Page 62 of Hemlock

"Good thing I'm not really married."

Jericho stands, positioning himself in front of me before I can rip the man's head off.

"You need to leave her the fuck alone," I growl as I point at the bastard over Jericho's shoulder.

"Calm down," Jericho snaps. "We're not going to fucking act like wild goddamned animals. The case is closed, and both of you will move the fuck on."

I don't take his insistence as an order. The man doesn't have rank on me, but he does make a lot of sense. The case no longer exists. It ended with Wilkinson's booking into the county jail. It's time for me to move on to something new.

"Is there a problem?"

I'm slow to turn my gaze to Ace as he enters the room, and I don't pull my eyes from Jersey until he looks away first. I settle some with the minor victory, grabbing my bottle of water from the bar and taking a few steps back before turning my attention to Ace.

"We have three places left we need to clear out in the next couple of weeks. One already has someone working it, but they may need some backup," Ace continues.

"I'll take it," Jersey offers as if he's in a fight for being the teacher's fucking pet.

"Mike will get you the information you need," Ace says with a quick dip of his head.

"Nice meeting you guys," Jersey says on his way out of the room, and I'll give the guy credit for saying it in a tone that doesn't make him sound like a complete asshole.

"I like him," Jericho says.

"He's one of the good ones," Ace agrees. "So these last two jobs, one will be in North Carolina, and the other will be a little closer to home. Hemlock, I think the one in NC would be a better fit for you. Jer—"

"I need to stay here," I interrupt.

Ace tilts his head to the side, and I'm grateful when Jericho doesn't open his big fucking mouth to insert his opinion.

"Need? Is there something going on I should know about?"

I can't help the way Zara flashes through my mind. She's my reason for the need to stay close, but she won't be here much longer, will she? The U-Haul proved that. If she were simply moving down the street or across town, she could've gotten Tommy to help her with that rather than renting something you pull for a long haul.

"Tell me there's an appointment or something that you need to be in town for," Ace pleads, and I know he knows exactly where my head is without making the confession.

"I don't think leaving town so soon is best," I manage, wishing I didn't have a fucking audience for this shit right now.

"This next job is vital to our work, and it may be the break in the case we need to finally set eyes on Adair and get his ass either in a grave or in jail. Jericho has too many ties to the man, and it's not safe for him to go," Ace argues. "I need you for this."

I want my shot at Adair, but I can also feel the irritation running off Jericho. He blew his cover to help another Cerberus member's woman, and I commend him for that, but if he misses out on being the one to take that vile piece of shit down, it'll haunt him for the rest of his life. I don't know what the man had to do to stay side by side with the evil fucker, but I can imagine it was some shit he'll have to ask forgiveness for in the afterlife, making him not much different from me.

"I'm not meant to be the one to take that piece of shit down," I remind him.

Jericho grunts in agreement, but I know deep down he's a team player and wouldn't begrudge any of us the opportunity to make it happen.

"That's Jericho's demon to slay."

"I don't think I need to explain to you how easily someone could recognize him and give Nathan another opportunity to get away," Ace says, pointing at Jericho. "He understands that."

I want to argue for the man and tell Ace to stop speaking as if he isn't standing right there, but I know it won't get me very far. The decision has been made. I have no doubt it'll be less than a week and I'll be sitting at another fucking bar in North Carolina, once again wondering why I even made the move from New Mexico, to begin with.

"I understand," Jericho says. "I don't regret the decisions I made that keep me from being on the direct team to take that motherfucker down. I'm not so cocky that I can't let that be someone else's bust. I know people are getting hurt every day that he isn't in custody."

"Where in North Carolina?"

"Wilmington," Ace says, making me want to flip fucking tables and trash the room.

"That's over five hours away," I snap.

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