Page 60 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

“No, what?”

“Ramsey’s packing up his stuff. Farnsworth fired him.”

“What?”

“Crime Scene was able to tie him to the vandalism in your office. He’s also being charged with malicious mischief.”

“I need a moment to process this dream-come-true moment,” Sam said, although she was aware that Ramsey’s removal from the force didn’t end the threat he posed to her.

“I thought you might be pleased to hear this news.”

“How could he be so stupid as to think he wouldn’t get caught?”

“Just like Stahl making phone calls to the media from the lieutenants’ lounge.”

“Exactly! If I was going to come after a fellow officer,” Sam said, “I’d make sure no one could trace it back to me.”

“Like if you were, say, to investigate someone like Ramsey and discover he was having an affair?”

“Just like that, but that wasn’t me.”

“Of course it wasn’t,” Archie said, his eyes dancing with amusement. “You’re far too busy to involve yourself in such petty matters.”

“That’s right.”

“Whoever investigated him did us all a big favor. We don’t need his shit around here after everything with Stahl, Conklin and Hernandez.”

“True.”

“What’re you hearing about your dad’s case?”

“There’s an evidentiary hearing after the holidays.”

“You don’t have to testify, do you?”

“No, I was kept at arm’s length on that one. Avery Hill and the FBI are working with the U.S. Attorney.”

“That’s good. We can’t afford any conflicts of interest on something that hot.”

“Right.”

“They’re going down for it, Sam. Tell me you know that.”

“I do, but it’s weird how it matters so much less to me than it did when my dad was still alive. What difference does it make now that he’s gone?”

“It makes all the difference,” Archie said, all signs of amusement long gone. “What they did was monstrous, and they deserve to fry for it. And Conklin, sitting on what he knew for four years. It’s total bullshit.”

“Yeah, for sure.”

“None of us can possibly know how hard this is for you, but trust me when I tell you that just about everyone on this force wants justice for your dad.”

“That’s good to know. Means a lot to me.”

“We want justice for Steven Coyne, too.”

“I do, too. For both of them.”

Weeks later, Sam was still trying to get her head around the facts of the shooting that had left her dad a quadriplegic—and the connection to the drive-by shooting of his first partner twenty years earlier. All to protect a secret gambling ring run by City Councilman Roy Gallagher and his cohorts. And Paul Conklin, her dad’s successor as deputy chief, had known all along who was behind the shooting and had sat on the information while pretending to be a close friend to her dad. It was beyond outrageous.