Aiden saw Tobias off at the airport. His brother actually got a little sniffly when they said goodbye. "I'm glad you came, T."

"Yeah, me too. It sucks, being away from home for the first time. It's good to have a little dose of family, huh?"

"Yeah. You kind of got my feet back on the ground. I think I was going a little nuts." Aiden shook his head disgustedly. "Now that I look back, I honestly don't know what kind of crack I was smoking."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up." Tobias knew all about that crack—its name was Carolyn, and it was freaking addictive. Now that it was running through his blood, he had no idea how he was going to get rid of it. It would take a lot more than a fake cigarette habit. "So I'll see you at Christmas, kid."

"Our first complete family Christmas!" Aiden's face lit up with a huge grin. They hugged tightly. Tobias’s heart welled up with love for his little brother. The poor kid's life had been completely torn apart and what had he done? Joined the army and left him behind.

Well, now he was back and determined to make up for that. Carolyn's comment threaded through his mind as he embraced his brother's wiry frame. You put your brothers before anything else.

He wished he'd put his brothers first after the murder. Instead he'd run away, terrified of the guilt and anger that boiled in his veins. But now he was putting his brothers first—of course he was. It was the least he could do for Dad. It wouldn't make up for the last night of Dad's life. But it was something.

Back in Jupiter Point, he swung back into his regular routine, almost as if nothing had happened. Even though Knight and Day Flight Tours was a new business, in operation for barely a month, they were already booking up fast. He and Ben split the piloting duties. They owned a Cessna six-seater, a Piper Matrix and a helicopter, which they’d added to their little fleet to assist the local hotshot and rescue crews. Occasionally someone wanted to be dropped off on one of the offshore islands, and they used the chopper for that. But mostly the tourists wanted to see the spectacular views of mountains and cliffs, and the sweeping ocean vistas that you could only experience from above.

After all his days flying missions, it was pure joy to show off the beauty of Jupiter Point and the surrounding wilderness. And he loved it, he really did. Except—he had to admit, sometimes it seemed a little tame compared to his previous line of work.

Ben had always been the one with the passion for flying. Taking over the old Marcus airstrip and reviving the flightseeing business was Ben's idea. Ben had thought of the name, he'd come up with the logo design, with the chess-piece silhouette over a sun. Ben was the one who worked night and day—pun intended—on the business, crunching numbers and taking online marketing courses when he wasn't actually piloting a plane.

Tobias was the supporting player here. He did his job, of course. He memorized the spiel Ben wrote, so he had something to say to the tourists as they flew past the observatory. He quizzed wildlife biologists so he'd know the best places to spot bears in the mountains, or dolphins riding the currents. His goal was to deliver an unforgettable experience during every tour he flew, with at least one wildlife sighting.

When it came to the management side of things, he tried to hold up his end. He sat in on interviews. They needed to hire some support staffers—a receptionist to take bookings, a bookkeeper to manage the finances, a part-time mechanic to keep the planes in top condition. There was so much involved in getting the business off the ground, sometimes he missed the simple days of the military chain of command. At Knight and Day, the chain of command was more like a scramble to keep up with everything that had to be done.

Ben loved every minute. He strode around the airstrip with a piratical grin, greeting customers with a handshake and a free Guide to the Skies of Jupiter Point. He kept lecturing Tobias about his manner with the tourists.

"You have to smile more, dude. These are not enemy combatants. They're customers."

"I know that. That's why I make sure to get them back alive," Tobias grumbled.

"They might be alive, but they're afraid you're going to scowl at them again. Would it kill you to lighten up?"

"Fuck off."

"I'll take that as a yes," Ben said dryly. He adjusted the bandanna he wore to hold back his hair. He'd vowed not to cut it for at least five years to make up for all the buzz cuts he'd had in the Air Force.

"Look, I'm doing my best here. I'm not a ray of sunshine like you. I'm more of a—"

"A death ray?"

Tobias grimaced. Was he really that lacking in cheer? "I'll work on the smiling part."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I wouldn't want you to strain anything. Besides, you freed Aiden from the evil spell of the golden goddess, so you're good for the rest of the year. How'd you do it, anyway? You really know how to complete a mission, bro."

Tobias checked the last bolt on the Cessna, to which he was giving a preflight safety check. "Classified info, eyes only, man. Can't reveal my tradecraft."

"Oh, so you're playing it that way. Did you meet the lady in question?"

"No comment."

"Dude, now you sound like Will."

"Sound like Will, how?" The man in question strode into the hangar. Will looked like a different man these days. Loose, happy, free. Tobias figured it was thanks to his new and blissful relationship with Merry Warren. Tobias had never seen two people who enjoyed each other as much as Will and Merry. Their sparks could light up a room.

"He pulled out the 'no comment'," explained Ben. "Refuses to talk about what went down at Evergreen."

Will put his hands in his pockets and surveyed Tobias with sharp gray eyes. "Can't complain about the results. Aiden seems in good shape. I just asked him if he still wants to liquidate his trust and he said 'no.'"

"Great." Tobias twirled his wrench, then put it back in the toolbox. "He's a good kid. Let's give him a little breathing room. Everyone has a right to lose their mind once in a while, right?"

