Sam ran for the main door, pushing her way through the media that had gathered for the chief’s press conference, which had apparently been delayed.

“Lieutenant, what do you know about the murder at Director Hamilton’s house?”

“Who was killed?”

“Where is the director?”

“Where is Josh?”

“Was Josh kidnapped?”

That one stopped her cold. How did they know about that? Though the question surprised her, Josh’s case was the least of her concerns right now. She blasted through the main doors and headed straight for the chief’s suite, having no doubt that Freddie’s disappearance was being handled at the highest level.

The door to the chief’s office was open so she went in. “What do we know?” she asked.

In attendance were Farnsworth, Malone and Hill, who weren’t surprised to see her, Deputy Chief Conklin, Captain Hernandez from Patrol and Captain Roback from Vice, all of whom seemed shocked that she was there.

“Someone tell me what’s going on!”

“We have people looking for them all over the city, and Lieutenant Archelotta’s team is reviewing the security footage in the area—”

“I’ve got something,” Archie said as he came into the room carrying a flash drive. He went around the chief’s desk to insert it in his computer, calling up images that stopped Sam’s heart.

Freddie’s beat-up Mustang, stopped at a red light, approached by three men with assault weapons. The whole thing happened quickly. Freddie and Josh were overtaken before they could react and were led to a white van that idled half a block away. Sam watched, horrified, as her partner and Josh were thrown into the van, which was moving even before everyone was in.

“The plate,” Sam said, swallowing the fear so she could function.

“One step ahead of you,” Archie said. The next frame showed a close-up view of the plate. “I put a trace on it.” He reached across the desk to hand her a piece of paper with an address on it.

Sam headed for the door.

“Sam, wait,” Malone called after her. “We have to do this right.”

She kept moving.

“Lieutenant! Stop! That’s a direct order.”

Only because he’d rarely ordered her to do anything did she stop, even though everything in her wanted to go to where Freddie was being held. If anything happened to him...

“Give us ten minutes to get our shit together. I promise you I want him back as much as you do.”

“I doubt that.”

Wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and looking like the best thing she’d ever seen, Nick came through the main doors, Brant following right behind him. Her husband came to her, putting his hand on her shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got something.”

“We’re mobilizing SWAT and preparing to go after him,” Malone added.

“I want to be there,” Sam said. “You have to let me go.”