Lee and I had a bond that was invisible but titanium strong. Finding Kip’s kid sister after she went missing was the greatest thing I’d ever done, yet I didn’t feel the need to make an issue out of it. I worked the search like I do everything. I made a mental grid of where we’d gone, then kept working the grid and did what I could to keep Kip from cracking into a million pieces. It’s what I do in the office today. Seriously. The team I lead is full of people who don’t know how to dot the i’s or cross the t’s. The sheriff’s office gave me an award, but I never put it up anywhere. Felt a little silly to be rewarded for doing what anyone else would have done.

Anyone just lucky or born smart enough to be a hero.

Lee and I never really talked about what happened after I transferred her to Kip’s arms. I think there were plenty of times when she wanted to say something, but I didn’t see the need or the reason to dredge it up. She’d catch me alone and start to say something, but I’d find a way to deflect it. Just before Kip’s funeral she mentioned something about how I’d saved her life and whatnot, but as always, I didn’t feel right about making a big deal of it.

“No thanks needed,” I told her firmly.

I should have been more gracious.

She was a wreck all day as she shepherded her parents through what I’m sure was in the top two of the most difficult days of their lives. I could see her breaking apart in front of me, and it made me feel weird, awkward.

“You saved my life,” she repeated. “I owe you.”

I deflected it, as always. “You don’t owe me anything.”

She tugged at me a little. “You don’t get to decide.”

I looked at her with empathy but held firm. “I’m afraid I do.”

“You are a hero,” she said.

We stood there in front of a bunch of photos: a display of Kip’s life from babyhood to fighting for his country on the scorching sands of Afghanistan.

“That’s a real hero,” I said.

Lee nodded.

“I thought of going into the army like Kip,” she said.

“That’s cool,” I told her. “He’d like that.”

“Right,” she said, regaining her ebbing composure. “I decided against it. So much work needs to be done here at home too.”

“No argument there,” I said.

“I’m going to be a cop,” she said. “A detective. Someday I’m going to stop men like Albert Hodge.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. She was trembling a little, but she was fighting hard to maintain.

“I think that’s a great idea.”