Chapter Five
Sam and Freddie emerged from the interrogation room to find Hope, Captain Malone and Dr. Trulo waiting for them in the hallway.
“Holy shit,” Malone said for all of them. “That poor kid—and her poor brother.”
“Imagine having to live with the monsters who murdered your precious brother for six years,” Hope said.
Sam shuddered at the thought of it. “They never officially reported him missing.”
“Because they knew exactly where he was,” Freddie said. “It’s unbelievable.”
Sam glanced at Dr. Trulo. “Are you able to spend some time with her?”
“I’ll give her all the time she needs.”
“Thank you.”
Dr. Trulo knocked on the door to the interrogation room. “Hi, Amara. I was thinking I’d sit with you for a while, if that’s okay.”
“Sure,” she said.
Trulo closed the door behind him.
“I’ll work on setting up a safe house for her,” Freddie said.
“And I’ll get the arrest warrants for the parents,” Malone said. “Can you give me their full names and the address?”
Sam wrote the information Amara had given her on where to find her mother and stepfather at their places of employment on a page in her notebook and then tore it out to hand to him. “Let’s get DNA warrants while we’re at it.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll check in with Lindsey about King’s autopsy to see what else we can find out.”
“I’ll be drawing up the charges,” Hope said.
“By the way, I heard you’ve got a new boss,” Sam said.
“I do. Catherine McDermott is settling into the USA’s office as we speak.”
Sam and Hope locked gazes in mutual concern about McDermott. Neither of them was looking forward to finding out what her “take no prisoners” approach meant for them and their daily efforts to get justice for the victims they served.
“How’s Faith holding up with the Nelson trial?” Sam asked.
“She’s doing okay. The case is strong, which always helps, but super high profile.”
“I know,” Sam said with a groan. “And I get to be right in the middle of it.”
“You’ll be a great witness.”
“Thank you. I hope so.”
“I’ll check in later about the Robinson charges.”
“Thanks, Hope.”
In the pit, Gonzo was waiting to talk to Sam. “What’s going on?”
She gave him a quick update on the Robinson case.
“Wow. That’s crazy. Is she… I mean, is she okay?”
“Remarkably, she seems quite composed, all things considered. She’s had six years to prepare for this moment, and she prepared very well.”
“What can I do?”
“Take Detective Green and go pick up Louis Bingham at his office.” Sam handed him a piece of paper with the address.
“Malone is taking care of issuing the arrest warrant.” As much as she wanted to be the one to arrest them both, she couldn’t risk Louis disappearing after they arrested Thelma.
“Request backup and go in ready for anything.”
“Will do.”
“Thanks, Gonzo.” Sam headed for the morgue, bringing the story Amara had shared with her.
This was what so many people didn’t understand about their work—the things they experienced in the course of a day could bring a lesser person to their knees.
But she was expected to hear that gut-wrenching story and then do everything she could to get justice for Amara, her brother, for all the murder victims they encountered and their grieving families.
That responsibility was heavy most of the time, but on days like this, it was crushing.
Sam walked into the morgue, feeling as if she were bringing the weight of the world with her.
How could her anxiety triggers have known what would be waiting for her today?
Mike’s arraignment, Malone’s news about his health, the looming “chat” with Ruiz and now Amara’s heartbreaking story.
And it wasn’t even ten o’clock. Maybe the anxiety had come from knowing that no matter what happened, it would be stressful and upsetting as usual.
“I got your text about King Robinson and pulled the file. I’m reviewing the autopsy now.”
“Did you do it?”
“No, Dr. Morganthau did.” Dr. Norman Morganthau, now retired, had been the chief medical examiner before Lindsey.
“He determined that King died of manual strangulation with signs of a struggle. Other than some partial prints on the body, there was no further evidence that could be used to build a case. He ran the prints through CODIS, as well as our system, and nothing popped. I’m rerunning the prints now. ”
“Thank you for the quick work. We’re bringing in the parents, and I’ll want to check their prints against the ones from the autopsy, too.”
“Of course. I’ll take care of that. What resurrected this cold case today?”
As Sam relayed Amara’s story once again, Lindsey’s expression conveyed disbelief. “She had to live with them, for all this time, after they killed her brother?”
“Yes.”
“And we believe her story?”
“One thousand percent believable.”
“Why didn’t she leave or report it?”
“She didn’t want to end up in foster care. She said, essentially, that the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.”
“Dear God. The poor girl. And she’s just eighteen today?”
“That’s right.”
“I can’t even imagine.”
