"Absolutely."

"She called tonight to see if I might like to have a sleepover at the house so I could see the kids. I told her I'd ask you and let her know tomorrow."

"That sounds like fun. If you want to stay, I can't see any reason why not."

"Will Nick mind if he gets home and I'm not here?"

"I bet he'll be so tired that all he'll want to do is sleep when he first gets home."

"That's probably true."

"How about you go with Mrs. L tomorrow, sleep over with the kids and we'll come get you Sunday afternoon? Maybe we can even stop at the farm and have dinner with the O'Connors on the way home." They had a standing invite to Sunday dinner that they rarely had time to accept.

"Could I ride the horses?"

"I'm sure that could be arranged."

"That would be the best weekend ever."

Sam smiled, delighted by his endless enthusiasm. "Shelby said things went okay with Nathan and the other kids today?"

"Yep. He didn't even look at me. I don't know what you said to his mom, but whatever it was, it worked."

"And the other kids didn't treat you any differently?"

"Nope."

"That's cuz they know your mom is a badass cop."

"Sam..."

"I know, I know," she said, holding back a laugh. The kid was too damned much.

"We need a swear jar in our house."

"What the heck is that?"

"We had one in Richmond. Every time you swear, you have to put in a quarter that I get to keep. I'll be rich living with you."

"Very funny! I need a full list of what counts as a swear if I'm going to have to pay for them."

"You know what counts."

"No, I don't. You're always adding new ones to the list." Had she ever enjoyed a conversation more? Not that she could recall. "Listen, buddy, I've got to get back to work. Behave for Shelby tonight and for Mrs. Littlefield tomorrow. We'll see you Sunday, and we'll call you while you're gone."

"I'll behave. Don't worry."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Sam ended the call and held the phone to her chest for a long time afterward. She had no doubt at all that she, who had spent her entire adult life avenging murder victims, could easily kill anyone who dared to harm that boy. She'd loved fiercely in her life, but not much could compare to the fierce love that came with motherhood.

Hill came to the door. "Two ten-thousand-dollar checks were written from Ray and Elle's joint account the day after the game, one to each of her two bodyguards, signed by her. It's the only account of hers that has any money left in it."

Sam absorbed the new information, reached for her desk phone and asked dispatch to connect her to the cell phone of Lieutenant Rango, the officer in charge of the Crime Scene Unit.

"Rango."

"It's Holland. How's it going at the motel?"

"Slow. This place is a DNA wonderland, a blue-light special of the highest order."

"Ugh, disgusting."

"Truly."

"I believe I have a suspect. She's a blonde with very long hair who got busy with Lind in the room. One thing I know about women with long hair is that they shed. I've got a pretty good case against her, but a long blond hair of hers from that room would help."

"I'll see what we can do. You might find her DNA in the sheets too. They were well used."

Sam grimaced. "We'll take what we can get. Keep me in the loop, and great job to your team on finding the knife."

"Any news from the lab on that?"

"Not yet, but we've got a rush on it. Have you heard anything about the processing of Willie's car?"

"We got a couple of partial prints off the steering wheel that one of our technicians is working on now."

"I could really use that info."

"Will see what I can do to move it along."

"Thanks. I'll be in touch."

To Hill, Sam said, "Were you able to figure out where your friend Elle is tonight?"

"She's attending a fundraiser at the Willard with Ray."

"Would you care to accompany me to the Willard or would you prefer to not have anything to do with arresting your friend's wife?"

"I'll go," he said tightly.

"Let me check on Cruz and the girls, and then we'll go."

As she stood up, Malone came to the door. "A moment, Lieutenant?"

"Ah, sure. Hill, I'll be right with you."

He left the room, and Malone came in, closing the door behind him.

Sam took a close look at her mentor, trying to figure out why he looked so different. "What's wrong?" She immediately thought of Nick, but tamped down that worry. He was on his way home. He was okay.

"There were twenty-six children at the house. The youngest was seven. The oldest was sixteen."

Disgust flooded every pore of Sam's being. "And the people holding them?"

"Six adults, all in custody. We're working now to locate the families."

Sam sighed and shook her head, filled with despair and relief and joy.

