I force a smile. “Can you take me home?”

“Of course,” she whispers. “Of course, honey.”

I walk down the hall, and as I pass Vance’s office, I look in to see him at his desk. He stares at me and then turns away before I have the chance to express anything to him. I drop my head and walk out to Kady’s car.

We get in, and when we’re on the road, she says gently, “So what happened?”

“I fucked up, I got suspended.”

“You didn’t lose your job, though.”

That doesn’t take away the pain. “No,” I mumble. “But what does that matter in the grand scheme of things?”

“Grace, your job is everything to you. You’ve done the right thing.”

“He mattered to me,” I whisper. “Right now I … I just … I don’t care about my job.”

She reaches over, taking my hand. “You’re allowed to feel like that. Maybe this is why Don always held you back. Maybe he knew this would happen.”

“Yeah,” I say, staring out the window. “I’m starting to think that now. I thought I could do it, but all along, they’ve all been right. I’m a woman and that leaves me vulnerable. I can do a lot of things, but I was never going to be able to bring Raide in.”

“That’s not true,” Kady protests. “You could have brought him in.”

“If I didn’t fall for him.”

She’s silent.

“I’m a fool, Kady. I begged to be given the chance. I threw my hands up and told them all to take me seriously.” I laugh, low and bitter. “And I fucked up on my first case. What must they all think of me? If it’s anything like what I’m thinking about myself, then I know how pathetic it all seems.”

“Grace,” Kady says, her voice hardening. “Don’t you dare. You made a mistake, you’re only human. Do you think Don or Vance or Julio have never screwed up? You can fix this.”

I nod, but the truth is, I don’t really believe her. I put my heart and soul into my career, I begged to be given a chance, to be looked at the same as the other guys, and the one chance I got, I threw away because my compassion got in the way. And now, a huge part of me knows that I’d go back and do it all again—for Raide—and that scares me.

“Can you take me to my parents’?” I ask.

“Of course.”

Twenty minutes later, Kady pulls into their drive. I climb out of the car. “Do you want to come in?”

She shakes her head. “I have to work, but call me when you want to pick up your car, and we’ll go and get it, okay?”

“Okay, thanks, Kady.”

She smiles at me. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I hope.

Chapter Twenty-three

Dad and I sit in silence, beers in hand, staring out at the darkness. The streetlights wash a warm light over the yard, and the evening is quiet, everyone sound asleep. I spent the last hour telling him my story. Now he’s staring out, saying nothing.

“You know,” he says. “I would have done it for your mama.”

I turn to stare at him. “Pardon?”

“I would have risked the same, if it was her I was chasing. I fell for her so hard and fast, it happened quicker than I could have ever imagined. I think if she was my case, and I’d met her, and felt for her the way I do, I would have risked the same thing.”

“Thanks, Dad, but we both know you excelled at your job.”

“You have a good heart, Gracie,” he says softly, turning to me. “It’s big and it’s kind. You might be a hard-ass on the outside, but you’re good and soft inside. You were trying to help a man, you fell for him. If love could be controlled, the world would be an easy, peaceful place.”

I smile. “You’re right about that.”

“You’ve been around long enough to know how rare it is to find someone you adore. You’ve had a few scattered relationships, but you’ve never fallen in love. It happened at a bad time, but it happened all the same.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat and say, “He’s gone now and there’s a good chance I’ll never see him again.”

“Do you really believe he’s innocent?”

I nod, taking a sip of beer. “Yeah, I really do.”

“Then help him.”

“I don’t understand—”

“You just need to get someone to help you.”

“I’m not following you.”

He turns to me. “York.”

“York?” I question.

York is Dad’s best friend. He’s also a detective and a cop. He’s like an uncle to me, he’s been in my life since before I can remember. I adore him, but I don’t think turning to him is the right option. What is he going to do?

“I spoke to York about your case a few days ago, turns out their department is handling it. I think because of that and his relationship with me, that he’ll do it for you, Gracie.”

“Do what?”

He holds my stare. “Find that man who really did it, and see if he can get a confession. You coming forward and telling Raide’s story is technically new evidence. It’s enough for him to investigate further. Take another look at the details of the case. Interview old friends of Raide’s sister to see if they can corroborate his story.”

My eyes go wide. “Do you think he can actually help?”

“He can access the information and request to look into it. Raide is still probably going to go away for skipping bail, but if he’s not charged, he may very well only get a few months.”

My heart swells.

Dad sees this, because he says gently, “Don’t get your hopes up. A second look might not yield anything new, and York might not be able to find this man, but if you have an idea where he is, you might just have a chance.”

“Thank you, Dad,” I whisper. “Thank you so much.”

He shrugs. “There’s one more thing.”

“What?” I whisper.

“It shouldn’t be this way, but there’s a chance you’re risking your job doing this.”

I swallow and stare at him again, and I know he understands my next words. “Not so long ago, I would have told you there was nothing in the world that could have swayed me from my work. It was all I wanted, it was all I cared about. But, Dad—” Again, I swallow down my emotion. “—I’d never felt love. I’d never felt the emotion for someone that could change my entire way of thinking. He did that for me. I know how hard I’ve worked and I don’t want to give that up—but, Daddy, without him it’s worth nothing to me. I love him. I’ll do anything, including risking my job, to help him.”

My dad cups my cheeks. “I’m so damned proud of you, Gracie, I wish you could feel just how much.”

“I know,” I whisper.

I lean over and hug him. He holds me tight for a moment, then he pulls back and says, “To do this, Gracie, you have to dig deep, find that badass girl I love so much, and be strong.”

I inhale deeply. “I will. I promise.”

“That’s my girl.”