We all sat around the kitchen table in my apartment, including my brother Carl. The recording Nicco had captured between him and his father came to an end. Without saying a single word, Carl reached out, hit rewind, and played it again.

He did two more times before he finally shot a look my way and shook his head. “You just don’t know when to give up, do you, kid?”

I gave him a wan smile and shrugged. “It’s not in my makeup.”

He barked out a laugh, then leaned back in his chair.

“I’ve got to talk to the DA,” he said abruptly. “We’ll probably end up talking to Councilwoman Brady.” His mouth twisted into a sneer. “I know her husband. This is going to be a pain in the ass. But if she thinks it’s to her benefit to press charges, she’ll do it. She looks out for number one, first and foremost. Always has.”

“What next?” Nicco asked.

He sat next to me, a silent, unwavering presence over the past few hours. It was edging up on midnight, and I knew the night was going to be a long one, but he looked bright-eyed and awake, ready to handle anything. I wished I knew how he did it.

“Like I said…” Carl lifted a broad shoulder, “I have to talk to the DA. If she thinks this is enough to bring him in, then that’s what I’ll do.” He slid a look my way and cocked a brow. “You want to be there, kid?”

My mouth went dry. “What?”

“You were the driving force behind this. You want to be there?”

I smoothed my hands down the sides of my pants and nodded. “Yes, I want to be there.”

“Okay.” Carl pushed back from the table, pocketing the small, pocket-sized recording device. “I’m going to head out. I’m going to contact the DA and see what we can make happen tonight as far as a warrant goes. The fact that he’s not from Monterey and is likely to head back to LA might play in our favor here. Who knows?”

Once he was gone, it was just Suria, Nicco, and me left sitting around the table. Joelle and Kian were in the living room, just a few yards away, and I knew they’d heard everything. A weighted silence stretched out between us, broken when Joelle cleared her throat.

“What happens next?” she asked, her voice hesitant.

I glanced around the room, but nobody seemed to be in any hurry to answer, so I cleared my throat and met her eyes. “We try to get a warrant. He’s confessed to defrauding people in both Los Angeles and here in Monterey. I imagine the DA here will reach out to the DA in LA. They’ll have to do some sort of investigation, but since he’s already admitted to it on record, that might speed things up. Who knows?” I lifted a hand in the air, trying to throttle down my own uncertainty.

“How long will all of that take?”

I shook my head. “I don’t have an answer for that.” The legal system was a lot of things, but it wasn’t expedient.

The call came in just before five-thirty the next morning.

Maybe sometimes it could be expedient.

Carl sounded brisk and wide-awake as he said, “We’ve got a warrant. Get your uniform on and be at the hotel in forty-five. Not a second later.”

“I…wait, you got a warrant already?”

“Turns out the DA knows a judge who takes a pretty dim view on fraud. She was able to get him to see our side pretty easily. Now…get moving,” Carl said.

I half-stumbled out of bed.

Nicco was already awake behind me, his hand coming out to catch my arm before I could move away.

“Was that your brother?” he asked.

“Yes. They’ve got a warrant. I’ve got to get ready. He wants me at the hotel in forty-five minutes.”

As I made my way into the bathroom, I saw the glare from his phone lighting up the room. I didn’t turn back to see what he was doing. I needed the toilet, a shower, and coffee. Not necessarily in that order.

A few minutes later, I trudged out of the bathroom, face and hands washed, ready to start the coffee pot. Nicco was already standing in front of the machine though, and I could see that beloved little red dot beeping, signifying the life-altering substance known as coffee. “You’re my hero,” I said, shuffling closer.

His grin flashed at me in the dark.

I hovered by the machine until there was enough to nip off a cup, then, cradling it between my hands, I made my way back to the bathroom. Shower. Uniform. Coffee. Not necessarily in that order. I didn’t even wait for the coffee to cool off before I took the first, eye-opening sip. Placing the cup on the wide shelf inside the shower stall, I turned on the spray, sucking it up as it came out cold at first, then warmed slowly.

I was wide awake when Nicco decided to join me. “You swiped the first cup, so I need the shower to get me good and awake,” he said, nodding at the coffee I sipped as the spray beat down on my back.

I just grunted at him and put the cup down, lifting my face to the water as I reached for my shampoo. “You’re going to smell like a girl if you use my stuff,” I told him.

“I’ll smell like you, and it’s going to leave me turned on. Every time I catch your scent, my dick will get hard,” he told me.

My knees wobbled a little at his bluntness, and I deliberately kept my gaze from him so he didn’t see what his words did to me.

After slicking conditioner through my hair, I reached for my sponge and shower gel, hurriedly going through the early morning ritual. “I guess you called your sisters,” I said.

“I guess I did.” His eyes met mine through the misty air. “They deserve to know he’s going away where he can’t hurt them anymore, Ravenna.”

I nodded, unable to argue with him.

“They better hurry. Nobody is going to wait around for them.” I met his eyes. “I can’t make that happen.”

