“I’ll try not to.”
She kept expecting him to release her, but he didn’t, so she held on until he let go.
As he pulled back from her, she saw tears in his eyes that broke her heart.“I’m okay, buddy.I promise.”
“And Jimmy is, too?”
“He will be.”
“That’s good.”
Sam’s mom came over to give her a hug.“Nice to see you.”
“Nice to be seen.”
“You’re all right?”
“I’m fine as long as Jimmy is.”
“Too close for comfort.”
“Indeed.”
The twins finished the show they’d been watching and came running over to see Sam and Nick, chirping about the show, their day, the snack they’d had and how funny Grandma Brenda was—all in the space of ten seconds.Sam knelt to embrace them both, breathing in the scents of shampoo and sugar that came with them.She was relieved to see Aubrey in good spirits.
Rebecca had advised they do everything in their power to reassure Aubrey that the police were working on figuring out what happened at the Easter Egg Roll and that she should try not to worry because their family was very well protected.Sam would make a point of having a one-on-one conversation with the little girl before bedtime, and Nick had agreed to do the same.Eli planned to FaceTime with them after dinner.
Sam got about two seconds of closeness with the twins before they were squirming to bust loose.As she stood, her phone rang with a call from Freddie.
“Hey.What’s up?”
“Two things.First, Walters got something on the video review from Friday night.He’s got an obvious struggle between two people and a white sedan idling nearby that took off after one person pushed the other in and jumped in after.It was too dark to get any other identifying features of the car or people, but it’s something.”
“Sure is.”
“On that same note, he’s put together a list of busier locations around the city with dark areas.We’ve asked Patrol to give those spots some added attention.”
“Great work by Walters.I’ll make sure Archie hears about it.”
“I thought so, too.”
“What’s the second thing?”
“How are you, and what’re you hearing about Jimmy?”
“I’m fine, and Jimmy is out of surgery and in recovery.Liz is with him, and his parents are on the way.”
“Very glad to hear that.”
“I’m hoping to get over there to see him later on.”
“Let me know how he is.”
“I will.”
“Hang on.Gonzo just came in.”
Sam heard them talking in the background before Freddie came back to tell her, “We’ve got another victim.”
