“Thanks. I’m ready to get back to it.” She was insistent that they not use flashing lights or anything else to get her through the traffic faster. The last thing she needed was her colleagues seeing her getting special treatment. She could only wonder what many of them thought of the first lady continuing to work for the department. If there were any sort of major objections, she was unaware of them and happy to stay that way.

Her first stop was at the morgue to check in with Lindsey.

She jumped up to greet Sam with a hug. “Hail to the queen! She’s back!”

“Hush with that foolishness. What goes on around here?”

“The usual nonsense. I heard Ramsey is back today, too.”

“He is? Ugh, I hadn’t heard that.”

“Yep. Apparently, it happened overnight. The union filed suit to reverse his termination, and the judge granted a stay, allowing him to come back to work until the case is heard.”

“That’s just great. This is why we have people on this force who’d ignore a kidnapped kid for eleven years, because we have no way to get rid of the bad ones.”

“I still think we’ll get rid of him,” Lindsey said. “It’s just going to take longer than we’d like.”

“Him spending even one more day on this job is too much.”

“I agree, and a lot of other people do, too. From what I’ve heard, there’s an uproar over allowing him back, so we’re not the only ones who feel this way.”

“I guess that’s something, anyway.”

“What’s the latest from the marshals on the trafficking ring?”

“They’re still working it, tracking down kids who’ve been missing for years.”

“Of all the things we deal with, I think that might be the one thing that’s more revolting than murder.”

“Agreed. Well, I’d better get cracking. Got a long to-do list for today.”

“Don’t do too much too soon.”

“Yes, Mom. Thanks for the welcome back.”

“Glad to have you. It’s not the same around here without you.”

“That’s nice to hear. I’m sure plenty of people were happy to have a break from me.”

“Not that I heard.”

As one of Sam’s closest friends at work, Lindsey wouldn’t hear if people were sick of Sam. “I’ll check in later.”

“Have a great day!”

“Thanks, you too.”

Sam made her way—slowly—to the pit and stopped short at the sight of balloons floating above the cubicles. “Uh, what’s all that?”

Her entire squad was there to greet her with applause and a huge WELCOME BACK banner to accompany the balloons. They’d also brought in coffee and doughnuts to mark the occasion. “Wow, thanks, guys. You missed me.” She pretended to dab at tears. “You really missed me.”