Nick’s eyes met hers, and Sam faltered. She could see and smell his fear. Blood ran down the side of his face, forcing him to blink to keep it out of his eye. “Darius,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper. “Please. Let him go.”

“Faith told you not to butt into my life.” He drove the gun harder into Nick’s head, drawing a moan from Nick that tore at Sam. “You should’ve listened to her.”

“Don’t hurt him,” Sam said. “I’m the one you want. Let him go, and take me.”

Nick let out a low growl and fought against Darius’s hold.

It all happened so fast. One minute Sam was pleading with Darius. In the next instant, the gun fired and Nick went down. She ran for him, screaming his name, but something held her back, keeping her from him. Sam struggled against the arms that held her tight.

“Babe, wake up. You’re dreaming.” His lips moved on her face as sobs shook her body.

The sheer, overwhelming relief at realizing it had been a terrible dream left her weak and clinging to him.

“Shhh,” he said. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

She breathed in his scent, letting the beat of his heart calm and comfort her.

“Want to talk about it?”

Shaking her head, she drew in another deep breath as the implications spiraled through her mind. In all the months since the crack house shooting, the dream had never changed. Until now. What did it mean?

During the course of her career, she’d been threatened plenty of times. Never once had a threat caused her to back down from an investigation. But she’d never had quite so much to lose. What if someone seriously threatened Nick’s life? What would she do?

Nick combed his fingers through her hair.

She nuzzled his chest and kissed his throat. The images from the dream kept running through her mind, making her shudder.

As he tightened his arms around her, Sam realized there was absolutely nothing she wouldn’t do to ensure his safety—including back off an investigation if it came to that.

“Just a dream, babe,” he said, massaging her shoulders.

“Yeah.” Except, she thought, it wasn’t just a dream. It was her greatest nightmare.

“Will you be able to go back to sleep?”

She nodded, telling him what he needed to hear so he would get some sleep. His insomnia had been bad lately as the campaign and wedding compounded his stress.

“Sure you don’t want to tell me about it?”

“Same old dream. You know the one.”

“Hasn’t happened in a while. What brought that on?”

“We were talking about the Johnson case today. Probably stirred it up.”

“I’m sorry you have to carry that horrible memory with you.”