“Honey, it’s Jane,” he finished.

I took in a breath and admitted, “I know.”

He did a slow blink. “You know?”

“I figured it out a few days ago. I’ve been trying to decide what to do with it.”

“You figured it out,” he stated.

“Uh… yeah,” I confirmed.

My brother stared at me.

Then he shook his head while looking away with a small smile playing at his lips.

That was weird so I called, “Hank?”

He looked back at me. “Mace phoned this morning.”

Here we go.

I was going to find out if I passed the Mace Test.

“And?” I prompted.

“And he said you were great last night, Ally.”

I passed.

So I smiled.

“I’ve asked Lee to train you,” Hank continued.

I stopped smiling and stared.

Then I asked, “What?”

“You need experience with a skilled investigator. The best in town is Lee. You need a license so you can charge enough to take care of you. He can help you get that. So I’ve asked him to train you.”

Oh my God!

I had Hank’s vote!

“And?” I said again.

“He’s thinking on it.”

Crap.

“Which means no,” I stated.

“It doesn’t mean no. It just doesn’t mean yes.”

Mm-hmm.

Whatever.

“I’m gonna tell him you figured it out about Jane,” Hank said. “And I’m gonna tell him you sat on that in order to figure out what to do, rather than reacted and fucked shit up. Even Lee didn’t know what to do. And you caught on before Brody. And as for me, through anything, I’ll have your back.”

I was beginning to get pissed-off.

Not about Hank having my back, I loved that. It felt great. He was an awesome brother and that was just one of the many ways he proved it.

I was pissed-off about Lee.

“I don’t actually have to have his blessing, Hank. This would be indicated by the fact I’m already taking cases.”

“He can teach you a lot,” Hank noted.

“So can Darius, who already has, Vance, who also already has, Hector, Bobby, Ike and Mace,” I returned.

“That’s correct,” he conceded.

“So you don’t have to convince him. You don’t have to do anything.” I reached out, grabbed his hand, gave it a squeeze and let it go. “And having your support is all I need from you.” My voice dropped quiet when I finished, “It means everything, honey.”

Suddenly, he reached out and caught me at the back of my neck. Pulling me forward, he leaned into me and rested our foreheads together. And his voice was quiet when he spoke too.

“My little sister, livin’ with a guy and bein’ a badass.”

Uh-oh.

My eyes were getting hot.

I lifted my hand to wrap my fingers around his forearm. “Hank—”

“You’ll never be a big brother, honey, so you’ll never understand how this feels. Lettin’ go. Givin’ care of the girl you love and looked after a long fuckin’ time to another guy. Seein’ her make her way in a world like that.”

Oh God.

He was killing me.

So.

Loved.

My big brother!

“Honey—”