Page 25 of Ace

"I guess I should say thank you for having all that shit in place. So you knew about the database?"

This information, more than anything else, surprised me the most.

"We've gotten wind about it, but we haven't been able to gain access."

"Do you think they have a link to access Hale-ish's files?"

"Worried your time there will come up?"

"More like worried they'll do facial recognition and my cover will be blown," I mutter.

"Your cover is safe. Unless you've been back to Hale-ish in the last ten years."

"I haven't been back since the grand opening. I still think you missed a great party."

He laughs. "Have you seen my wife? I'd never take her to a place like that."

"Afraid she might trade up?" I ask jokingly.

He laughs again. "Did you happen to run into our rogue older sister?"

"Didn't see a soul other than the people they wanted me to see. You know how it goes. What are the chances she's staying in town?"

"A hundred percent," he says, my phone buzzing at the same time he continues to speak. "I sent you her hotel information."

"She used a personal card, didn't she?"

"Of course she did."

"She has no damn sense of self-preservation," I mutter.

"She'sa civilian. What do you expect?"

"I expect her not to get into the middle of an investigation."

"I imagine she feels helpless, and as someone from a powerful family, she isn't accustomed to being told she has to wait for something."

I don't argue with him, but I didn't get a spoiled brat sort of vibe from her. If anything, that classification would be reserved for her younger sister, Sadie.

"Are you going to go over there tonight?"

"Probably," I mutter, knowing I'll never be able to sleep without making sure she's okay first.

"Let me know if you need anything," he says before ending the call.

I grab a quick shower, opting for jeans and a T-shirt because house calls at fucking two in the morning don't get the button-down and slacks look. Plus, I'll be on my bike until the damn car gets swept for bugs.

Traffic is less chaotic, but this town is a lot like Vegas, or really any large city; it never sleeps. There's always a café open, coffee hot and waiting to be drunk, no matter the time of day or night. People work two or three jobs to keep up with their lives. Plus, the economy has gone to shit in recent years and there's no upturn on the horizon. People are less likely to vacation and do fun things when they're struggling just to live.

The people on the hill aren't struggling. They still have their jobs and, honestly, if those are the types of people who are supposed to be protecting others, it makes them nothing more than slumlords with the way a lot of Americans are having to live these days.

I guess I sort of have to include myself in that equation, but my job has prevented me from having to choose between food or electricity the way I know some people have to.

Iused to be the type of person who would say those people who can't make it need to render better life decisions. If they can't afford kids, they shouldn't have had them in the first place, but people fall on hard times. Stable jobs become less so when the economy falls to pieces.

People who work in the entertainment industry no longer have jobs, and I'm not talking about movie stars. They always have a Plan B, a way to fall back on, a nest egg, or something. The people who really take the hit are the craft food service people, or the hairstylist, the costume designers, and the people who build the sets. Those poor fuckers are the ones not working.

It goes the same way when people can no longer afford their lives. They make bad decisions. It's why check cashing and loan places tend to pop up in the most impoverished communities.

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