jurisdiction where the property is located. It's public information. If it's not online, you can go to the Office of the Recorder Of Deeds."
"Why didn't you want to give him our names?" Amber asked as Cliff stood.
"Ah, well I suspect the name Detective King would put Masters in a foul mood. Brody's brother Brock was the cop he tried to kill, and Brock and his partner are the reason the man is here. I'm surprised he didn't see the family resemblance sooner. I had the sense he was starting to put two and two together, hence my hurrying the topic along. Did you get what you need?"
"I think we have enough information to look into it further, but it will be up to Captain Terrell." They shook hands, and Cliff went one direction, deeper into the bowels of the prison, and they went the other.
Amber took a deep breath as soon as they'd collected their weapons and exited the prison. "The smell of a prison. There's nothing like it."
"I was thinking that on the way in. Too many bodies, not enough fresh air." He held the outer gate open for her when the deputy buzzed them out.
"Unless someone has been inside a jail, they have no idea. I'm damn glad we're on the right side of the bars."
He did a double take at the smile she flashed. For a moment she looked like the young woman he'd fallen in love with. He lowered his head and walked to his truck with her matching his step.
"Did I say or do something wrong?" Her question floated to him, low and filled with concern.
"What? No, not at all. I was lost in thought." Which was true. Thinking how damn much he missed the woman he'd given his heart to. How much he wanted to meet his son and how much he detested the fact she hadn't told him about Gage until now. His emotions warred with each other in a never-ending argument. The past couldn't be changed, nor could his emotional responses, yet he'd grown enough to know he'd deal with the turmoil meeting his son would spawn.
"What are the chances the captain will let us pursue this?" Amber asked after she'd buckled her seatbelt.
He started the engine and considered her question. "Short answer? It depends."
She chuckled as she checked her phone. She dropped it back to the seat beside her. "And the long answer?"
He shrugged. "Terrell will make a call based on available funding and the leads the guys are developing from the latest bust. If there are more concrete leads developed, we'll table the weaker ones and act on the information which will take the players, money, and drugs off the streets, and then pull any leads we can from those busts. It is a never-ending cycle. The cases we have to develop and expend man-hours and money on will slide from front and center of our workload to the rear of the pack depending on what's happening. So, like I said, it depends."
"How is surveillance handled in this unit?" She adjusted the vents in the truck and turned up the fan. "Getting warm."
"About time, it was a long damn winter." He hit the button starting the air conditioning, and she groaned a thank you. He chuckled and leaned his arm against the closed driver's side window. "We usually take shifts. The most senior are entitled days, which is everyone except you. I can talk to Anderson if you need me to do that."
"Why?" Her head snapped his direction.
"So you can be with Gage."
"Ah, no, I don't want you to do that. I don't want special favors. It would piss everyone off, wouldn't it? I know what comes with doing the job. Dawn and I can work it out." She crossed her arms and looked straight forward.
"You mean, Dawn, you and me, right?"
She turned her head toward him and blinked several times. A small smile made a brief appearance. "Yeah, I guess. I think we have quite a few steps before that happens, but having your help would be... nice."
He focused on the traffic. Nice? No, spending time with his son would be his definition of perfect.
Chapter 7
Amber drove into the driveway and parked. As she walked through the garage, she secured her weapon in the lockbox and headed inside.
Dawn met her at the door. "He's been asking me questions all day. You're up to bat. I'm going for a run." Her sister brushed past her.
"Wait, what did you tell him?"
"That