Sam rested her elbows on Faith’s desk and leaned in. “I’m going to nail his ass to the wall, and you’re going to help me.”

Faith shook her head and wiped the tears from her face. “Molly is almost three now. How can you ask me to risk that beautiful child—my sister’s child?”

“How can you sleep knowing you’ve let a violent rapist roam free all this time?”

“I haven’t gotten a full night of sleep in years.”

“Faith, come on! You took an oath!”

“Don’t you dare talk to me about oaths! She’s my niece! Tell me how well I’d sleep if I go after this sleezeball and something happens to her!”

“You need to talk to Hope about this. She’ll tell you the same thing I’m telling you.”

Faith snorted with disdain. “She’ll agree with me. We’re talking about her child. Don’t you have nieces and nephews, Sam?”

“Four,” Sam muttered. “Fifth one on the way.”

“Put yourself in my place—what would you do if someone threatened to chop one of them up and mail him or her back to you in pieces?”

Sam couldn’t even get her head around the idea of it, so she didn’t try. “How did he get to you?”

“One of his buddies conveyed the message along with up-close photos of the baby with a gun pointed to her head. I have no idea how they got that close to her, but it certainly got my attention. The next day, Gardner and I came face-to-face in the courthouse. He smiled at me…” A shudder rippled through her willowy frame, and her face lost every bit of remaining color. “The evil…Just pure evil. I knew, right in that moment, that he’d have Molly killed if I pursued prosecution.”

“I have to ask you… Has anything like this ever happened before?”

“If you’re asking if I’ve been threatened before, the answer is yes. Almost weekly. But I’ve never before or since backed away from a prosecution because of a threat. This one was different.”

Sam sat back in her chair, frustrated and furious. “I wish you’d come to me.”

“I wish I’d felt that was an option.”

“You need to tell Hope about this.”

Faith shook her head. “Never.”

“I’m going to get him, Faith. I’ll dig and dig and dig until I find something I can bury him with. If he didn’t shoot my dad, I’ll find something else. And then I’ll take my case right to Forrester himself so Gardner won’t have any reason to come at you or your family.”

“What about your family?”

“I’ll take care of them.”