“Will I get to stay with you again?”

  “Maybe.” Grace shrugged. “I don’t really know for sure. Once you’re in the system, I don’t have control over anything. That’s all up to Doreen and what she thinks is best for you.”

  “I want to stay with you.”

  Grace’s heart swelled. She had hoped the conversation was going to take that turn, but she wasn’t sure Kit even wanted to be with them after everything that had happened. And Grace only wanted what was best for Kit in the long run.

  “You’re always welcome to stay with us.”

  Tears raced down Kit’s cheek, and she wiped them away harshly before giving up. When she finally turned to stare at Grace, Grace was done for. She unhooked her seatbelt and reached over, wrapping her arms around Kit’s shoulders and tugging her in for a hug. Kit gripped Grace’s sides, her fingers fisting into the suit jacket Grace abhorred as tears once again reached Grace’s eyes.

  She had not been expecting this. She’d figured Kit would maintain her tough-kid persona and reluctantly agree to move in with them. The break down was too much. Grace had no idea how long they stayed locked together in a hug, but when Kit eased away, they were both wiping at tears and laughing through them.

  “I just want you to be in a safe place, Kit.”

  Kit nodded. “Thanks.”

  “You don’t have to be thankful. You deserve someplace safe, someplace stable, someplace that isn’t cold concrete or a place you’re not wanted.”

  A new wave of tears slipped down Kit’s cheeks, but this time Grace didn’t lean forward to hug her. Silence slipped into the cruiser, but it was a comfortable silence. Grace knew she was going to have to talk to Doreen anyway, because surely Doreen was going to be doing some kind of follow-up with Kit’s parents since their reunification. It hadn’t been long enough for them to fall off the radar.

  After another five minutes, Grace leaned into her seat and grinned at Kit. “Okay. So one more thing.”

  “What?” Kit visible stiffened.

  “There are going to be some new rules in the house.”

  Kit rolled her eyes. “You guys are always about the rules.”

  “Yeah, but these ones are important.”

  “Because of what happened with Peter?”

  “Yes.”

  Kit’s chin bobbed. “I figured as much.”

  “Good, then this will be easy.” Grace’s stomach twisted with nerves, but she barreled through them and into the new rules she and Amya had discussed. “You will not go out with Peter without one of us with you under any circumstances. No drinking under any circumstances. No drugs under any circumstances. Peter has his own rules, too, so don’t think this is just on you, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “He’s the adult. He should have known better and said no.”

  “It’s not his fault.”

  “It is in a lot of ways, but don’t think you get off easy either, Kit. You made poor decisions too, and there are consequences to those decisions.”

  “Like what?”

  “Grounding.”

  “You’re grounding me?” Kit’s eyes were wide.

  “Yes, for two weeks.”

  “I…I don’t even know what to say.”

  Grace inwardly laughed. She had no doubt Kit had not been expecting to move in with them only to be grounded. But it was also a test of how much Kit wanted to stay with them. They weren’t going to make grounding awful, but it wouldn’t be a free for all at their house either.

  “You will go to every single class unless you are sick.”

  “Figured that.”

  “You will pass every single class no matter what, and you will graduate on time.”

  Kit shrugged. “Fine.”

  “Not fine. I don’t care if you don’t want to go to college. That isn’t what this is about. Education is important. You know how we feel on it. I have a GED, and I barely managed that. Amya has a fucking Master’s degree. She’s smart. Follow her footsteps, not mine.”

  Kit shot Grace a look. “You’re not stupid.”

  “Well, I’m not smart.”

  “You’re not stupid,” Kit repeated.

  “Yeah, okay, we’ll go with that. You graduate with your diploma. I better damn well be sitting in that audience when you walk across that stage.”

  Kit grinned, her eyes lighting up with the humor. “Okay.”

  “Two weeks, and then we will re-discuss your grounding and what privileges you can have back.”

  “Okay.”

  “Shall we go home then? We’re on KP duty tonight.”

  “KP?”

  “We’re cooking.”

  Kit’s delighted face vanished. “Can’t we get Indian?”

  Laughing, Grace shook her head and shoved her seatbelt into place. “Nope. Amya doesn’t like Indian. We’ll have to get it when she’s not around some day.”

  “Fine.” Kit crossed her arms.

  “By the way, we went to your parents’ house today.”

  Kit froze.

  “We got all your shit. It’s in the trunk.”

  “You got my stuff?”

  “Well, what they’d let us take.”

  “They let you take stuff?”

  “Yes. You can put it all away when we get home.” The phrase felt odd but wonderful coming off her tongue. They were going home for sure. Kit was home, exactly where she belonged.

  ###

  As soon as Grace walked into the office the next morning there was a buzz in the air. Not only was Alonzo’s crew huffing around again, but Paige was there. Narrowing her gaze, Grace set her travel mug of coffee onto her desk and shot Paige a curious look.

  “What the hell are you doing here this early?”

  Paige grunted. “My turn to be on call. Got a call.”

