Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 91212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
He watched that love flow from his best friend’s body, the crimson flowing out around him like a river.
If love leaves you on the business end of a knife, then he has no interest.
And that’s how Eddie “Ace” Yarrow has lived his life in the last ten years: independent and alone.
But honestly, it goes back further than that.
He left Cerberus over thirty years ago because he wanted to make a difference closer to home.
And although he made great strides in his career, a man always tends to go back to his roots.
His forced vacation from ICE has left him working a job for Cerberus.
Cora Preston isn’t trying to make his life harder, but she doesn’t understand why they’re not getting results.
Cerberus is taking too long to find her missing sister, and inserting herself into the investigation is her only choice.
The two butt heads more than once, and neither of them can predict just how close together this investigation is going to bring them.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
Ace
"Is he going to live?" Mike asks the second I walk into the living room of the house ICE has us in while working these cases with the Cerberus MC.
"It won't be the stab wound that kills him," I mutter as I grab a bottle of water from the fridge before plopping down on the sofa opposite the one Mike is sitting on.
We hadn't crossed paths in a few days, and a lot has happened since New Year's Eve.
"Again with this shit?" Mike groans, leaning his head back on the couch and looking up at the ceiling as if there are answers to unspoken questions there.
"Explain to me why some people just can't get laid without falling in love?" I challenge. "He's no different from the rest of them. A damsel in distress is all it takes to make even the hardest men turn soft and fucking gooey. I thought he'd be different. They never are."
"It's not the end of the world."
"It could be," I argue.
Plenty of good men have been taken down because of this concept of love and thinking that's all that matters, but I've seen time and again how destructive even the idea of it can be.
"This new group was supposed to be different. They were solid hard-asses that see nothing but the job in front of them. I blame Hemlock's brief stay in New Mexico. He clearly drank whatever was in the fucking water over there. He couldn't make it through one fucking case before he got heart eyes and started seeing rainbows and damn butterflies and shit."
Mike chuckles, and I know he might be getting a little frustrated over the number of times we've had to have these conversations.
"I fully understand why you see life through this broken lens, man, but most people aren't built to be alone. Isn't it human nature?"
I side-eye the man, wondering just by his tone if he isn't thinking of someone special.
I shake my head. "It's biological. It's attraction and that animalistic need to mate, nothing else. Humans are just stupid and they can't separate the two."
I take a long drink of my water, wondering how so many people get it all wrong.
"Maybe you just haven't found the one yet," he argues.
"The one?" I scoff. "I'm fifty-nine years old. The one doesn't exist."
"You're just not looking hard enough."
"I'm not looking at all," I counter. "If someone told me this so-called soulmate was right around the corner, I'd turn and book it in the opposite direction. I've got no need for distractions and complications. They're a waste of time, and, in our field of work, they're dangerous."
I know that more than he does, probably, but I wouldn't wish my experiences and failures on anyone. The demons of regret are hard to shoulder a lot of the time.
"So you're saying Hemlock took a wrong turn? I've met the guy. I don't think he was looking either."
"I don't know what happened with him, honestly. I met Zara, put myself in her path to try and figure out what was so appealing. I mean, the woman is a knockout, but burning a career over her? I just can't see it."
"I don't think it would ever happen while you're working. Knowing your ass, you'll fall in love when you're in a nursing home or on your deathbed. I think you'll regret not jumping on the train sooner."
I open my mouth to argue, but there's a knock on the front door.
Mike and I both look at each other, both our heads shaking to confirm that we aren't expecting anyone. Each of us pulls out a firearm as I cautiously make my way to the door. You can never be too safe in this day and age, especially when we both have a lot of irons in the fire and have such a dangerous job. Getting lax and distracted is what can get you killed.
Relief washes over me when I look through the peephole, smiling when Kincaid, founder and president of the New Mexico Cerberus chapter, gives me a little wave as if he can sense me on the other side of the door.
"I expected you sooner," I say when I pull open the door. The man never did know when to leave things alone. He's more likely to want to sit down and treat a situation like a therapy session, not wanting anyone in any given situation to walk away feeling like they were mistreated. I know exactly why he's here, and, honestly, I knew we'd have a conversation like this at some point while trying to get this endeavor off the ground. I'd just hoped it wouldn't have had to come so damn soon.
Kincaid holds his hand out, and I don't hesitate to shake it as he steps into the house.
Once upon a time, I, too, was a Cerberus member. It feels like a lifetime ago, and I've always wondered how things would've turned out if I hadn't left. I've spent many years wishing things were different, wondering which decision I made that took me down the path I ended up on. So many things could've been different, but living in the what-could've-been is dangerous, and deadly if I let them get too tight of a hold on me.