The DA stood in front of me, along with my lieutenant and my brother Carl. There were two other uniforms, including my partner, Milo. The other guy was a man by the name of David Lippitt. His eyes were alert, and his hair was cut in a razor-sharp buzz. His skin was smooth and dark, and he had the sort of features that made it impossible to tell how old he was. He could have been a few years older than me or Milo’s age. I had no idea.

I did know that he was a cop that both my brother and Milo respected, so when he nodded at me, I nodded back and gave him a brief smile.

I met the gaze of the district attorney and nodded at her. She’d introduced herself as Patricia Roth. I estimated her to be in her late forties, and she watched everything around her with a sort of sharp-edged impatience, like she wanted to wrap this up and move on to her next conquest.

“I understand that you’re the one who pulled all of this together.” She tugged on the sleeves of her suit as she studied me.

“Yes, ma’am. I had help, of course.”

“I’m aware.” She cocked a brow. “I’m hoping they’ll be available to talk.”

I looked uneasily at the car across the parking lot before glancing back at her. “I can’t make any promises there.”

“I’m hoping they’ll be open to it,” she said, smoothing a hand down her jacket. “I’ve already spoken to colleagues in LA County who are willing to offer immunity in exchange for the testimony of Suria Marks if it helps shut him down. Apparently, people in Los Angeles have been looking to bring Gabriel Marks in for quite some time, but they’ve never had the opportunity.”

My heart leaped a little, a nervous, anticipatory flip as she continued to watch me.

“I suspect she’ll be less likely to consider the idea straight off the bat from me, so perhaps you could drop a bug in her ear,” Roth suggested.

“I…um…yes, ma’am. I can do that.” My heart was banging along at double-time against my ribs now.

“Very well. Let’s get this show on the road.” She turned over a piece of paper to Carl and nodded at him. “I’ll meet you back at the station.”

We headed into the hotel. I lingered near the back as Carl showed the warrant to the desk clerk and got the room number for Gabriel Marks. He left one uniform in the lobby, and the rest of us headed upstairs.

I kept a hand on my belt, trying to pretend I wasn’t nervous. I’d made arrests before and had been on the sidelines while others were arrested, but they were always the result of traffic stops. It had never been for anything big like this.

“I take it that your friends are in the black SUV outside in the parking lot watching?” Carl asked, his voice low. It was early. Plenty of people were still asleep.

I nodded, my throat too tight to speak.

“I had a feeling they might show up. Had to see it, huh?”

I shot him a look. “Some of the stuff he’s done…” I just shook my head. I’d go into more detail later, but it would have to be between us. I didn’t know if Suria and Joelle wanted it known what he’d tried to do, as far as the marriage went.

If I asked Carl to keep it quiet, I trusted he would.

We reached Marks’ floor, and he held up a hand, signifying it was time to be quiet. I nodded, although he wasn’t looking at me.

Milo fell into place behind him, and I was behind Milo.

As Carl came to a stop at the door, I situated myself where I could see Gabriel Marks when he opened the door.

The look on his face was one of almost comical shock at first.

Then understanding.

He went to slam the door, but Carl had placed his foot just inside, making it impossible.

“You don’t want to add resisting arrest to the list of charges, Mr. Marks,” he said after he finished reading off the warrant.

“This is a mistake,” Marks said, shaking his head. He looked around, first at Carl, then at Milo before finally letting his gaze land on me. “I’m just a businessman in town to see my son. I don’t know who you think you have, but it isn’t me.”

“Interesting tactic,” Carl said. “Try using that in court.” He shoved his way into the room. “You going to come along nicely or do we have to fight this out?”

Gabriel looked at the three of us, then turned around, shoulders slumped.

“Cuff him, Sinclair,” Carl said.

For a second, I didn’t realize he was talking to me.

I jolted when I finally figured it out and looked over to see him still staring at Marks.

But I had no doubt he’d meant me.

“Read him his rights,” Carl added.

Slowly, I pulled the cuffs from my belt, then approached him, my mind rushing.

“You have the right to remain silent…”

Nicco, Suria, and Joelle were no longer sitting in the car when we left the hotel.

They stood at the tailgate of the SUV, watching the hotel entrance intently. As if he sensed their presence, Gabriel Marks looked up, his head swinging in their direction.

He tensed at first, his face twisting in a mask of fury. I tightened my hold on him. “You don’t want to do anything stupid, Mr. Marks,” I said.

“No, sir, you don’t,” Milo said agreeably, and I knew he was just as aware as I was.

Carl reached the squad car before we did and opened it for us. Milo stepped back to let me handle him into the car, and as I did, I thought about Mary Jo, her parents.

A weight that had been inside my chest for so long I’d become inured to it, lifted and fell away.

I sucked in a deep breath, freed from a constriction I’d become accustomed to.

“Enjoy the ride, Mr. Marks,” I said softly.

His eyes met mine, then, after a few seconds, fell away.