ONCE AGAIN, THE FRIGID HQ air was a welcome relief after the walk through dense humidity. She should’ve let Freddie pick her up. Sam found her entire squad gathered in the pit, along with Malone and Deputy Chief Conklin. Everyone turned to face her, looking for info.
She flashed a big smile and thumbs-up.
Her team erupted into cheers and applause that was interrupted by shouts from the other corridor that led to the pit.
“You fucking smug bitch!”
Ramsey. Another officer held him back from storming the pit.
“Go ahead and have your celebration, but I’ll have your ass and your badge before this is over.” Ramsey broke free of the hold the other officer had on him and charged toward her.
Freddie, Gonzo, Malone and Green stopped him, pushing him back.
“This is not over, you fucking cunt!”
Sam completely ignored him while the others forced him backward into the other hallway. “Anyone have an update on the shooting case for me?” Sam asked.
Jeannie looked up at her with big eyes.
Sam smiled and winked at her.
Flustered, Jeannie blinked and consulted her notes. “As you requested, I looked into the couple that witnessed Melody Kramer’s shooting, and they both check out. No criminal record for either. Same with Jamal’s sisters. I took the liberty of running the financials for everyone involved and something sort of odd popped on Joe Kramer’s report.”
Sam’s stomach took a dive, the way it often did when they were on to something. “What’ve you got?”
“He’s deeply in debt. To the tune of two hundred fifty thousand dollars.” Jeannie handed her a sheet of paper that detailed the debts, mostly lines of credit.
“What the hell? He just told us an hour ago that there was nothing in their lives, including their finances or investments, that we needed to know for the investigation. Looks like we’ll be paying him another visit.” From the lobby area, Sam could hear Ramsey continuing to scream and make a scene. If he kept that up, he’d get himself suspended, which wouldn’t break her heart.
“Maybe there’s a reasonable explanation for it,” Jeannie said, casting a nervous glance at the lobby.
“I hope so. I’ve been feeling kind of sorry for the guy after losing his pregnant wife the way he did. I’d hate to think it happened because of something he’s into. Good work, Jeannie.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant.” She looked toward the lobby again. “Are you... Are you all right?”
“He doesn’t bother me. Don’t worry.” Sam went into her office and placed a call to Darren Tabor.
“Sam... To what do I owe the honor of this unexpected phone call?”
“How does an exclusive sound?”
“About the Nelson situation?”
“Nope. About the grand jury deciding not to indict me on assault charges for punching Sergeant Ramsey, who’s currently losing his shit in the MPD lobby.”
“Tell me everything.”
Sam gave him a full rundown on her meeting with Forrester and what the USA had said about the grand jury proceedings.
“You must be relieved,” Darren said.
“I’m glad to not be indicted, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m relieved. While what I did technically constituted assault, most rational people probably would’ve done what I did under the same circumstances. I’d just been nearly killed at the hands of a fellow officer. I wasn’t really in the mood to hear from yet another colleague that the first one should’ve finished me off when he had the chance.”
“I probably would’ve punched him too.”
Sam laughed. “Look, I want to say that as a fourteen-year member of the MPD, I don’t condone violence of any kind. I’m not proud of my actions that day, but it happened, and now I’m ready to put it behind me.” She decided to “forget” to mention Ramsey’s plan to sue her for damages.
“Should the public conclude that the incidents involving you, Stahl and Ramsey are an indication of strife within the department?”
“Not at all. These are isolated instances of men who resent me for being a successful woman on a job traditionally held by men. I get it. They’re threatened by me. Fortunately, it’s just a few people who feel this way. I work harmoniously with many other men in this department, both above and below me in rank.”
Darren snorted with laughter. “Ramsey will go ballistic when he sees that quote.”
“Let him. If you could hear the racket he’s currently making, you’d know he clearly has anger management issues. I’m the least of his concerns.”
“Can you give me anything on the shootings?”
“We’re working every lead, and we encourage the public to call our tip line if they hear anyone bragging about the shootings or if they have anything at all that they think we ought to know. Sometimes it’s the littlest detail that can break a case like this wide-open.”
