Page 109 of Chasing Sparks

“Girls,” Trace states, the words falling clipped from his lips.

Yep, that whiskey is definitely coming back for round two.

Focus, Ash. Fucking keep it together.

“Trace said, hidingusin plain sight. Are you moving to Sparkwood?” I ask Lucille, knowing my brother will have a conniption when he learns that piece of information.

“Yes. You and I must put up a unified front. Show the town, and more importantly Kevin, that we’re together.”

“So, you’ll live at my place?”

Please say no.

She nods. “And work at Black Lotus.”

“And we tell everyone the baby is … ours?” My voice cracks.

“You two have history,” Trace says, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Plus, there are photos of you two hanging out recently. It’s plausible.”

I drag a hand over my beard, my brain not fully comprehending this insane situation. “Shit, I hate this, but I get how big this endgame is, so I guess I’m in. But I need to talk to Ori and Braden first—let them know the situation.”

“Not a possibility. On either count,” Trace replies without hesitation.

“What the fuck do you mean?”

“This is on a strictly need-to-know basis. We need both of them—and their reactions—to be believable. Trust me, Kevin Duncan is watching, just waiting for someone to slip up.”

“You want me to lie to my girl?” I sputter out the words, shaking my head and hands in tandem.

“I understand what you’re feeling?—”

I cut Trace off, slicing my hand through the air in a cutting motion. “No, you don’t. You’re asking me to lie to my girlfriend and claim myexis having my baby.”

“That is what I’m asking,” Trace states, his gaze fixed on mine.

“I can’t do it. I’ll lose her.” Don’t either of them understand the gravity of this situation—ofmysituation?

“Maybe not,” Lucille chimes in. “If she realizes I’m not a threat?—”

I smack my hand against my forehead. I swear, Lucille can be so dense sometimes. “Which would be a hell of a lot easier to accomplish if I could tell her the truth. Explain how I’m working undercover and that it isn’t my baby. There’s no way she’ll understand the alternative.”

Trace leans back, arms crossed. “You and Ori have been dating three months, right?”

A muscle jumps in my jaw. “Should I bother asking how you know that?”

“Trust me, Ash, I don’t give a damn about your social life—except where it intersects with this case. I’m right, though, aren’t I? Three months?”

“Just about.”

“Well,” Trace points at Lucille, who sits silently, her face unreadable, “she’s fifteen weeks. So whatever happened was before you and Ori got together.”

“It doesn’t matter. If I go along with this, I’ll lose her.” My voice cracks, the raw emotion threatening to take over. “She’ll never forgive me.”

“And you’ll never forgive yourself if something happens to her. Look, Ash, you don’t have much choice. If Kevin suspects this is a setup, it’s not just Lucille or those girls in danger. It’s everyone connected in any way with this case—and that includes the woman you love.”

He slides a few photos across the table to me—Ori at her shop, Ori walking down Main Street, Ori at the grocery store.

“Did you take these?” The words fall from my mouth like shards of ice.

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