“No, because only one of them even practices law at this point. This is truly about me.”

“What type of law?”

She took another breath, because this is where the rubber would meet the road. “I want to be a prosecutor.”

Silence fell between them. Then Aiden spoke. “You want to go after guys like the sergeant.”

They’d agreed a long time ago not to speak his name. Not to give him that power over her. “Yeah. I do.”

He took her hand. “I’ll support you one hundred percent.” He paused. “But you realize that nothing you do is ever going to change what happened.”

“I do, but I also believe that if I can harness some of my pain and frustration into helping others, in the end, it will also help me.”

After another quiet moment, Aiden said, “So, the LSAT, huh? How do you think Marco will handle this?”

Marco was her boss at NCIS, and she had no intention of telling him anything. “Right now he doesn’t need to know. I need to make sure I can actually get into a good law school before anything else happens.”

“Would you quit NCIS?”

She’d thought long and hard about this. “I think I’d have to. If I’m going to do this, I need to do it right, and that means complete dedication. Let’s see how I do on the test and then go from there.”

“Whatever you need from me, just say it.” He squeezed her hand. “But if you decide for whatever reason not to take that path, you can still do a lot of good at NCIS. Don’t forget all the good you’ve already done in the short time you’ve been there.”

“I know. And I’m not going to make any rash decisions, but I have to explore this option. I’ve told you before, but your dad really changed my life in the best of ways. He encouraged me to seek counseling, and that has truly helped. And, of course, working with him is how I met you.” She smiled, and warmth filled her heart.

“God has perfect timing, Izzy, and seeing that play out in our lives has been pretty amazing.”

She had stepped away from her faith for years after her father’s murder, but as part of confronting what had happened to her at the hands of the sergeant, she had turned back to God. It hadn’t been easy. Largely because she had so much anger, but she was working through it day by day.

“Having you by my side has made all the difference in the world,” she said.

“I feel the same way about you.”