“Do you think we’ve seen the last of the shootings?”
“We hope so, but we have no way to know that for sure. We believe we’ve recovered the vehicle that was used and are having it fully processed by the lab. Until we apprehend the people responsible for the shootings, we continue to encourage residents to stay off city sidewalks, especially side streets, unless they absolutely have to be outside.”
“That’s a tough order this time of year.”
“We realize that, but it’s the only way we can ensure the safety of our citizens.”
“Can you give me anything about Nelson and the hearings, Sam? I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me.”
“I’ll just say this... Like everyone else in America, Nick and I are watching the democratic process play out, and we won’t have any further comment.”
“I guess that’s something,” he said glumly.
“It’s all I’ve got.”
“You guys are tough cookies to be staying so calm and collected through all of this.”
“If you say so. I gotta get back to work. Don’t screw me over, Darren.”
“Have I ever screwed you over, Sam?”
“Not yet, and that’s why I called you. Don’t let me down.”
“I won’t. Thanks for this. I appreciate it.”
“Gotta go.” Sam closed her phone and sat back in her chair, hoping she’d done the right thing adding fuel to the fire with Ramsey by talking to Darren. Oh well, what was done was done. “Let’s have our meeting,” she said when Freddie, Gonzo and Green returned to the pit.
“Malone suspended him,” Gonzo said. “Told him to go home for a week and not to come back until he could control himself.”
Freddie picked up the story. “To which he said, ‘The way she did?’”
“He’s not our problem,” Sam said. “Finding a shooter who’s gunning down people in our city—that’s our problem. Conference room, everyone.”
Her team followed her into the conference room and took seats around the table. “Jeannie ran the financials on everyone involved with the case and has discovered Joe Kramer is in debt to the tune of two hundred fifty grand.”
Freddie’s eyes widened in surprise. “He just told us—”
“I know. We’ll be having another conversation with him after this. What else did we get today?”
One by one, the detectives reported in about who they’d spoken with and what they’d uncovered, which wasn’t much of anything. Green impressed her with his brief but thorough report on what he and Gonzo had done.
“This case is pissing me off,” she said, releasing her hair from the clip that contained it during the workday.
Malone came into the room. “Simmons finally found someone willing to represent him in his latest visit to the MPD. He’ll be here in an hour or two.”
“That’s something anyway,” Sam said.
“I haven’t had much time to spend on the sharpshooter angle today,” Malone added.
“I can pick that up from home later,” Jeannie said.
“Appreciate that,” Sam said. “Cruz, you and I will talk to Joe Kramer one more time, and then come back to interview Simmons. Everyone else can call it a day.”
“And you guys say I’m lucky to be her partner,” Freddie said, grinning at the others.
“You’re blessed to be my partner.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “You’ll never hear me say otherwise.”
“Keep digging your own grave, Cruz,” Gonzo said.
“Thanks for a great first day, Detective Green,” Sam said. “Hopefully, you’ll decide to come back tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here,” he said with an engaging grin as he left the room.
Rush hour traffic made for a slow roll to Joe’s house. “The federal workforce is back from summer vacation,” Sam said.
“Happens every year the day after Labor Day.”
“I need to call Scotty to see how the first day of school went.” She made the call and put it on speaker while juggling the steering wheel.
“If you had a thing called a smartphone,” Freddie said, “you could tell it to call Scotty for you without risking both our lives and the lives of everyone on the road with us.”
“Good to know,” Sam said, glaring in his direction. “And PS, your passive-aggressiveness will be noted on your next eval.”
“Was it passive? I didn’t intend it to be.”
She choked back a laugh as Scotty answered his phone.
“Hi, Mom.”
Hearing him call her that never got old. It was her favorite of her many titles. “Hi there. Freddie is here with me and we wanted to see how the first day went.”
“They gave us homework! On the first freaking day!”
Freddie rocked with silent laughter.
“No more easing you into it, huh?” Sam asked.
