Fixating on the wall behind him, she recalled all the near misses and dead ends she’d pursued over the last two years. “Every time I think we’re getting close, it turns into nothing. I constantly feel like I’m letting you down. I hate that.”

“Sam, you’ve never let me down. Not once in your whole life. I know you’ll get him. And when you do, we’ll have the biggest party to celebrate. The biggest party ever.”

Back in the day, Skip Holland’s parties had been the stuff of legend.

Sam bent to rest her head on his shoulder. “I’ll look forward to that. Might be sooner than we think if we can just find that bastard Reese. He’s got two cops to account for now, not to mention his family.”

“You’ll keep me posted?”

“Yeah.” She raised her head to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry I kept it from you.”

“And you won’t do it again?”

“No.”

“No matter what happens?”

She squeezed the finger that retained sensation. “I promise.” The elevator at the far end of the hall opened, and Sam blinked, certain her eyes had to be deceiving her. “No way,” she muttered. “No fucking way.”

“What?” Skip asked.

A woman with light hair and eyes red from crying approached them.

“I’m not sure if you remember me, Lieutenant—”

“I do. What’re you doing here?”

“I heard about Freddie,” she stammered. “On the radio. He’s…We’re friends.”

At least Sam now knew who’d been chewing on her partner’s neck.

“Are you the reason his phone was off last night?”

“He was tired—”

“He’s a homicide detective! He’s in here because I punished him for being late! I sent him over there, and he got shot!”

Elin broke down into sobs. “I’m so sorry. It’s my fault.”

Suddenly, a lot of Freddie’s recent behavior made sense—the snappier clothes, the cologne, the befuddlement. The minute he was out of the hospital, Sam was going to beat the hell out of him for this.

“I just wanted to know if he’s going to be okay,” Elin said between sobs.

“We don’t know yet. He got through the surgery.”

“I don’t want to upset you any more than you already are, so I’ll go.”

“Wait.” Later, Sam would blame exhaustion for the weak moment. “Would he want you here?”

“I don’t know.” Elin wiped her face. “He was so mad this morning. About the phone. I’ve never seen him like that before.”

Sam smiled to herself. She could only imagine. If someone turned off her phone, they wouldn’t still be walking around. “Have you met his mother?”

Elin blanched, which made Sam want to laugh for the first time in hours. “No.”

“Allow me to do the honors,” she said, sending her father a shit-eating grin.