  “Figures. What’s the case?” Grace slipped into her chair and sipped at her coffee. Before Amya, she rarely ever drank it, but Amya had changed her mind on the effects of caffeine in the morning. Still, she rarely drank more than one cup on a normal day. She much preferred her orange juice.

  Paige let out a huff of air, moving her bangs from her eyes only to have them land squarely back where they started. She slapped the folder she had been holding down on the desk and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “It’s a custodial kidnapping case.”

  “Know where the kids are?”

  “Yes.”

  “Gonna untangle that web?”

  “Please help,” Paige begged.

  Grace snorted. “You should do this one on your own.”

  “Humbard wants us to work together because you know—” Paige indicated the crew shuffling around the office “—we’re being watched.”

  “Uh…yeah.” Grace took another sip of her coffee. “You untangle it, and I’ll come along for the ride.”

  Paige grinned. “Sounds like a plan!”

  Grace turned to her computer. She had a few more reports she wanted to pull on Diego before she interviewed him again, and she really wanted to know who that CNA was. Gnawing on her lip, Grace bent over her computer and jerked when she felt Paige’s hand on her shoulder.

  “We’ve got to go to Johnson County, so we should get going.”

  “Excuse me?” Grace turned with wide eyes. “Johnson?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “That’s where the mom is with the kids.”

  Grace closed her eyes as she wrapped her mind around Paige’s case. “Okay, tell me what happened.”

  “Mom had the kids for the weekend, first weekend since she’s been allowed to have the kids unsupervised, and she took a joy ride out of county and missed drop off. Dad called in a panic. I’ve been up all night. Found her. She’s willing to do the exchange, but she’s in Johnson County.”

  “So have them do the exchange.”

  “Nope.”

  “Paige, this is ridiculous. This is why we work together as different agencies, not against each other.”

  Paige propped both her fists on her hips and shook her head. With Paige’s slow look around the unit, Grace knew why they were going to Johnson County. It wasn’t in search of the kids or to make sure the case was handled correctly. It was to get out of the watchful eye of IAB. She couldn’t argue with Paige’s logic, and it wasn’t like Grace wanted to be there either if there was any chance of Alonzo showing up and questioning her yet again.

  “Fine, but I’m calling Blake.”

  “Who’s Blake?”

  Grace glared. “Let me finish this up, and I’ll be ready.”

  “Can’t you do that on the way?”

  “No.”

  “Fine.” Paige went back to her desk.

  Grace finished up the files she pulled, printing them and organizing them. She would be ready to interview Diego again shortly. Hopefully Paige would sit in on it as well since she had been there for the previous two interviews. She would be able to give good feedback with the differences in his story. They always expected some differences, especially the further out the event was, but something about Diego’s demeanor made Grace think the story differences meant more than just time and forgetfulness.

  “Halling!” Paige called from her desk. “I want to get home before dark.”

  “This isn’t going to take that long. It’s only an hour drive,” Grace muttered.

  “Yes, and then all the paperwork at the end of it.”

  Grace pushed to stand after shoving her papers into her desk in their proper place. Paige’s desk was never clean. Grace kept her desk impeccable. “Tell Humbard?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then onward we go, oh fearless leader.” Grace chuckled as Paige gave her a strange look. She liked to tease Paige and make fun of her when she had a chance. Technically Grace had seniority in the unit, but Paige had far more experience and seniority in terms of being a detective.

  As soon as they were in the car and driving, Grace worked through her own case in her head. Paige was rambling about the custodial case they were on their way to deal with, but Grace couldn’t help but think about Joseph and that CNA who had come by not once, not twice, but three times in the hour she had been there. Surely there was some kind of record of him somewhere. At the very least, she supposed she could stake out Joseph’s room for a few hours and see if the CNA came back.

  “What are you thinking?” Paige asked.

  “What?”

  “You’re a million miles away. You haven’t listened to a word I’ve said. What are you thinking?”

  “That I’m missing something big in my case.”

  “Talk me through it, then. See if that helps.”

  “All right.” She wasn’t quite sure where to begin, but she did have to start somewhere. “When we were at the hospital the other day—”

  “We?”

  “Amya and I.”

  “Amya went with you?”

  “Yes. When we were at the hospital the other day, there was a CNA—at least, I’m pretty sure he was a CNA—anyway, he walked by Joseph’s room three times while we were there. The first time he actually came into the room, the other two were just drive-by.”

  “What makes him so special?”

  Grace shrugged and turned her head to stare at Paige’s profile. “Something about him seems very familiar, but I can’t place it.”

  “What is it about him that makes him familiar?”

  “I have no idea. That’s what’s bugging me. But Diego seems familiar, too.”

  “In the same way?”

  Grace mulled the question over in her mind. What was it about the two of them that seemed so familiar to her? It was like it was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t form the word, and the frustration from it all pressed in on her. “I don’t know.”

  “Think about it then, because I’m betting when you can answer that, you’ll have the answer you’re looking for.” Paige shifted her hands on the steering wheel.

  “Yeah, and hopefully it won’t be too late.” Grace sighed, staring out the window to the passing landscape.

  “I doubt it will be. Joseph isn’t going anywhere.”

  “Well, that’s true.”

  “So I went on that date with Crystal.”

