“I will.”

Sam needed to get home to prepare for the wake, but someone needed to notify the families of the latest victims, so she set out for the O’Donald home in Kalorama, asking Vernon to use the lights to save time. She pulled out the BlackBerry to call Nick.

“Hey, are you on the way home?”

“Not yet. I have two stops to make, and then I’ll be there.”

“Tracy and Mike are here to take Angela to the funeral home.”

“Tell them I’ll be home in time to go with them.”

“Will do.”

“How does she seem?”

“Not so good. She’s barely functioning, and Jack had a meltdown because he wants to go. We tried to explain to him that wakes aren’t for kids, but he wasn’t having it. Angela told him he can come to the service tomorrow, and that seemed to pacify him.”

“My heart aches.”

“I know. Mine, too.

“Before I come home for my brother-in-law’s wake, I’ve got to tell a wife and a mother that their husband and son overdosed in a hotel room last night.”

“Can’t someone else do that?”

“It’s fine. I’ll take care of it and be home soon.”

“We’ll be here.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too, babe.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Here we are, ma’am,” Vernon said when they arrived at the O’Donalds’ home.

A blonde woman was in the yard supervising two little ones on tiny bikes.

Sam summoned the courage she would need to shatter the woman’s world with the news she’d come to deliver.

When she emerged from the SUV, the woman’s eyes got big with recognition that quickly morphed into fear. If the first lady was at her house, she wasn’t bringing good news.

“No,” she said. “No.”

“Is there someone you could call to come be with you and your kids?” Sam asked.

“How can you be here already? I just called the police to say I couldn’t find my husband.”

“I wasn’t aware of that call, but I do have information about your husband.”

The kids, aware that something terrible was happening, toddled over to their mother and began to cry along with her.

“Please don’t tell me he’s dead. Please.”

“I’m so sorry,” Sam said.

The three of them wailed in perfect harmony that broke Sam’s already shattered heart all over again.

A woman came running across the street. “What’s going on? Cath… What’s wrong?”

“Tommy’s dead. She’s come to tell me he’s dead.”

“Oh my God.”

“How?” Cath asked, looking up at Sam with utter devastation.

“He overdosed.”

Her face lost all expression. “No. He doesn’t do drugs.”

She decided not to tell her about the sex. She’d find out about that soon enough. “His friend Bryan Smith survived. He told us they were approached by a man in a bar at a hotel downtown and invited to a party upstairs. Once they were there, they were given the pills that killed Mr. O’Donald and Mr. Myer.”