“No, it happened when I was chasing down some stupid kid around twenty-five years ago. I was shot in the shoulder.” Decker lifted and rotated his arm. “All healed.”

“This is not reassuring.”

“If you’re nervous, you know I can go it alone. You’ve got nothing to prove with me, Harvard. Do I think anything will happen? No. Can I guarantee it? No. But if it’s going to prey on your mind, you won’t be able to concentrate. You have my blessing to remove yourself from the case, no judgment and I mean that sincerely.”

“You’re not worried?”

“I’m a drug addict, Tyler. I thrive on adrenaline. This is the happiest I’ve been in six months.”

The kid was quiet. Then he said, “I’m here as long as you want me here.”

“Okay. But if you change your mind, no harm, no foul.”

“The truth is, Decker, for the first time in my life, I’ve actually felt useful. I feel energized and the danger only adds to it. Yeah, I’m a little scared. But what really disturbs me is I like being a little scared.”

“A little scared is good. It keeps you on your toes. It’s when you’re cocky that bad things happen.”

“What if you’re cocky and scared?”

“Then you’ve just described the ideal homicide detective.”

WITH A GLIDE in her walk, Nina McAdams came in on the arm of her stepgrandson. She was thin, blond, and beautiful, wearing a black chiffon skirt and a silk top. What was truly humbling was that she was only ten years older than Decker. While he’d just gotten used to working with people young enough to be his son, he was now working with someone who was young enough to be his grandson.

The woman looked around the crowded table filled with Decker’s children, stepchildren, spouses, and significant others as well as Yasmine and two of her roommates, Jenny Lee and Katy Bera.

“My Gawd, this isn’t a dinner, it’s a party.” Nina regarded Decker. “Are all these yours?”

Tyler said, “Behave yourself.”

“Why should she,” Jacob said. “No one else does.”

“We are happy to claim ownership to all of them,” Rina told her.

Nina sat between Tyler and Decker. After all the introductions were made, Nina patted Decker’s hand and said, “You have a veritable UN here.”

Tyler turned red. Decker smiled. The woman spoke the truth. Koby was from Ethiopia, Yasmine’s family was from Iran while her two roommates, Jenny and Katy, were from Taiwan and India, respectively. Hannah’s fiancé, Raphy, was a Colombian Jew.

Rina said, “If the state ever mandates diversity within families, we will have complied.”

“Have a drink, Nina,” McAdams told her. “Or . . . maybe not.”