His heart melted at the sight of his sleeping child, tiny head resting on her mother’s breast.

“Hey.” He met his wife’s sleepy eyes. “What about our vow to let sleeping kids lie?”

Dressed in oversized pajamas, her own hair a crown of wild curls, Olivia didn’t crack a smile. “I took that oath when I thought there was a chance our daughter might actually get to see her father once in a while.”

“Oooh. Low blow.”

“Not low enough,” she muttered, and rounded the desk to perch on the extension that had once housed a typewriter. With a glance at the computer screen and a view of the photo of Laney Springer’s corpse, Olivia scowled.

“Nice,” she said. “Healthy environment for our daughter to grow up in, don’t you think?”

He clicked off the monitor. “You knew I was a homicide cop,” he said, touching her knee. “If you don’t remember, that’s how we met.”

“Oh, I remember.” A little smile toyed at her lips and she met his gaze with the gorgeous round eyes that had seen into a killer’s mind. “Like it was yesterday.” She handed the baby off to him. “And it’s not a good thing.”

“Our meeting?”

“The circumstances of it.” Cradling his child against him, he felt the ruffle of Ginny’s downy hair against his neck, smelled her clean baby scent, watched in fascination as rosebud lips let out a sigh.

“I know it bothers you—”

“A lot,” she responded quickly.

“Okay, I get it. Really. But this is my job for now. And I can’t just turn my back on my cases. You know that. And come on, how would you have felt if I’d ignored you when you came storming into my office, ranting and raving about seeing women as they were being murdered?”

She winced at the memory. “I know.”

“Look, if I hadn’t followed my gut, if I hadn’t believed in you and tried to help you, a murderer might still be stalking the streets of New Orleans.”

“Another murderer,” she corrected.

“Yeah, another one.”

“I know your job’s important. Don’t get me wrong. But you’ve done it a long time.” She let out a sigh through her nose. “Let someone else do it. There are other cops at the department. Younger cops.”

“They have families, too.” His daughter nestled closer to him, and he felt her soft breath against the base of his neck.

“Are you going to try and make me feel guilty for wanting you to be around to watch your daughter grow up?” Olivia cocked her head to look at him more closely. “Is that what you’re trying to do? Because it won’t work.”

“It’s my—”

“Yeah, I know. You’ve already said. But think about it. You’ve got enough years in. You could retire.”