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“I promised to talk about my family on this trip. I’ll answer any questions you have.”

She closed her tablet and picked up his hand. “I appreciate that. But I think your night is going to be long, so if you want to wait, I won’t be upset.”

He shook his head. “It will help pass the time.”

She squeezed his fingers. “OK. Why did your parents move to Hawaii?”

“Retirement, mostly. But they also wanted to get as far away from D.C. as they could after my sister died.”

“Was she your only sibling?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah. Her name was Pam. She was six years younger than me.”

“How did she die?”

His heart felt like it was trying to leap into his throat. He picked up the bottle of water sitting in the cup holder and drank.

“It’s OK. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I thought it would be easier than this. It’s been a long time.”

Carrie turned in her seat to look at him. “I get the feeling GiGi had something to do with it.”

He blew out a long breath. “She did. We were dating when my sister was attacked. GiGi got tunnel vision while she was working on the story. She should have recused herself, but she didn’t want to. Saw it as a chance to write a splashy story and make a name for herself.” He choked on his words.

“I’m sorry, Peter. So fucking sorry.”

His phone rang, much to his relief. This had been a terrible idea.

“Mercer.” His voice was gruff with emotion.

“How close are you?” It was Director Higgins.

He glanced at the GPS. “Twenty miles from my apartment.”

“Can you just come straight here? Upwood is out of surgery and demanding to see you.”

He looked at Carrie. She had opened the tablet again, letting him off the hook. “Unfortunately, I’m not alone. I have to drop someone off first.”

“Just hurry, Mercer.”

Higgins hung up before he could say goodbye.

“I swear I’ll finish my story soon, baby.”

She didn’t look up from her tablet, just put a hand on his shoulder. “When you’re ready.”

When they pulled onto his street, she started putting her tech away. “I’m really sorry our day got interrupted,” he murmured as he pulled into the parking garage.

Her hand flew out and grabbed his. “Please don’t be sorry. It will be OK. If I’m going to have any sort of relationship with you, I’ll have to get used to it. I get pulled away at bad times, too.”

Relief washed over him, and he sighed, grateful that she understood. Still, he wanted to make it up to her.

“I have to go into work for a couple of hours right now, but then I’ll be home. Can I cook for you?” he asked hopefully.

“You just want to feed me vegetables.”

Laughter rippled through him as he shut the car off. “I think you’ll like what I have in mind, little one.”

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