"A lot of families are going to be reunited tonight because you trusted your gut, Lieutenant."

Sam never had learned how to take a compliment. "Oh, well, I was just doing my job, sir."

"You once again went above and beyond the call of duty. I see another commendation in your future."

"Thank you, Captain." They were so rarely formal with each other, but the situation seemed to warrant it.

"Where are we with the Vasquez case?"

"I believe we've determined what happened to Willie Vasquez and Rick Lind."

"And that is?"

"They were killed by Elle Kopelsman Jestings, the wife of team owner Ray Jestings, because they lost a game that she desperately needed them to win." Sam explained about the financial troubles plaguing the Washington Star and how Elle had been counting on the TV rights to the World Series to bail out the company.

"How do you have her on the Vasquez murder?"

"I don't-yet-but I believe she paid her bodyguards ten thousand dollars each-some of the last money she had-to take out Vasquez. She took care of Lind herself after she got him drunk and high and pickled his brain with sex. She and the bodyguards must've talked about the perfect spot to stab someone to ensure they'd die as quickly as possible, thus the exact same wound for both victims."

"Hell of a way to go."

"Killing two of her marquee players also gets them off the team payroll. That might've been part of her motive."

Lieutenant Archelotta stepped into the office. "We've got something," he said, holding up a flash drive. "We finally got the film from the Smithsonian with footage of two guys tossing Willie in the Dumpster."

"Let's see," Sam said, buzzing from the thrill of connecting all the dots.

When Archie played the film on her desktop computer, Sam said, "We got 'em. Those are Elle's bodyguards. I've seen them so I can positively ID them." From the stacks on her desk, she produced a printout that included photos of the beefy twins that protected Elle-and apparently killed for her too. "Their names are Boris and Horace. Between this and Ginger's testimony that puts Elle in Rick Lind's hotel room close to time of death, we've got enough to arrest them."

"So what's your plan?" Malone asked.

"I'll use them against each other to get the full story of what happened to Willie. I'm pretty sure I know what happened to Lind. He outlived his usefulness. Thanks, Archie."

He handed her the flash drive when he removed it from her computer. "My pleasure," he said on his way out of the office.

"Well, it sounds like you've got everything under control, as usual," Malone said.

"Almost everything," she said with a wry grin.

"Anything I can do?"

"Put some pressure on the lab to get back to me about the bloody knife CSU found, and we're going to need a nine-one-one DNA test done on Elle when we get her back here."

"I'll get on the lab and put Dr. McNamara on alert about the DNA test." He was about to leave but turned back to her. "You're really all right after this morning?"

"I'm fine. A few bruises, but he got the worst of it."

"No one around here is sorry to hear that-or to see the last of him."

"I doubt we've seen the last of him."

"We have for now."

"I'll give you that."

"I'll let you get back to it."

In the conference room, Ginger had finished the statement they needed from her.

"The Special Victims detectives will be taking over from here, and they'll need to speak with you about the people who held you," Sam said. "For our part, we need you to stay available."

"Why?" Deanna Moreland asked. "Hasn't she been through enough?"

"She's a material witness in a murder investigation, among other things. We'll need her to testify."

"Oh, God."

Sam gestured for Ginger's mom to follow her outside the room and out of earshot of the girls. "There'll be other trials, Mrs. Moreland," Sam said. "Members of our team are out now rounding up everyone who was involved with the abduction of your daughter and numerous other children."

"There're more?" she asked.

"A lot more. And your daughter was instrumental in leading us to them. She's been amazingly strong and very helpful."

"That's my Sarah. She's been strong and capable all her life."

"She's been through a lot. It's going to take a long time. I know it's difficult, but try to be patient and not expect too much too soon."

"Did they... Do you know..."

"The Special Victims detectives will make sure she gets the medical care she needs."

Deanna's face crumpled as Sam all but confirmed her worst fears.

As tears rolled down Deanna's face, Sam reached out to squeeze her hand. "She's alive. That's what matters most right now. You'll figure out the rest one day at a time."

"The other detective, Freddie. He said you knew something was off, and you got them out of there. I'll never have the words to properly thank you for finding my daughter."