Page 134 of State of Suspense

“I miss her.”

“I know you do. I’m so sorry you’re hurting.”

Aubrey rested her head against Sam’s chest as she nibbled on her animal crackers. Sam couldn’t imagine enduring a loss like hers and Alden’s at their tender age. They were far too young to understand any of it, but hopefully they knew how loved they were in their new life.

She must’ve dozed at some point because she woke quite a bit later with Aubrey asleep in her arms, which were tingling with pins and needles. Moving carefully, she got up to carry Aubrey into their bed, to keep her close if she woke again during the night.

“What’s up?” Nick whispered as she got into bed, putting Aubrey between them.

“A dream about Mommy.”

“Oh no. Is she okay?”

“She will be.”

“How about you?”

“Sad for her.”

“Get some rest. I’ll get up with her if she wakes up again.”

Sam reached across the sleeping child to hold his hand as she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

The blast of her alarm was a rude awakening at six o’clock.

She was so not ready to be awake as she reached for her phone to see if there was anything new from Carlucci.

Dug all night and didn’t find anything, not so much as a credit card or a credit score. I also couldn’t find an address for him. Was going to request the warrant for his phone, but was unable to get the number, carrier or anything else that would help. The guy is truly off the grid. I dug a little deeper on Cox and learned he had a messy divorce from the first wife. His current wife, Bianca, winters in Palm Beach and is the toast of the polo set there. Her dad raises champion polo ponies, and her brother is one of the best polo players in the world. She and Cox have been married for twenty years, second marriage for both, never had children. If he visits her in Palm Beach, I can’t find any record of it. He’s not in any of the society photos that I sent to your email.

Thanks for being thorough. Will pick it up today.

Sam copied Dani’s text and forwarded it to Gonzo and Freddie. Possible threads from Carlucci.

Aubrey never stirred when Sam got out of bed and stretched muscles sore from hours in heels and probably from dancing, too. It’d been a while since she’d gotten her groove on and would pay for that today. Thankfully, the cortisone shot was holding, and her hip didn’t hurt at all. In the bathroom, she unbandaged her hand and ran her sore palm under cool water, wincing at the sting. After a shower, she applied the antibiotic ointment Harry had given her and put on a new bandage. Her wrist was still stiff but felt a tiny bit better than it had yesterday.

She felt like she was trudging through quicksand or something equally dense as she made coffee and tried to act like she was awake.

Nick came into the kitchen as she poured coffee into a travel mug. “How are you?”

“Tired.”

He put an arm around her. “You took one for the team overnight.”

“I was glad to do that. I always want to be there for them when they need me.”

“I’ll make sure she’s okay before school.”

“Celia is leaving this afternoon, and my mom is coming to stay, so if there’s any issue, let my mom know.”

“I will. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine.”

He kissed her goodbye and sent her on her way with a protein bar and her travel mug of coffee. “Be safe out there. I love my wife more than life.”

“I’m always careful. Got a lot to live for. Have a good day leading the free world.”

She was heading for the stairs when Scotty came out of his room, looking grumpy and out of sorts, like he did every morning. Skippy followed, full of her usual morning energy. If Scotty didn’t love that dog so much, he’d be annoyed by her. Rather, he was amused.

“Why did I have to get a morning-person dog?”

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