Fatal Series 00 - Fatal Destiny

for a long moment. “You still dream about it? That night?”
    Sam nodded. “Not as often as I used to, but when I do…”
    “It’s bad,” he said, his tone full of understanding. “I hear Quentin…”
    “I do too. That’s the part I can’t forget.”
    “Such a cute kid with two assholes for parents. Worst thing I ever did getting mixed up with Marquis Johnson.”
    “At least you figured that out before you ended up in jail or dead.”
    “Came damn close to dead,” he said, his hands resting on useless legs.
    “How’ve you been adapting?”
    “As well as anyone ever does, I guess.” He glanced at Angel. “Thank God for my girl. She’s got my back.”
    “I’d like to get you together with my dad some time.”
    “He’s in a chair too, right?”
    “Yeah. C3-C4.”
    Roberto winced. “That blows.”
    “Big time.”
    “If you want me to meet him, I’m down with that.”
    “We’ll set it up. After the wedding.”
    His face was transformed by the innocent smile. Not that long ago he’d been living a life of crime, and Sam couldn’t be more proud of the changes he’d made. “I’ve been reading all ’bout you and your senator.” He let out a low whistle. “Fancy, fancy.”
    Embarrassed, Sam rolled her eyes. “Not all that fancy.”
    “Whatever you say, lady cop. I watch the news. I see the way that guy looks at you. He’s diggin’ you big.”
    Roberto’s teasing words sent a twinge of discomfort through Sam. She had to stop holding Nick at arm’s length and find a way to reconnect with him before the wedding. Now that she had taken the chance of pregnancy off the table, maybe it wouldn’t be so damned hard to look into his amazing eyes and not see the pain he tried to keep hidden from her.
    Losing their baby had hit him hard too. He had grown up without a family of his own. More than anything, Sam had wanted to fill that void for him with a house full of kids. But now… She just couldn’t go there anymore. Not even for him.
    “Hey, yo,” Roberto said. “Where’d you zone out to?”
    “Sorry.”
    “Didn’t mean to bum you out.”
    “You didn’t. Thanks for the info.” She lifted her fist to him. “It was good to see you.”
    Rather than fist bump her, he curled his hand around hers in a gesture that touched her. “Don’t be a stranger.”
    “I won’t.”
    He released her hand. “Have a nice wedding, Sam. You deserve to be happy.”
    “So do you.”
    “I’m getting there.”
    “Keep up the good work. Make me proud.” Following Freddie out of the apartment, Sam ignored the glare she received from Angel. Outside, she took deep breaths of the unseasonably cool air.
    “He seems good,” Freddie said. He’d worked behind the scenes to support Sam while she was undercover and knew better than anyone what she’d been through during that difficult assignment.
    “Better than the last time I saw him. That’s for sure.” Seeing Roberto took Sam right back to the horrible days that followed the crack house shooting. She’d snuck into the hospital under the cover of darkness to check on the young man who’d become one of her only friends among the Johnson crowd.
    At first Roberto had been furious to learn her true identity, but when Sam offered to find him a way out of his life of crime, he’d come around and let her help him. Knowing he was just a kid who’d been sucked into something way bigger than he’d ever bargained for, Sam stepped up for him with the U.S. attorney. As a result, they’d declined to prosecute him as one of Marquis Johnson’s group of drug runners.
    Sam figured the permanent loss of his legs was punishment enough for the petty crimes Roberto had committed to earn favor with Marquis.
    “You did a good thing for him, Sam,” Freddie said when they were in the car. “He’s gotten his life back on track.”
    “So it seems.” Who, she wondered, was going to help get hers back on track?
    “What’s next?” Freddie asked.
    “Let’s go see Faith Miller. I want to know why that rape charge got quashed.”
    “So do I.”
     
    Sam and Freddie waited twenty minutes in the U.S. attorney’s reception area for Faith to return from court.
    “Ah,” she said, lighting up when she saw them waiting. “Here comes the bride!”
    “Very funny,” Sam said. “Thank God it’s almost here so I can be done with all the bride jokes.”
    “Just FYI,” Freddie said, “I’d planned on another six to eight months of jokes.”
    Sam rewarded him with