  Grace froze. A chill ran down her spine all the way from the top of her head to her toes. She almost didn’t want to dare to turn and look at Paige. Crystal hadn’t mentioned a thing, although, they hadn’t really talked in the past few days either. “When?”

  “Last week.”

  Grace wondered if it was before or after they talked to Diego last, when Paige had pushed the physical boundaries the last time. She seemed to always do it when she considered herself single. But she didn’t ask the question, not wanting to pry or have the answer.

  “It went well, thank you for asking.”

  “Didn’t realize you wanted me to ask,” Grace mumbled as she stared out the window. Of all conversations she thought they could have, this was not any of them she would have pegged.

  “Well, it did. I’m going to see her again.”

  “Good for you.” Grace crossed her arms and wished they were at the exchange already. “Uh…I’m going to call Blake and see if she can meet us.”

  “Who is this Blake you keep mentioning? Side girlfriend Amya doesn’t know about?”

  Ignoring the comment, Grace answered, “She’s our counterpart in Johnson County. She could have just as easily done this pick up for you, but you insisted on driving the entire way yourself.”

  “Whatever.” Paige rolled her eyes.

  Grace grabbed her phone and called Blake’s cell. She answered on the second ring. “Grace.”

  “Blake.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “We’re in Johnson County.”

  “We?”

  “My partner and I. We’ve got a case we’re working and are doing a pick up.”

  Blake snorted. “You didn’t think to call me or tell me before now?”

  “I assumed my partner had made contact with your sup.”

  “Maybe she did.”

  Grace pursed her lips. She couldn’t quite figure out why Blake was being such a hard ass, but it was exhausting already. Between Paige’s random conversations on topics Grace did not want to touch with a ten foot pole to Blake’s stand-offish comments, she was confused all around.

  “Want to assist?” Grace put out there for the world.

  “Never thought you’d ask. Where am I going?” There, the gentle and happy tone in Blake’s voice was back.

  “Paige, where are we going?”

  “McDonald’s.”

  “Really?” Grace gave her a blank stare.

  “What? It’s the universal kid swap place.”

  “How do you even know that? You know what? Never mind. Which one?”

  “What do you mean which one?” Paige gave her a hard look before focusing back on the road.

  “Which McDonald’s. There’s three of them.”

  “Uh…the one by the college?”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  Blake interrupted their conversation. “How much longer until you’re there?”

  Grace glanced at the clock on the dash. “Fifteen minutes.”

  “I’ll meet you.”

  It didn’t take much longer, and when they pulled up, Blake’s cruiser was already parked near the near of the restaurant. Grace got out first and waved at Blake, who stepped out of her car. “Where’s she at?”

  Paige glanced around, putting her hand over her eyes as she looked. “Don’t see her.”

  “What kind of car is it?”

  “Brand new Chevy Suburban. Black.”

  Grace turned to look around, too. Five minutes later, they saw her pull into the parking lot. She drove right up to them and parked her car. Grace prepared herself for anything. Blake took control of the situation, which Grace was glad for, considering she was the only one with jurisdiction should anything happen.

  There were tears for both the kids and the mom. The social worker arrived right on time to take the kids, and the mom stayed back with them as the kids were taken somewhere else and out of sight. As soon as they were gone, Blake and Paige turned on the mom. Grace didn’t even feel like she needed to be there except for the connection of Blake and Paige. The two of them worked well together so far.

  Blake made the arrest and put the mom in the back of the cruiser. After paperwork was exchanged, they said their goodbyes and Paige and Grace drove back with the mom in tow behind them. This time, Grace made sure to keep the conversation light and steered clear of any sensitive or personal topic, including her case. She wanted nothing to get out beyond her and Paige and her unit.

  Internal Inspection

  Amya sat in her office only an hour after arriving. Grace had texted to let her know she was leaving the county for the day to do a pick up, but that she’d in theory be home early enough to still get Kit at school. Amya brushed her fingers through her hair as she researched through some of the newest information on PTSD and Moral Injury she had been gathering in the past couple years.

  Ever since Grace had struggled with her own PTSD, Amya had taken to researching as much of it as she could. She was just about to dive deep into an article when there was a knock on her door. Khloe stood with a worried expression on her face.

  “What’s up?” Amya asked.

  Khloe stepped in closer but didn’t shut the door. “There’s a detective from Internal Affairs who is here to talk to you.”

  “A detective?” Amya’s stomach dropped. There should be no reason they wanted to talk to her. She was rarely involved in anything that would bring them down her way. Perhaps they wanted to talk to her not about her work but about something bothering them.

  Khloe nodded, her cheeks still pale.

  “Did they say why?”

  Shaking her head, Khloe swallowed. Something in her demeanor put Amya on the edge of her seat. She closed out of the article she was reading and stood up to greet her newest guest. She could only hope whoever was there to talk to her wasn’t about to interview her without warning.

  “All right, then.” Amya smoothed her hands down the front of her suit jacket and straightened her shoulders. She was preparing for whatever may come, which if someone was truly wanting her help, she felt bad about feeling so tense about the entire situation.