Page 1 of Until Ace

Chapter 1

Ace

“What. The. Fuck?” The words seep through my clenched teeth.

I can't fucking believe this is happening.

The last year of my life just went down the drain, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.

“Reel it in, man,” Cobi mutters behind me.

I wondered why Frank and he were brought in when they had nothing to do with this case. Now, I know. It was a smart call.

The moment the news hit my brain, I saw red. And I can feel both of them inching closer, as if to prevent me from beating the shit out of the prosecutor who lost his smirk the moment he saw me enter the room—Garett Larkin.

I’ve never liked him. I can’t tell what it is, but there’s something about him that rubs me the wrong way. He does his job. He does it well; no one can argue that. And most of the time, he doesn’t get in our way.

Except now. When he won’t admit it’s his fault the whole case collapsed.

He didn’t listen when we all tried to warn him. He was smug and so sure that a piece of paper could stop just about everything. He was positive that if a deal was signed with a felon, that felon would obey it.

Well, now he’s learned. You can’t ever completely trust anyone. The problem is he learned that hard lesson by not listening to warnings, and now my case has gone to shit. Not to mention, this new development probably puts my family in danger.

We can’t know for sure if my cover is blown or not.

I don’t care if they know who I am, but no one gets close to my family. Especially my aunt.

That woman finds her own brand of trouble enough as it is.

“There's nothing we can do,” Garett hurries to try to explain and assure me. “But we will figure out who's responsible for it, and we will find another way.”

“Another way?” This guy is fucking unbelievable. Crossing my arms, I invite him to tell me how he thinks he can outsmart the fucking mob. “Yes. Please, explain to me how the fuck you now intend to nail this motherfucker, when it took me a year to get you the evidence and a willing witness to testify against him.”

When he stays silent, I take a step toward Garett, a man who hasn’t lived a day without his head in a bag. He's got no idea what it means to go after the scum of this earth, yet he tries to demand the same respect I give my brothers, to men who go out on the street and risk their lives every day just to make life safe for everyone else. A big man in a suit.

As he sees me step closer, he gulps and takes a step back, almost fusing himself with the wall behind him.

Yeah, you’re the man, I think to myself. What a fucking joke.

He opens his mouth, but I don't give him a chance to speak.

“What, you're gonna Al Capone him? Get him for his taxes?” I mean that as a joke, but when he looks at my captain, I hold onto my control by a sheer miracle. “You gotta be shitting me,” I seethe.

“Ace, man, keep it together,” Cobi mutters again, but the wave of heat hitting my back is a dead giveaway of his true state of mind. He doesn’t like Garett either, and I know he’s barely keeping his cool himself.

“Ace, you did an excellent job,” the captain starts.

“No shit.” I don't need praise; I need explanations.

“Mistakes happen, and while, sure, this is one that never should have happened, we need to move on. We need to find a way to get him behind bars, where he belongs.”

“Send me back in,” I demand.

“You know we can’t do that,” the captain replies through a sigh.

Fuck!

He’s right. My identity could be compromised. But I just can’t give up. I can’t stand aside and wait for this shitstorm to pass. There’s gotta be a way to get things back on track.