“Stahl would accuse me of using my connections.”

“So what?” Freddie said. “If it’ll get you back on the streets when we need you, why not do it?”

“Perhaps,” Jeannie said with a mischievous grin, “you could lead Farnsworth to believe that it was his idea to defer the suspension.”

“Oh.” Sam snapped her fingers. “I like how you think.” She reached for her cell phone to call the chief and put the phone on speaker so the others could hear.

“Lieutenant,” Chief Farnsworth said when his assistant put Sam right through. “I believe you’re on vacation today.”

“Is that what we’re calling it?”

“What can I do for you?”

“You can get me back on the streets. Sinclair is hot right now. It’s not doing the department any good to have me stuck at home.”

“While I agree with you, IAB—”

“Screw IAB! I’m in the middle of a case! I’ll serve out the suspension after we close Sinclair. Hell, I’ll give you four days unpaid at the end. We’ve got all kinds of leads I could be following, suspects to interview.”

“You have plenty of qualified people working for you, Lieutenant. Delegate.”

“They need me, Chief. Let me finish this case, and then I’ll serve my sentence in silence. You won’t hear a word from me.”

“That’ll be the day,” he muttered. After a long moment of silence during which Sam’s stomach pinged with pain, he said, “You’ll have trouble with Stahl.”

“I already have trouble with Stahl, but if you were to say you called me and ordered me back to work to close Sinclair, well then, there’s not much he can say.”

“You think you’re very clever, don’t you?”

“Actually, in this instance, Detective McBride is the clever one.”

“Whose idea was it to allow women on the force?”

She smiled. “Is that a yes?”

“I’m ordering you back to work until Sinclair is closed, at which time you’ll serve a three-day suspension. The extra day is for manipulating your favorite Uncle Joe.”

Sam smiled. “You’re the best.” She swallowed hard before she added, “Any word from the deliberations this morning?”

“Not yet. I’m sure you’ll hear from Conklin the minute he has any news.”

What was taking so long? “Yeah.”

“Get me an arrest, Lieutenant. The press is on me like white on rice.”

“I’m all over it.” She ended the call and turned to the others. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 25

“You’re invited to Governor Zorn’s sixtieth birthday,” Christina said to Nick. “They’d also like you to say a few words.”

“I promised the governor’s wife I’d do that. Tell them yes.”

“Just you?”