Ace of Spades (Underground Affair Series Book 1)

by Iannarelli, Michelle

  “Can we not mention this to Buddy, I’m really embarrassed.”

  “Nobody has to know.”

  “Thanks.”

  Andy left. Shane couldn’t believe he was so quick to judge the kid and did a bad job of it as well.

  Chace made his third trip to the desk in the ER to see if there was any news on the victim that had been brought in. This time the nurse gave him some information, which he found to be quite upsetting. He knew the victim. It was Kaylee Brennen who had worked for him at the Underground.

  “You ok, Chace?”

  “I just got the name of the vic and it’s the woman who used to run the business office at the Underground.”

  “Shit.”

  “Declan’s going to freak. He really liked her.”

  “She isn’t dead, thank God.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Did they notify her family?”

  “To be truthful, I don’t think she has any. I never saw anyone and she always volunteered to work the floor on holidays so that others could have off.”

  “That sucks.”

  “I’m going to call Declan and ask.”

  “I don’t know if that is a good idea. I mean we shouldn’t be discussing this with anyone else.”

  “True, but if I can do anything to help her, I will.”

  Chace pulled out his phone and called Declan.

  “King.”

  “Dec, I have a question. Do you remember Kaylee?”

  “Of course I do, she hasn’t been gone that long. Why?”

  “Do you recall if she has any family?”

  “Chace, what happened to Kaylee? Is she dead?”

  “No, but she is in the hospital and…”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Declan hung up.

  “Well, he was no help.”

  “He’s on his way isn’t he?”

  “Yup.”

  “I figured since the conversation ended so abruptly.”

  “He always has to take care of everyone.”

  “Hey, be lucky you have someone like that in your life.”

  “I am. Declan has done more for me than anyone else, ever has.”

  “I’m going to go grab a cup of coffee, want one?”

  “Black, one Splenda. I’m going to wait here for Declan.”

  Kyle took off down the hall while Chace continued to pace impatiently.

  Ace spent a long time thinking about what Shane said. He decided that he was right and the only way he was going to be able to move on was to just deal with his feelings. So instead of drinking himself numb and then bedding the first woman he saw he decided to bundle up and go for a walk. On his way back home he stopped at the Café to grab some soup to warm up. He sat down with his soup and looked up and there was Lucy with her mother. He pushed his soup away and got up and walked out.

  “Ace, wait.”

  Ace knew he should keep walking but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to talk to Lucy. He turned around and there she stood, as beautiful as ever.

  “Hi.”

  “I miss you.”

  “Lucy, don’t do this.”

  “I love you, Ace and I can’t stop.”

  “A part of me will always love you but you need to move on, Lucy.”

  Ace leaned over and kissed Lucy on her forehead and then walked away.

  Declan came walking into the ER waiting room and within minutes he had an update on Kaylee, a call in to Luke and had arranged to have a private room with a nurse made available to her when she left the ER.

  “Dec, calm down.”

  “Who would hurt her? She is…”

  “Listen to me, she was attacked by the serial killer. Somehow she managed to survive his attack.”

  “I’m going to call in a few guys from our security team to guard her room.”

  “I got that covered already. I have two men outside her room in the ER.”

  “I want to see her.”

  “Nobody sees her until I do.”

  “I hate that she’s all alone.”

  Declan walked over to the row of chairs in the waiting room and sat down. Chace followed.

  “Dec, did something happen between you two that I don’t know about?”

  “No. I’ve just always liked her. She’s a good person and I know she doesn’t have anyone else.”

  “Yes, she is a good person.”

  “Let’s hope she pulls through.”

  Lucy went back inside the Café and her mother didn’t even give her time to sit down before she started in.

  “You need to stop chasing that man.”

  “I love him.”

  “Oh Lucy, I know you do but he just isn’t the right man for you.”

  “No, I suppose Tom was since he had an unblemished background, I mean he never did anything wrong but hit me.”

  “Lucy, that’s not fair. You know that your father and I only want what is best for you.”

  “Then you would beg Ace to forgive you and Dad and give us your blessing.”

  Lucy got up and walked out. She was so upset. The more upset she got the more she cried and the faster she drove. As she went around a curve she lost control of the car and crashed through a fence before the car plunged into the harbor.

  JORGE WAS COOKING AT the firehouse when a call came in for a possible rescue due to a car in the harbor. As he ran to the rig while pulling on his gear the Chief started yelling.

  “It’s Lucy’s car.”

  Jorge got in the rig and dialed Ace.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “I don’t know any details but I wanted to tell you before you saw it on the news.”

  “Saw what?”

  “We’re on our way to a call for a car in the harbor…Lucy’s car.”

  Ace couldn’t speak. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

  “Where?”

  “By the Camden Bridge.”

  Ace didn’t even reply, he stuffed his phone in his pocket and started running.

  “Detective McQueen.”

  Chace jumped to his feet.

  “Yes.”

  “Come with me please.”

  “Is Miss Brennen awake?”

  “She is and when I told her you were here she asked to see you.”

