“Enough about me," his brother said. "How are you doing?"

“Fine," Nash said. "Great." Kevin didn't look convinced. "I didn't think it was possible to pry you away from work." Nash shrugged, rather than admit the vacation hadn't been his idea. "I'm here, ready to meet the family."

“Yeah, right." Kevin's expression turned serious. "You've always been quiet, but since Tina died, it's been worse than usual. Are you coming out of that?" As Nash had never been willing to acknowledge what he felt about his wife's death, he didn't know if he'd recovered or not. Still it was easier to say, "Sure. I'm doing great." His brother shook his head. "You still blame yourself. It was never your fault."

“Whose fault was it?"

“Maybe no one's. Maybe it just happened.”

“Not on my watch."

“You can't control everything." Nash knew. The realization was one of the reasons he'd stopped sleeping, stopped eating, stopped living. But knowing that didn't seem to change anything.

“Tell me about the Haynes family," he said to change the subject.

Kevin continued to watch him for a couple of seconds, then nodded, as if agreeing to the tactic. "The couple I've met have been good men. They'reas surprised by all this as we are, but friendly enough." He smiled. "They're all cops." Nash knew there were four brothers and a sister. "You're kidding."

“No. They're all-" He broke off and laughed. "Wait. I forgot. One of them is a rebel. He's a firefighter." Which wasn't the same as being a cop, but it was close. Kevin was a U.S. Marshal, Gage a sheriff. Nash worked for the FBI and Quinn, well, Quinn walked his own road.

“It's in the blood," he said.

Kevin nodded. ``That's what they're telling me. Earl Haynes was sheriff of this town for years. He has a bunch of brothers and they're all in law enforcement. Maybe we're following our destiny." Destiny? Nash didn't believe in that kind of crap. He'd gone to work for the FBI because he'd been recruited out of college. Of all the offers he'd received, it was the one that had appealed the most.