“Is this Sam Holland? Lieutenant Sam Holland?”

“Very funny. I’m serious. This is a world I don’t understand, and I need help navigating it, especially since our very promising lead with Lawton went tits up.”

“I sent Patrol to the address we had on record for him last night to notify his family that he’d passed away, but no one was there. We’ll need to track them down today.”

“Great. Something else I don’t have time for.”

“I’m hoping we’re not in for an uproar about him dying in custody.”

“The proof of what happened will be in the autopsy.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

While Vernon drove her to work, Sam called Agent Kevin Kavanaugh. She’d met him a few times through Derek and had taken Kevin’s number in case she ever needed his agency for anything.

“Kavanaugh.”

“This is Lieutenant Sam Holland with the MPD.”

“Oh. Hey, how’s it going?”

“Not so great, if I’m being honest.”

“Heard about your brother-in-law. I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. That’s why I’m calling. We believe he died from fentanyl poisoning, and we’re having no luck tracking down the source. I was hoping we might bring you all in on the investigation.”

“I heard Riggs Lawton died in your custody last night.”

“He did.”

“We’ve been after him for years. His death is a huge setback to us on several fronts.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. We brought him in for questioning, and he took something he had hidden on his person.”

“Why wasn’t he stripped of everything he came in with?”

Sam felt like she was being interrogated. “He was. We emptied his pockets, took his phone and wallet, as we always do when we bring someone in for questioning.”

“I see.”

“Look, I’m sorry if you’re pissed about Lawton, but I need help. Are you able to assist?”

“Sure. I can get a team together and meet with you tomorrow morning?”

“I’m attending my brother-in-law’s funeral tomorrow, but I’m here for a few more hours today.”

“I can be there within the hour, but it’ll just be me on a Sunday.”

“I’ll take what I can get. Thank you.”

“Sure.”

She arrived at her office with a queasy feeling in her gut. The DEA was furious with them about Lawton. Narcotics probably was, too, and she needed both teams to figure out this baffling case.

“Awesome.”

“What is?” Malone asked when he came to her door.

“The people I need help from are all pissed that Lawton died on our watch.”

“Yeah, I’ve already gotten an earful from Cooper.”

“How was his anniversary dinner?”

“Shockingly, I forgot to ask.”

“I want to know what Lawton took,” Sam said.

“It was fentanyl,” Lindsey said when she appeared in the office doorway.

Frustrated, Sam blew out a deep breath. “Is there a way to know if it was from the same batch that killed Spence and the others?”

“No,” she said, “but he had twice the amount of morphine in his brain that Spencer and Mary Alice had, so he took a particularly potent amount.”