Peter sighed, straightening his shoulders. “I want to get my degree. I want to help people.”

  “You can volunteer here, like you were doing before grad school.” Grace, always blunt, gave him her opinion. She didn’t think he was ready to leave the nest yet.

  “I can,” Peter answered. He’d clearly thought of this rebuttal, and Amya stayed quiet to see what he had to say. The call to ministry was a strong one, and resisting it was hard, even if he needed to resist it for his own well-being, at least for a short time. “But I want to do more than that. I want to lead people to Christ.”

  Grace scoffed. Amya put a hand on her arm to stop her. It had been one of their constant debates in their relationship, but to so outwardly dismiss Peter’s faith and desires because Grace herself didn’t believe was only going to put more distance between them. Grace reined it in with the reminder from Amya.

  “You’re an adult, Peter. If you want to go back to school, we can’t stop you from doing that.” Amya pressed her lips tightly together. “However, I want you to come up with a plan this time to make your experience different than last time.”

  “Already working on it.” Peter’s eyes lit up, his lips curving upward. “My sponsor is helping me too. He knows some people out there and says he can get me a new sponsor once I go back.”

  The wind knocked out of Amya’s chest. She nodded at him, not quite sure what to say, but leave it to Peter to do all of the thinking before he actually brought it up to them. Kit came back and grabbed the silverware that hadn’t been touched on the counter yet. Amya couldn’t take her eyes from Peter. He did look extremely happy about his decision.

  “I think you should come home for all of your breaks,” Amya suggested. “Give yourself a bit of a respite.”

  “And keep me out of trouble?” Peter asked.

  “I wasn’t going to say that.”

  “Like you’d ever say that,” Kit mumbled loud enough or all of them to hear, whether she meant to or not.

  Grace shot her a look and then shrugged. Kit was right. They all knew it. Grace’s voice was firm when she spoke. “Come up with a plan, Peter. We’ll talk about it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, kid. Now go help Kit so she’s not the only one working around her.”

  He grabbed the paper towels and started to help Kit. Grace turned to Amya where the kids couldn’t see her and widened her eyes, letting out a breath from her pursed lips. Amya felt the same way, even if she couldn’t show it in that moment.

  At the knock on the door, Kit skittered toward it with a whoop loud enough to get the dogs attention outside. They scratched at the door. Grace sighed, letting them in. Amya helped finish the set up at the table, putting all of the food around it. She took her normal spot and waited for Grace to come back while the dogs settled in after telling her hello.

  If Peter did go back to school in the spring, and Kit graduated in June, their house was going to be empty faster than either one of them thought. Even if Peter waited until the fall, they had less than a year left with Kit and Peter at home. It was going to be odd to come home and find no one in the house, to not have the chaos of schedules going here and there and racing to keep up with life.

  Amya took a sip of whatever drink Grace had put in front of her. She glanced from Kit to Peter and back again. They were both ready for it. She knew that as much as Grace did, but the resistance to still keep them both home and safe was strong. But it was time they grew up, and it was time for Grace and Amya to have some serious conversations about the future.

  The Case

  Grace’s morning came earlier than she’d anticipated. At one point, she had enjoyed going into the office. Lately, it’d been a chore to get herself ready in the mornings and to leave. She’d been late on more than one occasion—actually, quite often—which was completely outside of her norm. This morning was no different.

  Grace took her time showering, getting some coffee, sipping it at the counter. She didn’t even bother checking her watch. She knew she was going to be late. Kit ran into the kitchen, made herself her own cup of coffee, and gave Grace an odd look. Grace raised an eyebrow back at her.

  “Yes?”

  “You’re going to be late.”

  “So are you,” she pointed out. “I have to take you to school, remember?”

  “Uh…yeah.”

  “So get moving.”

  Kit raced back to her room, coming into the kitchen for a second time with her backpack slung over one shoulder. “Ready.”

