Page 12 of Ace

"The brother," Kincaid says before I can get it out.

I nod. "Oh, there's definitely some animosity there."

"We'll need to follow all leads, but Max can handle a lot of that. If we run into an issue we can't handle—"

"You'll need to find a different source for information. I don't want the Agency knowing what I'm up to."

Kincaid narrows his eyes before speaking. "Something I should know about?"

I shake my head. "I think that young punk-ass kid they promoted instead of me is out to get me."

"Because he suggested a vacation after years of not having one?"

I don't answer.

"Hasn't he been your supervisor for a while?"

"Are you checking up on me?" I ask, wondering if this was a bad idea in the first place.

"I notice signatures on the paperwork that slide across my desk, Ace," he explains. "Want to get back to this case or have you changed your mind?"

I pull in a deep breath.

"Sorry," I mutter. "Hazard of the job."

"Maybe you need a different job if the one you have makes you think everyone is out to get you. Maybe a place on a team you can trust is a better fit?"

He doesn’t press the issue, but I know it isn’t just a simple thought either.

"William Preston, Jr.," Kincaid says as he opens the file folder on the table. "Aspiring politician. No doubt the man was being groomed for greatness before his father's untimely death."

"There have been stranger cases than sibling rivalry," I add.

"Exactly," Kincaid agrees. "Like I was saying, I'll see what Max can dig up and if he doesn't find any skeletons, we can always make a call to Blackbridge."

"I'm still a federal agent," I remind him.

"Okay?"

"I don't think Wren Nelson does everything above board."

I've heard of the IT specialist who works for Deacon Black in St. Louis. His name has the ability to put fear in the hearts of many agents and a level of envy from other agency data techs, as if the man is a myth they can only hope is real.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"We have to cross the bridges without ICE's help, and that means we have to be careful," I remind him. "I wanted to take an extra job not land myself in federal prison."

"We're looking for a missing girl," Kincaid says. "We're not trying to take down a drug cartel in the middle of Times Square. So what do you say?"

"Family feuds aren't really my thing," I mutter. "What are the chances we end up finding her under an alias in some forced drug treatment or hell, in an insane asylum after a lobotomy?"

Kincaid huffs. "That would definitely make the case a little easier, but let's still work the other angle. I'm curious to know what her connection to that brothel is."

"Go over that part with me again?"

This information was something we were going to discuss before Senator Dyer showed up. Kincaid had just gotten the notification before the meeting started.

"We really don't have much to go on other than an incoming phone call two weeks ago from another senator's son who then was pinged at the house."

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