I traced the shape of his face: his small, pert nose; his sharp chin, so much like mine. But the rounded hillocks of his cheekbones, his generous mouth and wide smile, the glint he got sometimes in his eyes, those were his father’s.

I thought of the paternity test I had in a sealed envelope at the bottom of my jewelry box.

I should throw it away. Gabe had become a liability, and it wasn’t like I needed him anymore. I’d been lucky so far; Gabe was sexy but not particularly bright. He’d never even asked where I’d gotten his DNA for a comparison match. I’d only offered to show him the paternity test because it didn’t show a name. It just said Probability of Paternity and Alleged Father. I’d only kept it at the time because I was worried Nate would ask for proof that Josh was his baby. He knew I’d dated someone before we got together.

But he’d never asked.

For a cop, Nate could be very blind. Sometimes he only saw what he wanted to see.

I gathered Josh in my arms and stood, giving Nate a cool good-bye. “I’ll see you at home.”

And I turned and walked away.

CHAPTER 35

NATE OPENED THE BOX that had arrived on his desk at the station this morning and looked at his Christmas present for Emma. Even though it had been tense between them lately, his wife was still the dream of his heart. Things would get better, he had to believe. As soon as Josh got this treatment and he cracked this case, they would go back to the way they had been.

He smiled as he pulled a sheet of wrapping paper he’d bought out of his desk and wrapped the gift. She was going to love it.

He signed the tag and tucked the present in a drawer, then hurried outside. There was one more thing he had to do today.

Nate squinted against the early-morning sun as he parked at the Northwestern Nursing Home. With its gleaming red brick and fluted white pillars wrapped in twinkling lights, it looked more like his college fraternity house at Christmas than his dad’s nursing home.

He signed in and followed the hallway to the back. He could hear carolers singing “Jingle Bells” in the common room. The smell of pumpkin pie and evergreen trees hung in the air, Christmas lights flashing cheerfully in the hallway. Nate caught sight of his own pale, drawn face as he passed the silver ornaments on the Christmas tree.

Christmas was only three days away. He had just over a week until Lieutenant Dyson took the case from him.