Burnout_ A Legal Heat Novella - Sarah Castille Page 0,26
emotions more than men, and that’s sometimes hard for a man to handle.”
For a moment, sympathy overrode her anger. “I’m so sorry about your family.”
Despite his little speech about men not showing emotions, pain flickered across Ace’s face, creased his brow, and darkened his eyes. “No big deal. It happened a long time ago. I eventually found my dad. He was in a care home for Alzheimer’s patients and was dying from cancer. I wanted to know why he never got his shit together and got us out of care, and if he knew anything about Sam, but he didn’t recognize me. Didn’t even remember he had sons.”
“Oh, Ace.” She placed a hand on his chest in sympathy, but he jerked away.
“Don’t need your pity,” he said, his voice rough. “I got over it a long time ago. Life sucks. It isn’t fair. And there’s no limit to the amount of shit you gotta take.”
She winced at the bitterness in his voice. “Maybe I could help. I don’t know what the Riders do to find people, but the police have extensive resources for finding missing people. This is what I do, Ace. I could help you find Sam. And I can find Jason.”
Ace snorted. “Don’t be naive. No one cares about a lost foster kid, and they’re not going to give a damn about Jason. He’s no upstanding citizen. You gotta know that.”
Her throat tightened as her anger reasserted itself. “I need you to respect who I am and what I do and have some faith in the system. When Ryan broke into my house and I called 911, the police were there for me in minutes. Even though they knew I was a police officer and I had a gun. And I was so grateful because when he walked into the house and threatened me with a knife, I couldn’t pull the trigger.”
If he’d been affected at all by the confession of her greatest failing, or even by the words she said, she couldn’t tell. Instead, he just shook his head.
“When did you last see Jason before you moved out here?”
“Probably three years ago.” She walked over to the window and stared out into the night so he couldn’t see the disappointment etched across her face. But what had she expected? Why would he care about a woman he barely knew and a secret she’d shared only with her brother? She was just a woman he’d fucked, and maybe he had his own reasons for finding Jason—reasons that had nothing to do with her.
“I didn’t hear much from him during that time,” she continued. “We’d been pretty close before that and then for three years… nothing. But last year when the whole thing with Ryan blew up, I got in touch with him, and he came to see me. We’ve stayed in touch every week since then. Why?”
“You might want to think about that,” he said.
Finally losing her patience, Sophie folded her arms and leaned against the kitchen counter. “If you have something to say, then say it. I’m not interested in playing games.”
“I gave my word.” His lips tightened. “Games are all I can give you. I’m your best chance at finding Jason, but you have to trust me.”
Sophie swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I like you, Ace. But I don’t trust you. Not with Jason’s life. I barely know you. I’m sorry, but I have to do this my way.” She held up her phone. “I’m calling the police. You might not want to be here when they arrive.”
He gave her a last, lingering look, and then he was gone, leaving her alone in a house she had illegally entered and in the middle of a crime scene she had failed to report.
* * *
Not good. Not good at all.
Sophie sat in the police chief’s office and stared at the awards decorating his wall. After only a few days in the department, she didn’t know him well enough to read him, but the fact he’d left her here for almost an hour didn’t bode well. Maybe they didn’t want her on the team tasked with finding Jason. Or maybe they’d already found him and they didn’t know how to break the bad news. Whatever the reason, her stomach was twisted in knots, and she’d bitten her nails to a quick.
“Deputy Chief Constable Skinner wants to see you in the boardroom.” Gary gave her a sympathetic look as she pushed herself out of her chair. “What’s