack?
She ignored him. She gave him nothing, not even when he wrapped her in razor wire and prepared to set her on fire. She gave him nothing.
“Do you have any idea what kind of courage she displayed that day while at the mercy of a man who hated her simply because her name was Holland? That’s right.
He was jealous of her father’s successes and retaliated against Skip by making his daughter’s life a living hell for every minute that she reported to him—and long after she replaced him as the lieutenant in charge of the department’s Homicide Division.
And he hated her for her successes. While he was in command of Homicide, the division closed seventy-five percent of its cases.
Since Sam has led the division, their success rate is one hundred percent.
A short time after she was nearly murdered by Leonard Stahl, she was back at work, fighting for justice on behalf of those who can’t advocate for themselves. Because that’s who she is.
“I’m in awe of her courage and tenacity every day, but on that day, on the day Leonard Stahl held her hostage, planning to murder her in the most gruesome way he could think of, my wife displayed the kind of courage few of us would have under the same circumstances.
I’m always proud of her and how hard she works for justice on behalf of the victims of violent crime in our city, but I’ve never been prouder of her than I was the day she didn’t let Leonard Stahl break her.
She showed him he was nothing compared to her, he is nothing compared to her.
He belongs in a jail cell for the rest of his life so he can never harm anyone again. ”
Having said his piece, Nick got up and left the room, aware of his Secret Service detail trailing him as they always did. Eager to get out of there and get home to his wife, he kept moving until he reached the curb where another agent waited with the door to his vehicle open and ready for him.
“Hey, sailor. Give a girl a ride home?”
Samantha.
He slid across the seat to her and took her into his arms, holding on tight to the love of his life. “This is a nice surprise.”
“I figured it was the least I could do after you took one for the team.” She drew back so she could see his face. “And PS, you were awesome.”
“You saw it?”
She pointed to the dark screen on the back of the seat in front of her.
He curled a strand of her hair around his finger. “I thought you weren’t going to watch.”
“My hot, sexy husband was making a rather public declaration of how much he loves me. I couldn’t bear to miss it. In fact, watching you now sort of made the entire ordeal worthwhile.”
“That can’t possibly be true.”
“You made it better. You make everything better.”
“Thanks for surviving that day. I appreciate it.”
She shrugged. “I do what I can for the people.” Curling her hand around his neck, she brought him in close enough to kiss. “Thank you for what you did today.”
“I’d say it was a pleasure, but…”
“I love you madly.”
“I love you more madly.”
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
Smiling, he kissed her.
“Guess what else?”
He nuzzled her neck. “What’s that?”
“The mayor was back to talking about parking and garbage issues today, which means she’s not talking about how Joe Farnsworth needs to go. Instead, she’s focused on helping him choose a new deputy chief.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
“Yeah. I hope we can keep a lid on this situation with Gonzo. The last thing he or the chief need is for that to blow up into something.”
“If anyone can protect them both, babe, it’s you.”
“I hope so.” Sam smoothed the hair back from his forehead. “Did I tell you I took the whole day off?”
“That’s funny because I did, too.”
“Does that mean we’ve got hours and hours and hours to kill before our kids come home from school?”
“It does.” She ran a finger down the length of his navy blue tie. “You wanna hook up?”
“Yes, please.”
With her lips close to his ear, she said, “Tell Brant to take us home.”
Turn the page for a bonus epilogue…