"So do I." As her sister was usually the one providing comfort, Sam hoped she could return many a favor. The front door clicked shut as Shelby departed, and Sam took a seat next to Tracy. "Hey, there."

"Hey. Sorry to show up uninvited."

"You're always invited. You know that."

"I needed a place to hide out. Ang is up to her eyeballs in poopy diapers, and Dad and Celia would worry. This seemed like my best bet."

"What's wrong?"

"What isn't wrong? The situation with Brooke is totally out of hand. Mike told me we have to do something about her or he's taking Ethan and Abby and going to his mother's. He doesn't want them around her, and I can't say I blame him. All she does is yell and scream and tell us to fuck off. Last night she told him to go fuck himself, that he's not her father and can't tell her what to do."

Sam tried to hide her shock but probably did a piss-poor job.

"How could she say that to him after the way he's stepped up for her for most of her life? Her own father didn't want her, but Mike always did. You should've seen his face. He was heartbroken."

Sam ached for the man who'd entered Brooke's life when she was just a baby and raised her as his own. "I can't say I blame him."

"That's the way she is lately. She goes right for the jugular."

"What in the world does she have to be so pissed off about?"

"It's mostly because we hate her friends and won't let her hang out with them. She never drank or smoked or got high until she started running around with this one girl named Hoda, who's apparently the alpha bitch of a so-called girl crew that Brooke wants in on. We asked around a bit about Hoda and her pals and didn't like what we heard. We've prohibited her from hanging around with them, so she's coming at us with her claws out."

Sam handed her sister another tissue.

"I feel like a monster because I'm actually thinking about sending her away. She's ruining our lives. The other day, Ethan told me to fuck off. He doesn't even know what that means, but he's heard her say it so many times that he thinks he's being cool copying his big sister. Mike's right-Abby and Ethan can't live with her anymore, or she's going to ruin them too."

"Shit, Trace. I'm so sorry it's gotten this bad. I'd drag her ass over here, but we've got Scotty now, and we're not home enough to manage her."

"You're sweet to say that, but I wouldn't inflict her on my worst enemy let alone my precious baby sister. She's ruining my marriage too. All Mike and I do is fight about her. I keep telling myself we just have to get through this school year, and then she'll be in college, but I can't see how we can live like this for one more week, let alone a whole year. And her grades have gone to shit, so she probably won't even get into college. I don't know what to do."

Sam put her arm around Tracy and held her while she shuddered with sobs.

"She's my baby, but when I look at her, all I see is this person I don't even know. And God help me, I'm not sure I even love her anymore."

"Sure you do. You don't like her very much right now, but you'll always love her."

"She doesn't make it easy. I knew the teenage years would be tough, but this is something else altogether."

Sam had seen her niece in action enough times lately to appreciate some of what Tracy was dealing with.

"What about a shrink?"

"She's been seeing one for a year, and we've tried family therapy too, but now she refuses to go unless we let her see her friends. So we're at another standoff over that."

"Have you thought about sending her to boarding school?" Sam asked, only half joking.

"More often than I'd care to admit. I've even looked into it a little. I found the perfect program outside of Richmond. They run the place like a military academy, but it's not actually military. It's just what she needs."

"Do it, Trace. She might hate you now, but someday she'll see that you saved her life by sending her there."

"I'd do it in a minute, but it's twenty grand a year. We can't swing that."

"I can. Let me pay for it."

"No way, Sam. I could never let you do that."

"Why not? After Peter and I split and Dad got hurt, I lived there rent-free for two years. Nick won't let me pay for much of anything around here. My check goes in the bank and a lot of weeks I barely touch it because I'm too busy working to do much of anything. I've got the money. Let me help you the way you would help me if the shoe were on the other foot. Please, Trace. After all you do for me, this is the least I can do for you."

"I didn't come here hoping you would bail me out."

"To quote Ethan, 'fuck off.'"

That made Tracy snort with laughter that was quickly replaced by more tears. "It's too much. I can't let you do that."

Sam gripped her sister's hand. "Listen to me-who loves your kids more than you and Mike do?"

"Probably only you," Tracy said begrudgingly.

"And who has always loved Mike almost as much as you do?"

"You," Tracy whispered.

"I love all of you as much as I love anyone. If I can't help you, who can I help? You do so much for me. Please let me do this for you."

"If I let you do this, she'll hate you as much as she hates me. She knows we can't afford something like this."

"I can live with that if it means getting her back on track and keeping your family together."

"I don't know if Mike will go for it."

"Yes, he will, Trace. He wants her out of the house. This accomplishes that and puts her in a safe place where she'll be watched and monitored. He'll go for it."

