Even Gabe and Ash had been keeping their distance. Thankfully, Mia was so wrapped up in her wedding plans that she seemed oblivious to Jace’s preoccupation and surliness.
Christmas was a mere week away and he couldn’t stand the thought of Bethany cold and alone, no bed, no food. Nothing.
He curled his hand into a fist and was tempted to punch a hole in his desk.
His door opened and he was about to snarl out a dismissal to whoever intruded on his privacy when he saw Ash walk in. Something in his friend’s expression stopped his retort.
Ash was . . . well, he was typical Ash. Irreverent. Didn’t give a fuck. Was rarely serious. Today, though, he looked . . . serious. Like he had something on his mind.
“Fuck, is your family harassing you about Christmas?” Jace growled.
There was really only one thing that ever got under Ash’s skin. His family. Ash spent most of his time—and holidays—with Jace and Mia. They’d taken Mia to the Caribbean at Thanksgiving just a few weeks ago to help nurse her broken heart when Gabe had pushed her away—thank God that rejection had been short-lived—but it was true that Ash spent far more time with Gabe, Jace and Mia than he ever had with his own family.
“There’s something you should see,” Ash said in a quiet, serious tone that wasn’t typical for him.
Alarm skittered up Jace’s spine and circled his neck in a chokehold.
“Is something up with Gabe and Mia?” he demanded. He’d kill the bastard if he broke Mia’s heart again.
Ash flopped a folder down on Jace’s desk. “You’ll probably be pissed at me over this, but I’m your friend and this is what friends do. You’d do the same damn thing for me.”
Jace’s eyes narrowed. “What the fuck are you talking about, Ash?”
“While you’ve spent the last two weeks looking for Bethany Willis, I’ve been looking for information about her. You need to let this go, man. Walk away now. She’s bad news.”
Heat washed through his veins as he stared back at Ash. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that I should forget about a homeless woman we fucked. A woman we clearly took advantage of, whether we knew it at the time or not. A woman who has no shelter, no food, no damn coat to keep her warm.”
Ash held up his hand. “Just read the goddamn report, Jace.”
“Why don’t you just tell me why you think she’s bad news,” Jace said acidly.
Ash sighed. “She has a prior for drug possession. She hasn’t held a steady job. Ever. She was in foster care most of her life. Graduated high school but never went on to college.”
Jace’s jaw ticked and he stared down at the folder on his desk. Then he lifted his gaze back to Ash, who stood there staring at him. “And you don’t think those are very good reasons to help her now?”
“If you were only helping her, no,” Ash said. “But you and I both know you aren’t just helping her. You’re fucking obsessed with her, Jace. I’ve never seen you like this. You need to snap the fuck out of it. We fucked her, yeah. We’ve fucked a lot of women. Not sure why this one stands out from the rest.”
Jace surged upward, ready to take Ash’s head off when his cell phone rang. He yanked it up, checking the incoming number, but it wasn’t familiar and wasn’t tagged in his contacts. Normally he’d ignore it, but he hadn’t ignored a single call since he’d been searching for Bethany.
“Jace Crestwell,” he said shortly, still glaring at Ash.
“Mr. Crestwell, this is Kate Stover from St. Anthony’s Women’s Shelter.”
Jace’s pulse accelerated and he dropped into his chair, shutting Ash out. “Yes, Ms. Stover, how are you?”
“She’s here,” Kate said bluntly. “She just came in. She’s . . . hurt.”
His stomach bottomed out and fear was thick in his throat. “What? What happened?”
“I don’t know. As I said, she only just arrived. I have her sitting down and I’m making her a cup of hot chocolate now. She doesn’t look good, Mr. Crestwell. She’s clearly frightened and exhausted and, as I said, she’s injured.”
“Sit on her if you have to,” Jace growled. “I don’t care what you have to do. Do not let her leave before I get there.”
He shoved the phone into his pocket and surged out of his chair. As he passed Ash, his friend’s hand shot out to grab Jace’s arm.
“What the fuck, man? What’s