Celia raised an eyebrow. “You lied to me last night when you said you were going to work.”

Sam squirmed under her future stepmother’s stern glare. “Um, yeah, I do that every now and then. Lie, that is. Is that going to be a problem for you?”

Celia cast an appreciative glance at Nick over Sam’s shoulder and smiled. “If he’s the reason, I guess I can forgive you. This one time.”

Sam introduced her to Nick, and when she couldn’t avoid it for a second longer, she met her father’s steely stare from across the room. She went over to him and bent to kiss his cheek. “I’m sorry you were worried.”

“I went past worried about three hours ago, but we’ll get to that. Who’ve you got with you?”

Knowing her father was already fully aware of who Nick was, Sam nodded to Nick anyway. “Dad, this is Nick Cappuano.” As instructed, Nick squeezed Skip’s right hand. “Pleased to meet you, Deputy Chief Holland.”

“Excellent sucking up. I’d say someone prepared you well to meet her old man.”

“I wouldn’t know what you mean, sir.”

Skip’s eyes danced with mirth. “That from this morning?” he asked, referring to the bandage over Nick’s eye.

“Yeah, but I’ll live.”

Sam re-introduced Nick to Chief Farnsworth.

“Detective Higgins, ma’am,” the other cop said to Sam. “Explosives.”

“I’ve seen you around,” Sam said, although she couldn’t believe he was a detective. With his sandy hair cut into a flat top over a baby face, he barely looked old enough to be out of the academy. “What’d you find?”

“Two EDs on your car.” For the benefit of Nick and Celia, he added, “Explosive devices—one on the ignition and a backup. Only one detonated. Both of them go, we’re not having this conversation.”

Sam swallowed hard and didn’t object when Nick’s hand landed on the small of her back.

“That’s not all,” Higgins said. “When we did a sweep of the other cars in the area, we found two more attached to a black BMW.”

Nick and Sam gasped.

“Registered to you, Mr. Cappuano.”

As if all her bones had turned to mush, Sam sank to the sofa. “Why?” she whispered. “Why would they target him?”

“We were just discussing that when you came in,” Chief Farnsworth said. “If it’s Johnson or their pals, the best theory I’ve heard yet is ‘you take mine, I’ll take yours.’ Revenge, pure and simple. Johnson wanted you either dead or decimated. How would they’ve known his car?”

“I’ve been in it,” Sam confessed. “Recently. And I’ve had the feeling someone was watching me a few times.”

“Detective Cruz suggested a link to O’Connor rather than Johnson,” Malone said. “Worth looking into, especially since they targeted Nick, too.”