Blood and Roses Read Free Page A

her guilt, knowing it had to be done. “I hope you pull through, Terence.”
    Ana had decided to focus on his relatives. She could imagine how it would feel to go into the heist as the lone outsider in a family group—a mother, her son and his best friend. Although Eric wasn’t technically related to them, he was practically a brother to Frankie. Terence would understandably want someone similarly close to him on his side.
    God... Frankie.
Her throat tightened with fear and her eyes stung. Her baby brother had never really had a chance to walk the straight and narrow. And if something happened to Eric, it would destroy Jake.
    “One step at a time,” she muttered to herself. “Find the fourth.”
     

     
    “You’re making the rest of us look bad, Jake.”
    Jake looked up from the paperwork he was trying to clear so he could take the next day off. Luke Stiles—one of his fellow deputies and a longtime friend—stood in the doorway, grinning. “I heard Ana’s back in town and staying at your place.”
    “Ah, Whisper Creek, where the whispering about other people’s business never stops.” Leaning back in his chair, Jake gave himself permission to think about the woman who was as much a part of him as his badge. She’d been the most important thing in his life since her family drove into town when she was sixteen. Together they’d helped each other cross the threshold from adolescence to adulthood, and they’d discovered what they needed from the person they loved. A lot of people never figured that out.
    And some never found their soul mates.
    He still didn’t get why they weren’t together. He understood that she’d needed to get out of Whisper Creek to spread her wings, but he couldn’t figure out why she hadn’t let him go with her. He’d cajoled and begged and threatened and teased, making her tell him a hundred times over that she’d never leave him. But in his heart he’d known she would go; he’d seen the truth in her eyes.
    She loved him; he knew that and didn’t doubt it. There would never be another man for her, not one who knew her as deeply and completely as he did. They’d experienced so much together, raw and searingly intimate encounters that bound them tighter than gold rings and vows.
    But as the years passed and she didn’t come back to him, he realized something was
keeping
her away and today proved it. The love was still there in her beautiful green eyes. She still wanted him and obeyed him, still craved his hunger for her. If she left again, he’d have his
    answer—it wasn’t him; it was Whisper Creek. And if location was what was keeping them apart, he’d paddle her ass for not saying so.
    Luke leaned against the front of Jake’s desk. “Is she back for good?”
    “Don’t know yet.”
    “Ah... okay. You two coming into town for dinner?”
    “She’s cooking.”
    “Really? You should know I was in Home Ec with her for a semester. She couldn’t crack an egg.”
    Jake smiled. “Warning noted.”
    “You sure about that?” Luke’s smile faded. “She did a number on you last time, Jake. I don’t want to see you like that ever again.”
    “I’m not the only one who got hurt. Guess Ana and I can’t quit each other.”
    He waited until Luke left the room, then pulled out his cell to call Eric. His younger brother was supposed to check in twice a day, but he hadn’t called since yesterday morning. Which, unfortunately, wasn’t totally unexpected.
    “Hey, Eric,” he said, when he reached voicemail. “You’re supposed to be checking in. Yes, I know you’re a grown man now, but this isn’t about what’s good for you, it’s about doing something good for me. I worry.”
    He took a breath, thinking.
    “Text me when you get a chance or leave me a message. Shit, send me a picture if you can’t be bothered to type or talk. But don’t send me a damn mug shot or I’ll be kicking your ass all the way to jail.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    A na finished her report and