Chapter Thirty-Two
Sam left Shelby and Avery’s suite and went down the stairs just as Nick was coming up from the main floor, looking exhausted and devastated. She held out her arms to him, and he walked right into her embrace. “Anything new?”
“No.”
Sam held him for a long time. She would’ve stood there all night if that’s what he needed. “Are you hungry?”
“Not really.”
“You still need to eat something.”
“I’m not sure I could. This situation is making me sick. That he risked everything to warn me, and now…”
“Maybe he’s hiding out until it blows over.”
“I don’t think he’d do that. The military tends to frown on members going AWOL.”
Sam led him into their suite and into the bathroom, where she removed his tie, helped him out of the suit coat and began to unbutton his shirt.
“I spoke with his mother just now. She’s out of her mind with worry. His father died when he was four. She raised him on her own.” His tone was devoid of all the usual animation. “She’s so proud of him working in the White House. She owns a hair salon in Philly. Juan grew up sweeping the floors and washing the towels.” His voice broke as his head landed on her shoulder. “I know something terrible has happened.”
“I’m so sorry, Nick. I wish I knew what to say.”
“There’s nothing to be said, but God help whoever is responsible for this.”
Sam hadn’t seen him this undone in a while. Her heart ached for him. After he changed into sweats and his favorite Harvard T-shirt, he dropped onto the sofa.
She poured him a glass of the bourbon Graham O’Connor had given him for Christmas and curled up next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
They stayed there until the official phone rang almost half an hour later.
Nick got up to answer it.
He listened more than he spoke and then thanked the person.
“Anything new?”
“The FBI and NCIS investigators have gained access to Juan’s apartment and are processing the scene.”
“It sounds like you’ve got the best people working on it.”
Her phone buzzed with a text from Tracy. Still planning to attend the hearing tomorrow?
Yes.
Any word on whether Ang is coming?
I don’t think so. I told her I’d take this one, and she should pace herself.
Good call. I’ll see you there.
“Everything okay?” Nick asked.
“That was Tracy about the hearing in Spencer’s case tomorrow.”
“I should be there with you.”
“Like I told Angela, it’s gonna be a long haul. We need to pace ourselves, and you need to stay focused on things here.”
“I wish I could be there for every minute of it.”
“I know, and that means a lot to all of us. Do you think you could eat a little something?”
“Nah, I’m okay. I had a late lunch, and I’m just not hungry.”
“How about some rest?”
“Not likely tonight, but I’ll try.”
They brushed their teeth and settled into bed a few minutes later.
“Want me to rub your back?” she asked.
“That’s okay. You’ve got a sprained wrist.”
“I’ve got another hand that’s fully functional. Come on. That always relaxes you.”
“Sure, if you want to.”
“Be right back.” She went to the bathroom to fetch the massage oil. “Turn over.”
He turned so he was facedown, arms around the pillow.
Sam straddled his back and used her uninjured hand to work the coconut-scented oil into muscles so tight they felt like concrete.
“Feels good. Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
“I keep meaning to remind you I’m traveling next week.”
Sam’s hand went still. “For how long?”
“Four days.”
“Oh.” She was already bereft at the thought of four days without him, as silly as that seemed. “Okay.”
“I’m already dreading it.”
“Me, too.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. You have to get out there and do the job. We knew your travel would pick up eventually.”
“I hate being away from you guys.”
Sam hated it, too. “I know.”
“Close your eyes and focus on breathing. Just breathe.”
He did as directed, and after a while, he seemed to relax ever so slightly.
She kept it up until her hand and back were aching.
His breathing had deepened.
Sam moved carefully to get up to wash her hands. When she got in bed, he turned on his side and put his arm around her, drawing her in close to him.
“Thanks.”
She squeezed his hand. “Love you.”
“You, too. So much.”
While his breathing settled into a steady rhythm that she hoped was sleep, she lay awake with her thoughts spinning from one miserable thing to another. From the concrete prison discovered at Stahl’s to the plan to use Cori Sawyer as bait to Tom’s murderer, to Nick leaving for four whole days, to Avery’s shooting and where Juan Rodriguez might be.
