The comment hit Sam like a punch to the gut. “Gonzo… I’m sorry. It never occurred to me. If you want to go back to the house—”

“Stop. I’m fine. I’m just saying it’s a reminder of what we were doing.”

“I can’t believe it’s a year already,” Freddie said. “I woke up thinking about that day.”

“I wake up thinking about it every day,” Gonzo said. “And before you jump all over that, it’s not as bad as it was. Mostly, I try to remember the good stuff and not how it ended.”

Sam had no idea what to say to that.

Apparently, Freddie didn’t either.

“I’m okay, you guys,” Gonzo said. “I swear.”

“Would you tell us if you weren’t?” Freddie asked.

“I would. I promise. If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s to ask for help when I need it. That was a bitter lesson, but one that’ll stay with me.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Sam said. “We’re all so driven to prove to the world we can handle anything that we forget to be human sometimes.”

“True, and we all know how trying to muscle through it went for me,” Gonzo said. “I’m lucky to still have a job and a family after the dust settled.”

“You still have both because we all love you,” Sam said. “And would do anything for you.”

“That’s what got me through.”

“We’re going to have to be tough for Jeannie over the next few months,” Freddie said. “Word on the street isn’t great.”

“So I heard,” Sam said, “but whatever. They can fuck off and deal with it. There’s a new deputy chief in town, and she’s going to be incredible.”

At three thirty, they handed off the watch of Shane Ramsey to Sam’s friend Officer Charles and her partner, Officer Dickinson, with specific instructions on what to do if they saw him discard anything.

“You have gloves and evidence bags?” Sam asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Officer Charles said. She’d made a friend for life in Sam after the incredible job she did planning Skip Holland’s police funeral.

“When you hand off to the next shift, make sure to ask them the same thing.”

“We will,” Officer Charles said. “Give our congratulations to Deputy Chief McBride. She’s such an inspiration to me and other young Black female officers.”

“I’ll tell her. It’ll mean a lot to her.” Sam glanced toward the garage where Shane had been working all day. “He knows we’re watching him. Be safe out here, and don’t forget what we suspect he’s done.”

“We’ll be careful.”

While Gonzo and Freddie headed for the SUV, Sam paused as a thought occurred to her. “Have you taken the detective’s exam, Officer Charles?”