Brooke

B rooke thought that the ringing she was hearing was in her dream, but unfortunately, it wasn’t. She had just fallen asleep and whoever was calling her had better be either dead or on fire, because if they weren’t, she was going to strangle them.

When she heard Mace’s growly, sexy voice, she knew exactly who was on the other end of the call. “Mace,” she breathed, still half asleep.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” he whispered.

“No,” she lied. She could hear Mace chuckle into the other end of the call, and she knew that he had caught her in a lie. “Fine,” she grumbled, “yes, you woke me, but that’s okay. What’s up?” she asked.

“I had a visit from some old guy who claims that he knows who killed Reece Childs,” Mace said. She sat up in her bed, suddenly very interested in what he was telling her. Her father had made her promise to take herself off the case, but she just couldn’t do that to Mace. She kept her distance from him, trying to decide her next move, but there was no way that she’d give up Mace’s case. There was something about the guy that made her want to help him. Hell, she wanted to do more than just help him, but that would go against the client/lawyer relationship.

“Does he have evidence?” she asked.

“He showed me a note that some woman wrote to Reece after he broke up with her. She claimed that if she couldn’t have him, no one would. I don’t know if that note is enough to go on, but I’m hoping you can do something with it.” Mace sounded so hopeful; couldn’t tell him that there wasn’t much to go on.

“I’ll do my best,” she promised. “How did this guy get a hold of the note?” she asked.

“He said that he’s Reece’s father, but that was about it. The old guy wouldn’t even tell me his name,” Mace said.

“That sounds strange,” insisted, “but, I’d like to meet with him and see the note, if possible.”

“He wrote down his number for me and told me to call him when you’d be available to talk with him,” Mace said. “I’d like to be there too if that’s okay. There was something about the old guy that seemed almost familiar. I just couldn’t put my finger on it, but I almost feel like I know him somehow.” wondered how Mace would know the victim’s father. If he did, that might put a kink in her defense.

“I’ll see what I can do to arrange a meeting with him. Text me his number and I’ll be in touch,” she ordered.

Mace sighed into the other end of the call, “Will you really?” he asked. She knew that not reaching out to him for three days was a bit rude, but she didn’t expect him to call her out on it.

“What do you mean by that?” asked, suddenly feeling defensive.

“I mean that you told me to stay put, in this shitty motel, and then you never came back. I’ve been waiting for three days to talk to you about my case, and you didn’t even have the decency to call me,” Mace accused.

“You’re right,” said. “That was shitty of me, and I’m sorry,” Mace chuckled, and she tried to figure out what she had said that was so funny. “Why are you laughing?” she asked.

“I think that was the first time that I’ve ever heard you curse,” he said. “It’s kind of cute to hear you say, Shitty,” he said.

“Damn it,” mumbled when she realized that she had cursed. “Sorry, when I’m tired, I curse—a lot,” she admitted. “It’s very unprofessional of me, and it won’t happen again.”

“I hope that it does, ,” Mace said. “It makes you sound, well, more human. I cuss all the fucking time, so I really don’t mind.” Plus, he said that she sounded cute when she cursed, but she was going to leave that one alone.

“Yeah, I picked up on that,” she said. “I think that you cursed every other word during our meeting.”

“Yep, and I’m not going to change my ways,” Mace said. “So, you should just join in.” She giggled, thinking about all the times she had to refrain from cursing during a client meeting. It would be nice to let her hair down once in a while, and Mace seemed cool with it.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. “Listen, Mace,” she breathed, “I’m sorry about not reaching out to you for three days. My father and I had a disagreement about your case, and I needed some time to figure out how to handle him.”

“What was the disagreement?” Mace asked.

“Um, he didn’t think that I should work on your case, and I disagreed with him,” admitted. She knew that Mace would probably ask her why her father didn’t want her on his case, and there was no way that she’d be able to come up with a lie to keep from hurting his feelings.

“Does your father have a problem with me?” Mace growled. She could tell that he was already pissed, so she decided to rip the rest of the band-aid off.

“Yes, he does,” she said. “He doesn’t think that I should be representing a biker with a juvenile record. I told him that I can take any case that pleases me, as a partner of the firm, and he told me that he’d find a way to keep me off of your case.”

“Shit, ,” Mace breathed, “I don’t want to come between you and your old man, and I especially don’t want you to lose your job.”

giggled into the other end of the phone, “If my father heard you calling him an old man, he’d be pretty pissed off. Besides, he can’t fire me. I own half of the firm. It was a graduation present from him and my grandfather when I graduated from law school. I was thinking about going to work for another law firm in town, and they gave me the company to keep me from doing so. When my grandfather passed away, I inherited his shares, making me the controlling shareholder.”

