“You and everyone here, the job... It gave me something to stay focused on when the darkness tried to tempt me. I wouldn’t have survived without this to come back to.”

“I’ve felt that way myself a few times, but you survived because of you. The job couldn’t have saved you if you didn’t want to be saved, Jeannie. How about giving yourself a little credit? And Michael deserves some too.”

“Yes, he certainly does.”

“One more hurdle to get through, and then you can really put it behind you.”

“You’re right. I know.”

“I’ll be right there with you the entire time you’re in court. We’ll get you through it.”

Jeannie leaned into Sam’s embrace. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all your support from the very beginning.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Sam said, like Archie had said to her. The amazing brotherhood—and sisterhood—she’d found within the police department was second only to the bond she shared with her own sisters.

“We’ve got a meeting to get to,” Jeannie said.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

After Jeannie walked out, Sam took a moment to get herself together. Thinking about Jeannie having to testify against that animal Mitch Sanborn made her want to vomit. Testifying against the perps they arrested was a necessary evil in their line of work, so they were all seasoned witnesses. But this one was personal. Not just for Jeannie but for everyone who had worked on the case against the former Democratic National Committee chairman and his cronies who’d been behind a prostitution ring that had been one of the District’s best-kept secrets. Until the murders of two immigrant women unraveled the whole scheme.

Sam still couldn’t think about the desperate day they’d spent looking for Jeannie in the midst of the murder investigation that had also brought down the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the senior senator from Virginia and Vice President Gooding’s chief of staff.

Sam would rest a little easier when all four scumbags were put away for a good long time. But she’d never wanted vengeance quite the way she did in the case of Mitch Sanborn. When she thought about what that savage had done to Jeannie, all in the way of trying to intimidate the police that were hunting him down, she wanted his head on a platter so she could smash it with a sledgehammer. That would make her feel a lot better.

She stood to gather her notes and file folders, ignoring the more insistent pounding that was coming from the base of her skull. Not a good sign, she thought, as she made her way to the conference room, trying to ignore the pings of light that were indicative of a migraine coming on.