Harry had kept Brooke’s parents informed throughout the evening, so when Tracy, Mike, Angela and Nick came into the room a few minutes later, Sam was spared from having to take them through the whole thing again.

Nick came right over to her while the others surrounded Brooke.

Sam stood, stepped into his welcoming embrace and let him lead her into the hallway.

He kissed the top of her head and held on tight, which went a long way toward addressing the trembling that had besieged her.

“How are the ribs?” she asked.

“Fine. I’m far more concerned about you.”

“I’m better now that she’s sedated and settled in a room.”

“We could hear her screaming from the waiting room.”

“It was pretty brutal in there. She came to in the middle of the rape exam, freaking out over what they were doing to her. As far as I know, that was her first pelvic exam. Hopefully, she won’t remember it tomorrow.”

“The press has picked up on the MacArthur murders.”

“Shit.” Sam ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to comb some order into it after the long night. “So we’ve already lost control of the story, and we haven’t even begun to dig into what happened there.”

“Luckily, it’s not your problem this time around.”

She kept her voice down in an attempt to keep their conversation private from the nurses who eyed them with recognition and interest as they walked past. “What do you mean?”

“You’re on vacation.”

“Um, my vacation was canceled the minute I found my niece naked and bloody on my front porch. And it was definitely canceled the second we learned of six teenage murder victims in my city.”

“There’s no reason your team can’t handle this case without you.”

“There’s every reason they aren’t going to handle it without me. Do you have any idea how hot this case is going to get with six dead kids strung out on drugs, stabbed while having sex in the basement of a prominent lawyer’s house?”

“What if we’d left tonight to go to France or Italy or somewhere else?”

“I’d be on my way back.”

He dropped his arms from her shoulders and took a step back from her, his displeasure obvious.

“What do you want me to say? This is my job. She’s my niece. I have to know what happened to her. I have to know for her and for Tracy, and I have to protect her from whatever this investigation may uncover.”

“It doesn’t have to be you, Sam.”

She blew out a deep breath that was equal parts exhaustion and disbelief. “Have you met me?”

“What the hell kind of question is that?” he asked, no longer making an effort to keep his voice down.