Page 5 of Fire

She sighs. “I’m not married. I have no desire to ever be married again. I do, however, have a man in my life and there’s no room for another one. Now, enjoy the rest of your meal. I need to check on other customers,” she answers, turning and dismissing me.

“Never thought I’d see the day you’d strike out with a woman,” Grunt laughs, coming up behind me.

“This is just strike one. The game ain’t over yet, boy,” I mumble, eyes still trained on Grace.

“I think that’s technically strike two, since she went to the kitchen to get away from you earlier.”

“Doesn’t matter. The only thing thatdoescount is she said she has a man in her life. I need him to be history.”

“Boss—”

“She’s not married, and I think we both can see she’s not happy. Do that shit you boys do. Find out everything you can on a Grace that lives in the Robbinsville area and works here.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“Alright, I’ll have info for you soon,” Grunt says.

We walk back to the table, and I throw a couple hundred on the table, making sure she has a damn good tip. That will probably piss her off, but I don’t actually give a fuck. I think even an angry Grace would be fun. When we walk out, I find myself looking over my shoulder. I find her staring right at me.

I don’t care how long it takes …Grace is going to be mine.

3

FORD

Two Days Later

“This is it?” I ask, thumbing through the folder Grunt and King brought to my temporary room here at the Saints.

“Yeah. It should be everything you need, though. Looks like she moved here a few years ago. She’s been working at the diner since shortly after arriving. No known man in her life, although if they’re not married, he could live there and just have a separate address and bank account from her.”

I nod, still looking over the information. I pull out one particular paper and lift an eyebrow as I look at my men. “You got her phone records?”

They shrug. “I figured if I was in your place and this was Jasmine, I’d want to know everything,” Grunt mutters. “Besides, if she has a man, she’d call or text him regularly.”

“True,” I hum. I don’t correct him that Ms. Grace Sutton is going to be my old lady. I want her and nothing I’ve seen here makes me change my mind. “There’s no number that she calls that often, except the ones you’ve identified as the diner.”

“Nope. We can’t even see that she has a friend she calls regularly, which seems strange. Apparently, your girl is a loner.”

“What’s this number that she receives calls from once a month?”

“Ah, that would be Detective Cruz Garcia from Roanoke, Virginia.”

That gets my attention, and I feel every muscle in my body tightening. “Why the fuck is a cop checking with her once a month?”

“I’m still digging. The thing is, I don’t think he’s in Virginia any longer.”

“He’s here?” I ask, wondering if that’s the man in her life—even if he just calls her once a month like clockwork.

“Well, I guess that’s a yes and a no,” King hedges.

“What the hell does that mean?” He scrubs his face and looks over at Grunt. I let out an annoyed breath. “Out with it, assholes.”

King shakes his head, but it’s Grunt who answers. “The last two months around the same time, Garcia has been calling from a number in Black Stone Ridge, Tennessee. I called it and it’s some kind of horse farm. I asked for Mr. Garcia and was told he was out of town. So …”

“Where the fuck is Black Stone Ridge?” I ask, praying it’s far away from here.

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