“It’s not a threat. It’s a promise. If he hits my son again, we’ll press charges—and I know how to make them stick. Any questions?”

After a very long pause, Mrs. Cleary said, “No. No questions.”

“Another thing—if Nathan makes Scotty a social pariah because of this, I won’t look fondly upon that either. Bottom line, tell your kid to leave my kid alone, and we won’t have any further reason to speak to each other. Got me?”

“I got it.” A loud click was followed by a dial tone.

Sam put down the phone. “I think that went well.”

Freddie laughed. “You made your point, that’s for sure.”

“Scotty would be mad if he knew I’d done that.”

“You can’t let some other kid assault him and not do anything about it.”

“Still...”

“You’re a great mom, Sam. You did the same thing my mom or any other mom would do in this situation. Scotty might not want you to do anything about it, but he has to know you’re not going to just let something like this go.”

“Thanks for the support. I’m ready to get out of here. Go home and get some sleep. I’ll see you bright and early.”

“See you then.”

Sam had just closed the door and was about to lock it when Archie came into the pit and pointed at her office. Her departure foiled, she went back into the office and turned on the lights. “Didn’t I just see you?”

Archie followed her and closed the door behind him. “I got back to my office to find that we’ve got Stahl screwed every which way to Tuesday.” He held up a flash drive. “Caught on camera at the time the call was made to the Star from the Lieutenants’ Lounge. He’s the only one in there.”

Sam’s heart beat faster as she absorbed the implications. “We have to take this to the chief.”

“Right now?”

“I’ve got nothing better to do. Do you?”

They both did, but Archie smiled anyway. “Not a thing. Shall we?”

“After you.”

As they walked to the chief’s suite in silence, Sam had to force herself to keep calm as the thought of being rid of Stahl once and for all sent hope surging through her. Don’t get ahead of yourself, she thought as the chief’s admin waved them into his office.

“Lieutenants,” Farnsworth said, rising as Archie closed the door behind him. “What can I do for you?”

“Lieutenant Archelotta has determined where our leak came from in the Vasquez investigation,” Sam said.

“I was able to trace the call to the Star from the Lieutenants’ Lounge. With the help of video surveillance, I determined who was in the lounge at the time the call was made.” He held up the flash drive and gestured to the chief’s computer. “May I?”