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“I spoke with the detective who’s been looking for you,” Trouble said. “He told me if you turn yourself in for your crimes, you can testify against the men who hurt you when you were younger. You can get this operation shut down and save Ace too.”
What she didn’t say was that I’d also have to claim responsibility for Joe’s death. Her logic made sense. If I confessed to murdering Ricky, I’d be looking at hard time. Possibly the rest of my life. What difference would one more charge make? If it meant sacrificing myself to protect Ace, I already knew that regardless of how he felt, I would throw myself under the bus a hundred times over to save him. I’d already made up my mind, but Trouble’s next statement only cemented the deal.
“They already have Ace in custody.”
“ARE YOU SURE THIS IS where he told you to meet him?” I glanced around the empty parking lot again.
Trouble didn’t look any less skeeved out than I was, but still, she nodded. “This is exactly the place. Here, see for yourself.”
She showed me the text message from an unknown number, one that it appeared she’d been communicating with for some time.
“How did he find you?” I asked. “How long have you been talking to him?”
“He approached me in the casino after Ace took you to the compound,” she admitted. “I tried to cover for you, but he knew you were with Ace somehow.”
“So why didn’t he just show up there?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Maybe he didn’t know where the compound was? I’m really not sure. It seemed like he was still trying to make a case against you. He never asked me to turn you in. Not until now.”
When I glanced at her across the car, I couldn’t even be angry with her. At that moment, she was the same young, tormented girl I’d first seen in the casino. She had a history, just like me. Maybe someday she’d see fit to share it with me, but I doubted we’d ever get that opportunity.
“I am sorry about this,” she said absently. “Believe it or not, I was rooting for you and Ace. You two were good together. He was never meant to be anyone else’s but yours.”
I swallowed and glanced out the window. “At least for a little while.”
Silence settled over us after that, until a pair of headlights finally glided into the empty lot and flashed us once.
“I guess that’s him,” she said.
I nodded, but something about this situation didn’t feel right. This detective had been chasing me for so long, so I didn’t understand the covert operation to bring me in. I was surrendering peacefully. So why not at the police station? Why here?
I gripped the door handle and hesitated, looking at Trouble. “Are you sure this is legitimate?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “I asked for his badge. I wouldn’t bring you here unless I knew it was real.”
I glanced in the direction of the other car, where the detective now stood leaning casually against the side as he waited for us to get out. My instincts were still telling me to run, but the image of Ace in police custody had thrown a spanner into the works. Joe was dead, and someone had to answer for it. That someone had to be me.
With a robotic hand, I opened the door and stepped outside. California still smelled the same, at least in the broken parts. It smelled of desperation and crushed dreams, and I felt that deep in my bones as we walked toward the detective who would take me in.
“Detective Brentwood,” Trouble greeted him.
I whipped my head in her direction, confused. Brentwood wasn’t a name I was familiar with. The entire time, I’d been running from Taylor, but I realized this must be his partner.
“Guilty as charged.” He nodded and turned to me. “And so we finally meet, Miss Birdie Kay Blue. You know, I didn’t actually believe your friend here when she said you would hand yourself over. Yet here you are.”
The detective had a slight Southern drawl and bad taste in clothing. From the dim street lighting, I could make out a cheap off the rack suit that hung from his body in a way that felt familiar. As my eyes traveled over his face, I understood why.
“You were in the casino,” I blurted. The day that Ace took me, I saw him. I talked to him. I was on my way to meet him in his room when Ace intercepted me.
“You got me.” Brentwood shrugged and flashed a crooked smile. “I almost had you.”
“Jesus.” I shivered as I considered how much differently the past couple of months could have gone. Ace had saved me, even then, and I wondered if somehow, he’d known that. The time we’d spent together almost never happened, and that reality split my heart wide open.
