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Tick slanted a sidelong glance at him. This rang familiar, too — the debrief of what he’d done well, what he’d screwed up.

And he’d screwed up a lot back in the day.

Cookie had knocked the arrogance out of him, sanded down his rough edges, sharpened his focus because he’d been distracted as hell, still reeling over Daddy and the aftermath, from the regret of walking away from Caitlin. He’d been unmoored, and the older man had given him a friendship and a mentorship to hold on to.

His sister could have picked far worse men to date.

“So when you talk to him again . . .” Cookie rolled a hand between them. “Maybe you apologize for being an arrogant-ass Fed, lie and tell him you weren’t trying to take over or tell him how to do his job.”

Tick closed his eyes, gritting his teeth on a sigh. Cookie was right, but that didn’t make the debrief any easier. “You know I can do this, right?”

“You know the last time you said that to me, you almost got both of us shot, right?” Cookie rubbed a finger over his lips. “Quit being so damned stubborn and listen.”

“I’m listening.”

“Why the hell didn’t you bring Falconetti with you?” Cookie reached in his pocket for a pack of gum and unwrapped a stick. “Woman’s as brilliant with people as she is hot.”

“You’re dating my sister and talking about my wife. What is wrong with you?” Tick scowled, as much at his friend as himself. A rough exhale raked up from his chest. “Thought about bringing her, after the fact.”

“You need to start thinking, before the fact. Some things never change.” Cookie snorted, affectionate derision in the sound. “And you’re raising kids?”

“I thought we were friends, man.”

“We are.” Cookie shook his head, gaze on the empty street. He glanced at his watch. Tick got it. How far out did Renette live? He was ready to do something. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to call your shit out. You go off half-cocked with your kids?”

“No.” This was headed somewhere he really didn’t want to go, but Cookie was right, as always. He was never hot-headed or heavy-handed with the girls, had made that decision early on after making a ton of mistakes with Tori. Eleanor was easy, all logic and still water. Her sister, stubborn, emotional, and impulsive, was a different story. With her touchy temperament, Eva demanded a light touch — firm, but featherlight.

“There you go.” Cookie rolled that hand again, an expansive gesture that made Tick clench his jaw. “If you can slow it down with them, you can slow it down with the locals.”

“You’re an ass.”

“A superior ass, you mean.”

“Yeah, that, too.”

On the street, a silver sedan slowed to turn into the lot. Cookie tagged his chest. “That’s Renette.”

Reviewing the film, even at high speed, took hours and several cups of non-decaf coffee. They clocked Vontressa leaving late Friday evening, almost at midnight, and as feared and expected, she never returned.

“She hooked a right out of the parking lot.” Cookie slumped in his chair, rubbing at his mouth. “That’s Bainbridge, Cairo, lots of places if she left town. What’s on that street, other than the convenience store?”

“Not much once you get beyond that.” Tick drained his paper cup and leaned to drop it in the trash can. “The EMC office. Southside Baptist. The turf farm if she stayed on 112. Less if she went out 97 toward Bainbridge.”

With forty-eight — no, now they were really at seventy-two — hours on them, she could be anywhere.

Statistically, that wasn’t good, either.

She’d had only her purse when she left, no overnight bag, and she hadn’t looked like she was in distress or overly emotional. She hadn’t even been in much of a hurry, jogging down the stairs with a light step. Nothing in her stance or possessions appeared like she didn’t intend to come back.

“Wonder if anyone has access to her banking info?” He glanced at his watch. Tallahassee wouldn’t wait for him, and he couldn’t skip the meetings, either. In a bit, he’d have to head home, leave this.

The idea killed him.

Cookie texted Tori to ask about the banking information, and once his sister learned Caitlin was in town, she wanted to meet for breakfast. Tick drove home, with Cookie offering to make a breakfast run and meet him at the house.

The sun wasn’t up when he let himself in, and finding Caitlin still asleep was no surprise. The way she slept hard the past few weeks should have been a clue — she’d slept a lot in the early weeks and months of her pregnancy with Eva, and she’d slept like the dead. Now, she curled on her side, a hand splayed across the sheet where he would have slept.

His heart lighter just for seeing her, he planted a hand on either side of her and brushed his nose over her cheek. “Must be nice, sleeping in, working from home, not having to fight Tallahassee traffic.”