CHAPTER 30
Chapter Title: Crushed Leads
Kathy
The couch in Kimberly’s living room carried a faint scent of lavender and dust, a quiet reminder of her that hit me like a punch to the chest. I sank onto it, still in my black jeans, long-sleeved shirt, and leather jacket, too exhausted to move. My boots hung over the armrest, leather creaking as I shifted, the Glock’s weight heavy against my hip. The evidence bag stuffed with cash from the warehouse sat in my backpack on the floor, its secret gnawing at me. Divine’s schemes—her sharp whispers about “cleaning up the mess,” the hidden stash behind the trapdoor—swirled in my head, but exhaustion pulled me under. My eyes shut, and darkness took over.
My phone’s alarm jolted me awake, its shrill buzz cutting through the fog. 2:00 a.m. The living room was a maze of shadows, moonlight sneaking through Kimberly’s thin curtains, casting sharp lines across the hardwood floor. My neck ached from the couch’s lumpy cushions, my mouth bitter with ash and regret. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, the leather jacket grounding me with its familiar weight. I checked my phone—no alerts from the warehouse camera yet. Whoever was coming for that cash hadn’t shown up. Not yet.
I pulled the evidence bag from my backpack and tucked it into a kitchen cabinet, hiding it behind a stack of pots and pans. This was my secret, one I wasn’t sharing—especially not with Ace. He’d run straight to Divine, and I couldn’t risk that.
I grabbed my keys, checked the Glock in its holster, and headed out, slipping a folded piece of paper into the doorframe before locking it. The paper staying untouched felt like a small win in a night full of dangers.
Crisfield was dead quiet at this hour, its streets empty except for the flicker of porch lights behind mosquito screens. The air was cool, thick with the salty tang of the Chesapeake, and my car’s engine rumbled low as I drove toward the scrapyard just outside town.
The scrapyard was a maze of rusted car frames and twisted metal, sprawled beneath a sky without stars. I parked outside the chain-link fence, its barbed wire glinting in my headlights.
Ace was already there, leaning against his sleek black Lexus, its paint blending into the night. His silhouette stood out—broad shoulders, hands in his pockets, head tilted like he was studying the darkness. He wore a white shirt, leather jacket, blue jeans, and boots, looking too calm for the mess we were in. A thermos of coffee rested on the hood of his car, steam curling faintly from its lid, the scent sharp and bitter in the cool air.
Seeing him stirred something I didn’t want to feel—a mix of warmth and unease from the kisses we’d shared. It had been a mistake, fueled by too much champagne and reckless impulse. After we finished here, I’d set things straight. From now on, it was strictly business between us. I couldn’t let him cloud my judgment or mess up my plans. I’d tell him we needed to cut the spark before it tripped us up.
I stepped out of my car, backpack slung over one shoulder, boots crunching on gravel as I walked toward him.
His eyes flicked to me, hard to read in the dim light, but that familiar smirk tugged at his lips, teasing yet cautious. “You’re late,” he said, his voice low, testing me. He picked up the thermos, took a sip, and offered it to me with a raised brow.
“Two minutes,” I shot back, ignoring the thermos and keeping my tone sharp. “You timing me now?”
He shrugged, the smirk fading, and set the thermos back on the hood. “Let’s do this.”
The air between us was heavy, thick with unspoken tension. Those kisses—his hand on my neck, the way I’d leaned in before pulling away—were only part of the problem. He knew I was digging into Divine, poking at her secrets, lingering too close to that side room at the yacht club where she’d hissed about “cleaning up the mess.” His silence on the ride back had said enough—he didn’t trust me to leave Divine’s secrets alone, and I didn’t trust him not to be caught up in her web. The warehouse, the cash, the trapdoor—they were mine to protect, locked tight in my mind. Sharing them with Ace was a gamble I wasn’t taking, not when I couldn’t be sure where his loyalty lay.
“Where’s the SUV?” I asked, scanning the scrapyard’s shadows. The air stank of rust and motor oil, clinging to my throat.
