Thursday, February 19,

1:30 p.m.

„Next time I pick lunch,“ Mia grumbled, taking the stairs to their office two at a time.

Abe followed her up. „It was good. Best Indian curry I’ve had in a long time.“

Mia turned to him with a frown. „It was vegetarian.“ Ray would never have – She stopped herself midthought. Ray wasn’t here. She had a new partner now. A new partner whose file she’d finally taken the time to read before going to bed the night before.

„It was one meal, Mitchell, not a disease. What’s this?“

Mia picked up the thick stack of papers on her desk, identical to the one he held in his hand. „Kristen’s new lists. She keeps her promises.“

She thumbed to a page marked with a little neon green Post-it and had to chuckle. At the head of the list was Kristen’s own name, bolded and italicized, followed in normal type by the names of her secretary, three other prosecutors, and her boss, John Alden himself.

„It’ll take us hours to go through this,“ Abe said, flipping through the pages. Mia could tell when he reached the green neon Post-it because his face turned red. „I didn’t mean to insult her. I was just surprised.“

„I think she understood.“ Mia looked up to see an unfamiliar face crossing the bullpen. Unfamiliar in and of itself, but there was too much resemblance to Abe’s to belong to a stranger. „Looks like you’ve got company.“

Abe looked up and a smile lit up his features. Mia sucked in an involuntary breath. Abe Reagan with a smile was enough to make her forget all her own rules about not dating cops. Except that she’d seen the look in his eye every time he looked at Kristen. The boy had some serious work to do there. Kristen Mayhew would be a hard nut to crack.

„Sean,“ Abe said. The two men embraced in an awkward hug, Abe shooting her a don’t-get-this-wrong grin. „My brother, Sean.“

„I figured that out for myself,“ Mia said dryly. Abe’s brother had the same dark good looks, but, unfortunately, a wedding ring on his finger.

„I was in the neighborhood,“ Sean said and Abe snorted.

„Since when do you slum in this neighborhood? He’s a stockbroker,“ Abe explained.

„Since Mom told me to come down and check on you. She wanted to be sure you were getting treated right. Dad wouldn’t let her come herself.“

Abe’s lips twitched. „I’ll just bet. It’s good to see you. How’s Ruth?“

„Better now since the baby’s sleeping through the night.“

A shadow passed over Abe’s face, and then it was gone, replaced with a smile that was strained, but sincere. „Good.“

Sean’s smile faded. „Abe… About the christening next Saturday.“

Again, the fleeting shadow and another strained smile. „I’ll be there. I promise.“

„I know. It’s just… Ruth feels just terrible, but her parents invited Jim and Sharon.“

The strained smile disappeared and Abe’s jaw clenched. Mia knew she shouldn’t be listening, but figured if they really wanted privacy, they’d go somewhere else. Jim and Sharon weren’t names she’d read in Abe’s file, but they seemed pretty damn important.

„Tell Ruth it’s all right,“ Abe said. „I’ll still come and there won’t be any trouble from me. Surely the church is big enough for the three of us.“

Sean sighed. „I’m sorry, Abe.“

„It’s okay.“ Abe forced a cardboard smile. „Really.“

„But on the upside, Mom’s making a ham for Sunday. She wanted me to tell you.“

„I’ll call her tonight and tell her I’ll be there.“ There was another short silence in which Sean’s face became pained.

„Ruth and I were out at Willowdale last weekend. The roses were nice.“

Abe’s throat worked, and this Mia understood. Willowdale was a cemetery and according to Abe’s file, he was a recent widower. „It’s the first time I’ve dared go.“

What must it have been like, she wondered, being so deep undercover that you couldn’t risk visiting your wife’s grave? She felt a stirring of compassion, of respect Abe Reagan had given up a great deal to bring some very dangerous drug traffickers to justice.

Sean clasped Abe’s arm, his knuckles going white. „I know. I’ll see you on Sunday.“

„Thanks for coming by,“ Abe said, subdued. When his brother had left the bullpen, he sank into his chair and picked up Kristen’s new list.

Mia studied him unabashed. „So he’s the moneymaking black sheep of the family?“ she asked, and made Abe huff a good-natured chuckle.

„Go figure. Whole damn family of cops and he has to go play with money all day.“

„Blue genes, huh?“

„Yeah. My dad’s a cop. Retired. Beat cop his whole career. My grandfather, too. And one of my brothers.“ He raised a brow. „Aidan’s single.“

„I don’t do cops,“ Mia said with a smile.

„Smart lady.“

She lifted her brows. „Smart enough to figure out that Ruth is Sean’s wife, and that Debra who was your wife is buried at Willowdale. But who are Jim and Sharon?“

Abe’s eyes widened in mild amazement, more than likely at her cheek than at her powers of deductive reasoning. „Debra’s parents,“ he answered anyway. „We don’t exactly get along. Are you always so nosy?“

„You’re my partner now,“ she said. „How long ago did Debra die?“

„Depends on your philosophy of life,“ he said, then sighed when she frowned. „Debra was injured six years ago. Technically, she was brain-dead from the moment they wheeled her into the ER. She never woke up.“

That hadn’t been in the file. „How was she injured?“

Abe’s face went carefully blank. „A bullet meant for someone else hit her by mistake.“

„Meant for who?“ As if it wasn’t written all over his face. Poor guy.

„Me. It was some punk bent on cheap revenge because I arrested his brother.“ He swallowed impatiently. „Damn punk was a lousy shot.“

Her eyes softened in sympathy. „So when did she die? Technically.“

„Technically? A year ago.“

„I’m sorry,“ she said.

Abe nodded stiffly. „Thank you.“

„How much time did the kid do?“

Gritting his teeth, he looked away. „Six fucking months.“

Mia sighed. „The piece of shit that got Ray? Plead down. Good behavior’ll have him walking the street again in two years.“

Abe lifted his eyes. „Then I guess we’ll be waiting for him in two years, Mitchell.“

Ray would have liked you, Abe Reagan, she thought. Despite your tendency to play the cowboy and take stupid risks. But now she understood why Abe had taken so many chances. Grief sometimes made a man do things he might never otherwise do. „You planning on doing any more stupid stunts like you did in Narcotics?“

His lips quirked up. „No.“

„Good.“

Thursday, February 19,

2:30 p.m.

From his van he watched as an old woman in a maid’s uniform opened the door and took the box he’d left on the doorstep after ringing the bell.

He started the van’s engine with a satisfied smile. He rounded the corner and pulled into an alley, hopped out, and pulled the magnetic sign from the side of the van, revealing the painted sign beneath. Crossed to the other side and did the same, then rolled both signs and stored them in the van before climbing back in.

He had to get back to work. To his day job, anyway. The real work would commence when the sun went down.

Thursday, February 19,

3:30 P.M.

Kristen sat in her car, dreading what she was about to do. Mitchell and Reagan would be here soon. Then she’d have to face the accusing eyes of Sylvia Whitman once again.

She remembered the day of the Ramey trial. It had been a cold day, like this one. The three women, dressed in the conservative clothes they wore every day to work, looking petrified and nauseous. Their husbands, boyfriends barely containing their fury at the sight of Ramey sitting next to his defense attorney. The way each woman took the stand, retold her story, her hands clenched together so tightly. The look of shame none could hide. The way they couldn’t look anyone in the eye. Except for me, Kristen thought. Each woman had fastened her gaze on Kristen’s face, as if she was the only anchor in the courtroom.