Another reporter raised his hand. “The children have aunts, uncles and grandparents on their mother’s side of the family. Why are they not residing with family members?”
“Their brother, Elijah, is their primary legal guardian. He makes the decisions on their behalf, and he chose to keep them with us when he saw how well they were adjusting to our home and our family. We’ve surrounded them with love and support and have agreed to help Elijah for as long as we’re needed.” Nick wasn’t about to throw their mother’s family under the bus by saying they were initially unwilling to take the children and in fact hadn’t even asked about them after learning their parents had been killed.
But, oh, how he wanted to say that.
“Do you understand the concern people have about taxpayers footing the bill to protect children that do have other family members who could care for them?”
“I absolutely understand the concern, but I hope you can understand that because the children will be part of my family for some time to come, they need to be protected from those who would harm them simply because of what I do for a living. Keeping them safe and protected is one of our primary roles as their guardians.” He paused, trying to decide if he should say more. Why the hell not? What did he have to lose? “One thing I’ve learned in my life is you never know what’s right around the next corner. Did Sam and I plan to add to our family right now? No, but when the twins came into our lives, it felt meant to be from the beginning, and we couldn’t be more pleased to have the honor of taking care of them at this difficult time in their lives. Alden, Aubrey and their brother, Elijah, have become family to us. It’s that simple. That’s all for now. If you have other questions, please contact Trevor and he’ll see that I get them. Thanks for your time.”
They were still shouting questions at him when Nick exited through the door that Terry held for him.
“I think that went well.”
Nick wasn’t so sure. “I guess we’ll find out.” His phone rang, and he took the call from Elijah. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I saw you on TV just now. I had no idea you were taking that kind of flack about the kids. I feel really bad.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not and neither is Sam. It’ll die down in a day or two. These things always do.”
“I just hate to cause you any heartburn when you are doing such a huge thing for me and the kids.”
“Let me tell you something, Eli. They could run me out of office, and that would be fine with me if it meant we got to keep Aubrey and Alden with us. We love them very much. They’re part of our family now, as are you.”
“I honestly can’t tell you how much it means to me to know they are well cared for and loved when I can’t be there. I’ll never be able to thank you and Sam for all you’ve done.”
“They’ve given us as much as we’ve given them. Don’t worry about anything. It’s all good. I promise.”
“Thank you again.”
Nick ducked into his office, nodded to Terry and closed the door. “Could I ask you something else?”
“Sure.”
“Sam and I were talking the other night about what’s going to happen when you finish school.”
“About the kids, you mean?”
“Yeah. We’re, um, well... We’re getting attached to them, and it’s just that the thought of them leaving...”
“I’d never take them away from you guys after all you’ve done for them—and for me. My goal is to find a job in DC so I can help out, spend time with them and be part of their lives. Maybe they can spend some weekends with me or something like that.”
Nick took a deep breath and closed his eyes. That was a plan he and Sam could live with. “That’d be perfect.”
“I know how easy they are to love.”
“They really are. Don’t you have class at one?”
Eli laughed. “Yeah, I do. You sound like my dad.”
“Well, get going. You don’t want to be late.”
“I’m walking as we talk. I’ll let you go. Tell the kids I’ll call them before bed.”
“They’ll look forward to it. Take care, Eli.”
After he ended the call, Nick composed a text to Sam, giving her the gist of their conversation.
* * *
SAM AND FREDDIE watched Nick on the TV in the conference room, her stomach churning the entire time, waiting to see how the reporters would react. She breathed an audible sigh of relief when he stepped away from the podium.
“He handled that really well,” Freddie said. “But that’s no surprise. He’s exceptionally good at this stuff.”
“Yes, he is. Way better than I am.”
“You said that, not me.”
She laughed. “It goes without saying that he’s far more diplomatic than I’ll ever be.”
Freddie snorted and then covered it with a cough. “Yes, he is.”
She elbowed him in the ribs. “Quit laughing at me right to my face.”
“How else should I laugh at you?”
“Laughing at your superior officer isn’t the best career move you can make.”
