Nate clenched his fist, trying to contain the bleeding. He snapped the bloody toothpick in half and tossed it in a used Starbucks cup, swiping a crumpled napkin at the drops of blood. He picked up the phone he’d thrown on the floor. His thumb was throbbing, blood pooling around the cuticle. He pulled a card out of his wallet and dialed the number. After a minute, Agent Lisa Hamilton answered.

“I’m in,” he said. “Meet me at the station.”

AN HOUR later Nate was sitting across from Lieutenant Dyson. He’d stopped and bought a box of six raspberry-filled donuts and was rapidly eating his way through the whole thing.

Dyson was watching him, a worried look on his face. “You sure you want this case, Nate? You got a lot going on right now. We’d all understand if you need to take a step back.”

“Please,” Nate said simply. He didn’t want to beg, but the money he’d get from a promotion was the only way he’d be able to pay for his son’s treatment. It was the only thing he could do to provide for his boy. “I need this.”

Dyson studied his face. Finally he nodded. “All right. I’ll give you until the end of the year, and we’ll see where you’re at. And I’m gonna assign Kia as your partner.”

Nate opened his mouth to protest. The end of the year was barely a month away. Dyson held up a hand. “We’ll see what headway you can make while also dealing with Josh’s illness. I was serious when I said I want you applying for this job. But your son is sick, and that isn’t something to be discounted. We can’t let it affect this case. Kia can help. Besides, you know we can’t have any question of bias being raised. If the case necessitates any direct contact with Ben, it should come from her.”

Nate knew he was right. So he nodded, and Dyson called Kia into the office. She entered, shuffling her feet awkwardly and rubbing nail-bitten fingers over her square jaw.

“I’m sorry about Josh,” she told Nate, looking at her feet. “We all are. We’ve taken a collection and donated to that GoFundMe account.”

“What GoFundMe account?”

“You know, the one Pastor John and his wife, Bertie, started?”

Nate vaguely remembered Bertie saying something about a GoFundMe account, but he was genuinely surprised and humbled at the goodness of the people in this community. “That’s really good of you guys. Emma and I—we appreciate it.”