Nick came into the room and stopped short as he took a visual inventory of her and the blood-soaked coat on the chair next to her.

Sam held out a hand to him. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

He stepped forward and wrapped his fingers around hers. “I heard it was a very close call.”

“Nah, he missed by a mile.”

“I’m not finding this funny.”

Sam brought his hand to her lips. “I know, babe. I’m sorry.”

“If there’s any upside, at least you’ll be out of work the rest of the week.”

“But I still have stuff to do before—”

“On the way over here I had to talk myself out of picking a big, fat fight with you the week of our wedding. But if you so much as think about going back to work, there’s gonna be a really big fight. You got me?”

“I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but you’re extremely sexy when you’re pissed.”

He took a deep, rattling breath and looked up at the ceiling, presumably to keep from throttling her.

Sam smiled at his show of restraint. “I didn’t get all freaked out when Andy’s elbow gave you a black eye,” she said in a teasing tone, hoping to coax a grin out of him.

The comment earned her another scowl. “Only you would compare a basketball injury to getting shot at.”

“Love you,” she said, flashing her cheesiest grin.

Rolling his eyes, he bent to kiss her. “If I have to swaddle you in bubble wrap to get you to that church in one piece, I’ll do it.”

Sam reached up to comb her fingers through his hair. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Don’t worry.”

“Right. Don’t worry. What do I have to worry about?”

She urged him into another kiss. “Nothing at all. I promise.”

“Gardner lawyered up,” Detective Tommy “Gonzo” Gonzales informed Freddie when he arrived at HQ. “Won’t say a word.”

“Figures. The guilty ones always lawyer up right away. Where is he?”

“Back in holding until they arraign him in the morning.”

“What about Simmons?”

“He caught wind of what we wanted to talk to him about and produced travel documents that show he was in New Orleans visiting his family for the holidays when Skip was shot.”

“Crap.”

“How do we find out where Gardner was?”

“We’re running his credit cards now, seeing what we can find out about his activity that week.”

“Sam wants us to talk to the woman he raped. She refused to testify when it happened, but Sam thinks because she’s older now…” Freddie shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

“Let’s go.”