Her phone dinged with a text from Nick, telling her about his conversation with Eli. She read it twice, thrilled with what she was seeing as she typed her reply to him. Well, that’s a big fat fucking relief.
My gorgeous wife has a way with words. I can live with that plan. Can you?
Hell, yes.
See? It’s all working out the way it’s meant to.
I’m so happy that we’ll get to see them grow up.
Me too, babe. Back to work for both of us. See you later.
Love you.
Love you too. Xoxo
She no sooner read the text when her cell rang with a number she didn’t recognize. “Holland.”
“Hey, it’s Kevin Viera. Branson said you were by and wanted to talk to me?”
“Yes, thanks for calling.”
“No problem. I was at the gym so I just got his text. What can I do for you?”
“We’re taking another look at my dad’s case with fresh leads coming into the tip line.”
“I was really sorry to hear he’d passed. He was a good man.”
“Yes, he was. Thank you. One of my colleagues mentioned the messenger bag he used to carry back and forth to work, and I realized I’d forgotten about it in all the chaos after the shooting. I know it was a long time ago, but I wondered if you have any recollection of there being a beat-up leather bag at the scene of his shooting?”
After a long period of silence, he asked, “Was it brown leather?”
“Yeah.” Sam held her breath.
“I remember it. After he was taken from the scene, I found it on the street, realized it belonged to Chief Holland and grabbed it so it wouldn’t get lost.”
Sam’s mouth had gone dry, her hands were sweaty and her legs wobbly. She dropped into a seat at the conference room table while Freddie stood with his hands on his hips, watching over her. “What did you do with it?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“I gave it to Conklin and asked him to get it to the family.”
Like Alice falling into Wonderland, Sam felt like a trapdoor had opened beneath her, sending her hurtling through space.
“He gave it to you, right?”
“No, he didn’t.” She forced herself to take a deep breath and do what needed to be done. “Listen, I know you just got off an overnight shift, but I need you to come to HQ right now. Immediately. Can you do that?”
“Ah, yeah. I guess. I’ll be right there.”
Sam closed her phone. “Go get Farnsworth and Malone. Hurry.”
“Sam—”
“Go.”
He went.
Sam took a series of deep breaths as the words holy fucking shit ran through her mind on continuous repeat. She’d found someone who could not only put Conklin at the scene of her father’s shooting, but who could attest that he’d given Conklin the messenger bag that should’ve been returned to Skip’s family and never was.
What the actual fuck is going on?
She continued to force air into lungs that felt compressed by the weight of the information that had landed on her in the last few minutes.
Malone came rushing into the room. “What?”
“I’ve got a first responder who can put Conklin at the scene of my dad’s shooting, and who says he gave Conklin my dad’s messenger bag to return to the family after my dad was transported.”
Malone stared at her, not blinking or seeming to breathe as he absorbed what she’d said.
Freddie returned with Farnsworth a minute later, and Sam told the chief the latest.
For a long, awful moment Farnsworth stood perfectly still, his sharp gray eyes giving nothing away. “Jake, take the deputy chief into custody—quietly. No cuffs, no spectacle. Make sure to read him his rights. Dot every i and cross every t.”
After another long, pregnant pause, Malone cleared his throat. “Yes, sir.” He turned and left the room.
Sam looked up at the chief. “What happens now?”
“I’m calling in the FBI to interview Viera.”
Every part of Sam wanted to reject that plan, but she didn’t say a word, sensing that anything she said would be unwelcome.
“Behind the scenes—and I mean so far behind the scenes there’s no chance your fingerprints will be anywhere near this, I want your team to take a close look at Conklin’s activities in the six months before your father’s shooting. Look at everything—email, phone calls, reports he filed, personal. Everything. Bring Archie in but no one else outside your squad. Pull any footage we have from the day of the shooting and go over it again, looking for any sign of Conklin at the scene. Put Green’s name on the reports. He wasn’t here then and has no personal connection to Conklin. Work quickly and don’t tell anyone else in this department what you’re working on. Don’t breathe a word about this inside or outside HQ, not even to spouses. Am I clear?”