Watching him as he weighed the decision, she noticed he’d aged since she’d last looked closely. When had that happened? The observation left her strangely unsettled. Men like her dad and Uncle Joe were supposed to stay forever young and live for as long as she needed them, which was always.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you that Marti and I weren’t able to have kids of our own,” he said, further startling her. “We had you and your sisters, our nieces and nephews... You all were our kids. I think we’ve done a good job, you and me, of navigating the personal as we deal with the professional. But if you think it’s ever easy for me to send you out into harm’s way, you don’t know me at all, Sam. Someone threatened one of my officers, but they also threatened one of my kids—one of my favorite kids. Don’t forget that.”

She stared at him, astounded and moved and uncertain of what she should say, which didn’t happen very often. “I... I won’t forget. I won’t ever forget.”

“See that you don’t.” He combed his fingers through wiry gray hair in a gesture filled with exhaustion and resignation. “Run Vasquez, report directly to me, watch your back and don’t take any foolish chances, you got me?”

“Yes, sir.”

Because of what he’d said, because he’d been her Uncle Joe a lot longer than he’d been her chief, because she loved him, she went around the desk, put her hands on his shoulders and kissed his cheek. “I love you too.”

As she walked toward the door, he said, “I never said I loved you.” His gruff tone was more in keeping with what she’d come to expect from him.

“You didn’t have to.” She smiled all the way back to the pit.

* * *

Ready to do battle on Willie’s behalf, Sam strolled into the pit to find it empty except for Cruz, who was sprawled out in his office chair, sound asleep. Was there something wrong with her that she took perverse pleasure in booting the chair and sending him flying into the wall of his cubicle? The look on his face when he came to and realized she’d caught him asleep in the pit was priceless.

“Up and at ’em, Sleeping Beauty. We’ve got work to do.”

“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Where is everyone?”

“Home sleeping if they’re smart.”

“Aren’t you the lucky one to be teamed up with the LT?”

“The luck never ends. Don’t you need sleep like the rest of us mere mortals?”

“I’ll have lots of time to sleep when I’m dead. In the meantime, let’s hit the morgue.”