“What’s that?”

“Malone wants me to come back to work the Hamilton case and serve out the remainder of my suspension after.”

Nick withdrew from her and turned onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

Sam raised herself up on an elbow so she could see his face. “Are you mad?”

“No, of course I’m not mad. I know how much you want to be smack in the middle of something like this.”

“But?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Clearly you’ve got something on your mind or you wouldn’t be all the way over there, so don’t say it’s nothing.”

Taking hold of her hand, he brought it to his lips. “I’m just being selfish. I see an opportunity to have some alone time with you, and I want it. That’s all.”

“We’re alone right now.”

“It’s never enough.”

“We have ten days in Bora Bora coming up very soon. That’ll be here before we know it.” She dropped her head to his chest, and he snuggled her in next to him. “Believe it or not, I don’t relish the idea of working this case. It’s sure to be a shitshow of epic proportions. But we’re shorthanded without Arnold and with Gonzo out for who knows how long. My squad needs me to walk them through this.”

“Malone could do it.”

“He could, but he’s been on desk duty a long time. He’s rusty around the edges. He’d tell you that himself.” She ran a finger over Nick’s well-defined pectorals and then down to explore his abs, loving the way his muscles quivered under her touch. “The department has taken a lot of hard hits lately. We have to seriously nail this one so the chief can hold on to his job. We’ve got Arnie Patterson in prison claiming he was framed by the MPD. Bill Springer blamed the chief for the death of his son, who was a cold-blooded murderer, but those accusations are outliving Springer. The story of Stahl taking me hostage and our longtime animosity has been all over the national news in recent months, and now the shit with me and Ramsey. It’s been a lot of bad press, some of it involving me, and this is our chance for retribution.”

“There’s been good press too. Like you crowd surfing during the inaugural parade and nabbing Arnold’s killer.”

“That was one high moment in a sea of lows.”

“It’s not up to you to single-handedly change the story.”