“No! They said they’ll be getting us ready for high school this year. And I thought middle school was bad. High school is gonna be awful!”
Sam held back a burst of laughter that she knew he wouldn’t appreciate. “Was it fun to see your friends?”
“Yeah, but we have all different lunches this year, so that kinda sucks.”
“Any new kids this year?” Sam asked, trying to find something positive.
“A couple. There’s this one girl, Annie, who seems nice. She moved here from California over the summer. At first, she was all weirded out by being in class with the vice president’s son. I told her we don’t make a big deal of it, and she seemed cool with it. She’s in my algebra class and is really good at it. She said she’d help me out.”
“That’s a good friend to have.”
“I know! That’s what I told her.”
“Is Dad home yet?”
“Not yet, but he texted to say he’s on the way soon. I’m going over to Grandpa Skip’s house. He wants to know how school was.”
“I’ll be home in a little while. I’ll see you then.”
“Okay. Thanks for calling.”
Sam closed the phone. “Can I laugh now?”
“Better now than when he can hear you.”
“It’s so funny to me how he’s so much like me in some ways and so much like Nick in others. I used to go into a deep, dark funk on the first day of school. Dyslexia made my life a living hell, but of course no one really knew what it was back then. I feel his pain.”
“He’s so damned cute. I wouldn’t be able to hold it together if my kid was saying that kind of stuff. Another reason why I probably shouldn’t have kids.”
“We already talked about that. You are having kids, and that’s the end of it.”
“Um, by the way... In case you don’t already know this, you’re my boss at work. You’re not the boss of the rest of my life.”
“Where the hell did you get that idea? I am the boss of you. Period. You’re having kids. That subject is closed.”
“You’re completely out of control.”
“You say that like this is news to you or something.”
He busted up laughing. “You are entertaining to have around. I’ll give you that.”
“I do what I can for the people.”
“That thing with Ramsey was intense.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you okay? I mean, he said some crappy shit—”
“I’m fine. He doesn’t bother me. I’m used to him and his crappy shit.”
“You really think he’s going to sue you?”
“I’m sure he will.”
“All this because he’s jealous of your career. It’s ridiculous.”
“It is what it is. Let’s not give him any more of our time. It’s just what he wants.”
“What’re we going to say to Joe Kramer?” he asked.
“I was just about to ask what you had planned.”
He groaned. “Why did I know you were going to say that?”
“Because I’m nothing if not predictable.”
“That is true. I guess I’ll ask him why he didn’t tell us about the quarter-million-dollar debt and ask if there’s more that wouldn’t show up on a run of financials. I’ll let him know it’s in his best interest to tell us now rather than letting us figure it out for ourselves.”
“Make sure you mention how we hate when people waste our time. Two trips to his house in this traffic is a huge waste of our time. In fact, you can start with that.”
“Got it.”
With Freddie occupied with his phone, Sam pressed a button on hers to make it ring. “Holland.” She pretended to listen. “No, I said midget strippers. There’s a big difference. I want the little people.” She paused, glanced at Freddie and said, “I don’t know. Let me ask him.” Holding the phone to one side, she said, “You’re not allergic to latex are you?”
The look he gave her would’ve killed a lesser person.
Sam wanted to howl with laughter, but somehow managed to maintain her composure. “He’s good with latex. Yes, this Saturday at ten. Don’t let me down.” As she slapped the phone closed, it took everything she had to maintain her composure while she counted down to herself—five, four, three, two—
“Are you freaking kidding me, Sam? Midget strippers? And what the hell are you doing with latex?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the vein in his forehead bulging and had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from losing her shit. “Mind your own business.”
“I swear to God...”
“Please don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, young Freddie. You’ll go straight to hell.”
“I’d rather go to hell than this party you’re having. In fact, count me out.”
“You’ll be there.”
“No, I won’t.”
“We’ll see about that. And P.S., the word midget is not acceptable, as you’d know if you’d ever attended required sensitivity training.”
“I’m not calling them that. The strippers call themselves that.”
