Page 148 of State of the Union (First Family 3)

“Check to see if he has any kind of record,” Malone said to Freddie.

He got up to use the computer in the conference room. “Sealed juvie.”

Farnsworth blew out a deep breath. “If he’s our guy, this is gonna get complicated.”

“You know how we have to have our DNA on file so we can avoid crime scene confusion?” Sam said.

“What about it?” Malone asked.

“We’ve already requested FDS on the local database,” Sam said. “That’d include everyone associated with the department, so if there’s a hit, we’ll know it soon enough.”

“That’s true. I’m not sure whether to hope for or against a hit that ties him to Ramsey,” Malone said as the others grimaced.

Patience had never been Sam’s strong suit, but she feared she’d lose it entirely waiting for the DNA searches to yield results. Why did everything have to take so long when there was someone out there raping and murdering innocent women?

“It goes without saying that even talking to Ramsey’s son will make this thermonuclear,” Farnsworth said. “Let’s proceed with utmost caution.”

“Understood.” Sam’s heart gave a lurch at the thought of Ramsey’s reaction to his son being brought in for questioning in one of her cases. Thermonuclear probably wasn’t a big enough word to describe this situation.

To Freddie, she said, “Get on the computer. I want everything you can find about this guy. I want to know where he went to high school and when, his social media stuff, everything you can find, and make it fast.”

“On it.”

Since she had time for a break, she went into her office, closed the door and sat behind her desk, wincing at the pain radiating from her hip. She pulled the BlackBerry out of her pocket and sent a text to Nick. Call me if you have a minute to talk. Nothing urgent.

The phone rang a minute later, making her smile simply because she got to talk to him. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. What’s going on?”

“You aren’t going to believe it.”

“Lay it on me.”

She told him about the possible connection to Ramsey’s son.

“No way.”

“Right?”

“Holy shit, Sam. What’s the plan?”

“Gonzo and Jeannie have gone after the son and are bringing him in for questioning.”

“Won’t that send his father into orbit?”

“We’re trying to keep it quiet until we know if he’s our guy.”

“How will you figure that out?”

“We need a warrant to get a DNA sample from him, which is in the works. He’s not apt to give us that voluntarily, and the warrant isn’t assured, so we’re thinking outside the box. We may check our DNA sample against his father’s to see if there’s a familial match.”

“Christ, Sam. What if it is him? His father will claim you guys framed him.”

“Which is why we’re doing this as by the book as by the book gets.”

“Just be careful. That guy has it in for you even when you’re not looking at his son for being a serial rapist and murderer.”

“I know. In other news, I’m off the hook with the mayor on the deputy chief’s job because she offered it to Jeannie.”

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