Page 55 of The Fire We Make

“You know if you wanna… you know…” Ace cleared his throat of the discomfort. “Talk about it. I can listen.”

Jrue smiled. “How sweet. I’m good. That’s all you wanted?”

“Yeah.”

“Aight.” Jrue stood.

He followed the same path Von had taken moments before but paused at the door and turned. “How is she?”

Ace sighed deeply. “She’s good.” He didn’t offer more than that and Jrue didn’t ask. He simply nodded and left.

Chapter Fifteen

Joy knocked on Ace’s door then pushed it open after being instructed to enter. As always, the man looked good. He sat leaned back in his chair with his muscled legs spread. He was dressed up in a crisp white button down shirt and charcoal gray dress pants with a vest and tie to match.

He had his desk phone pressed to his ear and held a finger up to give him a minute. Joy nodded and silently sat in the chair across from him. As she opened up her laptop and got situated, she became privy to one side of the conversation.

She listened intrigued and slightly aroused as he barked orders and demanded answers.

“When did this happen?… So why am I just now hearing about it?…And where the fuck were you?… No, I'll take care of it. Get me some answers or that yo ass.”

He slammed the receiver down on the phone base and scrubbed a hand down his face.

Finally, he turned to Joy, giving her his full attention and a tight smile. “Good morning,” he greeted with a sigh.

“Doesn’t sound like it,” Joy replied. One side of Ace’s full lips lifted in response.

“One of my clients on retainer got arrested last night and they still haven’t given him his call. How about you ride with me up to the precinct so I can deal with this and we’ll have our meeting in the car. Cool?” he asked, standing to throw his suit jacket over his shoulders. Joy stood too.

Joy nodded. “Yeah that’s cool. I just need to grab my purse.”

“Aight go get it and meet me downstairs in five,” he said.

Four minutes later, they approached a blacked out Escalade.

“Joy, this is my driver and security, Ray. Ray, this Joy,” Ace introduced.

“Nice to meet you,” Joy smiled. She recognized him from the night on the roof. The man was large and seemed to be in his late 30s but his melanin skewed the results. He was dapper in his suit but like Ace, it didn’t hide the air of danger around him that had nothing to do with the tattoos on his hands and along the side of his neck, leading to his bald head.

“Likewise ma’am,” he replied before closing them in and pulling into New York traffic in the direction of the precinct.

Ace pulled an iPad from his Louis Vuitton briefcase and began tapping away at it. Joy took her laptop from her Celine tote bag and waited for further instructions.

“Go into the NYPD arrest logs to see if they’ve booked Michael Black,” Ace said.

Joy did as instructed but came up empty.

“No results,” she reported.

Ace cursed. Joy eyed him, watching as he pulled a lighter engraved like an Ace of Spades playing card out of his pocket. He absentmindedly flipped the top of his lighter open and closed while he stared out the window in thought.

Joy turned her attention back to her laptop. Looking deeper into the name she’d searched revealed that he was tied to the same organization at Blue.

“If he was arrested last night and hasn’t been booked yet, they’re probably trying to turn him,” Ace mused aloud.

“Or he already has,” Joy shrugged.

He turned to her, the lighter shutting with a loud clank. “What you mean?”