Page 41 of State of Suspense

“Most of them,” Malone said.

“Yikes,” Sam said.

“Not you or your team. You guys could teach the masterclass on how not to piss off the captain on a daily basis.”

“Thank you. I think.”

“By the way, I wanted to tell you that the Javier Lopez hearing has been pushed back a couple of weeks, so that’s one less thing this week.” He was charged in the fifteen-year-old murder of teenager Calvin Worthington. That’d been one of the cases Stahl had barely bothered to investigate, which Sam had solved in one afternoon.

“I’ll take one less thing. Has his mother been notified of the delay?” Sam hated that for Lenore, who’d already waited far too long for justice in her son’s case.

“Yes, I called her myself.”

“Thank you.”

“Anyway, what’s going on?” Malone asked. “Helen said you wanted to see me?”

Farnsworth gestured for Sam to brief the captain on the situation with Cox.

Malone stared at her. “Holy…”

“Our thoughts exactly,” Farnsworth said. “I’d like to make you the lead—on paper, anyway—and let Sam’s team continue to pursue the investigation wherever it may lead.”

“Do you think he was involved with Forrester’s murder?” Malone asked.

“I don’t know yet. Bryant’s guy Aaron Peterson told us Cox was far more involved with Bryant on a personal level than he indicated to me when I talked to him. He held back on that, which is a huge red flag. He was also quoted in the paper this morning as being a longtime friend of Forrester’s, which he also never mention. Another red flag.”

“For sure,” Malone said.

“I have a thought… Tomorrow night is the state dinner at the White House. The cabinet usually attends. If I get a minute, I’ll approach Cox in the social setting and let on that I know all about how he was buddies with Forrester and how they argued the last time they were together, after which Forrester’s family was kidnapped. I’ll see how he reacts to that.”

“I don’t know, Sam.” The chief rubbed his chin as he considered that. “What if he gets angry?”

“What’s he going to do to the first lady in the middle of a state dinner?”

“That’s true, Joe. I think it’s a good idea. Bring it up in a social situation to get a read on him.”

“Proceed with caution, Lieutenant,” Farnsworth said. “We’re already under tremendous pressure to turn this case over to the FBI.”

“Which would be a huge mistake if Cox is somehow involved,” Sam said, since the FBI fell under the Attorney General’s jurisdiction.

Farnsworth massaged his temples. “I can’t wait until this shit is no longer my problem.”

His words struck fear in Sam’s heart. She didn’t want to think about the day when he’d no longer be the chief. “Please don’t leave me here by myself.” Her gaze took in both men.

“You wouldn’t be alone,” Malone said. “Jeannie is deputy chief now.”

“I can’t imagine doing this job without either of you.”

“We’re getting old, pal,” Farnsworth said with a small smile. “And running out of gas to deal with the nonstop bullshit.”

To her great dismay, Sam’s eyes suddenly flooded with tears. Was there anything worse than crying on the job, especially as a woman in a largely male profession? She took a deep breath and tried to get her emotions under control. “I’m sorry. Of course you should do whatever you feel is best. I just hope you know that despite all the bullshit, you’re both loved and respected by the people who work for you, and you’d be deeply missed.”

“That’s very nice to hear, Sam,” Farnsworth said. “Your loyalty doesn’t go unnoticed. You should also know that we’ve more or less decided to stick it out for the three years that your husband is president, so we can be here to protect you to the best of our ability.”

For a hot second, she was too flabbergasted to respond. “Seriously?”

“Very seriously,” Malone said. “Skip would want us here as you endeavor to do something no first lady in history has ever done.”

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