“Back corner,” Ace said, nodding toward a narrow path between towering stacks of crushed cars. “Black SUV, rental company plates. Kimberly’s fingerprints were on the window, proving she was inside.”
We moved through the scrapyard, our flashlights slicing through the darkness. The silence between us was heavier than the night, broken only by our footsteps and the occasional creak of settling metal. I wanted to push him about Divine—how deep he was in with her, what he knew about her operation—but the words stayed trapped inside, like the cash I’d hidden at Kimberly’s. He’d always been vague about her, only admitting she was his boss right before I met her. After what I’d found tonight, I wasn’t buying it. Divine wasn’t just pulling strings; she was building a noose, and Kimberly had gotten caught in it.
We reached the back corner where the SUV was supposed to be. My flashlight swept over a pile of flattened metal—a mangled mess of black paint and twisted steel.
My stomach dropped.
“It’s crushed,” I said, my voice sharp with disbelief. The SUV was gone, smashed into a slab no bigger than a fridge. Any evidence—fibers, prints, blood—was destroyed, reduced to nothing.
Ace cursed softly, his flashlight lingering on the wreckage. “This wasn’t like this yesterday. I told Dorsey, the yard’s owner, to watch the car. I said it was evidence, not to let anyone touch it.”
I turned to him, eyes narrowing. “Ace, did you tell anyone else about this car?”
“No,” he said, his voice steady, meeting my gaze without blinking. But there was a flicker in his eyes—defiance, or maybe something he wasn’t saying. I didn’t trust it.
“Then it’s Divine,” I said, her name sour on my tongue. Her reach was everywhere—cops, city officials, now the scrapyard. She’d gotten here first, just like she’d cleaned out the warehouse. The SUV was a key to Kimberly’s abduction, and now it was junk. My hands clenched, the flashlight’s beam shaking. The warehouse’s secrets—cash, trapdoor, Divine’s orders—burned in my mind, but I kept them hidden. If Ace was keeping things from me, I wasn’t giving him anything either.
His jaw tightened, his eyes searching mine. “You sure it’s her?”
I held his gaze, my voice steady despite the anger boiling inside. “Who else? She was the only one besides me who knew about the SUV, and she’s got this town wrapped around her finger. You know that better than anyone.” The accusation was sharp, meant to dig at him, to find a crack in his calm. I wanted him to give me something real, but he just stared back, the air between us electric with unspoken words. Those kisses flashed in my mind again, and I hated how they muddled my focus.
“You’re playing a risky game, Hastings,” he said, his voice low, laced with something I couldn’t quite read—warning, maybe, or concern. “Divine won’t let you get away with throwing around baseless claims.”
“And you’re not?” I snapped. “You told me about the SUV. You told her. If you’re so scared of her, why are we even here?”
He didn’t answer, just held my gaze, the scrapyard’s metal stacks looming like silent witnesses. Finally, he looked away, his flashlight sweeping over the crushed SUV again. “We need to find out who did this. And when.”
I nodded, swallowing the urge to push him further. He was right—arguing wouldn’t help. Divine’s people were moving fast, erasing Kimberly’s trail piece by piece. The warehouse, now this SUV—it was all connected, a tangle of secrets she’d kill to keep hidden. Kimberly’s face flashed in my mind—her laugh, her smile, the way she lit up a room. I wasn’t letting Divine erase her, not with crushed metal or lies. But I’d keep my secrets close, even from Ace. Trust was a risk I couldn’t take.
“Check the yard’s entrance,” I said, already moving toward the wreckage. “Look for a log, a camera, anything that shows who was here.”
Ace paused, like he had something to say, then shook his head and walked toward the gate. I knelt beside the crushed SUV, my flashlight searching for a miracle—a VIN number, a stray fiber, anything. The metal was cold under my gloved hands, the black paint chipped and scarred. Divine’s shadow grew larger with every dead end, her empire built on secrets I was only starting to uncover.
Kimberly was out there, somewhere. And I’d tear this town apart before I let Divine or whoever else take her from me.