Page 22 of The Wolves Come at Night

“Thierry. Tomorrow, then.”

“Au revoir, chérie.”

She hung up feeling lighter than she had in weeks. Despite what she was telling herself—and Baldwin—aloud, she had been contemplating Florian’s offer since he made it. At some point, she needed to make a decision and settle herself, once and for all. For a decisive woman, the events of the past few years had shaken her to the core. That’s what the Pretender’s reign of terror hath wrought—she didn’t trust herself anymore. And that was a dangerous place to be.

She called Sam on her way back to the office but got her best friend’s voicemail.

“Give me a call. I want to talk to you about something.”

The phone rang before she hit Ellington Parkway.

“Hey, cookie! Sorry, I was in the backyard with Thor. That silly dog misses his daddy, who is off on yet another protection detail. We just got back to the city, and Xander’s gone for at least a week or two. How are you?”

“Good.”

“Uh-oh. Do I detect a tone?”

Taylor laughed. “You know me too well. No. No tone. Just heading back to the office after a whirlwind twenty-four hours on a case. Murder-suicide. Case closed.”

“Oh, the Georgia Wray murder? That girl was going places. I was sick when I heard.”

“Everyone is. Her boyfriend killed her, we have a witness, but then the boyfriend ended up dead at his place. GSW to the face.”

“Ugh.”

“Yeah. So now I traverse the lonely road from your former office back to my new one, and the boring world that has become my life. Fox says hi, by the way.”

“I’m worried about you. You sound more than bored.”

“Don’t be. I’m taking steps.”

“Do tell.”

“First, I’m going to have lunch with that guy from Macallan. And then I’m going to take Baldwin to a beach somewhere and bang his brains out for a few days.”

Sam’s throaty laugh spilled into her ear, maybe her smile. “You’re incorrigible. But yes, a little getaway is just what the doctor ordered. So you’re really thinking of quitting?”

“Retiring has a much nicer ring to it. Take the twenty and run.”

“But that would mean staying for a few more years.”

“I can manage.”

“No, you can’t. You’re sad. And that is awful for everyone around you. Who cares about the pension and benefits? You’ve got enough if you need it.”

“I’ll never take my parents’ money, Sam. You know that.”

“And there’s also that tall drink of water you’re bedding down with. He’s got some income, too.”

“If I’m not taking it from my parents, you think I’d take it from my partner? Hells to the no.”

Sam laughed. “I’m just saying, it’s not like you’re going to starve. And this new gig would pay. Get out while the getting’s good. That’s what the rest of the world is doing. The Great Resignation, they’re calling it.”

“I will definitely not be making any decisions because of the downstream fallout of the pandemic. This is about me. What I want, and what I don’t. And I do not want to be a captain. I’ve never wanted this job. I am not suited for it.”

There, she’d said it aloud, for the first time, too. She was being snappish, but Sam could take it. They’d been best friends since they were little girls; their bond was deeper than any sister, because they’d chosen each other as blood.

Sam, recognizing the moment, whooped. “There’s my girl. Why don’t you just go straight to Huston’s office and lay down your badge and gun while you’re all tuned up?”