“I guess that answers my question about how your first day is going.”

Jerking her head up, she found Captain Malone standing in her doorway. Her mentor was almost as tall as Nick with broad shoulders and gray hair. His warm brown eyes crinkled with mirth. Today he wore a crisp white uniform shirt and dark pants. His gold shield was pinned to his chest, his service weapon holstered to his hip.

“Is it time to go home yet?”

“Not even lunchtime, I’m afraid.”

She rested her head against the back of the desk chair. “I’ve never understood the expression ‘be careful what you wish for’ until today.”

He laughed.

“I may not be cut out for this,” she confessed. “Not even an hour in the office and I’m already jonesing for the streets.”

“No reason you can’t do both.”

She shot him a skeptical look.

“You’re the boss, Lieutenant. Set things up the way they best suit you. Delegate, delegate, delegate.”

Sam pondered that advice. “I’ll go out of my mind if I can’t work some cases.”

He shrugged. “So pick and choose what you want.”

For the first time since she arrived, Sam had reason to smile.

“It’s called command, Lieutenant. Take command.”

“Stahl did all his own admin,” she reminded him.

“Stahl sucked, his people hated him and his commanders did, too. Don’t take your cues from him. Pave your own path. Just don’t let your shit roll uphill to me, and we’ll be fine.”

She reached for the paper Stahl had left, handed it to the captain and watched his mouth tighten with displeasure.

“Since I’m sure you won’t forget what this says, do you mind if I take it to show the chief?”

“Be my guest.”

“Try not to worry. Stuff like this tends to blow over more often than not.”

“He’s got a beef with how I ended up here,” she said, gesturing to the office. “He can’t prove the promotion was bogus, so he’s going after me with the gift-wrapped package I handed him during O’Connor.”

“Nick was never a suspect,” Malone reminded her. “Worst possible outcome is a disciplinary letter in your jacket.”

“It’s still a slap.”

“Put it out of your mind for now. I’ll do what I can on my end.”

“Thanks.”

“Hope your day improves,” Malone said with an encouraging smile as he left her to the piles of paper Stahl had bequeathed to her.

Nick’s first order of business was a meeting with Christina and Trevor.

“We need to talk about a deputy,” Christina said, pulling a sheet of paper from her binder. “Here’re a few people to consider.”

Nick scanned the list of staffers. “I’ve already taken care of that.”

Startled, Christina looked up at him. “Who?”

“Terry O’Connor.”

She stared at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.”