Page 94 of State of Retribution

Will call you in twenty minutes,he replied.

Sam sent a thumbs-up and used that time to shower and get dressed.In the shower, she noted huge bruises on her left hip and shoulder, which had taken the full brunt of Jimmy tackling her to the sidewalk the day before.At least she hadn’t fallen on her right side, where the impact might’ve been enough to refracture her healing hip.The bruises were a small price to pay for not getting shot.

She’d need to get the twins up right after the meeting with her team, so she kept an eye on the clock while she waited for the call.

When the phone rang, she put it on speaker so she could multitask.In deference to the Secret Service meeting at nine, she applied some makeup while she listened to the update on the latest victim.

“Joshua Saulnier, age twenty-four, originally from San Diego.Attended undergraduate at George Mason and was pursuing a master’s in public policy at American University.By all accounts, he was a hardworking young man with big dreams to work in public service after graduation.His fiancée, Mandy, had recently moved to the District to live with him while he finished school.They were due to be married in October.She was so distraught after we notified her that we had her transported to GW.One of their friends went with her.”

“What about the parents?”Sam asked.

“We were able to track them down and notify them.They’re on the way here now, along with Mandy’s parents.Like the other victims, Joshua died of blunt force trauma from a single blow to the back of the head.Again, the assault took place in a poorly lit stretch of sidewalk, on Nebraska Avenue.Sergeant Walters is pulling film from the area, but we’re not optimistic that we’ll find anything that helps.”

“Who went to notify the girlfriend?”Sam asked.

“Carlucci and Dominguez.”

“Are they on this call?”

“We are, LT,” Carlucci said.

“Did you notice anything odd or concerning in the area of the apartment when you were there?”

“Nothing that stood out.”

“No lurkers or loiterers nearby?”

“Not that we saw.”

“What’re you thinking, LT?”Detective Charles asked.

“It’s a stretch, and just a theory at this point,” Sam said, before she laid out her theory—or Vernon’s theory—that all the recent events could be related to some sort of campaign targeting Nick or her—or both of them.

Her commentary was met with dead silence.

“Look, I know it’s a stretch, but like I said, it’s a theory.Malone is pulling a warrant for Ramsey’s phone to see what he was up to prior to his most recent arrest.I’ve got a list of others I want to look into who’d have something to gain by doing something like this.”

“The blows to the back of the head… That’s how Elaine Myerson was killed,” Charles said.“Maybe Ramsey got the idea for a quick easy murder technique from that case.”

“That’s a good thought,” Sam said.

“What would he have to gain by killing innocent people?”Freddie asked.

“Sometimes it’s a means to an end.We’ve certainly seen that before.”

“I don’t know, Sam,” Gonzo said.“It feels a bit farfetched to me.”

“I understand why, and you know how much I hate to ever be part of the story in one of our cases, but this feels personal to me.I’ll be working that angle from my end.”

“We’ll keep you informed of any developments,” Gonzo said.“Do you know how long you’re going to be stuck at home?”

“I haven’t heard yet, but we have a meeting with the Secret Service at nine.I hope to know more after that.”

“Let us know,” Freddie said.

“I will.”

Gonzo handed out assignments to each of them, which included investigating Saulnier’s social media and finances for any red flags and to check on the fiancée to see if she might be able to provide more information than they’d gotten from her the night before.

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