Justice by Piper Davenport Read Free Book Online Page A

not wait around for me. I might never be ready.”
    Brock shook his head. “You’re gonna have to tell him yourself, babe, but when you do, if he does go, I’ve got his back.”
    “Thanks, Brock. Please don’t let him do anything stupid.”
    “I won’t.”
    “And I mean anything you would naturally do yourself,” Macey clarified.
    “There she is,” he said, and grinned. “You’re coming back, beautiful. Fight for that, okay? You are amazing.”
    She bit back a sob. “Stop it, Brock.”
    He smiled again. “Okay. Love you, Mase.”
    “Love you, too, Brock.”
    “Come on, I’ll take you back to Payton. She’s gonna need a hug. I’ll tell Dallas to call you later.”
    She nodded and followed him back into the building and up to her apartment.
    * * *
    Six months later…

    Dallas dragged his ass into the office, having stayed up most of the night making notes on Macey’s file. He’d figured out pretty quickly that Brock hadn’t provided him with all the details, which didn’t surprise him, but still pissed him off. With no option other than to weed through the “redacted” file, he ended up with more questions than answers.
    “You look like shit,” Bill, one of the older agents, said.
    “Yeah, thanks Bill. Appreciate that.”
    Bill chuckled. “Long night?”
    Dallas sat at his desk and pulled open one of his drawers. “Yeah. Finally went to bed around four.”
    “Hot date?”
    Dallas snorted, biting back a yawn. “Paperwork.”
    “Damn. Hate paperwork.”
    “Don’t we all.”
    “Bill! We gotta go,” Marvin, Bill’s partner called from the front door.
    “Take it easy,” Bill said, and left.
    “If only I could,” Dallas muttered to himself.
    Once he found the file he was looking for, he headed straight to the evidence room, which just happened to be adjacent to the file room. Nita Long, a stunning black woman of just over thirty, who Dallas classified as one of the “good ones,” ruled over all things paper as she liked to tell people. With Brock and Jaxon both out on assignment, Dallas knew he had a few precious hours to get the information he needed before his partners came back and redirected him to keep him from the truth.
    Dallas bit back another yawn and sidled down the hall to where Nita sat at a large desk, fingers tapping away at her keyboard and her face strained in concentration. She glanced up at him and smiled. “No.”
    “What? You don’t even know why I’m here,” he said.
    “Why are you here?”
    “I want to see the file on—”
    “No,” Nita said, and focused back on her computer.
    “Nita, come on. Help me out here.”
    “I was given strict instructions not to let you anywhere near that file, Dallas Stone.”
    “Nita.” He leaned across the counter and sighed. “My girl was hurt. She was almost killed. I am the best… no, the only person who can pick apart that file.”
    “Gorgeous man, I hear you, but the answer is no.”
    “She won’t let me in.”
    Nita glanced up at him with a frown. “Come again?”
    “Macey. She won’t let me in. I am banned from her life. Her heart. She won’t talk to me and she sure as hell won’t see me.” Dallas pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need this, Neet. I need to do something to help.”
    “She won’t talk to you?”
    He shook his head.
    “Poor thing.”
    “Yeah,” Dallas agreed. “You know what she means to me. Please give me something here. I’m goin’ nuts.”
    Nita pushed back in her chair and pulled open a drawer to her right. She set a manila folder on her desk and crossed her arms. “I really need a cup of coffee. I’m going to get said cup of coffee and I’ll be back in less than ten minutes with that cup of coffee. I sure hope that nothing is disturbed while I’m away.”
    She moved from behind the desk and Dallas hugged her. “Thanks. I owe you.”
    “Mmm-hmm. Yes, you do.”
    Dallas watched her leave and then grabbed the file, stepping into the copy room. He had the copies he needed