  Grace inwardly cursed. Leave it to Kit to be punctual for once. Sighing, Grace took her travel mug and walked toward the door. She had her keys in her hand and her wallet in her pocket when Amya stepped out of the bedroom dressed to the nines in a sleek dark gray pencil skirt, white blouse, and a suit jacket to match. She must have a meeting with someone high up today for her to be dressed that well.

  Melting, Grace stared at her girlfriend of four years, her jaw dropping as Amya walked closer with a satisfied smirk on her lips. As soon as she stood in front of Grace, she used one finger to close her mouth. “Glad to see I can still do that.”

  “Shove it,” Grace mumbled. “Of course you can still do that.”

  Amya chuckled lightly and pulled Grace in for a long kiss, their tongues touching for a brief moment before Kit cleared her throat. Amya pecked Grace’s lips three more times before she stepped away.

  “Is there coffee left or have the two of you drank it all?”

  “There’s enough for one cup.”

  “Good. I have to go in early today.”

  “Meeting?” Grace asked, still stalling. If Kit was late, whatever. She could write her a note. She really just didn’t want to go into the office. Amya sashayed to the kitchen to grab the coffee pot.

  “Yeah, with the chief.”

  “Really? What for?”

  “Because of the notification yesterday. I told you about that.”

  Had she? Grace wracked her brain for the information Amya swore she told her, but she came up empty. Shaking her head, she went to walk toward the kitchen, but Kit stopped her with a hand on her arm.

  “I’m going to be late.”

  “Yeah, we’ll leave in a minute. Amya, you didn’t tell me anything other than you had a notification.”

  Amya’s gaze flicked to Kit and back to Grace. “I’ll text it.”

  “I’m not stupid. I know what you do, and I’m not a kid. You can say it in front of me.”

  Amya set her coffee mug down that she’d just filled. She moved her gaze from Kit to Grace, studying her as she spoke. “There was an officer killed in a vehicular accident last night. Traffic stop and another driver didn’t see them when they were outside their vehicle.”

  Grace clenched her jaw, every muscle in her body tightening. She hated it when officers were killed in the line of duty, and the rash of them four years ago was what prompted her to move up in rank to avoid being on the street so much.

  “Grace?” Amya asked.

  “I’m fine. Let’s go, Kit.” Turning sharply, Grace opened the door. Kit ran out to get in her cruiser. Grace sent a look over her shoulder to confirm to Amya she really was fine even though they both knew she wasn’t.

  It didn’t take her long to drop Kit off and get to the station. The unit was buzzing with energy and a murmur of conversation. Grace looked from one detective to another, finally catching sight of Kline in the corner. She waved at her before setting her bag at her desk.

  “Halling!” Paige’s voice rang through the room, and silence echoed a response.

  Grace cringed. Paige was the reason she didn’t want to be at work. Everything since last spring had been awkward, and it hadn’t gotten any better. No matter how hard Grace tried to set boundaries, Paige pushed them. It was exhausting.

  Turning on her toes, Grace found Paige standing in the captain’s office with her hands on her hips. She was just about to be caught coming in late—again. Though the last dozen times Paige hadn’t said anything except to tell her not to do it again. No punishment, nothing. Paige didn’t look happy this morning, though.

  Fearing for the worst, Grace made her way to Paige’s temporary office. She honestly couldn’t wait until they hired a new captain. Paige with the added power of the position was making her life miserable. Paige shut the door behind her, and Grace tensed, ready for the onslaught and the yelling.

  “What’s going on?” Grace asked, already defensive.

  “We’ll talk about you being late another day.”

  Grace swallowed hard. “Then why call me in here.”

  “Case.”

  “Great.” Grace had just finished her last case two days before, and she hadn’t thought she’d land herself a new one just yet. Although, she probably should have figured that out because Paige seemed to always give her a case, no matter what, and it was always the high profile ones, the hard ones, the ones that would in theory give her the most credit so she could move up. And while Grace appreciated that on the one hand, on the other she really wanted the break for a week or more.