She dreamed that she was trapped inside the concrete prison, with no food or water or any way out. The fear, hopelessness and outrage were palpable. She’d had to watch the monster build the wall around her, one block at a time, realizing he was condemning her to a slow, miserable, painful death. Her body ached, as she hadn’t had food or water in days, and the cold floor only added to the misery.
Soon, she’d run out of air, and then what? She didn’t think anything could be worse than the razor wire and fire, but Stahl had managed to find a way to top his own depravity. This was worse. She thought of Nick, Scotty, Alden, Aubrey, Eli, her sisters, nieces, nephews… The only solace was that her dad would be there to greet her when she arrived in heaven, and that gave her something to look forward to as her strength ebbed.
She yearned for Nick, for one more minute with him, for the chance to breathe in the familiar scent of home while gazing into his gorgeous hazel eyes, the eyes that had never looked at her with anything other than love, admiration and full acceptance of who and what she was. He never asked her to be anything other than herself, which was such a gift.
He was such a gift.
A sob ripped from her chest.
Nick.
“Babe, wake up. Sam…”
His voice punctured the thin veil between sleep and wakefulness. She opened her eyes, expecting to see a concrete prison. Blinking, she saw the bedroom wall where she’d put a framed photo of their family from Christmas.
“Samantha.”
Relief flooded her entire system. Only a dream. Only a dream.
She turned to him and buried her face in his chest as tears leaked from tightly closed eyes.
“What is it, love?”
“Weird dream. Sorry to disturb you.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“Absolutely not.” She wouldn’t tell him about the concrete room. He had enough horrors to worry about without her adding more. She snuggled in deeper. “This is all I need.”
“I’ve got plenty of this.”
As she wallowed in his comfort, she tried to rid her mind of the images from inside the concrete prison, but that would be much easier said than done.
Sam was “off”from the second she rolled out of bed, through getting the twins up and dressed, to overseeing breakfast for all three kids and leaving them with kisses and hugs and wishes for a good day.
Since she’d be going to court, she’d worn gray dress pants, a white cowl-necked sweater and a navy blazer.
Nick walked her to the stairs. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Just tired.”
“You were restless all night.”
“I’m sorry.”
He kissed her forehead. “Don’t be. I wasn’t going to sleep much anyway.” He’d already told her there was no news this morning about Juan. “I know you don’t like to add to my burdens, especially at a time like this, but I always want to know what keeps you awake at night.”
“And I appreciate that, but I can’t remember most of it.”
“I guess that’s for the best.”
“For sure.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “Keep me posted on Juan.”
“I will and let me know how the hearing goes.”
She nodded. “Will do. Love you.”
“You, too. Be careful out there. My wife is my whole world.”
“What a lucky girl she is.” She stole one more kiss before heading down the stairs to meet Vernon and Jimmy. “Morning.”
“Morning.”
When they were on the way to HQ, Vernon asked, “Are you still planning to attend the court hearing this morning?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Sam looked out the window and watched the city go by in a kaleidoscope so familiar the images were baked into her DNA. This was her town, her home, her place in the world. If she could stay focused on her family, the job and all the good in her life, she might eventually be able to forget the feeling of being trapped and left to die inside a concrete prison.
Her hands were trembling ever so slightly as memories from the dream popped in and out of her consciousness.
Stahl would enjoy knowing that he’d caused her new distress. He would enjoy that very much. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Haggerty. Prints found at the campsite are a match for Harlan Peckham.
Excellent. Thank you.
That confirmation gave more credence to her plan to use Cori to lure him out. When she arrived at HQ, Farnsworth was waiting to speak to her outside her office. He held a file folder in his left hand.
She unlocked the door and invited him inside.
He closed the door behind him. “I need a favor.”
“Anything for you.”
“You might want to think about that before you agree.”
“Anything for you.”
