I knew something was wrong as soon as Grace answered the phone. Her face turned pale, and a look of fear flashed in her eyes.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can.” Grace picked up her purse and started running toward the door. “Blue’s at the hospital.”

I tossed a twenty on the bar and chased after her. She was yanking on the driver’s door when I made it outside, and tears had started to fall.

“I’ve got the keys, I’m driving.” I opened the passenger door and gestured for her to get in. “I didn’t drink that much. I only had a beer and a half, which is weird, because I’m usually the crazy one in any crowd.” I made sure she was buckled in before racing to the driver’s side.

“Are you sure you can drive?”

“Grace, I drink regularly, which means that beer won’t affect me as much. When’s the last time you had a drink?”

She knew I was right. She was tipsy after the first half beer. Alcohol had a way of sneaking up on you when you hadn’t had it in a while.

I started the engine and turned onto the highway toward Boulder.

“Oh, my God, drive faster. Ana said he had a rash. What if it’s measles or mumps or rubella?”

“Is he vaccinated?”

She looked at me like I was out of my mind. “He’s only a month old, of course not.”

I pressed the gas pedal farther down and sped up to five over the limit.

“What are his symptoms?” I wasn’t in the medical field, but I’d roomed with a medic for a long time. “Maybe it’s an allergy.”

Grace snapped at me. “What the hell do you know anyway? You don’t even like babies.”

That hurt—I did like babies. Long ago, I’d even dreamed of having a family someday. But then I saw what family looked like in foster care and decided to take a pass.

I let the comment slide, though, since she was clearly emotional, and for good reason. “Call Ana back and ask what they think it is,” I said instead.

Grace tried to call back, but we were in a dead zone between the peaks. Her silent tears turned into straight-out-uncontrollable sobs.

When we got to the hospital, I’d barely stopped the car before she jumped out and ran into the emergency room entrance.

I parked the car and started toward the hospital. Ryker met me in the parking lot. “Blue is going to be okay. They think it’s a milk protein allergy.”

“Thank God. I swear Grace nearly ripped my head off while I was just trying to get her here.”

“Man, you can’t get between a lioness and her cub.” He patted me on the back and walked with me into the hospital. I hated the smell of antiseptic. It reminded me of death and lost dreams.

“Was Mom ever that protective?”

Ryker’s eyes widened. “You don’t remember that time when Dan Clover was picking on you in kindergarten?”

“Hell, yeah. That little bastard used to steal my snack every day.” I thought back to the day when Mom told me to let him have it. I hadn’t understood why she’d wanted me to give over my cheese and crackers so easily. “Oh, right. She put cayenne pepper in the cheese one time. I remember him crying because his mouth burned so much.” Yep, our mom was a lioness.

“Never question the fact that Mom and Dad loved us. They gave us everything they could.”

“Oh, please—” I leaned against the brick wall of the building.

Ryker stood before me and held up his hand to stop me mid-sentence.

“I rarely pull out the big brother card, but I have to now. Now that I’m going to be a dad, I’ve given a lot of thought to what I want to do with my life. My choices affect Ana and our baby.” He moved to my side and leaned against the wall next to me.

“You’re not planning to run a motorcycle gang, are you?” I said sarcastically.

He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Rooster, listen to me.” He only used my nickname when he was serious. “How many of your soldier friends have kids?”

“Tons. What’s your point?”

“Well, I imagine when one of them dies in war, not all the family are saying things like ‘He died for his country,’ or ‘He died doing what he loved.’ There’s always going to be the one who says, ‘Why would he stay in the Army when he had kids? He knew the risk.’”

“The same could be said about police officers and firefighters. Jobs where you put your life on the line each day. What about the guy who climbs telephone poles, or the electrician who deals with massive voltage each day?”

“Not the same. They don’t bring their kids to the front lines.” I knew I had him there, but Ryker had a point to make.

“Dad’s career choice wasn’t gang leader. He was a motorcycle mechanic who happened to call a bunch of bikers, family.”

“I’m not going to argue with you, but what family packs the kind of munitions it took to take down everyone in that building? I almost lost you too, or did you forget that you laid in the hospital for a week in intensive care?”

“I’ll never forget that day.” He set his hand on my shoulder. “It was the worst day of my life, but it taught me an invaluable lesson. Actually, you taught me an invaluable lesson, which has been solidified by Ana’s love.”

“Oh, do tell.”

“Family comes first. Remember when I wondered if Decker wouldn’t be better off without us? I was wrong.”

I pushed off the wall and forced Ryker’s hand to drop from my shoulder. “Before you go on, I wanted to talk to you about that. Maybe you were right.” I looked toward the sliding doors and wished I’d gone inside instead of staying outside talking. “Maybe Decker would be better off living oblivious to the facts of his life.” I turned and walked toward the door.

Ryker’s boots pounded out a heavy rhythm behind me. “You’re wrong. Family is everything.”

“Come on, Hawk. Chances are he lives in the ’burbs with his accountant father and his schoolteacher mother. Besides, it’s a moot point. Didn’t you tell me that the PI came to a dead end on the last lead?”

“He’s family. Are you really telling me you believe he’d be better off without us? What happened to the guy who said, ‘Sell everything, we have to find our brother’? What the hell happened to that guy? I want my brother, Silas, back. When you find him, tell him I’d love to talk to him.”