“Thanks, guys.”

“No problem, ma’am,” Vernon said.

“This is pretty sweet,” Freddie said of the Secret Service SUV.

“Don’t get used to it. I’ll be back to driving you in no time.”

“I plan to enjoy this while it lasts. I bet Vernon will be more sympathetic to my regular need to eat than you are.”

“His regular need to eat happens hourly, Vernon, so don’t be too sympathetic.”

Vernon cackled with laughter.

“Don’t ruin it for me,” Freddie said. “So, what’s the plan with Hambly?”

“To ask all the same questions again. And then we’ll take our show on the road and talk to Woo’s friends. I never got to interview them the first time around, so I’ll start fresh.”

“If we’re going to be dealing with grieving friends and family all day, I’ll need food. Lots of it.”

“You see what I deal with, Vernon?”

“I see it, and I empathize. Young Jimmy is equally ravenous.”

“And does he eat nothing but crap and not gain a pound, like my partner?”

“Yep. Life isn’t fair.”

“I say that every day.”

“We can hear you,” Freddie said for himself and Jimmy, who was laughing in the front seat.

“Good, then hear this—your disgusting diet will catch up to you someday, and I’m living for that day.”

“Don’t be a jealous cow, Sam. I’ve told you before it’s not a good look on you.”

Vernon and Jimmy both cracked up.

Sam smiled at her partner, thrilled to be back to doing what they did together after weeks of being sidelined. This was what she’d needed to set things right in her world—a case to sink her teeth into and some bickering with her partner. “How about our girl Jeannie, huh?”

“I’m so thrilled for her. But I can’t help but wonder why the mayor didn’t ask you.”

“She did. Twice. I turned her down both times. Can you imagine me in that job? I’d lose my mind. Three weeks of convalescence leave nearly wrecked me. I was going crazy wanting to get back in the game. Being stuck behind a desk is my idea of hell.”

“It’d be mine, too. Do you think Jeannie will be okay with it?”

“Maybe not a couple of months ago, but things have changed. Don’t let on that I told you, but she’s expecting her first baby, and this comes at a good time. It’ll get her off the streets and into a job with more regular hours.”

“That’s great news. No one deserves all these good things more than she does.”