“You said it.” She flipped open her phone and put through the call to the captain, who didn’t pick up. So she called her uncle Joe.

“Happy Boxing Day,” he said. “I’m still high off my night in the Lincoln Bedroom.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed that.”

“It was the highlight of our lives. Thank you for the honor.”

“I’m hoping you’ll remember that and how much you love me when I tell you why I’m calling.”

“Oh, come on, Sam! I was having a good day. I saw my niece on the news with her family, walking across the White House lawn to Marine One, and that put me in a damned good mood.”

“I’m glad you’re in a good mood, because I need to talk to you about that order you gave concerning Stahl’s cold cases.”

“What about it?” he asked, all hints of frivolity gone from his stern tone.

“It’s like this… And I did try to call the captain first. When we received that order, Detective McBride was already far along on an eleven-year-old missing-person case involving a teenage girl. For Jeannie, it became a matter of deciding whether she could live with herself if she didn’t see it through to completion.”

Sam grimaced at Nick, who grinned at the face she made.

“With that in mind,” Sam continued, “Detective McBride is in Richmond with my blessing and believes she’s located Daniella Brown, the friend of Carisma Deasly’s mother who went missing around the same time as Carisma and was widely believed by Carisma’s mother and others who knew them both to be involved in the girl’s disappearance.”

“What are you asking me?”

“I’d like to bring in Jesse Best and let the U.S. Marshals take it from here. With your permission, of course.”

“Now you’re asking for permission, Lieutenant?”

“Yes, sir, and apologizing at the same time. I hope you can understand the way Detective McBride and I felt, knowing she might be close to getting answers for a family that has waited too long for them.”

“I do understand that, but I had a very good reason for telling you to hold off.”

“And I respect that, as does Detective McBride. We aren’t looking to bring any more negative PR down on the department. That’s why we’re asking to call in the marshals. We’re more than fine with them getting the credit for anything that happens next.”

“I’ll authorize the call to the marshals if Detective McBride—and I assume Detective O’Brien—aren’t part of the raid.”

“Understood.”

“I hope you do understand, Lieutenant, that there’re only so many hits this department can take under my watch before the mayor, the city council and the residents begin calling for new leadership. I assume that’s the last thing you’d want to see happen.”

“The very last thing, sir.”