And then the recent rape/murder investigation had led directly to Ramsey’s son, Shane, forcing Jake to make the call to kill the son of one of his detectives to save the woman he’d taken hostage. Nowhere in the academy or all the training he’d received since then was that potential scenario covered.

He’d had nightmares almost every night since that dreadful day. They ranged from him ordering the shooting of other cops, people he loved, even his own wife. Nothing he’d encountered on the job had rattled him the way this had, and that was saying something. He’d be haunted for the rest of his life by those two minutes in Rock Creek Park.

To keep from going mad while on the mandatory ten-day suspension while the shooting was investigated, he was working to find retired Captain Tom Rosa, who’d disappeared off the face of the earth, or so it seemed. No one had seen or heard from him in years, and he was one of three people not yet interviewed who’d held the rank of captain at the time that now-disgraced former Lieutenant Leonard Stahl had been faking investigatory reports.

One of the three was Skip Holland, who was now deceased, but never would’ve done it for any reason, and the other was Paul Conklin, their former deputy chief, who’d also left the department in disgrace when it was discovered he knew who’d shot Skip and sat on the info for years. Conklin had sworn he had no other secrets, but Jake didn’t believe a word that rat bastard said anymore. Jake was trying to find Rosa, mostly to eliminate him as a suspect.

Someone had archived those reports, and Jake had a feeling the trail would lead straight back to Paul Conklin. Before he talked to Conklin, though, he wanted to find Rosa. He was on his way to see retired medical examiner Dr. Norman Morganthau, who’d once been one of Rosa’s closest friends on the job. If anyone would know where to find Rosa, Norm would.

Norm had been happy to hear from Jake and had invited him to come out for a chat when Jake said he had something he wanted to discuss with him. He hadn’t told him what because he wanted to see Norm’s reaction when he mentioned Rosa’s name.

The pleasant ride to Annapolis served as a reminder of how nice it was to occasionally get out of DC. He and Skip used to joke about why anyone would want to live outside their beloved District. God, he missed that son of a bitch. Even after suffering a devastating injury, Skip had been larger than life. Losing him had been a blow Jake had yet to recover from.

And now the Holland family had lost Spencer, as well.

Jake was feeling philosophical in the wake of the shooting and the losses of people such as Skip and Detective Arnold and now Spencer Radcliffe. He hadn’t known Spencer well, but he had spent time with him at various events involving the Holland family. As one of Skip’s closest friends, he’d attended Spencer and Angela’s wedding and felt a deep sense of grief for Angela and her kids.