“Everything,” he replied. His grin faded and he said weirdly, “Tomorrow night.”

I stopped advancing to the door that led to the nerve center of my brother’s operations and turned to Vance. “What?”

“Tomorrow night. You’re ride along with me.”

My mouth dropped open, but the rest of my body jolted with pure, unadulterated glee.

“Got a security system I wanna show you how to bypass,” he went on.

That feeling stole through me, that one I liked, but I still didn’t move.

“You know how to pick a lock?” he asked.

I forced my mouth to move. “Um… not yet.”

“We’ll go through that tomorrow night, too.”

Holy shit!

“I—” I started, but Vance kept going.

“We document those hours, I sign off on them for the License Board.”

Holy shit!

“I… uh,” Pull it together, Ally! “Why?” I asked.

“Saw the tape,” Vance answered as I heard the door to the inner sanctum open.

But I didn’t look there.

I kept my eyes to Vance. “What tape?”

“You, cool as shit, dealin’ with those guys in Lincoln’s.”

“Impressive.” I heard muttered, and saw Hector standing with us, the strap of a workout bag over his shoulder. He was looking at Vance. “You offer ride along?”

“Yep,” Vance answered.

Hector looked at me. “You need help on a case and someone to sign off on your hours, call me.”

I stared.

Was this happening?

Hector did a chin lift to Vance and me and sauntered out.

I looked from the door that closed on Hector back to Vance. “What’s going on?”

“What’s goin’ on is the team saw the tape. Darius and Brody both talk you up. But we saw evidence of what they’ve been sayin’. You want this. You’re good at it. You should have it. So some of the guys are up for backin’ your play.”

Oh my God.

I didn’t know what to do.

I did know what to feel.

Ecstatically freaking happy.

I also knew what to ask.

“Is Lee okay with this?”

“None of us work here to have someone tell us what to do unless we need direction. So it doesn’t matter. He knows we do what we do. He also knows we won’t work here anymore if he gets up in our shit about what we do.”

This, I knew, was true.

However.

“But you’re offering me ride along on one of his cases,” I pointed out.

“Yeah. And after he trained me or if we’re not workin’ a team operation, he does not send me out, micromanaging how I deal with a case. And he’s fuckin’ smart. Definitely smart enough to know it would not go down good if he started doin’ that shit.”

Before I could reply, the inside door opened again and I watched Ike move out.

He gave a chin lift to Vance, a mini-smile to me and walked by us to the door.

But at the door, he stopped, turned and said to me, “You need backup with that Smithie gig, you got my number.”

I had no chance to say anything before he was gone.

“I’m outta here,” Vance murmured, and I looked back at him. “Text you tomorrow when to meet me. We’ll meet here and move out.”

“I… uh, okay,” I agreed.

“Don’t be late,” he returned, then he, too, was gone.

I stared at the door.

I did this for a good long while.

Then I smiled.

I was still smiling when I tested the door to command central and found it unlocked, which was unusual, but likely left open for me.

I made my way to Lee’s office and entered it, yep… still smiling.

In it were the expected. Dad, Hank and Lee with the not expected but not surprising addition of Tom Savage, Indy’s father, my second dad and my dad’s best friend.