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“Yes, it is, but all I can do is carry on and do the job and hope for the best.”
“No one would blame you if you called out sick today.”
“Can the president do that?”
“I would think the president can do whatever he wants.”
“That would just cause more speculation that I’m not courageous enough to show up after my military tried to overthrow me.”
“I suppose it would add to the chatter.”
“Why aren’t you getting ready for work?” he asked.
“I, um, well… I’m taking a small leave of absence.”
“What? Why? When did that happen?”
“Yesterday.”
“Start talking, Samantha.” He hated when she kept stuff from him, even if it was because he was having a hellish day. “And don’t leave anything out.”
“We caught a new case yesterday. Parents and four kids shot to death in their home. From what we’ve learned, they were a nice family with successful parents, lovely kids. A gun was left to make it look like the dad did it. It’s probably a case of murder-suicide, but we’re treating it like a possible homicide until we’re sure. Or, at least my squad will be doing that.”
“Without you.”
She nodded. “After we left the crime scene yesterday, I realized I was feeling off.”
“How so?”
“I was numb. I had no reaction to seeing four young kids dead in their beds. It was just another day on the job. No big deal. And when I asked Trulo why that might be, he said it could be because I didn’t take enough time off after Spencer died.” After a pause, she added, “You know how I was hell-bent on finding the person who sold him the laced pills.”
“And you didn’t take any time to grieve.”
“Something like that, although I didn’t think I would grieve him the way I did my dad, since we weren’t particularly close.”
“Sure you were. He was married to your sister for eight years, and she truly loved him. He was the father of your niece and nephew and part of your family. You were close to him.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. You didn’tlovehim the way you love Mike, but you were still close to him.”
“Something like that. It sort of threw me to realize that might be what was going on.”
Nick put his arm around her. “You’ve had a rough few months, babe. I’m not surprised it finally caught up to you.”
“I kind of am.”
“Because you always power through, but everyone has their limits, even a superwoman like you.”
“I hate having limits.”
Nick laughed as he put his arm around her. “Of course you do.”
She rested her head on his chest.
“What’re you going to do with your free time?”
“I have no freaking clue.”
