Sam watched him follow Scotty upstairs, wishing with all her heart they could’ve had that vacation they both needed so badly.

“Looks like trouble in paradise,” Skip said.

“Maybe a little. He’s annoyed the vacation got messed up, he’s injured and now he’s mad I asked Hill for help.”

“That last one explains it all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That FBI agent looks at you like he wants to kidnap you and steal you away from your happy home.”

The comment made Sam’s face heat, which infuriated her. “That’s his problem, not mine.”

“True, but your husband doesn’t like it, and I can’t say I blame him.”

“I need Hill’s professional help. He can get to the source of the video and pictures faster than I can. That’s my only goal here—that and finding out what the hell Brooke was doing here when she was supposed to be at that fancy school we paid so much money to send her to.”

Skip raised an eyebrow. “I had a feeling you might’ve footed the bill for that.”

Sam waved off the comment. “We were afraid of just this very thing that happened anyway.”

“You’re walking a very fine line here, baby girl.”

“I know that. Uncle Joe took me off the MacArthur case as soon as I told him Brooke might’ve been there at some point. And now the video proves she was there. Not to mention her clothes and phone will be among the stuff they found at the scene.”

“So if Joe took you off the case, what’re you doing calling in the Feds?”

“I called my friend and asked for a favor.”

“A favor you shouldn’t be requesting when you’re off the case.”

“I was taken off the MacArthur case. I wasn’t taken off Brooke’s case.”

“Again, I say fine line. You and I have both seen good cops lose their careers by muddying the difference between ends and means.”

He was right, and she knew it, but that didn’t change anything. “So you’re suggesting I let someone else look into what Brooke was doing in the city last night and potentially link her to the murders of nine other kids? I should take a chance that it’s going to be handled properly by everyone involved?”

“You should have faith that the people you trained and mentored are going to handle the case and your niece’s involvement with all due care and skill. You should step back and let them do their jobs.”

“I can’t do that, and you wouldn’t either if you were me.”

He let out a deep sigh that was followed by a gasp.

Sam zeroed in on his face, which was twisted in pain. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Same thing,” he said with a grimace.