“I’m hoping it’ll get un-fucked before they find out.” He looked at her with those steely eyes that could be both intimidating and compassionate. “I’m putting you in charge of finding him. Get your whole squad on the job and find him, Sam, before I find myself out of a job.”

Because the thought of anyone but him in that chair struck fear in her heart, Sam and Gonzo were on their feet and heading for the door before he finished speaking. She went straight to Roback’s office. “The chief has put me in charge of figuring out where Springer is. I want every member of your team that worked on his case in the main conference room in thirty minutes.”

“Where do you get off giving me orders? Need I remind you I’m a captain and you are not?”

“I don’t need any reminders. Get your people here in thirty minutes.” With Gonzo in tow, she walked out before he could reply and headed for the pit. Freddie, Jeannie and Tyrone were gathered around Freddie’s cubicle sharing a box of doughnuts and discussing the plan for the day.

“New plan, people,” Sam said, eying the doughnuts with lust and longing. She brought her squad up to date with what had happened overnight.

“Unreal,” Jeannie muttered. “How did I know this was going to happen?”

“Right?” Freddie said. “I told Elin last night this was going to go bad on us.”

“It’s not going bad on us,” Sam said, “but it will go bad on the department and the chief. So we’re not going to let that happen, are we?”

“No, we’re not,” Gonzo said. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to hunt him down and arrest him the way we should’ve yesterday,” Sam said. “I’ve given the vice detectives thirty minutes to get here to explain to us how they managed to fuck this up so royally. After we know more, we’ll talk to Springer’s father, who’s in custody for attempting to assault the chief and threatening me.”

“Damn,” Freddie said. “When did that happen?”

“About twenty minutes ago. I want everyone on this,” she said as Dominguez and Carlucci joined them. “Do you have a few more hours left in the tank, ladies?”

Both third-shift detectives nodded.

“Absolutely, LT,” Carlucci said.

“All right, I want every single word we can find on William Springer Jr. He’s known as Billy, and clearly he’s been involved in drug trafficking. I want to know about any involvement we’ve had with him, no matter how insignificant it might be. Carlucci and Dominguez, you focus on the internal. Tyrone and Arnold, get me external—school, work, known associates. Anything and everything. One hour, people.” The four detectives took off to follow orders.