  Paige narrowed her gaze, her green eyes piercing Grace. “You’ll be working with homicide on this one?”

  “Is the person missing dead?”

  “No, Halling. There’s a missing baby. The mother’s dead.”

  “Oh.” Grace crossed her arms. “Who do I get to work with?”

  “Sergeant Link Abrams. You’ll be working alongside him, but still under me.”

  Great, Grace thought. That had been her one opportunity to get out. She waited for the rest of the description of what was happening, but Paige was less than forthcoming. Instead, she crossed her arms and leaned against the desk.

  “Abrams is good, but he’s got an attitude problem, so watch your tongue with him. If you tick him off, that’ll be the end of it. You can’t afford to get on his bad side.”

  “Okay,” Grace responded, though she wasn’t someone who usually got on others bad sides. That would be Paige.

  “I wish I could go with you and work this case, but I’m stuck here. Since I used to work homicide, I’m sure the two of us could work it without any problems.”

  Grace clenched her jaw. “Is there a file?”

  “Not yet. Abrams is waiting for you at the crime scene.”

  “Address?”

  Paige handed over a sticky note.

  Grace glanced at it and then Paige. “I’ll head on over.”

  “Update me every hour. This is a high profile case, Halling. We can’t afford to screw it up.”

  As she left the office, Grace rolled her eyes. High profile her ass. That wasn’t why Paige wanted hourly updates, but either way, she’d have to play along or risk getting written up for insubordination. That would not look good on her record if she ever wanted to transfer to another unit.

  Leaving her bag where it was, Grace took her keys and her wallet and walked back to her cruiser. She thought about stopping by Amya’s offices to fill her in. No doubt Amya would be involved in the case somehow. Missing babies were a touchy subject, and not only would the media be all over it, but so would the family. Grace would need her help navigating the family dynamics for sure.

  Bypassing Amya’s offices, Grace left the building and walked into the chill fall air. Kit had a full week of school left before she would off for the holiday. It used to be Grace’s favorite time of the year, but lately, nothing was making her happy. Grace slid into the front seat of the cruiser and looked at the address again. It was in her old haunt, so she knew exactly where she needed to go.

  ###

  The apartment was filled with uniforms and with two detectives. Grace pressed her lips firmly together in a line as she showed her badge and walked toward the detective she thought might be in charge, the older looking one. Stepping right up, she looked them over. The one on the left had bright blue eyes that reminded her of a blue jay, salt-and-pepper hair cut military style. The other one was taller, but younger, his hair brown in a crew cut and hazel eyes.

  “I’m Detective Grace Halling from Missing Persons. Lieutenant Delwin sent me.”

  “Took you long enough,” the younger one growled.

  Grace sincerely hoped he was not the sergeant she was supposed to work with. He seemed cocky with an attitude to boot. “I was just handed this case…Detective…?”

  “Detective Honeywell,” the older one answered. “And excuse him because he’s bitter he doesn’t get to work this case.”

  Grace clenched her jaw. She’d be bitter too, if she were honest, but it wasn’t her problem to deal with.

  “I’m Sergeant Abrams. Delwin said you were coming.”

  “Care to fill me in? Delwin was skimpy on details.”

  “Was she? That doesn’t sound like her.”

  Grace didn’t comment because she was pretty sure most officers had a very different experience of Paige Delwin than she did, but how could she tell anyone that without jeopardizing her current position? She couldn’t. Not even Alonzo Esparza in IAB could help her with this one.

  Abrams moved his hand out in front of him, telling Grace to move on ahead. They walked quietly, although the apartment was anything but. It was small, one bedroom, the kitchen and living room basically joined together and no larger than Peter’s room, which was the smallest bedroom in her house.

  “The mother we found dead in the kitchen.”

  They stopped at the edge of the very cheap linoleum. There was a blood stain on the floor, but no body. Grace figured they must have already taken it down to the morgue since she was so late.

