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He chuckled. “You don’t miss much.”
“It feels like an iron bar between my legs,” she purred, rubbing herself up against it. “No woman could miss it.”
“How about I get to work, you make your list, and we’ll get to bed early tonight?”
Pulling her fingers nervously through her hair, she replied primly, “I think that’s an outstanding idea, Mr. Strond.”
Setting her back off his boner, he helped her stand. Ace looked at her with heat in his pretty, dark eyes. “Come find me when you’ve finished your list.”
“Yes, sir,” she said with a flirty wink over her shoulder and a little added sway in her hips as she walked away.
~ Ace ~
Watching Barbara walk away twisted the bittersweet feeling in his chest until it hurt. Being with her was everything he ever wanted. When his hands were on her, he believed anything was possible. He craved the sweet, inspirational things she whispered in his ear. Once she walked away, the doubts came crawling back again.
Coming to his feet, he thought the situation over as he walked to the security room. Poor Peb looked like he’d been up all night. “You doing okay, kid?”
Rubbing his eyes, he nodded. “Yes, sir. The facial recognition program is coming to an end. I’m praying we’ll get a hit.”
“When that’s done, I want you to go get yourself a nap. I’ll take over the security room for a couple of hours.”
“I didn’t mean to stay up all night.”
“You’re worried, like the rest of us,” he pointed out. “It could be those bodies were stashed by someone who’s long gone.”
The computer made a dinging noise, and Ace leaned over the kid’s shoulder to see the screen of his laptop. “The two guys from the Seven-six are brothers, Juan and Hernando Havier. I’m going to run a quick internet search and see if I can find out if they’ve been in the news, arrested, or complained of anything on their social media before they turned up missing.”
Ace dropped into the other seat at the security desk. “It feels strange to see you in here without Cork.”
“My brother and I aren’t joined at the hip or anything.”
Ace grinned. “I didn’t say you were. Do you mind if I ask why you decided to start prospecting with the club.”
“Same reason my brother did. We don’t have nobody. The brothers have become my family. I want to help keep them safe.”
“You did a bang-up job with that ATF mole.”
“No, I didn’t. If I was doing a good job, I’d have run facial recognition on him the minute he landed on our doorstep. I ain’t makin’ that mistake again.”
“Don’t blame yourself. None of us suspected anything was amiss with him.”
“I ran your new lady and her students last night,” Peb informed him. “You can pull their files up there on the desktop.”
Jiggling the mouse, he opened the file markedBarbara Reynolds. “Shit, you have everything.”
“I dug deep ‘cause she was yours. I trust her, but you never know what kind of baggage a person picks up without knowing it. I wanted you to know every shady person she ever had contact with. Fortunately, there weren’t any. It seems she went straight from her mother’s home to her husband’s. It doesn’t appear that David was abusive, ‘cause there were no trips to the ER or anything like that. All he did was cheat on her and brag his ass off about his beautiful wife. They made the social pages of the local paper a lot.”
“She said he treated her like an expensive ornament, dragging her out to show off for all the right people.”
“We all knew he was a jerk. I ain’t been here but a minute, and even I know that. She seems real nice. I’m glad she’s with you. She deserves a real man.”
Ace swallowed thickly. “I ain’t anything special, kid. If you’re looking for a role model, pick that brother of yours. He’s a real straight arrow.”
“He is. I have a lot of respect for Cork. He’s spent his entire life looking after me. Now that I’m a grown man, it’s my turn to look after him in my own way. You’re a good role model, too. You don’t see it, but we’re a lot alike.”
Without looking up, Ace asked, “In what way?”
“We’ve both had shitty childhoods and been dealt a raw hand in life. I watched you come back after doing time and facing off with Ryder. You were a mess, but you slowly clawed your way back. It’s what made me believe that I could, too.”
