Page 5 of State of Suspense

“Got it. Let us know if you’re going outside to brief the press.”

“Yes, dear.”

He chuckled at her solicitous tone.

Sam waited for Dr. Lindsey McNamara. “Nice to see you, Doc.”

“You as well. Hope you had a nice vacation.”

“It was… eventful.”

“So I heard.”

Sam shifted her gaze toward the body bag on the gurney that Lindsey’s team unloaded from the back of the van. “I can’t believe this.”

“You and me both.”

“I’ll let you get to it.”

“Are the Feds wanting in on this?” Lindsey asked.

“Yep, but it’s ours for now.”

“I’ll have my report to you ASAP.”

“Thanks, Doc. By the way, Terry said something to Nick about you not feeling well last week. How’re you doing?”

“Still a little off, but better than I was. Thanks for asking.”

Sam thought she looked paler than usual, but hopefully, she was on the upswing. They parted company at the door to the morgue. As she traveled the winding hallway to the pit where her detectives worked, Sam was relieved there was no chance she might run into suspended Detective Ramsey. He was awaiting trial on assault charges for ramming his car into Sam’s Secret Service SUV.

Thankfully, no one had been hurt in the incident. Since assaulting federal agents and officials with a deadly weapon had resulted in felony charges, she hoped they’d seen the last of Ramsey at HQ. She was still amused to be considered a “federal official” as first lady.

Sam followed voices to the conference room, where Gonzo was updating a fresh murder board with photos from the Forrester scene. Though she’d already heard how Forrester was killed, she recoiled from the sight of her murdered colleague. She owed him for many things, most particularly for taking her case to a grand jury after she pushed Ramsey down the stairs, leaving him with a broken wrist and a concussion.

Forrester could’ve taken the matter straight to trial, as it was a clear-cut case of assault, but he’d gone the grand jury route to hopefully cut her a break, which she’d gotten when the grand jury declined to indict. He’d saved her career, even if her problems with Ramsey got much worse after that.

“Sam?” Freddie approached her. “Are you okay?”

She’d been staring at the image of Forrester, bloody and dead. “I was thinking about how he saved my ass once upon a time.”

“Yes, he did.”

“Tom was one of the good guys.” She glanced at her partner, the fire in her belly for justice flaming the way it did any time murder struck too close to home. “We’re going to find whoever did this to him, and we’ll make them pay.”

“We sure as hell will.”

Chapter Two

Sam tried to shake off the grief for her colleague and friend as she sat next to Freddie, facing the board. “Bring me up to speed.”

“We got the call from Dispatch at zero eight twelve,” Gonzo said. “A woman walking by the car noticed broken glass and blood. From what other witnesses said, she put on quite a show, screaming and yelling for help. A guy who heard her screaming called it in.”

“Did either of them see it happen?”

“No, they both came upon it after it had already gone down.”

“Where was Forrester’s wife when he was killed?” Though she had no reason to suspect his wife, in a homicide investigation, they always looked at the people closest to the victim.

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