“I can’t believe we’re even talking about such a thing.”
“Really? You can’t?”
He shook his head and released a deep sigh.
Sam had to fight the urge to laugh hysterically at his distress.
They arrived at the Kramer residence a short time later and had to double-park.
“Let’s make this quick before some overeager Patrol officer gets a big idea to ruin his career by towing my car,” Sam said.
Still fuming at her, Freddie knocked on the door.
Kramer’s sister, Sarah, answered.
“Have you found the person who killed Mel?” she asked when she let them in.
“Not yet,” Freddie said, “but we wondered if we could have another word with Joe.”
“He said you were here earlier.”
“Right,” Freddie replied. “We have a few loose ends to tie up.”
“He’s lying down. He hasn’t slept since... Does it have to be now?”
“Yeah, it does,” Freddie said.
“I’ll go get him. You can wait in the front room.”
Rather than sit like they had before, they remained standing until Joe Kramer appeared with his sister trailing behind him a few minutes later.
“Could we speak to you alone?” Freddie asked.
“I don’t mind if Sarah is here.”
Freddie glanced at Sam, who nodded, encouraging him to go ahead with it.
“We know this is a difficult time for you, sir,” Freddie said, “but one thing that really irritates us is when people waste our time.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Freddie handed him the printout that detailed his debts.
Joe glanced at it and visibly sagged.
“What is it, Joe?”
He ignored his sister’s question. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“The fact that you’re deeply in debt is something you should’ve revealed to us when we asked if there was anything else material to the investigation that you thought we ought to know,” Freddie said.
“Debt?” Sarah asked. “What kind of debt?”
“I took some of the money we’d saved for a house to buy into a business opportunity,” he told her. “I wasn’t going to say anything about it until the investment paid off.”
“We need the details of the business opportunity.” Freddie held out his notebook and a pen. “Including the names and phone numbers of everyone involved.”
Joe’s complexion drained of color. “You’re not going to talk to them, are you?”
“Is there any particular reason why you wouldn’t want us to?”
“They’re working on a top-secret defense project.” When his legs seemed to fail him, he sat down hard on the sofa. “If I send cops to them, they’ll cut me out, and I’ll never get back my investment.”
“We’ll let them know you didn’t have a choice,” Freddie said. “Start writing, and don’t leave anything out. If there’re other debts besides the ones listed on that sheet, write them down. If we have to come back here again because we find out something else you didn’t tell us, you could face obstruction charges.”
“The man just lost his wife,” Sarah said testily. “Is it really necessary to speak to him this way?”
“I’m afraid it is,” Freddie said. “Did your wife know about the investment?”
“No, she didn’t. I wanted to come back to her with a windfall. She was so stressed out about how much the fertility treatments cost. I wanted to do something to make her happy.” He looked up at them, his eyes filled with heartbreak. “You don’t think something I did got her killed, do you?”
“We have no way to know that until we investigate further,” Freddie said. “The sooner you tell us what we need to know, the sooner we can get to it.”
“How did these people find you?” Sam asked.
“Through one of my colleagues at work. Friend of a friend.”
“Write down the colleague’s name too,” Sam said.
It took about fifteen tearful minutes for him to finish the list and hand the notebook back to Freddie.
“I’m only going to ask this once,” Freddie said. “Is there anything else we should know about your life or Melody’s? Anything at all?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s it. Y-you’ll let me know what you find out?”
“We will.”
“What am I supposed to do in the meantime? Do I act like I haven’t set the cops on them?”
Sarah sat next to him and put her arm around him.
He leaned into her.
“Don’t say a word to them about us,” Sam said. “If you do, that too could result in an obstruction charge.”
“If something I did got her killed...” He shook his head. “How will I live with that?”
“Nothing you did caused this,” Sarah said. “You loved her. Everyone knew that.”
He dropped his head into his hands and began to sob.
“We’ll see ourselves out,” Freddie said. “Stay local in case we need to get in touch.”
“Where else would I go?” he asked.