“That’s what I hear. I didn’t get a good vibe from her, but I hate what they’re putting her—and her family—through.”

“Terry said the statement she issued, as well as Nick’s in support of her, helped somewhat.”

“Does he think she’ll be confirmed?”

“Yeah, they’ve got the votes, so she just has to endure the rest of the hearing.”

“Would they be doing this to a dude?” Sam asked. “Tearing apart his ex-wife in ‘service to the country’?”

“Probably not like this, but it’s high time we had a female in one of the top jobs. I give Nick props for making that happen.”

“I just hope he doesn’t live to regret it.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know. Just that strange vibe I got from her. Nick says I have to give her a chance because my ten seconds in her presence isn’t enough to form an opinion.”

“That may be true, but that gut of yours is rather legendary.”

“Which is why I worry.” Sam shrugged. “But I have bigger concerns today, such as nailing a rapist-murderer, and with that, I must get to it. Have a good day.”

“You, too. Give ’em hell.”

“That’s the plan.”

Sam arrived to unusual quiet in the pit. “What’s up?”

Gonzo turned to her, his expression grim. “We had to bounce Ramsey.”

“What? Why?”

“It came right from Forrester. We didn’t have enough to hold him, and he didn’t want to jeopardize future prosecution. Yada, yada.”

“That’s fucking bullshit!”

“You know that, and I know that…”

Sam was fuming.

“What’s the plan, boss?” Cruz asked when he joined them.

“Since he won’t give us a sample willingly, and the judge wants more before they’ll give us a warrant, we’ll stalk him until we get a sample of his DNA. Anything he discards is open game, no warrant required.”

“Don’t you think his father has schooled him on how to avoid that?” Gonzo asked.

“Probably, but even people who know better screw up. The second he does, we’ll be right there to nab him.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

With overtime authorized by the chief, Sam organized her squad and a team of ten Patrol officers into twenty-four-hour shifts to keep eyes on Shane Ramsey. Because she was still on limited duty, she was unable to be one of the officers following him, but that didn’t stop her from joining Gonzo and Freddie while they took the daytime shift watching the garage where he worked. Freddie had driven his dad’s SUV that day, which made it possible for Sam to go with them. Gonzo’s Charger was still off-limits to her healing hip.

“This is gonna be deadly boring,” Freddie said as he peered through binoculars.

“Boring but necessary,” Sam said.

“Reminds me of what I was doing a year ago today,” Gonzo said from the passenger seat.