managed to avoid talking directly to Amber for damn near twenty-four hours. Now he was back at the precinct, where if he was lucky, he had every intention of avoiding her again.
She yelled at him from beside the truck, "Brody, wait!"
He stopped and glared in her direction. Luck wasn't on his side. Obviously.
"What?"
"I really do need to talk with you."
"Amber, there is nothing you need to tell me you haven't already said. Why did you come back here? Why? There are hundreds of places you could have landed. Did you know I was assigned to this team?"
"No! I had no idea until I walked in that door yesterday."
"Right. How long have you been back in Hope City?"
"I... I never left."
He stared at her for a moment and internalized the razor-sharp syllables which sliced his soul into tiny pieces... again. She'd dumped him to fulfill her grand plan of a life that didn’t pass her by, and yet she'd never left Hope City. So, it was him she didn't want. Had she been playing him the entire time they'd been together? What a moron he'd been. He turned and headed into the building.
"Brody, it's not what you think."
He didn't dare stop. He'd been raised to respect women, all women, even the one who had ripped out his heart on her way out the door. Stopping now would be a very bad thing. He'd say words he couldn't take back. Words which would be meant to shred her as deeply as she'd lacerated him.
"Brody!"
He swiped his badge and walked into his building, leaving her outside. She had a badge; she could get in.
Derek pounced as soon as he walked in the door. "Sarge, I separated them. The guy in number three is the weakest link. He's sweating bullets and glancing around. His knees are bouncing. The other three are cold as ice." Derek fell into step with him. "When are we talking to them?"
"Captain wants them on ice while we clean up a bit. Have you started your report?"
"Yep. I hate paperwork, so I get it done and out of the way. Man, the leap to the top of the truck was fucking awesome. One day, though, you're going to land on your ass."
"Nah, that's what all those box jumps at CrossFit are for." He motioned Derek toward his desk in the bullpen. "Send me the prints for these guys, and I'll see if I can get some magic help to identify them."
"Dude, who do you know? No one else can get anything pushed through quickly." Derek plopped his ass behind his desk as Amber entered the bullpen.
He pinned her with a glare. "Do you have a desk yet?"
She shook her head no. Her jaw was clenched shut, and from the flush on her cheeks, she was pissed.
"Derek, put Agent Swanson at Harrison's desk. He's on vacation for the next two weeks. By the time he's back, we'll have a computer for her, and we can pull a desk up from the basement next door. Get her logins and show her how to print."
Derek's face lit up. "Absolutely, I've got her covered."
He didn't doubt it. Derek was a notorious flirt, and if you listened to the man's claims, he never slept alone, although he wasn't strapped down with a relationship. Whatever. He spun on his heel and headed to his office. He needed time to breathe without looking at the woman he loved. Used to love.
Chapter 2
Amber stopped in front of her sister's small Craftsman style cottage and put her crossover SUV into park. She pushed the remote to open the garage and watched it slowly roll to the top before she turned off the engine and slumped back into the vehicle's seat. The last thirty hours had been one shock after another, Brody King being the biggest surprise. She’d known he worked as a police officer in Hope City. She should have stalked his mother's social media. It would have kept her up to date on most of the King family's notable moments, but she'd unfriended all the Kings after everything that had happened.
She'd been so very careful not to be noticed by his powerful family, and he’d disappeared from her life, but nothing would ever eradicate him from her heart. Oh lord, why had he been wearing a tux yesterday? He'd changed so damn much. Not physically, although he was bigger, more muscled, and his hair was longer, but he used to be so happy, open, and approachable. Now? The