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“If Rex and Bulldog are still alive. And there’s the risk that Slim knows who I really am, thanks to Paloma.”

“Every indication is that Slim had no clue what his daughter was up to. She genuinely wanted to surprise her daddy with fresh kills.” Dylan visibly shuddered. “But just in case, this is why we’re at my family’s home.”

“What?” She turned to face him fully and motioned at the view of the sprawling home in one of Red Grove’s oldest subdivisions. “This is the Colton home? The one you grew up in?” She’d never realized how close it was to downtown Red Grove. “For some odd reason I pictured your family’s house to be outside of town, with lots of land.”

“That would have been too far away for Dad to get to the hospital on short notice. We all grew up in this house, but only Dad lives here now. According to Cal, he’s out of town this the weekend at some surgeons’ conference in Las Vegas. It’s as safe a place as any for you and me to hang until we get the call.” Dylan didn’t have to explain what he meant by “the call.” It would come from either the sheriff’s task force, or from Dylan’s Bureau sources, most likely both. Once Rex was spotted again, they’d be tailing him to locate Slim.

“Should we bring in our luggage?”

Dylan shook his head. “I have a hunch we won’t be here long. If we are, you can come get what you need later. Come on, let’s go inside.”

She watched as he entered a code into a keypad mounted on the side of the garage, and waited as one of three garage doors opened. They worked their way around boxes and bins to an interior door. Dylan opened it and hit the switch to close the garage door behind them.

“This is really nice!” She walked into a spacious kitchen that appeared to have all of the modern updates in terms of appliances and fixtures but kept a casual country charm all the same. A framed photo on a side wall caught her attention. “Is this all of you?”

He stood next to her, gazing at his family.

“Yes, this is all of us. This was taken right before Mom dropped Matilda off at college.”

“When’s the last time you and your siblings were all together?”

“A couple of years ago, when I came home for two days at Thanksgiving.” He rattled off the names of each sibling, and pointed out his mother and father. “You’d think we were the perfect family from this portrait.” His fingers fleetingly caressed the hardwood frame. Veronica fought the urge to give him a hug or at least a reassuring squeeze at his suddenly melancholy mood.

“No family is totally together,” she offered.

“True, but check this out.” He pointed first to his mother, then his father. “It looks like they’re happy, right?”

“They weren’t?” She looked closer. While his parents were both smiling, she thought that maybe they also each had some regret in their expression. His mom’s smile was wistful and his dad’s was barely a smile. “They might not be brimming with joy but I sense they’re proud of all of you.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a long story, but eight years ago Mom left to drop my youngest sister off at college. And then she kept going. As in, she never came back home. She lives two towns over.”

Pain as if it were hers sliced through her heart. “I’m so sorry. You all must have been devastated.”

“I was finishing up college when it went down, and then I got the spot at RGPD, as you know, so all of that kept my mind occupied and off the sad parts as much as that’s ever possible. I only ever see my folks on the holidays that I can get time off for, and that’s only if I come back home for them.”

A chord in her heart seriously twanged when he said “home.” Dylan used the word reflexively and not practically. Veronica couldn’t deny her private sadness that Dylan had permanently relocated to California, where he’d go back after this case wrapped up. What stung more was that she wished he still considered North Dakota home.

Not home but his hometown. The difference was as wide as the border shared by North Dakota and Canada.

“What about your younger siblings? How did they take your parents’ split?”

He stepped away from the photo then and gently grasped her elbow. “Let’s get something to eat and then figure out how we want to handle Slim’s takedown.” He spoke softly as he adroitly ignored her questions.

“I’m sorry, Dylan. I didn’t mean to pry.” Yet she had. “We used to talk about things like this more, but you never said a whole lot about your family as I recall.” She supposed she’d been too in lust with him when they’d worked side by side to notice anything but his sexy body, his kind eyes. “You certainly have listened to my family saga more than once.”

He stopped and looked at her with somberness. “I’m honored that you trusted me with your grief over Tawny, Veronica. That’s never changed.”

She gulped. They stood a full foot apart, fully clothed, and yet this felt more intimate than being naked with him in the back of the truck. He reached out his hand and caressed her cheek. “I’m sorry I let you down. I should have made it clear from the get-go that going to work for the FBI was my entire life’s goal.”

“And now that you’ve attained your heart’s desire?” Her words rasped against her throat and she cleared it. “Are you going to stay the course, Dylan?”

Their gazes locked and her insides contracted; her breathing stopped.

“Of course I am, just like you are. As soon as this assignment is complete, you’re a Red Grove police officer and I’m Special Agent Colton.” He motioned for her to follow him to the refrigerator. She didn’t step forward right away but leaned on the substantial granite island, needing a moment to shove down the deep disappointment his words elicited.

It was nothing she didn’t already know, though.

“Let’s see, Dad’s got some bologna—he knows better, it’s awful for his cholesterol, but good for us.” Dylan turned from the open appliance holding an onion, a stick of butter and the deli meat. “How about a fried bologna sandwich?”