  The nurse opened the door to Kaylee’s room and let Chace in. Kaylee’s face was bruised and her leg was in a cast. He knew she had been stabbed too. Chace walked over to the bed and placed his hand down on Kaylee’s.

  “Hey there, how you feeling?”

  “Numb.”

  “I hate to push you but I need you to tell me everything you remember.”

  “I know.”

  Tears began to roll down Kaylee’s cheeks. Chace squeezed her hand.

  “It’s going to be alright, I promise.”

  “I was walking to my car after the gym…”

  “Gym on Fourth?”

  “Yes. I was grabbed from behind and pushed to the ground. She…”

  Chace growled, “She.” The last thing he wanted to hear was that Chloe was right.

  “It was a woman, she was a few inches taller than me, blonde hair and blue eyes.”

  “How did you see her if you were pushed face down?”

  “After she, after shhheee…”

  “Take a minute and try to calm down.”

  “She bashed my face against the ground and when I woke up I was on my back and she was kicking me. Then she straddled herself over me and stabbed…”

  “Maybe we should take a break. Can I get you something, a glass of water?”

  “No thank you. I want this to be over.”

  “I know you do. We have two officers stationed outside your door to keep you safe until we find this woman.”

  “I reached my hand out and grabbed a rock and started smacking it against her head. She dropped the knife and started yelling at me, telling me that women like me deserved to be punished. I passed out. The next thing I remember was waking up here.”
r />   “You did well. Now you need to rest and get better.”

  “I don’t know how I can rest with her still out there.”

  “Would you feel better if I stationed one officer inside the room with you?”

  “Yes, maybe, Mr. McQueen.”

  “Call me Chace. I will give him his orders. If you need anything at all ask the officer on duty to call my cell.”

  “Thank you, Chace.”

  Chace opened the door.

  “Damien, can you stay in here with Miss Brennen.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Kaylee, you rest now. I will come back in the morning.”

  “Thank you again.”

  Ace got to the harbor the same time as the fire truck. He kicked off his running shoes and as he pulled his jacket off Lucy’s father walked up to him and grabbed his arm.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’m going in to get Lucy.”

  “We got this.”

  Ace pulled his arm away and took off running and then jumped into the harbor. He swam over to the car and climbed in the window. There was a small pocket of air near the roof of the car. Ace took a few gasps of air before going back under the water. He tried yanking on Lucy’s seat belt to get it open. Lucy was wedged in between the seat and the airbag and it seemed her foot was pinned. As he pulled he felt a hand reach out and touch him. He looked up and Lucy was looking at him and shaking her head. Ace shook his back. He knew she wanted him to leave her and save himself but he wasn’t leaving without her in his arms.

  The Chief went down with a crew that was trying to free Lucy as well. The car was almost completely full of water. Ace popped his head up for a few more gasps of air. Lucy leaned her head as far back as possible and spoke, “Ace, please just leave me here and go. I don’t care anymore, if I can’t love you, I don’t want to live.”

  “I won’t leave you Lucy. I’ll die with you before I leave you.”

  Lucy gasped for air. “I’ll always love you.” Those were Lucy’s last words before the water rose above her head.

  Ace grabbed the seat belt and wound it around his wrist and pulled until it broke free. Lucy’s foot however was still pinned. One of the dive team members shared his air with Lucy and then her father shared his as well. Another one of the team shared with Ace.

  Suddenly, the car began to shift from the team working on getting Lucy out and the car dropped further down. Ace grabbed onto Lucy and held her. He could see the fear in her eyes. Finally when the car came to a stop he got himself between Lucy’s feet on the floor of the car and he pulled and pushed and by the grace of God somehow managed to get her foot out of her boot and free her. He looked up smiling but the smile faded when he realized Lucy was unconscious. He took off his belt and looped it through his jeans and Lucy’s belt loop so that they couldn’t separate as they tried to make their way to the surface. Then he wrapped his arms around Lucy, kissed her cheek and began to swim to the surface.

  Lucy’s father was devastated when the car sunk below the surface. The dive team kept going down to look but still nothing. What was only a few minutes at most seemed like an eternity. Then suddenly one of the team shouted out, “Dean’s got her!”

  Everyone raced towards Ace and Lucy.

  “Good job, Dean.”

  Once Ace knew they made it he closed his eyes and his world went black.

  Declan sat in Kaylee’s room holding her hand. He was angry that someone could hurt her like this and saddened that she was all alone. Kaylee knew someone was holding her hand but each time she tried to wake up she fell back to sleep. The doctors had given her pain medication. When she finally opened her eyes and saw Declan she thought she must be hallucinating or still asleep and it was a dream…until he spoke.

  “Sleeping Beauty has awoken.”

  “Mr. King, what are you doing here?”

  “I heard you were here and I didn’t want you to be alone.”

  Kaylee laid there not knowing what to say. She couldn’t imagine waking up to a more beautiful face but when he left her heart would break again.

  “You don’t have to stay Mr. King, I’m used to being alone.”

  “Please call me Declan and I know I don’t have to stay but I’d like to. You worked for us for a long time and so even though you’ve moved on you’re still like family to us.”

