Dark Guardian (Black Hoods MC #3) - Avelyn Paige Page 0,17

two previous cases you mentioned.”

Crap. She’s a ghost in the wind, legally speaking. “What about the two minor children, Kevin and Natalie Tucker? Anything on them?”

After a few moments, she sighs. “Same for the children. Just the two previous records.”

I stifle a curse. No record of the mother. No record of the uncle’s custody. On top of everything else, this case just continues to snowball, going from bad to worse.

“Is there anything else you need?” she asks politely.

With a defeated tone, I reply, “No, that’s it.”

“The courier service will have these over to you soon. Have a good day.”

She hangs up, and my head falls into my hand with the receiver still pressed against the side of my face.

“Everything okay?”

I peer up and see Aaron’s thick stature leaning against the doorframe, cradling a stack of folders, his normally clean-shaven face showing a hint of dark stubble. His head looms nearly at the top of the door, but being almost seven feet tall would make any space look frighteningly small. Aaron’s muscular build has grown larger since I last saw him. He’s like a gentle giant with a cowboy hat and a pistol at his hip. It’s no wonder he’s done so well in law enforcement, as he certainly looks the part. If I was on the other side of the law against him, I’d have no chance of getting away.

His large boots step into my office and he turns, closing the door behind him before settling into one of my way too small desk chairs. His knees press against the front of my desk, like a parent trying to sit in their child’s desk at a parent-teacher conference.

“Didn’t know phones made good pillows.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Bad morning?”

“I don’t know how it could get any worse, to be honest. Please tell me you have some good news for me on the Tucker case?”

“I wish I did. I asked a couple of patrol officers to do a few more drive-bys of their compound, and the address you gave me last night to watch for the kids. So far, no dice.”

“Shit.”

“Wow.” His eyes flash with surprise. “Grace Halfpenny swearing? It has been a bad day.”

It’s not that I’m against swearing, but after years of living with a very strict Christian foster family in my early teens, their punishments for using said words still make me think twice about using them. Mama Marie, my foster mother, had a heavy hand for anyone who used them, or even a watered-down version of them.

“I’m sorry. It’s this case. Between not sleeping and all these curveballs that keep getting thrown at my head, I’m unraveling a bit.”

Leaning his gigantic frame forward, he takes hold of my hand, enveloping it wholly with his. “I know you want to help these kids, Gracie, but if your tip is right, anything to do with this club needs to be handled by the police.”

“I can’t do that, Aaron. I just can’t. This is my case,” I argue, taking my hand out of his. Sighing, he settles back into his seat. “I didn’t call you for help because I can’t handle it.”

He recoils, like I just shot an arrow through his heart. I know Aaron has good intentions and wants to protect me, but I’m not backing down from this case, no matter who’s involved. Bikers be damned. These kids deserve better, and if I can help them achieve that, I will.

“I’m sorry. I overstepped. You’re right, this is your case, not mine. I didn’t mean to pop by and make your day worse. That wasn’t my intention.”

“I know it wasn’t, but I guess that brings us around to why you stopped by out of the blue.” Outside of a few friendly lunches sparsely scheduled over the last few years, our friendship hadn’t included random visits at our places of work.

“I pulled some records on the mother’s past charges and thought I’d bring them over.” He slides a manila folder over to me.

“And?” I tease him.

“And I wanted to invite you to lunch. It’s been awhile, and I miss our visits.” His tone is hopeful.

“I wish I could, Aaron, really, but my afternoon is jam-packed with calls and meetings, so I had planned on working through lunch.”

His unmistakable disappointment breaks his normally cool and collected demeanor. “That’s okay. I knew it was a long shot, anyway.”

“What about tomorrow evening? I have court after lunch, and provided it doesn’t run over, I can be out of here early.”

A flash