Farnsworth turned to Nick. “Do you know of anything Senator O’Connor was involved in that had ties to terrorists or terrorism?”

“He was on the Homeland Security Committee, working mostly on the immigration issue, but he was briefed on counterterrorism initiatives. We both were.”

“I want to take apart that bill he was sponsoring, line by line,” Sam said. “Maybe I’ve totally missed the boat on this. I’ve been thinking jilted lover, but they don’t tend to plant bombs.”

“No,” Malone agreed. “They tend to dismember.”

“Which is why I’ve focused most of my attention on his love life.” Sam got up to pace. “We’ve uncovered a slew of recent ex-lovers, a few with complaints about some of his, um, fetishes.” She sent a sympathetic glance to Nick since he was hearing this for the first time. “But maybe Cruz is right. Maybe the Lorena Bobbitt was intended to throw us off.”

“He was dismembered?” Higgins squeaked, his baby face gone pale.

“A detail we’ve managed to keep out of the press,” Farnsworth said with a pointed look at his detective.

“Yes, sir.” Higgins got up to leave. “I need to get back to the lab where it’s safe.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Run back to your cave, Higgins, and leave the dirty work to those of us in the field.”

“You can have it. I’ll send you details on the EDs when I have more, but I can tell you they were crude and you got lucky, Sergeant. Damned lucky.”

“Yeah,” Sam said. “I know.” She saw him out and turned to find every man in the room focused on her.

No doubt sensing a battle royal in the making, Celia stepped into the kitchen.

“Before you all get going,” Sam said, “I have something I want to say, and I want you to listen to me without interrupting.”

When they agreed with their silence, she pushed her fist into her aching gut and took a second to look each of them in the eye—Dad, her hero and her rock; Chief Farnsworth, beloved friend and respected leader; Captain Malone, boss and mentor; and Nick, quickly becoming more important than anyone. All of them cared about her. She had no doubt about that, just as she had no doubt they’d go to any lengths to keep her safe.