  Kaylee couldn’t hold back the tears. She was traumatized, afraid and lonely. Maybe she needed a friend.

  “Thank you, Declan.”

  Declan just looked at her for a moment, hearing her say his name sounded so, so sexy.

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “Could you call my boss, Lenny, and let him know I won’t be in for a while, his number is in my phone.”

  “Sure.”

  Kaylee closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.

  Chace was at the entrance of the ER waiting for them to bring Ace in. Jorge told him Ace and Lucy weren’t breathing by the time they got them to shore. He was sick with worry. He texted Declan and told him to stay with Kaylee and he would keep him posted. Then he texted Shane and told him to come and to pray hard.

  The ambulances arrived at the hospital with Ace and Lucy. Her father never left Lucy’s side. Jorge stayed with Ace. As they wheeled them past all Chace could see was that they were both pale and looked as if they were dead.

  “Jorge, how are they?”

  “Breathing, now. I think Ace broke his wrist freeing Lucy but that is the least of his problems. If Lucy doesn’t recover then Ace will never forgive himself.”

  Lucy’s mother and brothers came running into the ER.

  “Where is my baby?”

  Jorge walked over and hugged Lucy’s mom.

  “The Chief is with her.”

  “This is all my fault. I upset her and she ran out and…”

  Lucy’s mother burst into tears. Her brothers walked her over to the chairs and sat her down. Jon rubbed her back while Jake held her hand.

  “Sandy.”

  Lucy’s mom looked up and Lucy’s father was standing there. He looked distraught. She stood up and walked over and hugged him.

  “Is she…”

  “She’s breathing. They’re running tests and taking x-rays now. The only thing for certain is that she broke all her toes on her left foot.”

  “We had an argument about Ace and she left. I should have chased after her.”

  “Honey, she wouldn’t have listened. Our daughter is as stubborn as an ox.”

  “Ace is the one who saved Lucy.”

  “Was he with her?”

  “He showed up when the rig got to the scene and although I told him not to, he couldn’t get to her fast enough. He took off running and then jumped in and swam to her car. When they surfaced he had tied his belt to Lucy so he wouldn’t lose her.”

  “He really loves her, Todd.”

  “I never doubted his love. But no matter what, he can’t change his past.”

  Shane came rushing in looking for Chace or Jorge to update him on Ace.

  “Chace.”

  “Hey, I just spoke to the doctor. They have him intubated and they are also treating him for mild hypothermia.”

  “So he’s going to be alright?”

  “They are optimistic but won’t make any promises yet.”

  “What about Lucy?”

  “She’s a bit worse off seeing as she was in in the frigid water longer than Ace and she may also have internal injuries from the accident. They are testing her and doing x-rays now.”

  “Where’s Dec?”

  “He is upstairs with Kaylee. She was attacked tonight by the serial killer. She’s going to pull through. I’m trying to keep this quiet, ok.”

  “Shit. Ok.”

  “I’m going to grab something to eat, do you mind waiting around in case the doctor comes out? I’m just running to the cafeteria. Do you want anything?”

  “A bottle of water and a banana.”

  Chace headed off to the caf
eteria. Shane decided he would sit down and call Luke and see if he was in the hospital.

  Ace opened his eyes and looked around. He knew he was in a hospital but Lucy, what about Lucy? He tried to speak but with the tube down his throat he couldn’t, so he tried to get up. The nurse heard movement and rushed to his side and forced him to lay back down.

  “Mr. Dean, you will cause yourself damage if you don’t lie back down immediately.”

  Ace tried to pull the tape off of his mouth to pull the tube out. The nurse grabbed his hand.

  “Listen to me, you need to relax or I will have to restrain you and keep you drugged until you can breathe on your own. Do you understand me?”

  Ace nodded. He wasn’t happy but he didn’t want to be restrained or drugged. He just wanted to know how Lucy was. Ace grabbed the nurse’s pen from the lanyard she had around her neck. She looked down at him.

  “Do you want to write me a note?”

  Ace shook his head. The nurse grabbed a piece of paper from Ace’s chart and clipped it to her clipboard and held it out for Ace to write on. He was a righty and because he had a broken wrist it was almost impossible to read but the nurse figured out that it said Lucy.

  “Is that the woman that was brought in with you?”

  Ace again shook his head.

  “She’s listed as critical for now.”

  Ace was relieved to know she was still alive.

  Lucy’s parents sat by her side holding hands as they listened to the machines beep.

  “I’m scared, Sandy.”

  “She’s a fighter, she’ll pull though.”

  “I don’t think she wants to fight anymore.”

  “What makes you think that? Our daughter is a fighter.”

  “When she was trapped in the car, at first a bit of it was above water and I could hear her talking to Ace. She told him to go and save himself. She told him that if she couldn’t love him she didn’t want to live anymore.”

  “My God. What did Ace say?”

  “He said, he wouldn’t leave her, he’d die with her.”

  “Oh Todd, this is all our fault.”

  “Sandy, it was a car accident.”

  “I know but it was because our daughter was upset because she had just seen Ace and he…”