“You received Morgan Newell’s phone?”

“Delivered by the chief himself, and thanks for the heads-up that he’d be popping in.” The IT lieutenant was a handsome, dark-haired man with a quick grin.

“Oops.”

Archie laughed. “Good thing I made them clean up yesterday.”

“Good thing indeed.” She handed him phones belonging to Angelo Diaz and Cory White, along with the paper containing the codes. “I’m looking for commonalities with Spencer, Mary Alice, Morgan, Angelo and now Cory White.”

“Got it. It’s been slow going. Spencer had more than sixty thousand calls, texts and messages on his phone.”

“Damn. He used it for work. That’s probably why.”

“Yep, but it’s been a slog. We’re running his dump against Mary Alice’s now, looking for common numbers. I’m not sure you’ll find anything, though. These guys are smart. They know what we look for and how to avoid detection.”

“Burner phones.”

“That and blocking caller ID and other tricks.”

“Thanks for trying,” she said, feeling dejected. “Why does it have to be so hard to find a dealer who’s killing people?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?”

“No, it’s a real question. You’d think the public would want to help us find this guy before someone else has to die.”

“They’re afraid of being charged with buying drugs in the first place.”

“I guess.”

“Anything more from Cooper?”

Sam shook her head. “I’m ignoring him and his hell-raising since his team failed to keep up with the OD reports that might’ve alerted us to this situation much sooner—in time to save my brother-in-law and others, so he can fuck right off.”

“Wow, I hadn’t heard that.”

“I’m trying not to be bitter about the failings around here, but sometimes it’s damned hard not to be.”

“I don’t blame you. This is a case that involves multiple squads within the department, but you had it first.”

“Yes, I did, and Cooper is going to have to claw it out of my cold dead hands.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Sam walked away laughing, as she often did when she talked to Archie.

She returned to the pit, feeling fortified by the chats with Archie and Lindsey. It was a relief to have good friends and helpful to know she wasn’t the only one chafing against the old boys’ network within the department, not that she would wish that nonsense on anyone, especially someone as great as Lindsey. In her office, Sam tossed her coat over the chair and fired up her computer.

While she waited, her gaze shifted to the photo of her and her dad that she kept on the desk. A pang of longing for him swept over her. He always knew just what she needed to hear whenever her spirits were low. She could almost hear his voice telling her to shake it off and fuck the bastards who gave her crap. That put a smile on her face because it was exactly what he’d say, along with “build a bridge and get over it” or “kill ’em with kindness.”