“Thanks for taking one for the team.”

“I’d say it was no problem, but…”

Sam smiled. “You’re the best.”

“How’re you all doing?”

“Minute to minute.”

“Hang in there. Call if I can do anything for you.”

“Thanks, Chief.”

Roberto and Angel came through the line a short time later. Sam, who’d put them on her list knowing he’d want to come, introduced them to her family and leaned over to hug Roberto and then stood upright to hug Angel.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” Sam said to the pretty young woman who’d shown remarkable courage and resilience during the sniper investigation the year before.

Angel smiled and patted her still-flat abdomen. “We’re so excited.”

“I’m excited for you.”

Roberto crooked a finger to bring Sam down to him. “I hear Riggs Lawton’s wife is up to her eyeballs in the business. For what it’s worth.”

Stunned, Sam said, “It’s worth a ton. She played dumb with us.”

“Take a closer look at her.”

“If this pans out, I’m getting you a key to the city.”

Roberto smiled. “Whatever I can do for my lady cop.”

“Thank you.”

“You got it, friend.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

More than a few people seemed starstruck to meet her and Nick, but they didn’t accommodate that nonsense. They accepted condolences and moved on to the next person.

Sam continued to scan the line for the man from the video from the hotel as new people arrived. She was watching so intently that she did a double take when she saw him, chatting with others in the line as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Excuse me,” she said to her family as she made a beeline for the man, moving as quickly as her healing hip and high heels would allow. When she reached him, she grabbed his arm and said, “Come with me without a fuss, or I’ll take you down right here.”

“Wait just a minute,” a woman with him said.

Sam turned her furious gaze on her. “Shut up, or I’ll arrest you, too.”

Everything around them went quiet as Sam dragged the man out of the line and headed for the door, where MPD officers were positioned. “Take him in and book him on first-degree murder charges.”

“What the fuck?” the man cried. “I didn’t kill anyone!”

The officers had him cuffed and on his way to a squad car in a matter of seconds, while the woman with him continued to scream for them to let him go.

“Take her, too.” Sam’s hands shook from the adrenaline rush. “Charge her with obstructing a homicide investigation.”

Freddie, Gonzo and Malone, who’d remained in the funeral home after greeting the family, came over to her.

“That’s the guy from the hotel. Angela thought she might recognize him, but she wasn’t sure from where. I was watching the line to see if he was stupid enough to show up. The woman with him raised such a stink, I took her into custody, too.”