Page 156 of Into the Midnight Wood

He turned, and Cassie and I walked back to the car. We got in and headed down inside the tunnel. Away from the port. As we emerged, the Miami sky was lit up with a thousand lights.

I didn’t want to talk about Poulton or the FBI. About the political end of this job, which I knew I would never master.

“Night’s still early,” Cassie said, her voice breaking into my thoughts.

I reflected on the moment with her and Camila in the ice cream shop. Cassie was sweet with my daughter. And she was smart with numbers. I glanced over at her. Smiled.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

“I could eat,” she said.

There were good things to focus on. I had run PAR successfully for fifteen months. My mother had woken from a coma. And we had solved two huge cases in just the last few days.

I studied Cassie. Technically, I was still her boss. But Frankwould connect with Poulton, and they’d figure out a new hierarchy. PAR was too important to the Bureau, even if Craig Poulton acted as if we weren’t.

Which meant anything could happen with Cassie and me.

Or maybe nothing would happen.

I computed the statistics and decided it was fifty-fifty.

“Let’s find a place, then,” I said. “Grub, as you say.”

“Perf,” she said and smiled back.

And we drove off into the Miami night.