“She broke my heart when she said she’d like to graduate with her class in June, if that’s possible. If not, she’ll understand.”
“Please tell me we’re going to make that happen.”
“We sure as hell will. I’ll go with her myself if that’s what it takes.”
“I’ll go, too. We’ll be her aunties.”
Sam smiled. “Thank you for being you, for always caring the way you do when it would be so much easier not to.”
“Right back at you, friend.”
Sam eyed an upholstered chair that sat against the wall. “Could I borrow your chair? I just need… a minute.”
“Take as many minutes as you need. Can I get you something to drink or eat?”
“You have any water?”
“I do.”
Lindsey brought her a cold bottle of water and a printout. “Here’s the autopsy report in case you need to explain what you’re doing while you give yourself a second to catch your breath.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
After a few minutes of silence, Sam said, “I was going to request time off to take a trip with Nick.”
“You should do that.”
“Amara researched me. She asked for me and only me when she was ready to tell her story. I don’t feel right leaving her.”
“You were there for the most important part today, and you’ll be there for all the important things still to come. There’s nothing wrong with leaving her in the hands of your capable team once you get her settled somewhere.”
“I want to take her home with me.”
“Which you can’t do.”
“I do know that, but I wish it was possible.”
“I could,” Lindsey said.
“What?”
“I could take her home with me. I have a spare bedroom and can support her efforts to finish high school and figure out what’s next.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. I have the space, and she needs somewhere to be. I could help her get her life started.”
“You should talk to Terry about this before you commit to anything.” Lindsey’s fiancé, Terry O’Connor, was Nick’s chief of staff.
Lindsey tightened the colorful scrunchie that held her ponytail in place. “He’d tell me to do whatever I think is right.”
“Having her with you wouldn’t affect the case, because Morganthau did the autopsy, and we’d call him to testify.”
“True.
“And the only people who’d want her dead would be locked up, so it wouldn’t be dangerous for you to have her in your home.”
“Also true.”
“Take an hour, Linds. Make sure it still feels right to you.”
“I don’t need an hour. I want to help her.”
Sam stood to hug her friend. “Thank you. I’ll bring her to meet you shortly. In the meantime, you might want to give your fiancé a call.”
Lindsey laughed. “Did you get a feeling when you met the twins that they were meant for you?”
“Instantly.”
“I feel the same way about Amara, and I haven’t even met her.”
“She just got very, very lucky. Someday she’ll see that. I’ll be back.”
“I’ll be here.”
Sam was overwhelmed with gratitude for Lindsey and couldn’t wait to tell Amara the news, but before she told Amara, she needed to clear the arrangement with Captain Malone and Hope Miller. God forbid they did anything to endanger the prosecution of Amara’s mother and stepfather.
Malone was coming into the pit from the other side as Sam arrived. She gestured to her office.
“I’ve got your arrest warrants,” he said.
“Excellent. Lindsey has offered to take in Amara for as long as she needs a place to live. Morganthau did the autopsy, so she’d have no role in testifying. Are you okay with her stepping up for Amara?”
“That’s really nice of her. Let me just check with Hope to be sure she’s cool with it.”
“Let me know.”
“Will do.”
Sam followed him to the door. “Freddie!”
He popped up from his cubicle. “You howled, Lieutenant?”
Sam texted Vernon to let him know they were on their way out. “Hold off on the safe house for the moment. We might have another plan.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s go pick up the mother.”
“Did you call for backup?”
“I was going to have you do that on the way.”
They left through the morgue entrance and were ushered into the waiting SUV by Vernon, who held the door.
Sam gave him the address of the insurance company where Amara’s mother worked, while Freddie put his call on speaker so Sam could hear his conversation with the Patrol commander to request subtle backup.
“We don’t want to tip her off that we’re coming.”
“Got it. Will send two cars your way in about fifteen minutes.”
“Excellent. Thank you.”
“Are you okay, Freddie?” Sam asked after he ended the call.
“Yeah. The story she told was just…” He shook his head.
Sam glanced at her big-hearted partner. “Outrageous.” After a pause, she said, “I was afraid this was going to be another case of Stahl doing nothing because King was a Black kid.”
“I had that same fear. I was glad to see it was investigated before it went cold.”
“Yeah, me, too.” They’d closed a few cold cases recently that went straight back to the racist, disgraced lieutenant who was now in prison for numerous crimes, including murder. “I have a genuine fear of more cold cases coming back to haunt us.”
“For good reason.”
“How’s Elin feeling?” Sam asked, eager to change the subject.