“I’ve got to go. Talk to you shortly.” She closed the phone and returned it to her pocket. “What’s the verdict?”

“He said to give you the video now, but he wants a copy of the warrant on file. Just in case.”

Under normal circumstances, Sam would ask just in case of what. But these were not normal circumstances, and she’d take the cooperation where she could get it. “I’ll get it to you as soon as I have it.”

“Come into the office.” He led her to the back of the building where a hole-in-the-wall served as the “office.” From a machine located in the back corner, he removed a CD that he placed into a case and handed over to her. “The last twenty-four hours,” he said, as he placed a new recordable CD into the machine.

“Would you mind signing something to indicate that you turned it over to me?”

“Um, sure, I guess.”

“I’m not going to haul your ass into court or anything.”

“So you say now.”

Sam shrugged to concede the point. For all she knew, her entire case could hinge on him, and she had no right making promises she might not be able to keep. From her back pocket she pulled out the notebook she carried with her at all times and scratched out a handwritten chain-of-custody note that she asked him to sign. “Print your name and phone number under your signature and date it for me if you would.”

He did as she asked and handed the notebook back to her. “Is your guy upstairs in trouble?”

“I don’t think so.” She stashed the notebook back in her pocket. “Thanks for your help.”

Tony handed her his business card. “Send me that warrant when you have it. Email is on the card.”

“I will. Thanks again.”

“I like him,” Tony said. “He’s a good guy and a great father to that little boy.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Sam left the office and went back upstairs to speak to Gonzo.

He must’ve heard her coming, because the door flew open. “What the hell took so long?”

“Good news, bad news. Which do you want first?”

His jaw clenched. “Bad.”

Sam would’ve made the same choice in his situation. “Someone disabled the security camera yesterday.”

“Fuck,” he said in a low growl. “So what’s the good news?”

“The super gave me the video.” She held up the CD. “We might be able to see who did it.”

“But there’s no proof I never left the building last night except for my word and Christina’s.”

“At the moment, no.” Before he could flip out, she added, “We’re on it. Freddie and the rest of the squad are ripping up the rest of her life. If there’s someone else with motive, we’ll find them.”

“And what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Any second now it’s going to get out that she’s dead, and the media will be on me like white on rice.”

“Which is why you’re getting out of here while the getting is still good. Go to your parents’ place or to Christina’s family. Go somewhere else until this dies down.”

“And that won’t look like I’m running away?”

“It’s a holiday, for Christ’s sake. People have plans on holidays. Go have dinner with your parents and act like everything is normal. If you stay here, you’re going to get stuck here when the story hits the news.”

“My parents invited us home for the weekend, but we wanted to spend our anniversary alone,” he said grimly. “I can’t tell you how much I wish I’d gone.”

“I wish you had too.”

Chapter Five

Gonzo went into the bedroom he shared with Christina and began throwing clothes into a duffel bag he’d pulled from under the bed. He’d heard the saying “coming out of your skin” throughout his life, but he’d never experienced the sensation himself until now. He literally felt like he was going to implode.

“Tommy.” The sound of his name coming from the woman he loved had him spinning around to face her. “Take a minute. Try to calm down.”

“Where’s Alex?”

“I put him down for a nap.”

“We don’t have time for a nap.”

She came to him, resting her hands on his chest where she could no doubt feel his heart racing. “Breathe.”

“I can’t.”

“Try. For me.”

He drew in a rattling deep breath and released it.

“Do it again.”

“Chris—”

“Do it again.”

Resigned, he did as she asked.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t kill Lori.”

“Everyone will think I did.”

“Let them think what they will. We know the truth. We know it, Tommy.”

“I wanted to.”

“You wanted to what?”

“Kill her. When I found out she had her lawyers looking into me, investigating me, looking for something she could use against me. Then when she discovered my connection to Morton and went to the media with it, I wanted to kill her.”

“Thinking that doesn’t make you a murderer.”

“I told Sam, last night when she called... I told her I wanted to wrap my hands around Lori’s neck and squeeze the life out of her.”

Christina gasped. “You said that out loud? To Sam?”

“Yeah.” A wave of nausea had him swallowing repeatedly. “I was blowing off steam. How could I know that someone was going to actually do that to her?”

“Oh my God, Tommy. No wonder she came here thinking it was possible.”

“She knows I didn’t actually do it, Christina! You know I didn’t!”

“What if she tells someone you said that?”

“She won’t.”

“How do you know that for sure?”

“I know it. I know her. She’s not going to tell anyone.”

“If it’s her ass in the sling, she’ll protect herself before she’ll protect you.”

He shook his head. “If you think that, you don’t know her at all. She always protects her team before herself. Always. I’m not worried about her telling anyone. She’s one of the few people in this world I trust completely.” He kissed her forehead and held her close for a minute he didn’t have to spare. “We gotta get out of here. Sam’s right about what’ll happen when they release Lori’s name to the media.”

Her hands trembled as she gathered her hair into a ponytail. He hated that he’d caused her such distress. “We’ll be okay, babe,” he said with more confidence than he had. “As long as we stick together, it’ll be okay.”

“I’ll pack for Alex.” She turned and left the room, crossing the hall to the baby’s room.

Gonzo sat on the bed and dropped his head into his hands. How in the hell had everything gotten so fucked up so fast? He should’ve disclosed the connection to Judge Morton. He knew that. But he’d been so desperate to gain custody of Alex he’d kept his mouth shut, taking any advantage he could get. And now it had blown up in his face in every possible way.

Lori was dead. Jesus. After all she’d done to clean up her life in the last year, who would want to kill her? Was it someone from her past life as an addict? Had she met someone new and ended up in an abusive relationship? It was time to stop being freaked out and start acting like the detective he was.

His phone rang and he withdrew it from his pocket. He didn’t recognize the Virginia number, but he took the call anyway, despite the pang of fear that struck him at the possibility of more bad news. “Gonzales.”

“It’s Leon Morton.”

Gonzo automatically sat up straighter. “Oh, Your Honor.”

“I’m sorry to disturb you on a holiday.”

He didn’t mention that he’d already been thoroughly disturbed. “No problem.”

“I wanted to get in touch to apologize.” The judge’s speech was halting, as if he were pained. “I hate that this has happened, that you’re in such a tough spot.”

He had no idea how tough that spot had become overnight. “Thank you, sir, but it’s not your fault. I should’ve said something.”

“One of us should have. I was naïve to think it wouldn’t come out.”

“As was I,” Gonzo said.

“I wouldn’t change a thing about the outcome. Custody was granted to the right parent.”