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“I’m bursting with pride,” Sam said.
“Thank you all for being here this morning, whether you’re in the building or logged in remotely,” Jeannie said. “We’ve called this meeting to pass along important information about a former member of the department, Leonard Stahl.”
Sam appreciated that Jeannie didn’t give him the courtesy of referring to him by his rank. He didn’t deserve courtesy of any kind.
“Jeez,” Gonzo said. “What now?”
Sam’s team watched in stunned silence as Jeannie went through the presentation the commanders had been shown earlier and discussed the tip Captain Malone had received from a trusted source.
“We’ll be asking Detective Sergeant Tommy Gonzales, on behalf of Homicide, to lead the investigation along with Detective Erica Lucas from SVU and Lieutenant Max Haggerty from Crime Scene.
As Gonzo glanced at Sam, she gave him a smile and a thumbs-up.
“Holy crap,” Freddie uttered after the last photo had been shown. “He’s a freaking serial killer.”
Stahl was also facing numerous other charges for failing to perform even the most perfunctory investigations in several cases, as well as fabricating evidence that put an innocent man in prison for twenty years on bogus rape charges. “We don’t know for sure that he’s done any of this,” Sam said, “but if he did, we’ll nail his ass to the wall—again.”
Sam had no sooner said those words than Gonzo’s radio crackled to life with a call from Dispatch for Homicide detectives to report to a dormitory at the George Washington University on Foxhall Road Northwest for a student found dead in her room.
Chapter Two
Gonzo could see that Sam was deeply torn as their team mobilized to respond to the call at GW. “Get going,” he said to her. “We’ve got this.”
“I know.”
“You guys need a break. Enjoy it.”
“Okay, I’m leaving. Keep me posted?”
“Nope.”
“Come on!”
“Go be on vacation, you whacko.”
“I’m noting this insubordination on your next review.”
“Whatever. Cameron, stay here and work the social media and online angles. We’ll send you the names. Also, get whatever Deputy Chief McBride has on this latest situation with Stahl and start to work on a plan of attack. Gigi and Dani, go on home. The rest of you, let’s go.” Gigi was on administrative leave until her case wound through the Internal Affairs process, and Dani worked overnight.
Gonzo could feel Sam watching them as they left the pit and headed for the morgue exit to tend to yet another murder victim, this one a college student. The younger ones were the worst, and they’d just closed a case that had included four dead kids.
“Why’d you leave Cam behind?” Cruz asked.
“He’s no good to us in the field until this shit with Gigi and IAB is worked out.”
“That’s true. He’s a red-hot mess over it.”
“I feel awful for them,” Gonzo said. “They’ve been so happy together, and now this.”
“Hopefully, it’ll blow over soon,” Cruz said.
“You ready to lead another case?” Gonzo asked him.
Freddie balked. “What?No, I’m not ready for that. The last one almost killed me.” He’d recently taken the lead for the first time, on the Blanchet case.
Cackling with laughter, Gonzo said, “Relax. I’ve got this one.”
“Don’t mess with me. I’m on vacation from my ball-busting partner.”
