“Don’t underestimate him, Sam. I’ve seen a lot of evil in my time in this office, but I’ve never gotten the vibe from anyone else that I got from him. I can’t even describe it.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll take care of him. And when I’m done with him, he won’t be threatening anyone, let alone an assistant U.S. attorney.”

“Be careful. Be very, very careful.”

Sam flashed a cocky grin. “Always am.”

“Keep me posted.”

“Not this time. If I leave you out of it entirely, there’s no way it can come back on you.”

“Thanks, Sam.”

“You can thank me after we throw the book at this guy.”

“Believe me, I will.”

“See you at the wedding?”

“I’ll be there.”

Sam left Faith’s office and found Freddie flipping through a magazine in the reception area. “Cruz, let’s hit it.”

Startled by her sudden reappearance, Freddie leaped to his feet, and the magazine went flying. He stopped to retrieve it, tossed it on a table and hustled after her. “Where’re we going, boss?”

“To nail a scumbag.”

“One of my favorite things.”

Chapter 4

“Are you going to tell me what happened in there?” Freddie asked as Sam drove them back to HQ.

Sam took a moment to think it over. “I’m going to tell you and Captain Malone and no one else.”

“Okay.”

She conveyed what Faith had told her.

“Holy shit,” Freddie muttered. The rare curse told Sam how affected he was by the story. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to nail his ass—for Faith and the woman he raped.” Sam swallowed hard, thinking of her colleague, Detective Jeannie McBride, who’d been abducted and brutally raped during a recent investigation. Jeannie said she planned to attend the wedding, but Sam would believe it when she saw it. Jeannie had barely left her boyfriend Michael’s home since being released from the hospital.

“What’s the first step?”

“I’m going to see Ramsey—the SVU detective who handled the rape case. While I’m there, I want you to pull every single thing you can find on Gardner. No detail is too small.”

“Got it.”

“Keep a lid on this, Cruz. I mean it. Faith would lose her job if this ever came to light, not to mention what the bar association might have to say about it.”

“I get that the stakes are high.”

“I know I can trust you or I wouldn’t have told you.”

Sam’s cell phone chimed with the tune of “When You Wish Upon a Star.” She withdrew it from her coat pocket and flipped it open, groaning. “Goddamn it.”

Freddie scowled at her. He hated when she took the Lord’s name in vain. “What’s wrong?”