“It’s perfect,” Deacon said again, and it was. Decorated with Hawkeye and Storm action figures plus cartoon images of the dogs that were their namesakes, it was big enough to feed thirty people—or ten people and two teenagers. And in bold letters in the middle of the cake were the words HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FAMILY.

Deacon picked up the cake platter. “Hold the door open. I’ll carry it outside.”

Dani did and took a deep breath of crisp fall air. It had been hot in the kitchen, as she’d had her oven going since the night before. But it was worth it. So worth it.

The weather had cooperated, giving them a beautiful day for their celebration. Most of their guests wore jeans and heavy sweaters, but a few still wore the suits and dresses they’d worn to court, she and Deacon among them.

It had been an easy adoption, all things considered. Joshua and Michael had no living relatives, so there’d been no need to terminate parental rights.

Freeing the boys of their unstable mother and abusive stepfather was probably the only really good thing Cade Kaiser had done. Dani had found herself ethically torn on the other murders. Except for Wesley Masterson, Charlie Akers, George Garrett, and the innocent kid who’d bought Kaiser diapers and antibiotic cream, his victims had been the scum of the earth and deserved to die. But it was difficult to condone Kaiser’s vigilantism. Yes, Diesel was also a vigilante, but he didn’t kill anyone. He saved women and children all over the city from abusers. But Kaiser had enjoyed torturing his victims—and he’d tried to kill Michael, several times. That fact alone erased any other good he might have claimed credit for.

But they never had to worry about Cade Kaiser again. The man had held on for another day in the ICU, but had died, alone and in pain. Not enough pain, Dani thought, but brushed the anger aside. She wasn’t sorry she’d stabbed him. She only had to look at her two sons to know she’d done exactly the right thing.

Michael and Joshua were happy kids. Happy, healthy kids who knew that they were loved. That was the most important thing.

She found Joshua easily. He was “introducing” Storm—who was already gigantic—to Scarlett’s daughter, now a month old. Scarlett and Marcus had named her Michelle, after Marcus and Stone’s younger brother, Mikhail, who’d been killed five years before.

Jeremy and Keith were the proudest grandparents Dani had ever seen—although they’d made it clear to Joshua and Michael that little Michelle was their third grandchild. Michael and Joshua were the first two, because Diesel was their adopted son.