He smiled and took a seat, tucking the file folder under his arm. “I need you to do a full briefing on all the things, including the Forrester case, the latest from Stahl’s house, the Davies release and lawsuit, the Ramsey lawsuit. All of it. When I go out there, I come off defensive. I need you to go out there and show the devastation we all feel over these things. You’re good at bringing the emotion. I just want to punch them all.”
“So do I.”
“You’re better at not showing it.” He looked pained. “I know it’s a lot to ask, and I hate to take advantage of your platform this way, but?—”
“My platform, such as it is, should be used to my benefit once in a while. In fact, Lieutenant Haggerty suggested I do this very thing.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah, he said it might go down better and get added attention coming from me.”
“I agree with him.”
“I’ll need some time to get up to speed.”
“I had Public Affairs prepare some talking points.” He handed over the file. “This is the company line but use your judgment. Transparency is the word of the day.”
Sam opened the file and took note that two of the bodies found at Stahl’s had now been positively identified: Tiffany Jones, who’d been used to entrap Davies, and Brittany Carter. Sam’s heart ached when she recalled meeting with Carter’s parents in Delaware. “Have the families been notified?”
“They have as of last night.”
“I met the Carters. They’ve been through such a terrible ordeal. All these families have.”
“I think you should say that.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“You always do. I appreciate this.”
“No problem.”
“Sure it is, but I appreciate it all the same. Are you going to court this morning?”
She nodded. “I’ll do the briefing after the eight o’clock meeting with the team I’ve assembled for the Sawyer operation.”
“That plan gives me major anxiety.”
“Me, too, but I think we can make it work.”
“I really hope so. I’ll let you get to the meeting. Okay if I sit in?”
“It’s your house, sir.”
“It’s our house, Lieutenant.”
“Please come. You’re always welcome.”
Sam collected her files and notebook and headed with him to the conference room to meet with the team that would help her bring Operation Nail Harlan Peckham to fruition.
Captain Michelle Ruiz from Emergency Response stepped forward to shake hands with Sam. “Good to see you, Lieutenant.” She was about five seven, with a curvy figure and curly dark hair.
“You as well.” Their paths had crossed occasionally over the years, but Sam had never worked closely with her. Ruiz had a reputation for being a hard-ass who went through officers faster than some people changed their underwear. People didn’t like working for her. Sam would give her the benefit of the doubt until she had reason to do otherwise. “Thanks for being part of this.”
“You got it.”
In addition to Ruiz, Farnsworth, Malone, Archie and Sam’s squad, Lieutenant Dawkins from Patrol and ten Patrol officers were in attendance. She recognized some of them, including Watts, Keeney and Youncy.
“Thank you all for being here.”
George Terrell rushed through the door, looking frazzled. “Sorry I’m late.”
“No problem. Thanks for coming in. Detective Cruz and Lieutenant Archelotta have prepared a brief on the Peckham family, headed by Willy Peckham, and managed while his father and the rest of their family were locked up by Willy’s son Harlan, who escaped prosecution the first time around due to a sympathetic FBI agent ‘forgetting’ to read him his Miranda rights. Detective Cruz, you want to take it from there?”
“Sure.” Freddie stood and pointed to the screen, where photos of the Peckhams were displayed. He went through the undercover operation led by Agent Hill, who appeared on the screen in all his hillbilly glory, causing Sam to bite back a laugh. She would have some fun with that photo after this was over. Oh, yes, she would.
“Forrester was murdered while sitting in his car on Constitution Avenue. Hill was shot leaving his gym on 22nd Street. He’s now recovering at home. Ballistics tied the bullets in both shootings to the same nine-millimeter Glock. At that point, we began looking at cases that Hill and Forrester worked on together. We quickly focused on the Willy Peckham, who is back in jail after recently breaking into Hill’s home. Hill was not home at the time. Thankfully, they were neutralized before Hill’s wife or son could be harmed. Willy’s wife, Amber, who was with him during the home invasion, told us that Willy planned to ‘gut Hill like a pig’ in front of his wife and son.
