A Rose in Shadow

Chapter 32

Finn picked Samantha up after work that night and delivered her to her apartment, going in with her and checking all of the locks and windows before giving her a brotherly kiss on the top of her head and waiting outside on the stairway until he heard her lock the door behind him. He knew that Adam had called Mac earlier that day because he had received an angry call immediately afterward.

"Finn, what the hell is going on? Have you talked to Adam?"

"Not yet" he said. Finn was still at work just getting ready to go into a team meeting before he finished for the day.

"I have a meeting in 10 minutes but it should only take about a half hour. I was going to call him after that. Did he call you?"

"Yeah, I just spoke to him. Moore showed up at Sam's work and had some unsuspecting chump deliver a flower to her."

Finn could hear Mac getting worked up on the other line. "He must know that Sam has a restraining order against him and that's why he wouldn't go in himself, making it seem to the other guy that he was just shy about giving his crush a rose."

"Sam called me herself but it must have been before that. Emma Kate has to head out of town for a family emergency but was supposed to stay with her tonight" he said to Mac as he gathered his files and stood. "I'm picking her up and taking her home but I can't stay with her and it kills me. I would take her home with me but I know that she wouldn't get any rest while I'm dealing with the public works guys. I'm picking her up in the morning for class though. If she fucking leaves that apartment in the meantime I'll wring her scrawny neck" the two men ended the conversation after managing to get each other even more worked up.

Once Finn left, Samantha made her way through her bedtime routine, showering, removing her makeup, putting on her pajamas and sitting on her yoga mat for some deep breathing exercises before brewing herself a cup of herbal tea and climbing into bed with a book. Before she started reading she picked up her phone to call Adam.

"Sam" he answered softly.

"Hi" she said "I won't keep you, just wanted to let you know that I'm home and going to sleep soon. I just climbed into bed with my book"

Letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, Adam nodded to himself. He had waited in the squad car so he wouldn't miss her call while Jamie had gone into the all-night convenience store to get them both a coffee.

"How is work?"

"It's going okay. I can tell you about it later" he said changing the subject and Sam sensed that he was troubled. "I can tell something's bothering you" she spoke quietly. "You can talk to me about your job you know. That's what our relationship should be".

Sighing, Adam felt his heart pound "I know, babe." He said. "It's all good though, honestly"

Adam thought back to the rest of his work day.

A request for police detectives to attend at a public school is never a good thing and the call they received that afternoon didn't prove to be any different.

Jamie and Adam pulled into the driveway of Pineridge Public School just as a line of school buses were also pulling in. It was a few minutes before the end of the school day and the Sarge had just called requesting that they swing by to investigate a suspected case of child abuse.

They parked their car and entered the building lobby, pressing the buzzer to be admitted. A weary looking woman appeared and rushed to the door. She gave a quivering smile and asked Adam and Jamie to follow her. They wandered along the hallway, the smell of pine cleaner and markers filling the air, together with the sound of children being hushed and chairs being scraped along floors.