Until now.

As Stahl readied for battle, Sam prepared for the worst. If her life ended today at his hands, she could only hope that Nick would know that her last thoughts had been of him.

* * *

Captain Malone drove Gonzo and Farnsworth to MacArthur Boulevard. Gonzo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sam’s car parked at the curb.

“Thank God,” Farnsworth said, the first words any of them had spoken since they left HQ. “Let’s get SWAT out here.”

“All due respect, sir,” Malone said, “I’d like to know what we’re dealing with before we decide what we need.”

“I want her out of there,” Farnsworth snapped back.

“We all do, Joe. But we’ve got to do this right. We’ve got to protect her and the rest of our team.”

“Let’s go take a look.”

Gonzo got out of the car and followed them up the sidewalk, glancing around at the other nearby houses. Ever since he’d been shot, he was constantly worried about it happening again. You never knew who was aiming for you.

On the Springers’ stoop, they glanced inside through the glass windows that framed the black door.

“Oh, Jesus.” Malone pointed to the feet and pool of blood they could see on the foyer floor. He stood up taller, tipping his head down trying to get a better look. “It’s the maid.”

“Have you seen what you need to see?” Farnsworth asked.

“Make the call,” Malone said to Gonzo.

They went down the stairs and tried to see in the basement windows, which were covered by blinds.

“Someone needs to tell Nick,” Farnsworth said grimly as they returned to the car.

“I’ll call Christina,” Gonzo said. “She’ll know how to get through to him.”

“Do you think she’s already dead in there?” Farnsworth asked, seeming older and more defeated than Gonzo had ever seen him.

He’d watched Sam grow up. Something like this would hit him even harder than the rest of them. And then Gonzo thought of Sam’s father and had to swallow a growing lump of fear that settled in his throat. What would any of them do without Sam Holland at the center of their lives?

Before he could let the panic get the better of him, he made the call to Dispatch asking for SWAT. Then he called Christina. “Hey, baby. I need a favor.”

“Sure, what’s up?” He tried not to notice the unusually chilly tone of her voice. She was mad at him for going back to work before the doctor said it was okay.

“I need you to get in touch with Nick for me. Sam’s in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“We believe she’s being held hostage at the Springers’ house.”

“Where all the kids were killed?”

“Same place.”

“Oh my God, Tommy. Is she...”

“We don’t know anything yet. Her car is parked outside, the maid is dead on the floor inside and no one has heard from Sam in more than an hour. We’re operating under the assumption that she’s in there and being held against her will.”

“What am I supposed to tell him?”

“I would just say we’re not sure yet what’s going on, but we think she’s being held hostage.”

“He’ll want to come there.”

“The Secret Service won’t let him anywhere near here.”

“He’ll lose his mind when he hears this. There’s nothing else you can tell me?”

“We’re doing everything we can. That’s all I can tell you right now.”

“I’ll make the call. Keep me posted? Please?”

“I’ll try.”

“Tommy.”

“What, baby?”

“Please don’t get hurt again. I don’t think I could take it.”

“I won’t. Love you.” Gonzo didn’t care that his captain and chief could hear him. He’d recently learned a hard lesson on how easily and quickly his life could be taken from him. He’d never again worry about such trivial things as his superiors hearing him tell his fiancée he loved her.

“I love you too.”

Gonzo ended that call and placed another to Cruz. “You need to get over to the Springers’ house on MacArthur,” Gonzo said when Freddie took the call. “They’ve got Sam in there.”

“Who does?”

“We’re not really sure yet, but the maid is dead on the floor inside the front door, and Sam’s car is parked at the curb. No one has heard from her in more than an hour.”

“Shit.” Since Cruz rarely swore, that said it all. “How do you know she’s in there?”

“We don’t know for sure, but we’re operating under that assumption.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Call the rest of the squad, will you? I don’t want to put it on the radio.”

“Yeah, I will. Gonzo...”

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know anything.”

“I’m coming.”

* * *

Marissa pulled back the blinds to peek outside. “There’re cops out there, Leonard.”

“Close the blinds and come away from the window,” Stahl said.

“I just want to see what they’re doing.”

“Marissa, do what I tell you to!”

“Don’t snap at me. You wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t called you, and you certainly wouldn’t have her without me.”

“Shut your mouth and come away from that window. I’m in charge now.”

“The hell you are! This is my house and my plan.”

With speed and dexterity Sam wouldn’t have thought him capable of, Stahl raised a nine-millimeter handgun and shot her in the gut.

Marissa gasped as she went down, a look of shock on her face as a gurgling sound came from her mouth. The gut shot had been intentional. He didn’t want to kill her instantly. He wanted to make her suffer. She whimpered pathetically, but Sam didn’t have an ounce of sympathy for her. That’s what happened when you got in bed with the devil.

The blast, occurring three feet from Sam’s head, was deafening. Her ears rang and the spots before her eyes became brighter. She shook off the shock to take note of what Stahl was doing.

He pulled a roll of something that looked like wire from a duffel bag. Then he grabbed a pair of work gloves and put them on. Carrying the spool of wire, he approached Sam.

She curbed her natural impulse to shy away from him. In fact, she refused to look at him, even when he grabbed her chin and tried to force her to.

“You know what I hate most about you?” he asked, his breath hot and moist against her face.

Sam stayed focused on a picture of what looked like the Rocky Mountains that hung on the wall.

He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled hard. “Look at me when I talk to you!”

She remained stubbornly focused on the picture.

He pulled her hair until tears came to her eyes, but she never looked away from the picture as she imagined cool mountain air, crunchy snow beneath her feet and Nick on skis. Did he like to ski? She wasn’t sure, and she hated that she didn’t know, that they’d never gotten around to talking about skiing.

She’d sucked at it the two times she’d tried it.

“Are you listening to me?” Stahl roared as he slapped her hard across the other side of her face. “I fucking hate you because you think you’re better than everyone else.”

Iam better. I’m better than you ever dreamed of being.

“You showed up right out of the academy acting like a hotshot because of who your father was—and don’t get me started on him. He had his dick so far up Farnsworth’s ass, and everybody knew it. How else do you think he made it to deputy chief? Someone must’ve been seriously pissed about that to shoot him.”

Sam wanted to ask him if he was that someone, but again, she wasn’t going to play his game. Not now or ever.

As he ranted about her father, he began wrapping the wire around her. Her heart skipped a beat and a bead of sweat ran down her back when she glanced down to discover it was razor wire.

“And then they give you my command. Tell me something. How long have you been fucking the chief? Has it been since you were a kid? Is that why he looks at you like you hung the moon? Do you have a magic pussy or something? I wish I had the time or the desire to find out, but the thought of fucking you makes me want to puke.”