"What about Nick?"

"What about him?"

"He'll stand by and let you give me twenty thousand bucks without blinking an eye?"

"He'd say, 'It's your money, babe. Do what you need to do.'"

Tracy offered a faint smile. "You sound just like him."

"Come here." Sam gathered her sister into a tight hug. "Let's get this done before things get any worse, okay?"

Tracy nodded. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"I wish I could say it's my pleasure, but I hate that you're going through such an awful thing."

"So do I. It would certainly be a relief to not have to deal with her anger every day."

"Has she been seen by a doctor?"

"I dragged her to mine a couple of months ago. She chalked the whole thing up to hormones and teenage years and promised me she'd grow out of it. I wish I was convinced."

"She needs to get back into counseling."

"Group and individual counseling is part of the program at the school. That was one of the reasons it was so appealing to me."

"It sounds like where she needs to be. What do we need to do to make it happen?"

"I go there and fill out all the enrollment paperwork, pay the tuition and they come pick her up."

"Would you tell her this is happening?"

Tracy's eyes filled again as she shook her head. "If I did, she'd run away. That's my greatest fear."

"I know it feels awful to be doing this, but it's the right thing for her-and for you, Mike, Abby and Ethan. In your heart of hearts you have to know that."

"I do," Tracy said as tears spilled down her cheeks. "But I wish it didn't have to be so drastic."

"I worked with this cop on a detail once, and we were talking about his kids. One of them had big-time drug problems that the family had dealt with for years. The son had been arrested a couple of times, which is a huge embarrassment for any cop. They sent the kid to rehab three times, and every time they had hope. But then he'd come home and fall back in with the same crowd that got him into drugs in the first place, and the whole ugly cycle would start up again. He finally OD'd when he was twenty-five. You know what that dad told me?"

"What?"

"His single biggest regret in life is that he didn't move his son away from those kids when he'd had the chance. He thought all the time about how different their lives might've been if he'd just moved."

"I can't move. Not with Dad's situation, and you and Ang nearby. Our whole lives are here. Mike's job. The kids' school and their friends."

"If you can't move, you have to move her. Before this gets any worse."

"I know. You're right. I'll talk to Mike tonight, and I'll go there tomorrow to sign her up."

"I wish I could go with you, but I can't right now."

"Because of the Vasquez case. I know."

"Not just that. Nick is going out of town for a couple of days, and I need to be around if Scotty needs me. He's taking Willie's murder kind of personally since he met him last summer."

"I'm so happy you're getting to be a mom, Sam."

"So am I."

"Don't let what's going on with Brooke scare you. Hopefully, it's just a phase and she'll come back to us on the other side."

"Let's hope so. Do you want to ask Mike to come over here so you can talk to him without Brooke around?"

Tracy shook her head. "He won't leave Abby and Ethan home alone with her. I'll talk to him later when they're all in bed."

"Wait right here for a sec." Sam got up, went into the study and found her checkbook. She signed a blank check and tore it out of the book. When she returned to the living room, she handed the folded check to Tracy. "Whatever you need. There's plenty of money in the account. What's mine is yours."

Tracy stood to hug her. "Thank you so much. I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"I'm happy to help you for a change."

"Can I stay with you a while longer? I don't want to go home yet."

"Of course you can. Have you eaten?"

Tracy shook her head. "I don't think I could. My stomach has been a mess over all of this."

"Let's just sit and talk about nothing."

They resumed their positions on the sofa with Tracy resting her head on Sam's shoulder and holding her hand. "Tell me about the case."

"Do I have to?" Sam asked with a sigh. "It's a mess. About a million people wanted him dead. He had a chaotic personal life, and now another member of the team is missing."

"Who?"

"Lind, the closer."

"What's up with that?"

"I wish I knew. His wife says it's not unprecedented for him to go off and lick his wounds after a big loss, but it's starting to be a long time without anyone hearing from him."

"Do you think he's dead too?"

"I don't know what to think." Sam brushed at a ball of lint on her jeans. "Nick is going on a top-secret trip with the president tomorrow."

"For real? How cool is that?"

"Pretty cool for him. Not so much for me. Scares the hell out of me."

"Why? Where's he going?"

"He can't tell me, which means it's dangerous. I get this pain..." She pressed a fist to her breastbone. "Right here. Whenever I think about him being in danger."

"He lives with that same pain every day."

"I know, and I wish he didn't have to."

"So now it's your turn."

"I guess so."

"You know he'll be fine. He will be with the president and all his security. It'll be the safest trip he's ever been on."

"Keep telling me that. Maybe by the time he gets back I'll believe it."