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after the funeral. But the weeks turned into months and it was apparent that Mia had no intention of returning to Pennsylvania, despite the fact she had been offered her first teaching position at some picturesque elementary school in the mountains. His suspicions were confirmed when she blurted out over dinner one Sunday night that she was joining the force. He remembered the look on Tim’s face. He had actually smiled, though his joy could not completely extinguish the despair in his eyes.
    Four months had passed and the police weren’t any closer to finding out who had killed Joyce. The case was growing colder with each passing day. A month prior, the NYPD had forced Tim’s hand and made him take early retirement. At the time, Andrew had thought it was best that his brother was no longer in the trenches and had been removed from such a morbid environment. But the moment Andrew had learned that his brother had killed himself, he questioned whether all that extra time on his hands only expedited his death, significantly reducing his reasons to wake up in the morning.
    Andrew remembered paying Mia a visit the night before she had left for training. He had hugged her, whispering words of encouragement. Alone in her bedroom, her dad safely in the kitchen cooking meatballs—an activity he hadn’t engaged in since Joyce’s passing—Mia finally had let her guard down and sobbed into his chest. She didn’t tell him why she was crying. She didn’t have to.
    “Don’t tell him, Uncle Drew.”
    “You don’t have to do this. This is not your dream, Mia.”
    “But I have to find the bastard. He’s out there somewhere. Besides, look how happy, how proud my dad is. I haven’t seen him look so alive since my mom…” she said, not allowing herself to finish.
    “You would make him proud in whatever you do, whichever field you choose. Can’t you see that?” Andrew asked, pleading with her to understand.
    Mia shook her head. “I can do this for my dad. I’m going to find him; you’ll see,” she said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. Attempting to compose herself, she cleared her throat and forced a smile.
    Her decision had been made. There was no changing her mind. Andrew knew from the look in her eyes that there was no turning back. “I’m here for you, sweetheart. You know that, don’t you?”
    “Yeah, I do,” she said, hugging him tightly.
    He embraced her, allowing the chapters of her life to play in his mind at a speed he wanted so much to slow down and repeat over and over again. He remembered her first day of school and how she waved at him and her parents as she galloped onto the school bus with confidence. He recalled the night Mia had come home from school crying because Jason Wyatt had broken up with her through a note passed during gym class. His frown quickly turned into a smile at the memory of her scoring the game-winning basket in the girls’ state championship. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face for an entire week after that.
    With no children of his own, Andrew felt that Mia was more of a daughter to him than a niece. Although Andrew struggled to keep it together, he knew he had to stay strong, for both of them. “You are most definitely my favorite niece,” he said, trying desperately to lighten the conversation.
    “Not a difficult feat since I’m your only niece,” she said, chuckling and sniffling at the same time.
    “Quite a watchdog you got there. I should be careful that he doesn’t lick me to death,” Andrew mocked.
    “Henry can be intimidating when he wants to be,” Mia said, patting the big galumph on the head. With the dog’s ears plastered back and his tail wagging incessantly, he couldn’t look any more submissive.
    “I’ll take your word for it.”
    Mia opened the screen door, unleashing the gentle giant. He jumped up. Just as Andrew suspected, he was mauled and licked repeatedly. “Down, Henry!” Mia scolded. When she realized that Henry’s