“I’m fine, everyone—stop fussing!” Anika groaned.

Sam had burrowed his head into his mom’s side, and she was gently stroking his hair with one hand and her rounded tummy with the other. Her glasses were pushed atop her head, and her whole face looked a little gray.

“What happened?” I whispered, and Sam lifted his head, his glasses all askew, to hear Luca explain.

But instead Luca huffed and said, “If Anika would let us call an ambulance for her, we could find out!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m fine—” Anika started to say.

“You’re not!”

I was surprised at how sharp his words were.

“This is ridiculous, Anika—you need to see a doctor!”

“And I will. I’ve got an appointment for tomorrow—I can wait that long!”

Senior Constable McNeal—Penny—came to stand beside me and ruffled my hair as a hello. I’d known Penny for as long as she and Luca had worked together. She was the only woman among a handful of officers at the Sorrento Police Station.

She was a little shorter than Luca, and a few years younger than him too. I only knew because she always called him “old man,” which could either make Luca grin or grimace, depending on what mood he was in. Penny had dark-red hair the color of ketchup straight out of the bottle and had worn it the same way for as long as I’d known her: perfectly straight to her shoulders when she was off duty, and bobby-pinned into a bun when in uniform.

“The ambulance station is just one little radio call away,” Penny piped up. “They can be here, check you out, and hopefully give you the all-clear in twenty minutes flat!”

Anika replied by throwing her a weak smile. “Really, I’m fine—I just overdid it at work today!”

“Enough that you called the station for me!” Luca roared.

Sam stood and looked up at Luca in a way that reminded me of him staring Mr. Khouri down earlier. But seeing Sam stick his bottom lip out seemed to ease something in Luca, and he slowly stretched his hand out and laid it on Sam’s shoulder.

“If you’re sure the dizziness has passed . . . ?” Penny started to ask, looking to Anika again.

“I am, I am!” she agreed, and then she threw her forearm over her eyes and kept speaking. “It’s just normal pregnancy stuff! All I need is a long bath, a good nap, and to see the doctor tomorrow.”

Luca nodded and then collapsed onto the other couch, cradled his face in his hands, and let out a deep sigh.

“A cup of tea for everyone—how does that sound!” Penny said, and then she nudged my shoulder to come help her.