“I’m glad to hear that you have job security,” Mace said, “but if you have changed your mind about representing me, I’d understand. I don’t have much of a case and I know that my past won’t help me in court.”

“You have more of a case than you know,” assured. Sure, she was lying to him again, but she couldn’t let him fall into despair without trying to help him first. She was a damn good lawyer, and if he was innocent, she’d prove it.

“Are you innocent, Mace?” she asked. It wasn’t something that she usually asked point blank, but she couldn’t help asking Mace. He had told her that he was innocent during their meeting, but all of her clients said that to her.

“I am,” he almost whispered. “I didn’t kill that guy. I’ve never even heard of Reece Childs before the cops questioned me.”

“Then, I can help you,” she insisted. “Just give me a chance, Mace.” had never begged a client to keep her on as their lawyer, but for some reason, representing Mace meant more to her than she knew.

“I believe you, ,” he said, “and I’d appreciate your help.”

“Then you have it, Mace,” Brook promised. “I’ll reach out to your visitor in the morning and get back to you once I set up the meeting.”

“Thank you, ,” he breathed. “Night.”

“Goodnight, Mace,” said, ending the call. There was something about the way that Mace said goodnight to her that made her girl parts stand at attention, and her only recourse was to ignore them because there was no way that she was going to get involved with her client—ever.

Broke woke before her alarm went off, wanting to get a jump start on her day. She waited until a respectable hour to call the guy who supposedly had information about Mace’s case but knew by the man’s voice that she had woken him up.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name,” she said. “I’m Mace Cooper’s lawyer and he said that you might have information about his case.”

“How do I know that you are who you say you are?” the guy asked. rolled her eyes, knowing that he couldn’t see her, but it made her feel better, nonetheless.

“You’ll just have to take my word for it,” mumbled. “I’d be happy to meet with you if you still want to. Mace said that you requested a meeting with me.” worried that she was wasting her time and that was the last thing she wanted to tell Mace. She hoped to call him back this morning with good news. Heck, she was hoping to meet up with him, just to see him again, not that she’d tell her father that. She didn’t plan to tell her father about any of this. As far as he was concerned, she was off the case and planned on leaving it that way until she could prove Mace’s innocence because she believed him when he said he didn’t murder Reece Childs.

“I can meet you,” the guy said. “I just want the correct person to pay for killing my son. I know that Mace didn’t do it.”

“Do you know why your son was in the Road Reaper’s parking lot?” she asked.

“Not really,” the guy said. The way that he stammered through that simple statement had her wondering why he seemed so nervous. Her question was a simple one.

“Mr.—um, I didn’t catch your name,” she said.

“That’s because I didn’t give it,” the guy responded. “I’d like to remain anonymous,” he said.

“I’m assuming that you have the same last name as your son, so may I call you Mr. Childs?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, Reece and I don’t have the same last name. His mother made sure that I wasn’t a part of his life or on his birth certificate. She gave Reece her last name since we were never married.”

“I see,” said. “Then, I’ll call you Mr. Smith. I mean, it’s a common enough name.” wasn’t sure what was up with all the secrecy, but she figured that the guy had his reasons. She didn’t want to push him for answers and scare him off. If he had any information that could help with Mace’s case, she wanted to know about it.

“Fine, call me whatever you’d like. I just need your promise that I can be anonymous in all this,” the guy insisted.

“You have my word,” promised. “Can you meet me today?” she asked.

“I can,” the guy said, “where and when?”

“How about at the diner on Fifth Street, downtown?” she asked.

“Not your office?” he asked.

“Um, no,” she said, “it’s being remodeled, and I don’t like bringing clients into a work zone.” had always been quick on her feet when it came to little white lies. It’s what made her a damn good lawyer and also kept the peace with her demanding father.

“Okay, the diner on Fifth Street works for me,” the guy said. “How about noon? I’ll let you buy me lunch,” he said.

“Deal,” Brook agreed. “I’ll see you at noon,” said, ending the call. She had left the part out about Mace wanting to tag along. She deliberately asked him to meet in a public place so that Mace wouldn’t be able to attend. She needed to talk to this guy on her own to figure out if he was on the up and up. Then, she’d visit Mace to give him either the good or bad news.

sat in the corner booth at the diner, hoping that “Mr. Smith” didn’t change his mind and would not show up. It was ten past noon, and she was really beginning to worry.

