Page 92 of Faded Gray Lines

It made him human, and instead of hating Jackie for having a private part of my father, I felt a strange kinship with her. James Harcourt wasn’t perfect. However, neither was I. I’d killed, lied, stolen, and given myself to a man who’d probably committed every sin there was.

Love wasn’t unflawed. It was ugly, damaged, imperfect, and at times tragic. But in the end, it was what kept us breathing. It was what woke us up and got us out of bed, hoping for another chance at making it better. It was what drove us to right the wrongs we carried with us far too long.

“I have to go,” she said, brushing her eye with the back of her hand.

I nodded as her heels clicked away into the darkness. “I’ll be in touch.”

I had no idea if she heard me or not, but it didn’t matter. Our business together wasn’t finished, and she knew it. However, I’d give her the space she needed to compose herself before approaching her again. Drying my damp palms on my apron, I opened the back door and went back into Caliente on a mission. There would be no more reporting back to Alex until I knew exactly who he was and what backdoor agenda he had. Whatever he wanted on the Carrera Cartel, I had a feeling it was a smoke screen for something much bigger, and I was tired of being a sacrificial lamb.

It was time to be a wolf.

Emilio must have stepped out for a moment because a quick sweep of the place found no trace of him. At almost one o’clock in the morning, it was near closing time anyway, so the place had already begun filtering out. I had to act quickly.

Keeping his office door cracked so I could listen for footsteps, I typed in Emilio’s password and Googled exactly what Jackie told me to. It took only seconds for the links to pop up, so I clicked on the first one and held my breath.

I read as fast as I could, every word turning my stomach. Alex Atwood joined the New Orleans Police Department in 1985 and the Houston Police Department as a detective in 2004. The fact that he served on the same force at the same time as my father was bad enough, but the next link I clicked on stunned me. Detective Alex Atwood served on the Project Guardian Task Force. It was the specialized task force my father created to take down the Houston based Carrera Cartel contingent.

Alex and my father worked side by side against the Carreras.

My fingers couldn’t work fast enough. Jackie wouldn’t give me useless information like this for no reason. Just as I clicked on the third link, a commotion from down the hallway sent my heart halfway up my throat.

“Amanda! You left the back door unlocked again. How many times have I warned you about that,renita?”

Shit! Emilio!

Closing out the screen, I quickly deleted the browser history and logged out of the laptop. Pushing the chair back, I rushed toward the door and slipped into the hallway. With my heart pounding in my ears, I leaned against the wall to catch my breath.

Oh, God, that was close. I’m never doing that again.

“Leighton, is everything all right?”

A chill crawled up my spine as I glanced up and collided eyes with my boss. “Y-yes, everything’s fine. Why?”

Emilio tilted his head. “You look a little flushed.”

“No, just tired. We were busy today. I need to finish my end of shift work. I don’t want to hold anyone up.”

“You do that.” A deadly smile parted his lips, his silver capped teeth glinting under the dimmed light. I backed away, unable to take my eyes off him. “Oh, and Leighton? Please see me after you’re done. I’d like to talk to you.”

* * *

I’d never cleaned so fast in my life. Even Amanda asked if I was on something and if so, it was rude not to share. I just laughed, not sure if I should confide in her that I didn’t want to be left alone with Emilio and end up under a tarp in the back of his SUV.

Instead, I just scrubbed harder and prayed.

As I heard Amanda clock out and the back door slam behind her, I sucked in a defeated breath, almost crushing a freshly washed glass in my bare hand.

I was alone with Emilio.

Wiping down the final table, I cursed myself for leaving my phone in my car. At least if I had it, I could’ve called someone before walking into his office so if he killed me on the spot, they would have audible evidence of the crime. Without it, it could take weeks to find my body—if they ever did.

Placing a hand against my stomach, I made my way toward Emilio’s office and peered inside. “Emilio?”

“Did you find everything you were looking for earlier?”

Letting out a startled scream, I spun around, slamming my back against the wall. Emilio stood in front of me, his eyes as dark as midnight and just as empty. He crowded into me and placed a hand against my face, his lips flattening into a hard line.

“I’m sorry?”