  “She was stabbed at least four or five times from what we could see, but I’m thinking it might be more based on how much blood there is.”

  Grace skimmed the room. There was blood everywhere, not just on the floor but on the lower cabinets to the kitchen, the counter, the upper cabinets on the exterior wall, and even some on the ceiling. She would get pictures of that later, though it was less for her case than it was for homicide’s.

  “Paige said there was a baby.”

  “Yeah, few weeks old.”

  “Weeks?” Surprise registered in her chest. Grace turned on him, her gaze locking on his.

  He nodded. “Found the hospital band on the dresser. Here.”

  Abrams led the way into the small one bedroom. A crib sat in the corner of the room, pressed against the wall just under the window. The dresser was across from it with personal items scattered all over the top. Grace pulled a glove out of the pocket on her suit jacket and shoved it onto her left hand. She picked up the hospital band.

  Andrew Erickson.

  His date of birth was exactly three weeks ago. She had the doctors name who delivered him, and Grace knew she’d be paying the hospital a visit to try and get some information from the staff. She couldn’t imagine having a three week old baby and then having them go missing. The father’s name on the tag was blank. That would take some digging.

  “How long ago was the mother found?”

  “Three hours.”

  “Know how long she was dead yet?”

  “Not yet. Best guess is a couple days.”

  “Days?” Grace spun on him. “No one knew she was dead for days?”

  Abrams shrugged. “We come when we’re called. We don’t go searching for dead bodies.”

  “Yeah, but still. Any pictures?”

  “Best guess is she has some on her phone.” Abrams handed the device over. It was shoved in a plastic evidence bag. Grace looked down at it.

  “It’s locked, isn’t it?”

  “Took the words right out of my mouth, Halling.”

  “I’ll take it back for the tech team to work on it. Hard to put out an Amber Alert without a good description.”

  “Call the hospital. They take all that shit down for their records.”

  Grace hummed. “I’ll do that.”

  She turned to look around the room even more. It was cluttered but in order. There were diapers on the bed, the curtains were drawn.

  “Is the diaper bag here?”

  “Don’t know.”

  Grace stepped forward, looking for whatever Andrew’s mother had used for a diaper bag. She had no idea who would want to kidnap an infant, to the point of killing the mother. Grace opened the closet door, peeking inside. It was a mess. Clothes on the floor in a pile, stuff hung up but also stuff just hanging out anywhere it would fit. Rummaging around a bit, Grace stepped back. If there was a diaper bag in there, it would be on top of everything since Andrew’s mom would need it.

  “Is there one out there?”

  “Not that we’ve seen.”

  “So it was likely taken with the baby unless it’s in the car.”

  “She didn’t have a car registered under her name.”

  “How did she get places? There’s no public transportation nearby here.”

  “How do you know that?” he asked.

  Grace shrugged. “Used to be my old beat. Public transportation in this city isn’t awful, but it’s not great on this side of town, especially in the poorer areas like this one.”

  Abrams raised his eyebrows at her. “The crime scene guys are going to finish up here, and Honeywell can stay until they’re done. Did you want to go down to the morgue?”

  “Yeah.” Grace grimaced. “Probably a good thing to do that.”

  “We can get the preliminary report and go from there.”

  They took separate vehicles, Grace following Abrams. The city morgue was located in its own building, and Grace had rarely been there in her tenure at the Sheriff’s Department. That had been the advantage to being in missing persons, unless they ended up dead, she didn’t need to go there.

  She’d called the hospital on the way over, and they were going to send Andrew’s birth records so she could at least have a description of him for the Amber Alert and to notify the FBI. She should make Amya do that, since her sister worked there.

  Grace got out of her cruiser and walked next to Abrams as they went into the building. The morgue was cold, the chill in the air always going straight to her bones. She wasn’t the hugest fan of the morgue, but she couldn’t honestly think of a detective who liked it. If they did, they most often went back to school to get a job there instead of continuing in the Sheriff’s Department.