"Sure." Will jerked his chin at Tobias. "Do you have a few minutes?"

"If you want me to dish the dirt about the golden goddess, it's not happening."

Did Will know that it was Carolyn? Had Merry told him? Carolyn had made Merry promise not to, but that might be a hard promise to keep. No matter what, Tobias had no intention of telling either of his brothers. His experience and connection with Carolyn felt too personal, too precious, to share.

Will held up a hand in a defensive gesture. "Not about that. As far as I'm concerned, that chapter is closed. I was hoping I could ask you some questions about…" he hesitated. "That morning."

That morning.

The morning Tobias had found Dad dead and all their lives had changed. A thick ball of dread formed in his gut. The memory never really left him, but talking about it…that was another matter. He hadn't done that at all, except with the interrogating officers at the scene, and then with Merry for her article. That interview had been excruciating.

"Sure," he managed. "Where do you want to do it?"

"Actually, I was thinking we could go back to the old house. You can walk me through exactly what you saw and where. I already spoke to the new owners. We just have to give them a head's up when we're on the way."

The old house. Jesus. Tobias hadn't been back there since he left for boot camp. Will had sold it and moved to an old farmhouse closer to town. Could he handle a trip back there? Back to the most horrifying moment of his life?

For some reason, the thought of Aiden stiffened his spine. Aiden wouldn't be afraid to go back. He was good at facing emotionally painful things.

"Yeah, let's do that. I have one more flight today, then let's go."

"That works."

Ben interrupted and dragged Will away to show him the new weather radar system they'd installed. Tobias moved to the tool bench, where he grabbed a rag and some heavy duty hand cleaner. As he was wiping motor oil off his hands, his phone beeped. Earlier today he'd sent Carolyn a photo he'd taken from his last flightseeing trip along the coastline. It was an especially beautiful shot of the sun reflecting off the observatory and the Seaview Inn, which sat on the next hill over. Behind those two hills spread an ocean of green, the Sierras unfolding in endless pine-studded waves.

Not quite Renaissance art, but not too shabby, he'd written. For some reason, every beautiful sight he saw, he wanted to share with her. But he didn't tell her that. Too freaking sappy. And they didn't have that kind of relationship, after all. They'd been texting casually, exchanging fun notes about things happening in their lives—Dragon's new chew toy, Jupiter Point's new Thanksgiving parade, that sort of thing.

Also, she gave him reports about Aiden, for which he was eternally grateful. Things like, Spotted Aiden with a cute soccer player at the Caf. He seems happy. And, Aiden actually raised his hand in class today. That's a first.

Now she'd texted again, probably about the photo he'd sent. He was so anxious to see her response that he tried to open the text with the heel of his hand, since his fingers were still slick from the cleaning compound. The phone went flying off the tool bench and skittered across the concrete floor, coming to a stop at Ben's feet.

Ben bent to pick it up, and Tobias panicked. What if he saw Carolyn's text? What if he put it together that she was the mystery woman from Evergreen? "I got it," he barked, hurrying after his phone.

Too late. Ben had already snagged it off the floor. He laughed at Tobias’s frustrated growl and held his phone behind his back. "You look the way you used to when Dad caught you reading comics instead of studying. Whazzup, dude?"

"Hand it over."

"Are you blushing?" Ben peered at him, a wild light in his blue eyes.

"I'll kick your ass."

"Bring it, big guy. It's worth it, just to see what you've got going on."

"Nothing's going on, jackass." Time to get down and dirty. "Hand the phone back or I won't tell you who I saw at the Quickie Mart this morning."

Ben narrowed his eyes at him. "Is this something I want to know?"

"Oh yes." His brother gave in and handed back his phone. "I'm not giving in to your blatant extortion, by the way. I just realized that I'm not twelve anymore."

"Are you sure?" Tobias muttered as he stuffed the phone back in his pocket.

"Pay up, big guy. Who'd you see at the Quickie Mart?"

"Julie."

Ben froze for a fraction of a second, then continued on as if that fact meant nothing to him. But anyone who knew Ben knew that couldn't possibly be true. Ben had been so deeply in love with Julie that when she'd dumped him, right before the murder, he'd joined the Air Force almost immediately. His brothers had wondered if he had some kind of death wish.

Since the military didn't want people with death wishes, they'd quickly gotten his head straight for him. The next time Ben had come back to Jupiter Point, he'd been a different man. He'd developed an outer shell that let everything bounce right off him. Nothing upset him anymore, almost as if he'd been so deeply wounded that other painful events didn't register.

But Tobias knew him well enough to know that wasn't true. Ben had a huge heart, and he'd given it to Julie one hundred percent. How would he handle her reappearance?

"Interesting," Ben said, in a brittle voice. "I thought she was down south somewhere."

"She just moved back. She asked about you. I told her about Knight and Day, so she might drop by."

Ben's mouth twisted for a moment, then he shrugged lightly. "Great. I'll show her around. Maybe take her up in the chopper."

"And push her out?" Tobias asked wryly.

"Probably not," Ben said. "But you never know."

Tobias made a note to tell Julie to avoid Ben at all costs. Until now, he hadn't realized there might still be bad blood between them. What the hell. He couldn't fix all his brothers' love lives. Not when his own was in such a frustrating state.