She’d no sooner closed her eyes when her cell phone rang. That only happened at this hour when she was on call, so she was immediately concerned about her dad. “Hello.”

“Sam.”

She groaned loudly and then regretted it when Nick stirred. Rubbing his back to settle him, she said, “What do you want, Darren?”

“I heard you were suspended for assaulting a fellow officer, and Forrester is considering charges. I wanted to give you a chance to comment before I go with it.”

How in the hell had a reporter from the Washington Star caught wind of her suspension? That was supposed to be an internal department matter, thus the term internal affairs.

“Sam?”

“No comment, other than to say if you run that I’ve been suspended when I haven’t, that might be embarrassing for you.”

“So you haven’t been suspended?”

“I’ll neither confirm nor deny. Now leave me alone. I’m sleeping.” She slapped her phone closed and put it on the bedside table. If it weren’t for her father’s precarious health, she’d turn the thing off.

“What’s that about?” Nick muttered.

“There’s a very good possibility that the headline in the Star tomorrow will be ‘Second Lady Suspended After Assaulting Fellow Officer, U.S. Attorney Forrester Considering Charges.’”

“He had it coming.”

“And that, right there, is why I love you so much.”

“Why? What’d I say?”

“You still say he had it coming even though it could turn into a firestorm for your team.”

“They get paid to put out fires. What about your staff? Should you give them a heads-up?”

“Crap, you’re right. Lilia shouldn’t hear about it on the news. I keep forgetting I have a staff.” Another thought occurred to her. “Ah damn, I never checked on Gonzo today.”

“Today is now well into tomorrow, and you need some sleep. You can check on him later and call Lilia.”

“He blew off his shift yesterday. Never does that.”

Nick reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “He’s grieving. It’s going to take a while.”

“Worried about him.”

“I know, babe. Me too.”

* * *

TOMMY GONZALES COULDN’T SLEEP. He couldn’t eat. He couldn’t breathe without pain rippling through his chest in agonizing waves. He couldn’t play with his toddler son without breaking down in tears because his late partner would never experience the exquisite joy of fatherhood. He couldn’t bear the touch of his fiancée while knowing that Arnold would never drop to one knee and propose to the love of his life.

The only relief Gonzo got from the unrelenting pain was found in a bottle of whiskey. He and Jameson had become very close friends since the dreadful night in January when his partner had been gunned down.

If you shut the fuck up, I’ll let you take the lead.