Theyre doing their best, Kate said. But Im not sure thats quite enough.

They fell into silence then. Kate felt rather bad, sitting here with a drink while there was a missing girl out there. But she knew there was not much she could do right now. Sometimes a case came down to a moment when there was nothing to do but wait.

Hows your granddaughter? DeMarco asked.

Crawling. Can you believe it? She literally started just before I got the call about this case.

Jeez…already?

Yeah. Thats the thing about kids. They grow up so damned fast. It seems like its going even faster now that I have a grandkid.

DeMarco smiled and took a sip from her beer. Please dont take this the wrong way…but just based on how I know you, I find it very hard to believe youre a grandmother.

Whys that?

Because youre such a badass. You dont think of women like you as having grandkids.

Thanks…I think. How about you? Anything new going on in your life?

Sort of. But its a little embarrassing.

That makes me want to hear it even more.

Well…I sort of write in my spare time. I have for a while. Nothing serious, just a hobby, you know? Anyway…I sold my first short story a few weeks ago.

Hey, thats great!

Its just a small online journal thing. Thirty bucks for it.

Whats it about?

Its, um…well, its sort of R-rated. Actually, it might be closer to NC-17. Lots of sex. Lots of women.

Kate chuckled and nodded her head. Hey, whatever sells, right? Now, is this piece a reflective piece on your life?

It might have been the first time Kate had ever seen DeMarco uncomfortable. She took a longer sip from her beer and gave a small nod. Im actually dating someone now. More than just casually seeing. Its nice.

Thats fantastic. How long?

About two months. Shes an interesting one. And I know that because when she met my parents two weeks ago, that was the verbiage my mother used. Interesting.

Soand forgive me for askingbut have your parents always been okay with you being gay?

Mom fought it for a while, but not for very long, DeMarco said. Keep in mind, I dropped this bombshell on them when I was only fourteen. I was sixteen when she finally came around.

And does Director Duran know?

Yeah. I told him before I was even hired. She laughed here and shook her head. When you were coming up in the bureau, it was still taboo, huh?

Not taboo. But I think if it did come up in an interview or something like that, it would be a topic of discussion behind closed doors before a decision would be made.

Man, weve come a long way, huh?