Page 164 of State of Affairs (First Family 1)

“I assume you’ll let Mrs. Worthington know we’ve made an arrest in her son’s case?” Malone asked.

“I’ll do it on the way home.” As she returned to the pit, her elation from closing the case was tempered by despair that the answers Lenore had craved had been right there all along. It had only taken someone asking the questions.

“How’d it go?” Freddie asked.

“We charged him with Calvin Worthington’s murder.”

“That’s awesome, Lieutenant. Congratulations.”

“It was a team effort. Thank you all for the help. Starting tomorrow, we’re going to review every one of Detective Stahl’s unsolved cases to find out what other corners he cut. You all can get busy pulling the files while I go tell Lenore that we solved Calvin’s case in one afternoon. I’m not sure whether to be elated or mortified.”

“It’s okay to be a little of both, LT,” Green said. “At the end of the day, you got her the answers she’s needed for a long time, even if it should’ve happened so much sooner.”

Sam nodded, appreciating the support of her colleagues even as her heart ached for Lenore, Ayana, Clarissa, D’Andre and all the people who’d loved and lost Calvin over something so pointless. Suddenly, she wanted out of there. She wanted to go home and see her kids and Nick and cleanse her soul of these two painful cases. “I’m going to talk to Lenore and then head home. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

“Have a good night, Lieutenant,” Green said for all of them.

“You too.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Since Lindsey wasn’t in her office when she went by the morgue, Sam kept walking until she was outside. Lindsey and everyone else would hear soon enough that they’d arrested Javier for Calvin’s murder. In the car, she called Lenore.

“Hi there,” Lenore said. “I didn’t expect to hear from you again so soon.”

“We’ve had a break in the case.”

“Already?”

“Yes. Is Ayana still there with you?”

“No, she took the kids to a friend’s house.”

“Would you ask her to come back without the kids?”

“Sam…”

“Please, Lenore? I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll call her.”

“I’m on my way.”

Sam forced herself to pay attention, to drive the car, to do what needed to be done even as she ached with regrets and recriminations that had nothing to do with Stahl. She should’ve reopened this case the minute she took command of Homicide. An emotional tsunami wanted to overtake her, but she fought it off so she could meet with Lenore. There’d be time for emotion after the job was done.

Naturally, traffic was a bear, which only drew out the agony that much longer. As Sam pulled up to Lenore’s house, Ayana was getting out of a car across the street. Sam met up with her on the sidewalk, noting that Vernon and Jimmy had parked behind her and were watching.

“What’s going on?” Ayana asked, clearly on guard.

“Let’s go in, and I’ll update you and your mom.”

Ayana led the way up the stairs and into the house. Lenore was seated at the kitchen table, her hands wrapped around a mug of tea.

“Can I get you anything?” she asked.

“No, thank you.” Sam sat with them at the table. While they looked at her expectantly, Sam said, “We’ve made an arrest in Calvin’s case.”

Lenore gasped and covered her mouth as tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

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