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“I think that’s wise, Dad.” He knew his dad wanted to protect Kelly and had no problem keeping any of the family safe without telling them. But they weren’t kids anymore, and Dylan wasn’t about to do anything without his sister’s knowledge. “Uh, Dad? Have you cleared any of this with Kelly?” He grinned and his father’s frown confirmed his suspicion. “Because she’ll fight tooth and nail against it, is my guess. Kelly doesn’t ever like to admit she needs help.”

“Maybe we can all sit down and talk about it later?” Jonathon switched to filling a second cooler with beer from the garage refrigerator. Dylan pitched in, and they worked side by side for several minutes.

The short time alongside Dad reaffirmed that North Dakota, Red Grove in particular, was where Dylan belonged.

When they finished, Dylan took a beer inside and looked around the Coltons’ living room. His siblings stood around in groups, chatting, and he saw his mother fussing over the spooky punch—a red beverage with floating frozen grape “eyeballs.” It had been a classic back when they were all kids.

He grabbed candy corn from a mummy-themed dish and opted to sit on one of the stiff chairs that Dad must have lugged out from the dining room for the occasion, placed against a wall. The entire family was here, all of his siblings plus Mom and Dad. Ted Barett had shown up, too, along with some of the neighbors who were trusted family friends. Mom and Dad were talking to one another on the other side of the room. It was the second time he’d seen his parents together in their family home in less than a month, which he found interesting. Usually the two avoided one another as much as possible.

Immediately he recalled the day he’d been here with Veronica, and the black cloud of grief that had enwrapped him after the takedown returned, making the fistful of Halloween candies he’d wolfed down taste bitter in the back of his throat.

Nope. He’d decided to move forward. It was all going to be okay.

“Hey, Dylan,” Aiden stood in front of him, a bowl of hot chili with all the fixings pile high in one hand, a beer in the other. Dylan stood and gave his brother a hug around his food haul.

“You just get here?” Aiden asked as Dylan sat back down.

“Yeah. I was helping Dad with the coolers in the garage.”

“Can you believe we’re all in one place, and Mom and Dad, too?” Aiden nodded toward the main buffet spread, where Jonathon and Emily stood, chatting. As if they were BFFs.

“No, I can’t, actually, but I’m sure as hell glad we’re all here, together.”

“You gonna get something to eat?”

“I will, in a bit.” He took a pull from his longneck, tried to get himself into the family’s fun mood.

“Don’t wait too long, or it’ll be gone.” Aiden walked over to where Lucy stood chatting with Dylan’s sisters, Kelly and Matilda. The women were all smiling, their love for one another obvious by the quick smile here and the squeeze of an arm there. But he sensed the urgency behind the affection. They were worried about Kelly, about the threats against her. They weren’t alone.

“Dylan, how’s it going? Congrats, man!” Ted Barrett, once a foster child of the Coltons and now Red Grove mayor, sat on the chair next to Dylan. “Thank God for folks like you, taking out the bad guys.”

“Hey, Teddy.” Dylan had once played with Ted the same as he did with all of his brothers, when Ted had lived with their family as a child. But he wasn’t as familiar with the political side of Ted, and his five years out of North Dakota hadn’t helped their emotional distance from one another.

“I’m wondering, how exactly did you know who the big baddies were?” Ted’s smile was wide, his teeth bleached glaringly white. But there was something in his curiosity that Dylan couldn’t quite put a finger on.

“What are you asking me, Teddy?”

“Do you use supersecret technology or something? To get the bad guys, I mean.” Ted’s talking was rushed, and Dylan wondered, not for the first time, if his former foster brother partook of any illicit drugs himself. Of course, the dude had always been animated, a trait that served him well as Red Grove’s longstanding mayor.

“Ah, no. It’s mostly a lot of hard work, most of it pretty boring, in fact.” As he answered, Dylan realized that he and Teddy had never spoken about his law enforcement career. Teddy probably thought FBI special agents did the same things as portrayed on television shows and on film.

“Aw, you’re being modest.” Ted opened his mouth to say more—

“Excuse, us, Mayor Barrett. Dylan and I have business to discuss.”

Veronica.

Dylan stood, looked at the face of the woman who’d haunted his dreams, his every waking moment, since…forever. Her eyes were clear—sparkling, in fact. Long waves of auburn hair framed her beautiful face, on which he could barely make out a couple of faded bruises.

“Hi, Dylan.”

Veronica had the satisfaction of seeing Dylan’s face light up with pure joy a split second before his guarded mask was back. He was looking past her.

“Good to see you two together.” Cal had walked up to them. “Hi, Teddy.”

“Hey. I’m going to grab something to drink.” Ted walked away, and all three of them watched his retreating form.

Cal turned his attention back on Dylan and Veronica. Veronica tried not to act disappointed. She wanted Dylan all to herself. “Have you shared your good news with my brother yet?”