Page 37 of Mine To Break
Chapter Fifteen
Colby couldn’t get out of the precinct fast enough any more. Not with Mal waiting.
He couldn’t believe it’d only been three weeks. He hadn’t even seen her every single night, though he’d wanted to. Two more bodies had shown up—this time on the opposing cartel’s side of town. Another squad was handling it, but he and Elias had coordinated with them since they were pretty sure it was a retaliation hit. Things were about to get ugly in Dallas between two cartels fighting for more street.
And he couldn’t care less.
Mentally, he’d already checked out. This job had served its purpose and helped him hang on until he could find Mal, but now he wanted something less stressful, dangerous, and demanding. He wanted to let his mind and body fully heal, both from the tours and from the months he’d fought alone here at home. She’d been completely correct that he had to let go of this terrible sense of responsibility for everybody and everything while running himself into the ground. The decision had been hovering for months once Elias had decided to make a hard push for a promotion. Without him, Colby had no desire to continue on the force, even if Elias continued as his boss. No, it was time for a change. A big change.
He started up his truck and cracked the windows, but then stepped back out into the evening air while everything cooled down. He pulled out his phone and dialed up an old friend. “Hey, Jack. It’s me, Colby Wade. You got a few minutes to talk?”
He and Jack had gone to high school together about a hundred years ago, it seemed. Jack had started a construction business focused on tiny homes. He’d had great timing, because demand had exploded in recent years. He’d been posting pictures online for months.
“Colby Wade, you old dog! What are you up to nowadays? You still in the Army?”
“Marines, and no. I’ve been back a few years. I’ve been working with the Dallas PD for awhile, but I’m looking to make a change. I saw you posted about needing to hire more people and thought I’d call. See if you’d talk to me.”
“Damn straight, come on down as soon as you can. You’d be a perfect fit on my crew. We’re small, but the potential is huge.”
Relief eased tension straining in Colby’s chest that he hadn’t even noticed. “Thanks, man. I haven’t been doing much construction since we took shop all those years ago, but I’m willing to learn. Put me doing all the crappy jobs first.”
“You know the most important part—your way around tools. Tiny homes are a whole new ball game. Lots of different techniques and things you’d never know from a regular construction job anyway. And don’t worry, I’ve got lots of crappy jobs you can do.”
“Great.” Colby laughed. “I can’t wait.” No, really, he couldn’t. He already felt lighter, and cleaner, away from the constant stress and danger of the streets. “I need a few weeks to tie up loose ends here. That work for you?”
“Sure thing. Just get here as soon as you can. I’ve got a hundred orders stacked up.”
“No kidding?”
“Nope. I had to stop taking orders until I got caught up. So get here pronto and I’ll put you to work. Gladly.”
“Hey, thanks, man.”
Jack laughed. “No, thank you. Really. You’re saving me a lot of time of interviewing and struggling to find somebody I can work with. See you soon.”
Colby ended that call and pulled Mal’s number up. She hadn’t texted him yet to see what the plan was. They’d been over at the other squad going over files until almost seven, and now it was closer to eight. She’d probably already eaten and that pissed him off. He wanted to eat with her. Every meal he could. Because she’d helped bring back his enjoyment of food again.
“Detective Wade?”
He looked up. A blonde woman in navy slacks and jacket walked up to him. If she wasn’t a Fed, he’d let Mal use his handcuffs. “Yeah?”
She held out her hand. “Special Agent Madison Archer. You got a sec?”
“Sure. FBI?”
“ICE,” she corrected.
He tried not to react and betray his instant dislike. With all the deportations, ICE had gotten a bad name all over Texas and beyond. If they could actually do something about the drug cartels and terrorists, great, but like the senseless war in Afghanistan, deportation usually only punished the innocent people. It sure wasn’t an agency he’d care to work for, even if he wasn’t looking to leave the police force.
“I’m on a special task force with law enforcement agencies including the FBI and Interpol to investigate human trafficking. We just busted up a Russian mafia ring in the Caribbean.”
Not bad. Catching bad guys like that actually did some good in the world. “If you know my name, you probably know I’m in narcotics. I don’t deal much with human trafficking.” Thank God. Seeing women and kids abused would probably drive him into a homicidal maniac.
“But we’ve heard good things about you, and we’re looking to add a few new people to the team. Your military background comes highly recommended. I warn you, though, that we’re not very conventional as far as our team makeup. We take a lot of risks, break a lot of rules, but ultimately get the bad guys.”
“And hopefully come home every night, right?”
She smiled and handed him a card. “Naturally. If you’re interested, give me a call.”
