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Lucia’s head pops inside my slightly ajar office door. “Nolan will be inRavishlater.”
I roll my eyes before dropping my forehead to my desk. “Fuck me!”
“No thanks!” She disappears with a smile in her voice at my obvious disdain.
The last fucking person I want to play nice with this evening is Nolan fucking Fritz.
My cell rings before I can get back to my ledger, and my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline when I spot the caller.
South Brook P.D. That could be only one person.
“Joseph Fratelli! To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I knew Jo through Lorenzo from back in high school, and though I’d contacted him to ask that he keep an eye on Sara when she bought her house out in South Brook, we’d not exactly stayed in touch.
He doesn’t preamble. “It’s about Sara Ricci, V.”
There’s a heavy pause before he continues. “She’s missing.”
“What the fuck happened?”
“It appears there was a break-in. Ren was hurt and—”
“Where’s Ren now?” The thought of something bad happening to Lorenzo’s son is something I can’t handle. I’ve not seen Sara since Renzo’s burial, and I’ve stayed out of her and her child’s lives, not only out of respect for her wishes, but also because contact with me usually ends up with people getting hurt.
“That’s actually what I need to speak to you about.”
I frown deeply, but murmur my assent. “Go on.”
“Evidence at the scene leads us to believe that Ren may come to further harm. That the break-in may well have been by someone known to both Sara and Ren. And I remember after what happened with Lorenzo, you’d turned into a security freak, so…”
He trails off as realization dawns. “You want Ren to come and stay withme?”
“Yes. I believe it’s the best call. You won’t let anything happen to h—”
Alex, arriving right on time for Grayson’s intervention, walks in my door as I cut Jo off. “Can’t you put the kid in WITSEC or something?”
Alex stops in his tracks as Jo replies, “It doesn’t work like that, Vaughn. Besides, you know you’ll regret it if you don’t do this. And what if something worse happens…”
I scrub my hands down my face as Jo amps up the guilt. “Renzo would want you to watch over his kid. He’d trust you to do the right thing.”
Silence weighs heavily between us as I allow those words to settle deeply into my already guilt-laden conscience. I expel a breath, straightening my spine as I respond the only way I can.
“I’ll be at work, Joseph. You’ll need to come here.”
I don’t even attempt to keep the resignation from my tone as Joseph recites the details for when he’ll drop the newly turned twenty-year-old over to me. Once I hang up the call, Alex pins me with concerned eyes.
“Everything okay?”
I inhale through my nose before voicing my aggression at the top of my lungs. “Fuck!”
Flopping down into my chair, I blow out a breath before checking my wristwatch, noting that Gray isn’t due to arrive for another couple of minutes.
“I’ve known you long enough now, Burton, to know you don’t lose your cool.Ever.” I shift my gaze to Alex as he regards me with concern. “So whatever that call was about, spit it out quickly so we can clear the air before Grayson gets here.”
I’ve never told a living soul of the guilt that I carry with me, but even so, the words spill heedlessly from my lips.
“Did I ever tell you how I could afford to buy Verity out of this place?”
