“You didn’t care when we were together.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it? I really don’t need this right now.”

Nic ran a hand through his dark hair and took a deep calming breath. “I’m not trying to … It’s just that when Burke walked up and said all that about how beautiful you are, I completely agreed with him, and I realize that I should have told you that kind of thing more often.”

“It was never your words that were a problem, Nic,” she said. “It was your actions. And guess which one spoke louder.”

“I know,” he said, swallowing hard and trying not to let the weight of his past mistakes crush him from the inside out. “If I see Edgar, I’ll tell him to run for his life,” he added. “Penguins are dangerous birds.”

With a half-smile on her red lips, she kissed him on the cheek and said, “You always did make me laugh. When you weren’t making me cry.”

As he watched her walk away, he felt like the dumbest man on earth. Then his radio crackled to life, and Taz said, “Was that as painful as it looked, cowboy?”

Nic glanced around and saw Taz, Carter, and Burke standing by the comm center and looking right at him. Nothing like having an audience for an emotional beatdown. He reluctantly walked over to the three men.

“That didn’t look like a conversation that’s going to lead to make-up sex,” Taz immediately said.

“No, sir,” Nic replied. “Permission to shoot myself, sir.”

“Permission denied,” Taz said. “Without you, who would I make fun of. Carter over here’s too old. I might give him a stroke or something. And Burke is handicapped.”

With a hard edge to his voice, Burke said, “Asperger’s is not a handicap. To be honest, I think you neurotypicals are the ones who are handicapped.”

“And I’m still young enough to bend you over my knee, Sergeant Ortiz,” Carter added.

Nic chuckled. “I’d pay good money to see that.”

Taz stuck out his tongue and said, “You’re all in denial. It’s sad really. It would be easier for everyone if you guys just accepted my awesomeness. So, did you talk to Uncle Romeo?”

“He hasn’t texted me back. He’s been pissed at me since after my brother’s funeral. Probably won’t answer me.”

“Taz told me about your unique familial connections,” Carter said. “Loria and Yoshida obviously aren’t going to share the full picture with us. We need something to get an edge. If we don’t get in front of this train, it’s going to run us over.”

“I don’t know what you guys want from me. Romeo doesn’t like cops, and he likes feds even less.”

Taz puckered up his lips and slurped in a long, slow breath. Nic recognized the quirk as always proceeding Taz saying something Nic was not going to like. “How does Romeo feel about little deaf girls?”

“Absolutely not. I’m not going to use my niece to pry information out of my uncle. Besides, she’s still in school.”