The door flew open, surprising her, as did the large handgun Mrs. Patrick pointed at her.

“Do come in.” Mrs. Patrick’s eyes were wild, her appearance unkept. “I’ve been hoping you might come by again.”

Fuck, Jeannie thought as she rested her hand on her own weapon and stepped inside.

“I’ll take that,” Mrs. Patrick said, using her chin to point at Jeannie’s gun.

“I don’t think so.”

She directed her gun at Jeannie’s chest. “I have absolutely nothing left to lose, so don’t fuck with me. Give me your gun. Now!”

Because she had a lot to live for, especially her husband and the child she was carrying, Jeannie handed over her weapon and went to sit in the chair the woman directed her to.

“My team knows I’m here. They’ll come looking for me.” As she said that, Jeannie wondered how long it would be before she was missed. As a detective, she’d carried a side piece strapped to her leg. She’d stopped doing that after her promotion, which had been a big mistake.

“Good. I hope they do come looking for you.”

Jeannie glanced into the dining room, where a veritable arsenal of weapons was laid out on the table and swallowed hard.

Fuck.

Sam called ahead to Dr. Anderson. “I need to talk to the OD guy coming in with EMS. It’s absolutely critical.”

“Let us get him stable, and I’ll do what I can for you.”

“Thanks, Rob. Appreciate it.”

“Sure thing. I’ll call you when you can see him.”

“We’ll be outside the ER waiting.”

“Got it.”

While Vernon drove them to GW, Sam called Lindsey. “Are you with the two vics at the hotel?”

“Not yet. We’re waiting on HazMat. It’s going to be a while before it’s safe for us to go in there.”

“We need names and addresses of the victims ASAP.”

“I’ll get them for you when I can.”

Sam glanced at the clock on the dashboard, which was inching closer to noon. She had two more hours, three at the absolute most, before she had to head home and get ready for the wake. “Thanks, Linds.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m pissed that more people had to die while we spin our wheels trying to find ghosts.”

“You’re doing everything you can, Sam.”

“And yet, it’s nowhere near enough.”

“How’s Gigi?”

“She’s holding up okay, but I’m sure she’s still struggling to wrap her head around it all.”

“Such an awful thing. My heart goes out to her and Cam—and strangely to Jaycee’s family.”

“I know. You feel for them because it’s not their fault that she did what she did, but they’re left to deal with the fallout.”

“Exactly. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you besides the obvious autopsy reports.”

“We know exactly what they’ll show.”

“I’m afraid you’re right. We’ll see you at the wake.”

“Unfortunately, I’ll be there.”

She ended the call with Lindsey and tried to cool her jets while she waited to hear from Anderson. “I hate waiting.”