“You’ll get yours! An eye for eye. Don’t forget it,” he spat at me.

Horror had paralyzed me as I watched him being escorted kicking and screaming out of the courtroom, thankful he was being put away. Jason must have passed by me without my noticing. I flee the courtroom and spot him in the hall.

“Jason, hold up!” I yell, but he keeps moving and disappears into a door marked PRIVATE.

“Fuck, what is going on?”

As I exit the building I call Caleb. I get his f**king voice mail again. “Call me. I want to know where you found Josh Hart!”

Chapter 10

Leave the Lights On

The sky has begun to cloud over as I maneuver through the stop and go traffic on Melrose. Cars are parked haphazardly lining the street and I squeeze into a space between an SUV and an Escort. I already decided going back to work was not happening. One turn of the key and the roar of my engine ceases; I stand here with the heavy metal between my legs. I don’t want to go back to that shithole of a room right now. Fuck, I have nowhere else to go. I hop off and just start walking. I stop in at Four & Twenty Blackbirds, but Ruby isn’t working today. I head to Beck’s but he’s not behind the bar. The bartender’s face flashes recognition as I walk up to her.

“Hey. Is Beck around?”

“No, he took a few days off. He told me that if you stopped by to tell you he’d be in touch.”

“That’s mysterious. What’s going on?”

She shrugs. “No idea. Just passing on the message. You drinking?”

“No, not this early. I was just looking for Beck. I’ll see you around.”

I go outside to get some air and clear my head. While I’m walking aimlessly down the crowded street, my cell rings. I pull it from my pocket. Fuck, it’s not Caleb. It’s Bass. “Yeah,” I answer, anything but thrilled that she’s calling me so soon after I left her office.

“I looked into Jason Holt. He’s not involved in the case but when I crossed his name with Josh Hart’s I found that Hart was one of his informants years ago. Did you know that?”

My head spins. Has Jason been involved the whole time? “No, I didn’t. But thanks for letting me know.”

I leave another message for Caleb. Fuck, I need someone to talk to. I want to call my sister but she took Trent to Hawaii a few days ago. Having no place else to go, I end up outside of S’belle’s place.

I smile when I see her car parked out front—maybe my luck is finally changing. At the metal gate that leads into the courtyard, I debate ringing the bell but I don’t have to hesitate for long. She emerges with that dick of a boss following her. She’s carrying a basket of flowers and he holds the gate open for her. They look pretty cozy. I guess there was more going on between them—just not what I thought it was.

Turning on my heels I head back to Beck’s. The walk feels so much longer than I remember it being on my way here. When I finally open the door, I’m ready for a drink.

“Haven’t seen you a while,” the bartender jokes. “Decided to come back for an early one after all?”

“Something like that. I’ll have a scotch. No ice.”

She looks thoughtful for a moment. “Sure, Ben, no problem.”

I see something different in her eyes and wonder if it’s pity.

“Join me?”

She leans forward setting two glasses in front of me. “These are on me. Shhh, don’t tell the boss.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” I slam mine back as soon as the bottle clears the glass. I set it down. “Thank you.”

She refills the glass and we do this move two more times.

She eyes me. “Rough day, I take it.”

“Something like that,” I say again. I’m not in the mood for chitchat and she catches on right away because she sets the bottle next me and leaves me alone.

After an hour passes, I’m ready to talk. The joint is dead, so I call her over. She winds around the bar and has a seat next to me and I spill it all. With whisky-numbed lips, I just can’t seem to shut up. I tell her about the courtroom and the danger to Dahl and how relieved I am the guy got put away. How there’s a girl I want nothing more than to be with but that I blew it. She listens, but never says anything. When a few customers enter the bar, she gets back to work. I sit there with my hands on my head just thinking about how the f**k I got to this place. It’s the same question I’ve asked a thousand times.

My phone rings and again I think it must be Caleb. I slide it out of my front pocket. The screen flashes Kimberly. Fuck me! A name I wasn’t expecting . . . my girlfriend from New York City, or maybe I should say my ex-girlfriend.

“Hey, gorgeous.”

“Hey, Alex. Or should I say Ben?”

“Fuck, that’s harsh. I called you a few times. You never called me back.”

Her voice lowers but takes on a serious tone. “Yes, you did. Drunk every time.”

“You sound drunk yourself right now.”

“Well, I just might be. I wasn’t ready to talk to you then.”

“And you are now?”

“As a matter of fact I am.” Her words sound even more slurred than mine.

Silence occupies the line for a few moments too long, but I can hear her breathing. “I’ve been in LA for a while.”

“How long is a while?”

“I actually got a job here.”

“That’s f**king fantastic news. What are you doing?”