Page 93 of State of the Union (First Family 3)

“She seemed fine this morning,” Cam said. “Tired, but otherwise good.”

“Make sure she doesn’t overdo it,” Sam said. “We don’t want any setbacks.”

“Will that apply to you, too?” Freddie asked.

“Shut your face. We’re talking about Gigi, not me.”

“Got it.”

“Go back to work, and let’s do this again tomorrow. Same time.”

“We’ll be here.”

“Jeannie, can you stay for a minute?”

“Sure.”

After the others had left, Jeannie pulled up a chair to Sam’s bedside.

“I heard you’re taking the news Best brought yesterday pretty hard.”

Jeannie shrugged. “Just another day at the office.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t downplay it. It’s a big deal.”

“I’m getting nothing but accolades for the bust, but I’m not proud of how long it took us to find Carisma, or how many others had to suffer because Stahl didn’t care about her.”

“I hate how this happened. All we can do now is our best to make things right.”

“Our best is never going to be good enough for the Carismas of the world or their families. I’m having a serious existential crisis over this, Lieutenant. To do this job day in and day out, to see what I see and experience what I do, I need to believe we’re the good guys, but to find out that sometimes we’re not… I’m sick over it.”

“I know,” Sam said, sighing. “I am, too. I was so afraid my dad played a role in this.”

“He didn’t. His name was nowhere in the files. There was a Captain Rosa, who was the chief of d’s at that time.”

“Rosa,” Sam said. “I’ve heard the name, but I don’t remember much about him.”

“I want to do some digging on him.”

“Do it quietly. Report anything you find to me, and we’ll figure out a plan together.”

“If we find out that retired sergeants, lieutenants, captains, deputy chiefs and chiefs intentionally ignored cases like Carisma’s, I’m going to want to ruin them.”

Sam had never seen Jeannie as fierce or as determined. “If they did, I’ll help you ruin them.”

Sam was sent home on New Year’s Eve, frustrated that her team was no closer to a suspect in Audrey Olsen’s case than they’d been days ago.

Scotty, Eli and the twins surrounded her with love and flowers and books and kept her company through an afternoon of movies and popcorn in the theater. She refused to take to her bed, even though she was exhausted and in pain.

The twins were extra snuggly with her, seeming relieved to have her home. She gave them her full attention, which she was so rarely able to do.

After dinner, they played a fierce game of Candy Land that Scotty won after accusing Sam of cheating—again. “You have to watch her,” he told the twins. “She sends you to get her a drink and then stacks the cards so you get sent all the way back to the start.”

Sam shook her head as the twins giggled. “Who do you believe? Me or him?”

“Him,” Nick and Eli said as the twins giggled some more.

She loved to hear them laugh and to see them enjoying the family they’d cobbled together after their parents’ tragic deaths. And now that they’d fended off the custody suit from their money-hungry relatives, Sam felt like they could relax and look forward to the future together.