Ace (Reckless Souls MC 2)

“You thought?” Detective Lopez’s question is filled with suspicion.

“Yeah, her new boyfriend is…never mind. How is Kelsey? Where is she?” My heart pounds against my chest so hard and loud I’m sure the detectives can see it, maybe even hear it. “Well?”

“Have a seat, Miss.” Detective Waters’ tone is gentle, and that instantly puts me on edge.

I drop down in the same chair I was in when I last spoke to my sister. “What’s wrong with Kelsey?”

Detective Lopez leans forward, and the kindness in her eyes throws me for a loop. “Ms. Marin, do you know a woman named Grace Davies?”

My throat is instantly dry. I nod quickly. “Of course, I know Grace. She’s my best friend.” Grace is my only true friend, but she’s not part of my regular social circle. “Is something wrong with Grace?”

“When was the last time you spoke with her?”

“Like two, three days ago. I’ve been calling her, but she doesn’t answer. We had a stupid fight a few days ago, and she’s been ignoring me.”

God, I must sound like an awful person to these detectives. Fighting with everyone. “She usually calls me back even when she’s mad at me.”

“Do you and Grace fight often?” Detective Waters’ question comes out neutral, but I’m no fool.

“We do,” I admit. “She’s my best friend, closer to me than my own sister, so yeah, we fight. A lot. About stupid things mostly. Why? What’s going in with her?”

Detective Waters reaches out and places a hand on mine, his deep brown eyes clouded with sympathy. “Ms. Marin, we found Grace’s body floating in the water near the port.”

What?

His words echo in my head over and over, on a devastating loop I’m powerless to stop. Grace. Grace’s body. Floating in the port?

“Wait, you found her body? As in Grace is dead? Are you sure it’s her? Grace Davies?”

My body starts to shake violently as tears pour down my eyes. The news hits me like a ton of bricks. My best friend is dead, and the fact that two detectives are sitting on my sofa means she didn’t just fall in and drown. “How?”

Both detectives nod at the same time. “She was found early this morning. Any idea who would have done something like this to your friend?”

I notice neither of them answers my question.

“No, everybody liked Grace. Well, mostly everybody liked Grace. She’s great. Stylish and funny, naïve and romantic. If she has any enemies, they work with her.”

Just like my rich friends, Grace’s coworkers resented her success achieved through hard work instead of nepotism.

“Family problems? Relationship problems?” Detective Lopez watches me closely, searching, I assume, for any signs of deception.

But I still have questions of my own. “Was it an accident? Did she fall?”

I know the answer but hope against hope, I need them to tell me.

“We’re so sorry,” Lopez said, “but we’re still investigating some suspicious circumstances.”

Neither cop would say anything else. “Now, Miss Marin, can you please answer our questions.”

I shake my head at their ridiculous questions. “No, her mom is a great lady. No problems there. Her dad is another story, though. He’s an alcoholic, and she hasn’t spoken to him since she started college.”

He was mean and abusive, even sober, and Grace had gotten her scholarship and never looked back.

Waters nodded. “Boyfriend issues?”

“Not that I’m aware of. I know Grace has been seeing someone on and off, but she’s been pretty quiet about it. I assumed he was married or way older or something. Otherwise, she would have told me about him.” Would she? My conscience pokes at me with that question because the truth is she might have kept quiet out of fear I might judge him harshly.

“You said she was your best friend,” Lopez says, his tone full of accusation.

I glare at the plain woman cop. “She is my best friend, but she doesn’t tell me everything. Look,” I turn to Waters. “I can be judgmental at times, and she was probably worried I might be and kept him to herself.”

“What kind of men does she usually date?”

“Pretty ones. Grace likes them very pretty. They could be anything else, stockbroker, lawyer, doctor, dispensary manager, wannabe singer. She loves a pretty face.”

The detectives stand up, and Waters hands me a card. “If you can think of anything, big or small, give me a call. Day or night.”

“I will. I promise.” I see them out and fall apart. Right there beside the front door, I slump to the floor and wrap my arms around my legs. I let the tears fall. Grace is too young to be dead. It can’t be true.

After a few seconds, I get to my feet and yank the door open to ask who identified the body, but instead of the detectives, Ace is on my porch.

His brown eyes mixed with gold take me in. There’s something soft in his gaze I can’t quite recognize. “Ace. What are you doing here?”