Free Fatal Scandal: Book Eight of the Fatal Series by Marie Force

month, and it’s not improving at all. They’ve got him so hopped up on morphine that he’s out of it most of the time. Just when I thought his situation couldn’t get worse, it did.”
    “I’m so sorry, Sam. I know it’s rough. Hell, it’s hard on us to see him like that, and we’re just his friends.”
    “You’re much more than that to him. To all of us.”
    “Let me know if there’s anything I can do, okay?”
    She nodded. “The visits from you—all of you—have sustained him.”
    “We love him,” Malone said simply.
    Sam needed to change the subject before she broke down in front of her boss. “We’ve got a meeting to get to.”
    “Yes, we do. Speaking of shitshows.”
    “I’ll meet you there in a minute.”
    “See you then.”
    Before she left her desk, Sam downed two of the prescription pills that kept the migraines under control. Freddie appeared at the doorway, and Sam waved him in as she chased the pills with water.
    “Everything okay?” her partner asked. “You look weird in the eyes.”
    “Gee, thanks. Trying to fend off a migraine.”
    “Just what you don’t need today.”
    “Or any day. Where are we?”
    “McBride and Tyrone have gone to Lori’s apartment to interview the neighbors. I’ve got Archie’s team dumping her phone, and Arnold is trying to figure out where she worked.”
    Sam withdrew Lori’s wallet from her pocket and handed it to him. “Have Arnold go through it and catalog everything in it. You may find some employer info in there.”
    “Got it. Will do.”
    “I have a commander’s meeting at noon. After that, we’re going to Bowie.”
    “Right.”
    “Sorry if this is fucking up your holiday plans.”
    “It’s not. Elin had to work today anyway. New Year’s Day is huge at the gym with all the resolutions.”
    “Why in the hell do people do stupid things like suddenly decide to start working out just because it’s January first?”
    Freddie laughed at the question and walked away shaking his head. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”
    “That’ll be the day.”

Chapter Six
    With the thought of working out at a gym giving her the willies, Sam called Nick before she left for the chief’s meeting.
    “How’s it going, babe?”
    “Shitty.” She brought him up to speed on what her morning had entailed.
    “Holy fuck,” he said in a soft whisper. “Gonzo, he’s...”
    “Innocent. We all know that. Now we’ve just got to prove it. Can you give me Andy’s number? He might have some information about Lori after overseeing Gonzo’s end of the custody case.”
    “Sure.” He recited the number for her.
    Sam wrote it down. “Thanks.”
    “Gonna be a long day, huh?”
    “Looks that way.”
    “I’ll see you when you get home. Love you.”
    “Love you too.”
    She left a message for Andy and then headed for the chief’s suite, where she was stopped by his admin. Sam never could remember the mousy woman’s name.
    “Could I speak to you for a moment, Lieutenant?” she asked so softly Sam almost couldn’t hear her. Her brown eyes darted nervously toward the chief’s closed door.
    “What’s up?”
    “I know you’re close to the chief on a personal level.”
    “So what about it?” Sam asked, immediately on edge. She hated being reminded of her personal connections to the brass. So her dad had been a big deal in the department. She’d clawed her way to her current rank all on her own. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, but she tried not to think about the discretion the chief had used in making her a lieutenant after learning about her decades-long battle with dyslexia.
    “I’m worried about him. He’s not himself, and his face...”
    “What’s wrong with his face?”
    “It’s sort of gray and unhealthy looking.”
    Sam was ashamed to say that she hadn’t paid much attention to how the chief was holding up under Springer’s intense campaign to discredit him. “I’ll talk to him after the meeting.”
    “Thank you,” she said,