“I’m sorry.” Sam gathered up the papers on the desk. “Come on, let’s go back to bed.” The pile slipped from her fingers and scattered on the floor.

Nick bent to retrieve the photos, wincing at the images of Gardner’s victim. “What happened to her?”

“Beaten and raped.”

“Is she related to a new case of yours?”

Sam shook her head. “Possible new lead in my dad’s case. But it’ll keep until tomorrow. You need sleep.”

“And you don’t?”

“It wasn’t happening, so I figured I’d get some work done.”

He pulled up the other chair and dropped into it. Sam let her eyes take a lazy journey over broad shoulders, well-defined pectorals and washboard abs. He had just the right amount of dark chest hair trailing into the sweatpants he’d put on.

He waved a hand to get her attention. “Hello?”

Sam realized she was staring at him. “Sorry, just enjoying the view.”

Grinning, he said, “You can enjoy it all you want next week.”

“Can’t wait. That’s the part I’m most looking forward to.”

“Me, too.” Gesturing to the pictures, he raised an eyebrow.

Sam filled him in on what Gonzo and Freddie had uncovered about the former tenants at the house where Clarence Reece murdered his family.

“How does she fit in?” Nick asked, gesturing to the photo of the battered woman.

“Gardner was accused of raping her in the house shortly before my father was shot.”

“So he’s locked up?”

“I wish. The case got tossed.”

“How come?”

“Procedural stuff. Anyway, it’s probably another dead end on my dad’s shooting.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play coy with me, Samantha. Spill it.”

Unnerved by the way he read her so easily, she studied his handsome face for a long moment. “You can’t tell anyone. Ever.”

“Understood.”

“Faith Miller could lose her job.”

“The AUSA?”

Sam nodded. “Gardner threatened her. One of his minions told her he’d chop up her baby niece and return her to her parents in pieces.”

Nick blanched. “And she believed him?”

“She had a face-to-face with him the next day in court. The way he looked at her, she had no doubt he’d do it.”

Nick picked up a picture of the victim and studied it intently. “Now you’ve made her yours, and you’re going after him.”

“I can’t let him get away with that! He threatened a federal prosecutor.”

“Who chose to back off. That was her call.”

“So I should sit back and allow a violent criminal to walk the streets? Maybe if Faith hadn’t backed down, my dad never would’ve been shot.”

“You have no way to know that.”

“I can find out.”

He put down the photo, leaned his arms on his knees and looked at her. “I want you to do something for me.”