“The case was prosecuted by Tom Forrester, and the trial was overseen by then-District Court Judge Corrinne Sawyer after the Peckhams requested a change of venue out of Kentucky. Sawyer is now an appellate court judge. Lieutenant, do you want to pick it up from here?”
A photo of Harlan came up on the screen.
Sam stood. “Harlan Peckham is notorious for never having owned a cell phone, so tracking him that way isn’t an option. We began to think about ways we might lure him out of hiding. A campsite was located yesterday that has been tied to Peckham by fingerprints, but he was able to elude capture. Our plan is to surround Judge Sawyer at her church with our people in the hope of getting Harlan to show himself. We believe he’s invested significant time, possibly over weeks and even months, learning the routines of his targets. He’ll know that Sawyer attends services almost every week, often alone while her husband takes their children to various activities. He’ll want to be done with this mission and on his way home to Kentucky as soon as possible.”
“I have a question,” Green said. “If he’s taken the time to learn the routines, how did he know Forrester would be parked on Constitution?”
“Due to his family being taken captive by Bryant, Forrester wasn’t on his usual schedule. I believe it’s possible that Harlan was following him. Somehow he knew that Forrester would be there and took advantage of the opportunity. That’s my guess, anyway.”
“How’d the kidnapping of Forrester’s family play into this thing with the Peckhams?” George asked.
“That was an entirely separate matter.”
George gave her a skeptical look. “Which happened at the exact same time?”
“Yes. Forrester was investigating Bryant for campaign finance irregularities. In the course of that investigation, he uncovered evidence of numerous other crimes. Bryant had recently learned of the investigation. We believe Bryant took Forrester’s family to send the message to back off. That’s being treated as an entirely separate matter.”
“Interesting.”
You have no idea,Sam wanted to say, but the info about Cox was still confidential. For now, anyway. It was only a matter of time before Cox would become the latest mess of leftovers from the Nelson administration that Nick had to clean up.
“Now for assignments.” Sam went through each member of the team and what she needed from them on Sunday. The Patrol officers would be in the church when Cori arrived and accompany her outside, playing the parts of friends and acquaintances catching up outside after the service ended.
“What about vests?” Youncy asked.
Sam glanced to Malone to take that one.
“As much as I hate to say it, I don’t think we can risk Peckham noticing all the congregants are bulky in the chest area. It would be a giveaway.”
That was what Sam would’ve said, too. “I’d like Cori to wear one under her coat, though.”
“Agreed,” Farnsworth said.
They went through every detail of the plan, positioning of officers, sharpshooters and federal agents.
“What do you need from us?” Captain Ruiz asked.
“I need your team to provide communication support nearby and to be ready to intervene should the need arise.”
“We usually take a more active role.”
“That’s the role we need you to take this time.”
Ruiz didn’t like that answer.
Sam didn’t care.
“Any other questions, comments, thoughts?” When there were none, she said, “Thank you all for your participation. We’ll convene here at zero seven hundred on Sunday to go through the plan one more time before we head out.”
The others filed out of the room, leaving Sam with Cruz, Gonzo, Malone, Farnsworth and Archie.
“Is this plan insane?” she asked them.
“Maybe a little, but I think it’s the fastest way to draw this guy out and end this thing,” Farnsworth said.
“Have I overlooked anything?”
“Not that I can think of,” Malone said.
Sam accepted that the sick feeling in her stomach would stay with her until they got through Sunday. In the meantime, she had a press briefing to handle and a hearing to get to. “After I do the briefing, I’m going to court for the hearing in Spencer’s case.”
“Do you want me to come?” Freddie asked.
“That’s okay, but thanks for offering. Tracy will be there.”
“And me,” Gonzo said with a small smile.
“And you.” He’d served as the lead detective on Spencer’s case so there could be no conflicts of interest tied to Sam and her relationship to one of the victims.
“I’ll give you a lift, if you’d like,” Sam said.
“I won’t say no to that.”
“It’s a date. I’ll meet you back here after I do the briefing.”