“,” an older man asked. He was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt that showed off not only his tattoos but his muscles too. For an old guy, he was really in shape.

“Mr. Smith,” Brook said. He kind of winced at the name that she gave him, and she couldn’t help her laugh. Mace was right, there was something about this guy that was familiar to even her, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Mind if I sit?” he asked, nodding to the seat across from her.

“Of course,” she said. “I appreciate you making time to meet with me,” said.

“I’m surprised that Mace didn’t tag along with you,” the guy said.

“He wanted to, but I insisted that he stay hidden away for now. I’m hoping that I can clear his name before the cops find him,” she said.

“He’s lucky to have someone like you working to clear his name,” the guy insisted. She nodded, not quite sure how to take his praise.

“Mace told me that you have evidence to prove that he wasn’t your son’s killer,” said. She promised Mace that she’d be in touch with him after her meeting, and she knew that he wasn’t a patient man.

The guy stood from the booth and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, handing it across the table to her. “I got this letter from Reece’s apartment after he was killed. This note was left on his doorstep after he broke things off with his girlfriend. Honestly, I forgot that he had shown it to me a few weeks ago until he turned up dead. I think that his ex-killed him.”

“I thought that you said you really didn’t have a relationship with your son,” said.

“I didn’t when he was a child, but we reconnected after his mother passed away ten years ago. It wasn’t easy at first, but after a few years, Reece could see that I had truly changed, and we started hanging out together. We got to be close, and now that he’s gone, I regret all of the time that I missed with him when he was little. I should have been there, but I plan on being here for him now. I want to prove that the woman who wrote that note is his killer.”

She looked the note over and noticed that it wasn’t signed. “It doesn’t say who wrote this note,” she said, pointing to the bottom of the paper.

“I know, but Reece told me that it was his ex, Renee. He met her at a bar a few months back, and they got close. I told him to slow things down with her, but he didn’t listen to me.”

“Why would you tell him to slow things down with her?” asked.

“Because something about her didn’t seem right. She seemed too clingy, and I was worried that she wanted to be with him for the wrong reasons.”

“The wrong reasons?” she asked.

“Yeah,” the old guy breathed, “Reece’s mother had left him a good sum of money. The kid had been through a lot when he was younger, but he turned out to be a pretty decent adult, through no effort on my part. His mom was the one who raised him, and she did a damn good job. When she finally got married, her new husband left her a shit ton of money and well, she left all of that to Reece. I thought that his new girlfriend was looking for a cash cow, and when Reece broke up with her, she got pissed off and killed him.”

“Any idea as to why she killed him in the Road Reapers’ parking lot?” asked. She worried that the place of Reece’s murder was a coincidence, but she hadn’t been able to prove that yet. She didn’t find any link between Reece and Mace’s bar. Mace said that he didn’t know the guy, but there had to be some connection that she was missing.

“No clue,” the old guy said. She looked him over, trying to decide if he was telling her the truth or not. For some reason, she didn’t believe him, not that she’d call him out on his lie. was good at sitting back and waiting for a liar to hang themselves with the details. They usually couldn’t get their stories straight in their heads and ended up exposing themselves.

“Did Reece know Mace?” she asked. He seemed to squirm in his seat and knew that she was onto something.

“Again, I have no clue,” the old guy insisted. “Listen, I’m not the one on trial here. I’m just trying to help Mace and catch my son’s true killer. Can you help me or not?” he spat. wanted to tell him that she wouldn’t help him, but that would mean that she couldn’t help Mace either and that wasn’t an option for her.

“I’ll help you,” she agreed, “but, I’ll need you to come with me over to Mace’s motel room. We’ll have to go over every detail of that night and try to figure out why your son was at the Road Reapers.” The old guy looked as though he wanted to tell her no, but instead nodded his head.

“Okay,” he mumbled.

“The only way that I can help you is if you are completely honest with me, Mr. Smith,” she insisted.

“Understood,” he said, standing from the booth. He was lying again, but she needed him now, more than she wanted to admit.

“I thought that you were going to let me buy you lunch,” she reminded.

“Yeah, well, I lost my appetite. Let’s just get this next meeting over with. I have a life to get back to,” he grumbled. “I’ll meet you over at his motel.” That was the first thing he said that she believed. worried that he’d balk and not show up over at Mace’s motel room, but he looked as determined as she felt. One way or another, planned on getting the truth out of Mr. Smith.