“That I had my father’s eyes?”

She raises an eyebrow and stares at him.

He drops his gaze. “You said I had one last chance.” He sees the dog-end at her feet, flattened but still smoking. “You told me not to fuck it up.”

She sighs. “I’m not saying you’re fucking anything up. Not yet anyway. Look . . .” She pauses, her eyes drifting unconsciously to the scar on his cheek, as they always do when she raises the subject. “What happened with Bridger wasn’t entirely your fault. But I took a big chance here—you know that, don’t you? I put my head above the parapet, and there’s any number of bastards lining me up in their sights right now.”

“I didn’t ask for special treatment, Diane.”

“You got it anyway,” she snaps. Then she sighs again and reaches out to place a hand on his arm. “You have so much of your father in you, Adam. How am I supposed to treat you like everyone else?” She lets the hand fall away. “He was always shit at playing nicely with others as well. Is there anyone in the department you haven’t managed to piss off yet?”

“There’s a girl in the comms room I get along with quite well.”

“I need someone on this investigation who knows how to work as part of a team. Forgive me, but that’s not you.”

“Diane, I . . .” The eyebrow goes up for a second time. “Ma’am. This is a cold case.” He stops short of telling her it’s his case. He stops short of telling her how this case is his way back, a chance for redemption, to prove to her she was right to take a chance on him. “I can behave myself.”

She says nothing more for a moment, merely stares at him. Then she says, “What about DI Doggett?”

He hesitates, the words he has to speak refusing to drag themselves out. “Perhaps we could work together?”

She continues to stare, eyebrow still raised. He finds himself looking down at the ground, his eyes drawn back to the smoking dog-end.

He hears her say, “Well?” and a voice behind him says, “I’ve already got a sergeant.”

He turns to find Doggett leaning against the mobile unit, his leg dancing to a rhythm only he can hear. How long has he been there?

“You’ll need more than one,” Jordan tells him.

He shrugs at her, as if to say It’s your call.

“Fine,” she says after a few moments. “But DI Doggett has lead on this. I have no intentions of refereeing a pissing match, gentlemen. Is that understood?”

As they both mutter their assent, Tyler realizes something. Doggett’s easy acceptance of him at the crime scene. They expected him to come. They knew he would want to be involved. Was this all some sort of test? To see if he was willing to fight for it?

“One more thing,” he says.