26
A Starving Heart
Ace
My hands tighten over the steerin’ wheel as my girl walks out of the apartment complex. She looks like she slept for shit last night, just like us.
Mik’s hand drops onto my shoulder to hold me back. I didn’t notice I’d started gettin’ out of my spare truck. The beat-up relic makes it easy for her to ignore us. She’s got no sense of danger in her. She shouldn’t be walkin’ around without one of us right next to her.
“Confronting her won’t help right now,” Mik’s voice is rougher than normal.
“I need to talk to her. She won’t lie with me in front of her,” I choke out.
“We don’t know that anymore.”
His grim rationalization hits me in the chest.
That feelin’ of razors shredding me from the inside out stopped when I saw her. Now it’s back with a vengeance.
“This is all wrong, Mik,” I turn to glare at him. Takin’ my pain out on a man that’s sufferin’ worse than I am.
I know he’s ready to believe anythin’ those computer techs are feedin’ them. Cade and Gabe have already given in like cowards, ready to hit her hard.
“Too many coincidences,” he mutters, staring at the building in front of us. “The lie about the lawyers. The highlighting. Now this? On the day that Gabe would be the most vulnerable? Unable to pay attention until it was too late? She could have found out about his mother’s death with an internet search. Everything is piling up, Ace. I know you see it.”
Yeah. I see my girl gettin’ a bad hand dealt to her. This is a fuckin’ bluff, and they’re all still makin’ bets. They’re so damn determined to say she’s guilty. How do I fight back without breakin’ everythin’ we’ve built up for ourselves?
I’m stuck on the choppin’ block either way I turn.
Mik turns to me with a solemn expression. “We both know he won’t hurt her. He can’t. None of us can.”
That’s a matter of perspective.
“At the worst, he’ll put her in jail as a punishment. I bet it won’t last a day. And then he’ll drag her home and lock her ass up with us.”
“It’ll be too late after that,” I snarl back. “I don’t want my girl thinkin’ she can’t trust us.”
“You might not get the choice,” his voice turns grim. “One day in a solo cell won’t hurt her, Ace.”
“We don’t know if she’s guilty of anythin’,” I grit my teeth, shovin’ the door open to get out. I barely catch his resigned sigh.
We move side by side as we approach the building.
“I’ll talk to the landlord. Find out if he’s noticed anything unusual. You check her apartment for any clues.”
He’s gone back to his normal. Like this is just another job to get through.
My teeth start grindin’ in frustration. Would they even believe me if I said I didn’t find anythin’?