“Where were you?” Rosie stomped toward the front door, hands on hips, and a mutinous look on her face as soon as Emberlyn and I walked over the threshold.

“Oh shit,” I heard Emberlyn mumble under her breath at my side, but slightly behind me.

“I said,” my daughter came to a stop only feet away from me, “where were you two? I’ve been waiting for like forever!”

I tried to remind my little girl of her manners. “Baby girl, won’t you say hi to our guest?”

“Oh, I’ll get there in a minute,” she grumped. “Answer the question, Daddy.”

It was near impossible to keep a straight face. She may look like her mother, but she definitely took after her father in attitude.

“Baby–”

“You’re supposed to tell me when you’re not coming home right away,” she huffed. “I was worried!”

Talk about a sucker punch to the gut. My little one sure knew how to give it back.

“We’ve talked about this,” she went on, her face a deep crimson, her eyes welling up with tears before she threw herself forward.

Bending down to catch her, imagine my surprise when she bypassed me and crashed into Emberlyn, sobbing. Mom came around the kitchen’s corner, eyeing the interaction, a small smile spreading across her lips as she nodded for me to really look at the scene unfolding before us.

Plopped onto the floor, Emberlyn had my daughter on her lap, cradled against her chest, her head buried in those dark curls, that probably smelled like cotton candy, whispering to her.

“But I wanted to have the first sleepover!” she growled, turning her tearstained face toward me, making sure I didn’t miss her ire. “She was my friend first, Daddy!”

My mother managed to just barely cover up the snort that accompanied her laughter, while the woman I’d just spent the most amazing night with cowered behind my little girl, her body shaking silently with her humor.

How the hell was I going to explain myself? “Lana Rose–”

“I get her next weekend,” she promptly decided, Emberlyn’s shocked gaze mirroring mine as they clashed together.

“Don’t you think you should ask–”

“You didn’t!” she argued.

“How’s this, Sweets,” Emberlyn began with a soft voice, “let’s see about making that happen? I’m sure your dad and Grams can use a break, so if it’s okay with them, we can definitely have a sleepover next weekend. We can play games, build a fort, paint each other’s toenails.”

Lana Rose’s nose scrunched up. “Are yours as gross as Grams’s, because I’m not doing that if they are.”

“She has very pretty feet, baby girl,” I broke into their moment, winking at Emberlyn and causing her to blush a beautiful crimson.

“On that note, I’ll get the pancakes on.” Humor laced my mom’s tone as she turned and disappeared back into the kitchen.

We were at the neighborhood park when the call came through, breaking me from watching Emberlyn push my Rosie on the swing set.

“Peters,” I answered gruffly.

“James found something.” Will hung up before I could say anything, effectively ruining the first of rare weekends I got off.

My pulse quickened, my palms grew sweaty. Could this be it? Could it be the break in the case that I needed to catch this crazed killer?

Hurrying to where both females were busy giggling, I made eye contact with Emberlyn first, her smile quickly disappeared as soon as she took in my serious expression.

“Everything okay?” she asked as soon as she made it to my side, Rosie now left to swing on her own.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go into work.”

She nodded, a worried look entering her eyes. “Everything okay?” she repeated.

“We might have a break in that murder case I’m working,” I said by way of explanation, just as my daughter joined us.

“Daddy, can we go for ice cream?”

“I can’t, Rosie. I just got called in. I’ll drop you two off at Grams’s, then I have to get going.” I was never going to get used to the sight of my little girl’s face falling in disappointment at the news that I had to leave her behind. It made me feel like shit and served up the reminder that Dalton’s offer of working for him fulltime and ditching the JPD was becoming more and more appealing, every time I saw that look on her face. Something closer to a regular nine-to-five—with the minor exception, depending on the case—would make parenting a hell of a lot easier.

I stormed into the coroner’s office forty minutes after receiving Will’s call.

“What do you have for us, James?” I said by way of greeting.

The man smirked. “DNA.”

“You’re shitting me?” I stared at the man, waiting for the camera crew to make their appearance because there was no way in hell our unsub could be that sloppy.

“It was damn well, nearly undetectable, but I wanted you two to be the first to see these results for yourselves.” James handed me the report.

Fibers found…

…blood DNA not matching victim’s or victim’s partner swabbed from laceration on left cheek…

“Tell me you ran the sample through CODIS.” I looked up at James expectantly.

The man nodded. “Page three of the report, gentlemen.”

“Fuck me!” Will turned to pace. As soon as he’d reached the nearest wall, he punched it. “Goddamn motherfucker!”

You stole the words right from my mouth, brother.

We finally had our man.