“I can’t be as hands-on with this one as I’d like to be, so nothing to worry about where I’m concerned.”

“I will always worry where you’re concerned.”

“Try to get some rest. I’ll be home to change in the morning before the funeral.”

“See you then. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She was about to return to the interrogation room when Kevin Kavanaugh came into the pit, loaded for bear.

“You’re jumping the gun. We can’t pull this together tonight.”

“You have to, or we’ll take care of it ourselves.”

“You have no idea what you’re getting into going after Vincent.”

“All I know is that when I start rounding up his dealers, he’ll be in the wind so fast, we’ll never see him again. And I have to round up the dealers now, before some other innocent person is killed by these people.”

Kavanaugh tugged at his hair in obvious frustration. “I’ve heard you’re impetuous, but I never took you for a fool.”

That stung, coming from Derek’s brother. “If trying to save other families from going through what mine and many others are makes me an impetuous fool, then I can live with that.”

Cruz, Gonzo and Green came into the pit, stopping short at the sight of her in a standoff with the DEA agent.

O’Brien and Carlucci, wearing more makeup than Sam had ever seen on her, came in next.

“I was on a date,” Carlucci said with a grin and a shrug.

“We’ve got work to do,” Sam said to Kavanaugh. “Are you in or out?”

“I need at least two hours to get my team in place.”

“Go to it. I’ll call you when we’re ready.”

He gave her another filthy look and then stormed off.

“Making new friends, LT?” Gonzo asked.

“Everywhere I go.”

“What’s going on?” Cruz asked.

“We’ve broken this thing wide open, and tonight, my friends, we’re bringing down a murdering kingpin.”

It took until four o’clock Monday morning before all the players were in place to execute their three-pronged operation.

Sam and her team were positioned outside Vincent’s home, which was ironically two blocks from where Alden and Aubrey had lived with their parents. The house, which could only be called a mansion, was now surrounded by SWAT and Special Response Team officers, awaiting the word to go in.

They’d been surprised to find no sign of security outside the home, which had given her pause. Why wasn’t he surrounded by a fortress?

When she posed that question to Malone, he said, “Hubris. He thinks he’s untouchable. Who would look for a drug kingpin in a regular neighborhood?”

Narcotics detectives had begun to round up the dealers at the addresses Foster had provided. One after another, they were arrested. Knowing they—and the poison they were peddling on Vincent’s behalf—were off the streets was a huge relief to Sam.

“Massive amounts of product found at each dealer’s house,” Malone reported. “HazMat will be busy.”

Not only would that product now be off the streets, but it would help them build the case against Vincent. “How much you want to bet it’s from the same batch that killed Spencer and the others?”