“If you’d asked me this morning if Director Hamilton had possibly raised a child kidnapped from another family, I would’ve said no way. And I remain ninety-nine percent skeptical that’ll turn out to be true. But if the one percent pans out...I have no idea what’ll happen, and I want to ensure your safety.”

He ran his fingers through his hair repeatedly.

“The choice is definitely yours, Josh. If you don’t want to be under police protection, you don’t have to be. But if I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t take any chances, especially since it’s only a matter of time before that photo goes viral.”

“You really think that’ll happen?”

“People are always interested in missing kids.”

“I wish I hadn’t seen it.”

Sam leaned in to put her hand on his arm. “If it turns out to be true, will you still feel that way?”

“I don’t know how to feel about any of this. Before I saw that picture, it never occurred to me that something like this was even possible. Now... Well, now I’m wondering if my whole life has been a lie. Did they just pretend to care about me when they were lying to me the whole time?”

“You’ll know soon enough, and until then, I recommend you let us keep you safe.”

“You and who else?”

“My partner, Detective Freddie Cruz. I trust him implicitly. You’ll be in very good hands with him, and as soon as we have the DNA results, we’ll get you some answers.”

“Fine. Okay. I’ll go with your partner.”

“I think that’s the wisest choice, especially since this place is overrun with the flu.”

“And you’ll let me know what’s going on?”

“I’ll be in touch with you the second we have anything concrete. I promise.”

With his face set in a grim expression, he nodded, seeming pacified for now. Sam entered his phone number into her contacts and gave him her number in case he needed her for anything. Freddie arrived a short time later, and Sam introduced him to Josh.

Josh shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. I guess we’re going to be roommates for the next few days.”

“Looks that way,” Freddie said. “You like the Skins?”

“Of course I do. Born and raised right here in D.C.”

“It’s Cowboys weekend, so at least we have something fun to watch.”

“I’ll spring for the beer.” Sam handed her credit card to Freddie. “Put the room on that too.”

“Your personal card? Will they let me do that?”

“Have them call me if you need to.”

“I could use my department card.”

She shook her head. “I’m keeping this separate for the time being. I’ll work out the expense side of it later.”

“You’re the boss.”