Page 126 of State of the Union (First Family 3)

“As real as it gets,” Sam said. “I believe people are born to do certain things. For some of us, it takes us a while to figure out what that thing is. I’ve always known what my thing is. From the time I was a little kid following my dad around, I wanted to do what he did. I wanted to find the killers and lock them up. It’s not just what I do, ma’am. It’s who I am. If I can’t do that job for the District, I’ll find somewhere that I can do it.”

Sam held the other woman’s gaze for a long moment, determined not to be the first to blink.

Brewster finally sighed and looked down at the table. “I figured it was worth one more shot before I moved on.”

“There’re many outstanding female officers in the department who could fill that role honorably,” Sam said. “I’d be happy to help you with a short list of candidates, including my own colleague in Homicide, Detective McBride.”

Brewster’s eyes lit up at the mention of Jeannie, the star of the moment. “Do you think she’d be interested?”

“I’d be delighted to ask her.”

“Please do that and get back to me, if you would. Even before the recent investigation that yielded such remarkable results, I was certainly familiar with Detective McBride’s work, as well as her resilience. Not to mention, I’d love to see a Black woman in a command position.”

“I’ll let you know what she says.” Sam glanced at Farnsworth and Malone, hoping they’d help to extricate her from the meeting so she could get back to work.

“Thank you so much for your time, Monique,” Farnsworth said. “We deeply appreciate your support.”

“Please get this guy.”

Sam gathered up the photos and put them back in her file folder. “We’ll do everything we can.”

She put through a call to Gonzo the second she stepped outside the mayor’s suite. “Green light on FDS. Get that moving with Lindsey and the lab.”

“What about Forrester?” he asked of the U.S. Attorney.

“The chief spoke with him about it. He said if Brewster okayed it, his team would accept any evidence it produces.” Before they’d gone to the mayor, they’d had to be certain the team prosecuting the case would be on board with the investigative tactic. “Give the go-ahead to the lab for a familial search. Tell them we have the signed exception from the mayor and will send it over as soon as I get back to the office.”

“I’m on it. Let’s hope it gets us something—and sooner rather than later.”

“Fingers and toes are crossed. Any word from Cruz and McBride?”

“Not yet.”

“If this woman is unhinged enough to throw a brick through a window, knowing there’re two cops inside, what’ll she do when she’s cornered?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Freddie and Jeannie sat at the kitchen table with Mrs. Patrick, who stared at her phone, seemingly without blinking.

“She always calls me right back. Always.”

“Are you able to track her?” Jeannie asked.

“I tried that. She’s turned off her location. She never does that, because she knows how I worry about her. Do you think something has happened to her?”

“I think she’s trying to avoid being arrested—again.”

“Cameron is trying to make her look bad to make himself feel better about dumping her right before their wedding.”

“Mrs. Patrick, there was no wedding. Cameron never asked her to marry him and had no intention of proposing.”

“You people need to leave my home. Clearly, you’re on the side of your colleague and are trying to make my daughter into something she isn’t. I thought he was such a nice young man.”

“He’s a very nice young man,” Jeannie said, “and your daughter threw a brick through his window last night, narrowly missing him and another officer who was with him.”

“You can’t prove it was her!”