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piece.”
    Samantha watched this exchange with eyes wide. She’d never seen Tori tease with anyone before. And especially Fisk. If there was anyone in the office that intimidated her, it was this giant of a man.
    The Mercedes ended up being a drab beige Ford. Standard issue. No perks. Samantha didn’t even suggest that she drive. She went obediently to the passenger’s side.
    Tori maneuvered them through downtown and to the interstate in silence. They were several miles away when the silence got to Samantha.
    “Where do you live?”
    Tori glanced at her then back at the road.
    “Why?”
    “Just curious. Just making conversation,” she said.
    “I have a tiny apartment on the south side of Dallas. Near Oak Cliff. Don’t go there much, though. I have a boat, a cabin cruiser, on Eagle Mountain Lake. That’s more home, but I don’t make it out there too much, either.”
    “So, I was right. You don’t sleep.”
Oak Cliff? Good Lord, why would a cop live near Oak Cliff?
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “Okay. You just don’t sleep in your own bed. Nothing wrong with that.”
    “Like you didn’t sleep in your own bed this weekend?”
    “So, is there someone special?” Samantha asked, ignoring Tori’s own question.
    “Special?”
    “You know, a girlfriend,” Samantha prompted.
    Tori laughed. “No girlfriend, no one special.”
    “One-night stands? Every night?”
    “If I had the energy,” she murmured. “No, downstairs in the gym, there’s a cot in the locker room.”
    “I see. No wonder you beat me to work each morning.” Samantha glanced at her. “Does Malone know?”
    “Of course. Who do you think put the cot down there?”
    Samantha hesitated, then turned to Tori again. “Why don’t you go home?”
    Tori tightened her hands on the wheel. If this had been last week, she’d have told her to mind her own fucking business. But this was a new week and Tori was making an effort.
    “You were right. I don’t sleep much,” Tori finally said. “I stay up here late. I usually go to the gym to work out anyway. I don’t see the point of driving home when it’s after midnight just to turn around and drive back.”
    Samantha wanted to ask more questions, but she dared not. She saw the grip Tori had on the wheel, saw the frown that creased her forehead. She thought she would change the subject.
    “How will we know if anything is out of the ordinary? I mean, it’s not like we know what a shut-down gas pipeline is supposed to look like. Do we?”
    Tori shrugged. “Maybe there’ll be all kinds of activity and we can call the boys at CIU to come to our rescue.”
    “Somehow, I can’t see you doing that,” Samantha said.
    Malone had been right. It took them only an hour to reach the area. They had to stop at a convenience store for directions, and now they drove down the tiny country road, past hay meadows and crop fields. They saw the towers of the old plant from a mile away. Tori slowed her speed and they pulled to a stop at the locked gate. They got out and stood in front of the car, scanning the buildings for any activity, listening for noise.
    “What do you see?” Tori asked.
    “Nothing.”
    “Look in front of the gate.”
    “There’s nothing. No tracks.”
    “No. Not there. But look up ahead, about fifteen, twenty yards,” she said, pointing.
    There, in the dirt, looked like fresh tire tracks. But not by the gate. Then Samantha looked closer. The dirt looked almost as if it had been brushed, obscuring the tracks.
    “Oh shit,” she murmured.
    “Come on.”
    Tori turned the car around, then parked on the side of the road.
    “What are you doing?”
    “We’re going to have a look,” Tori said.
    “Shouldn’t we just call it in?”
    “Call what in? Tire tracks? So they can send in a SWAT team and find out there’s nothing here? We would never hear the end of it.”
    Tori was already walking back down the road. Samantha jogged to catch up. She was afraid she was about to see Tori Hunter in