Page 37 of Amber Gambler

“I’m sorry business is slow.” He wiped sweat off his brow with his wrist. “Things will pick up soon.”

For the sake of my bank account, and sanity, I hoped he was right.

“Thanks.” I slid my attention past his shoulder. “How’s the real business going?”

“We’re on track for today, but tomorrow is a new day.” He brushed my shoulder. “I can get those stains out.”

“Pedro taught me your never-fails trick for removing grease from cotton years ago.”

Another one of the major benefits of hiring the Suarezes? They did Matty’s laundry. They were used to it and enjoyed one-upping each other on who could turn out the most pristine uniform. Their mother, who taught them everything they knew about cars, made it a game when they were kids. How she convinced kids that chores were fun, I had no clue. They claimed they had been sworn to secrecy and couldn’t tell.

Knowing them as well as I did, I suspected the three Suarezes were just good eggs who had done all they could for their mother to make her life easier after their dad passed in a racing accident when they were too young to remember more than his deep voice and how he made their mother laugh.

“Are you sure? We have to do Matty’s laundry tomorrow. One more shirt won’t hurt.”

“Okay, okay.” I lifted my hands in surrender. “I’ll put it in with his.”

Grinning at his win, he started to walk away then turned back. “Did you need anything?”

“No.” I waved off his concern. “I just have to make some calls.”

“Ah.” He tipped his chin. “Give me an hour to finish up this last appointment, then I’ll start closing down the garage.”

With that settled, I headed outside and sat on the bench, figuring I would dial Harrow first. “Hey.”

“Are you ready to head out?” He wasted no time on niceties. “Carter and I just wrapped our shift.”

“She was my next call.” I crossed my legs. “Are you sure you guys don’t mind?”

“Chief Leer made it official this morning. Carter and I are working the missing girls’ cases. I would have let you know sooner, but I wasn’t sure if you slept in. I decided to wait and tell you when you called me.”

“You’re fine.” I uncrossed then recrossed my legs, unable to get comfy. “Will you need me after this?”

Collins came to me due to lack of police involvement, but now there was plenty. Audrey, and the other girls, were in the hands of two officers I trusted to show them the proper respect, regardless of what their circumstances had been in life.

And, if I was honest, I was happy for an excuse to extricate myself from further involvement with the 514.

“You’re our only hope of finding these girls, let alone communicating with them.” He pitched his voice low. “We need you, Frankie. These girls need you.”

“I brought this on myself,” I muttered under my breath.

“What are you afraid of?”

Clearly, my mumbling skills could use improvement. “I don’t want to call attention to myself.”

“The 514 already knew you existed,” he reminded me. “Carter has known about you for years.”

“But I didn’t know they knew, and it was nice. The not knowing. It made me believe we were safe.”

“I’m sorry I ruined the illusion for you. I didn’t mean to give them an excuse to make first contact.”

“No.” I gripped my ankle. “It’s for the best.”

Ignorance was only bliss until it blew up in your face and exploded your life.

And Harrow had resources at his fingertips I wouldn’t have had access to without him.

“Do you know what you want to do?” Harrow gave me a moment. “How you want to do it?”

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