Fatal Deception by Marie Force

to go. I understand you’ve caught a new case. So at your earliest possible convenience, I want a meeting with you, McBride and Tyrone. I want to know what they did, who they talked to and what came of it. Do I make myself clear?”
    If he were any other past member of the MPD barking orders at her, she’d tell him to fuck off. But because he was her dad and one of the most important people in her life, she said, “Yes, sir.”
    “Good.”
    “I used the cold case as a way to get McBride back to work after she was attacked,” Sam said sullenly. “And they didn’t uncover anything new.”
    “I still want a full report—from them—and I want it very soon.”
    “Fine.”
    Sam was certain her expression was every bit as mulish as his. In their case, the apple and the tree were often one and the same. They sat in uncomfortable and unusual silence until Celia returned.
    Her gaze moved between them, settling on her husband. “What happened?”
    “Nothing,” he said.
    Before her stepmother could delve into their dispute, Freddie came in with McBride, Tyrone, Gonzo and Arnold in tow. Judging by the horrified stares each of her colleagues levied on her face, Sam deduced her injury was getting more spectacular looking by the minute. Great.
    When McBride and Tyrone saw her dad in the room, Sam watched the partners exchange uneasy glances. Oh, for fuck’s sake , Sam thought. What was that about? Sam wished she had time to dig into that situation, but right now their focus had to be on the Kavanaugh case.
    “Do you want me to go?” Skip asked.
    The question pained her. Of course she didn’t want him to go. Without him, she never would’ve suspected Melissa was the one behind the killing spree earlier in the year. He was an invaluable member of her team, and he knew it. “No, I don’t want you to leave.”
    Tuned in to the tension between father and daughter, Freddie raised a questioning eyebrow.
    “I’ll be in the waiting room if you need me,” Celia said on her way out of the crowded cubical.
    “Hope you all had a good weekend,” Sam said to her detectives. She took the dry-erase board Jeannie McBride handed her and launched into an update on the facts of the case, making notes on the board as she went. It was much smaller than her usual murder board, but it would do for now.
    “Lindsey reported in early this morning.” Freddie produced the medical examiner’s report and handed it to Sam.
    She took a quick scan. “Cause of death was manual strangulation. No sign of sexual assault. Lindsey was able to retrieve DNA samples from under Victoria Kavanaugh’s fingernails, which she has sent to the lab for analysis.” Sam was glad to know Victoria had fought for her life. “Doesn’t give us much to work with, but at least there’s hope we’ll get a hit on the DNA.”
    “We never get that lucky,” Freddie said.
    “Where is SVU on the search for the baby?” Sam asked.
    “Following up on all the tips that came in after the alert was issued,” Gonzo said, “but nothing yet.”
    “If we find Victoria’s killer,” Sam said, “I bet we’ll find the baby.” Whether or not Maeve would still be alive by then was anyone’s guess.
    “First,” Lindsey McNamara said from the doorway, “we need to figure out who exactly was killed yesterday.”
    The medical examiner’s statement caught the attention of everyone in the room. Her long, red hair was pulled into the ponytail she wore to work, and her green eyes zeroed in on Sam. “Ouch.”
    “Forget about that,” Sam said. “What’re you talking about?”
    “As a matter of routine, I run the prints of every victim through AFIS,” Lindsey said of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. “Our victim’s prints came back with a hit for a Denise Desposito.”
    Sam’s blood zinged through her veins as she processed what Lindsey was saying and absorbed the implications for the case—and for Derek.
    “Desposito has a long criminal record, mostly