A Rose in Shadow

Monday

MONDAY

Monday morning Samantha and Adam went into the police station together where another detective would handle Samantha's interview. She had agreed to see a counselor, although Adam honestly didn't think that she needed it now, she was already able to work through her feelings quite well but he wanted her to see one anyway. At least once.

While Samantha was being interviewed Adam went to his desk with the intention of getting some paperwork done but he couldn't quite concentrate enough to manage. He wandered out to talk to Sergeant Lyle. All of his coworkers were concerned about Samantha and he had been fielding telephone calls and text messages all weekend and more stopped him as he made his way through the room. When he finally got to the Sarge's desk he noticed a huge bouquet of flowers. "Is it your birthday, Sarge?"

The older man stood and held out his hand for Adam to shake. "These are from the squad for Samantha. We thought that you could take them home with you." A lump formed in Adam's throat. "Thanks Sarge. She's actually here now talking to Davis. She'll love them. I'm sure she'll want to come and see you before I take her home anyway".

"So tell me" Adam nodded over to where the D.A. stood talking to someone in the lobby. "Moore's lawyer?"

Narrowing his eyes the Sarge nodded. "Yep. How's Samantha holding up?"

Adam laughed "Well, she's Samantha" he rubbed his hand through his hair. "She's not mad; she's not scared or seemingly affected other than she feels bad for Moore".

"You're kidding, right?" the Sarge asked, disbelieving.

"Nope, not kidding" Adam sighed. "She doesn't feel that any of this is his fault and she hopes that he gets help for his mental health" Adam sneered. "She's way too kind for her own good".

The Sarge softened his expression and clapped his hand to Adam's shoulder. "True, but I think that's what we love about her."

"She told my folks yesterday that she was just thankful that nobody was hurt too badly and that everyone had today to look forward to" Adam chuckled at the memory. "I thought that my dad was going blow a gasket and start swearing. He wanted so badly to defend her the minute he met her. My brothers too".

Sarge looked thoughtful for a minute "This is maybe going to sound a little New Age to you but I'm going to say it anyway. There is something that surrounds Samantha; at least I feel it when I'm near her. I can literally feel her kindness and calmness and it makes me calm" he laughed at himself.

"Maybe it's those gorgeous eyes. They're hypnotizing".

Nodding his head, Adam agreed. "No, I get it Sarge, and you're right. It's something that she seems to carry with her" looking down at his shoes he cleared his throat "You know that I wanted to kill Moore with my bare hands, right? I've never been so out of control. If Samantha hadn't been there needing me, I don't know what I would have done."

Sergeant Lyle gave Adam a measured look. "I have no doubt that you would have done your job and done the right thing but it is definitely different when these things happen to someone that we love." He gave Adam another pat on the shoulder. "Let's go grab a coffee while we wait" He gave Adam a disapproving look that just missed the mark because of the smile that went with it "Lord knows that I'm not going to get any work out of you until Samantha's done her interview and you've taken her back home."