Gabe typed out the last few words of his report on the body that had been discovered in the alley behind the grocery store, then scrolled back to the beginning to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Reaching the section where he’d described the condition of the body and its immediate surroundings, Gabe read through it slowly, then went back to the top and read through it again, something about it bothering him. After another read-through, he pulled up the notes app on his phone to check what he’d written there, muttering under his breath as he tried to figure out what the fuck he was missing. And he knew he was. Something about the way the body had been discovered reminded him of Lucas. But damned if he could figure out what it was. None of the details matched, but his gut was telling him the cases were connected.

Minimizing his report, he pulled up Emerson’s to see if he’d noticed something Gabe had overlooked. When he couldn’t find anything that didn’t line up with his, he put both reports side by side on his screen and started going through them line by line. When that didn’t yield anything new, he pulled up the responding officer’s report on his second screen and started working through all three reports, jotting down notes on the pad in front of him.

Gabe was going through the responding officer’s report for the third time when his gut started to jangle, telling him he was getting close. He squinted at the screens, his eyes bouncing from report to report, searching for the connection he fucking knew was there.

Gabe was briefly distracted from what he was doing by the fast click-clack of high-heeled shoes, something rarely heard in the squad room, but he easily tuned it out and jotted another note on his pad before looking back at the reports.

Less easily ignored was the way the room went quiet, all conversations stopping until the only sound that could be heard was the quick staccato strikes of heels on tiled floors. That were headed in his direction. Fuck. Gabe kept his head down and continued working, hoping whoever was approaching was there to see Emerson, but the sinking sensation in his stomach told him those shoes were coming for him.

Almost impossible to ignore—though he did manage it—was the sound of someone clearing their throat next to his desk. Not acknowledging his unwanted guest, Gabe scanned his handwritten notes into his phone, then forwarded them to his computer. He attached the scan to his report, then sent a copy of everything to Emerson and the Captain, adding a note that he thought the case was connected to Lucas’ attack but hadn’t yet found the connection. That done, Gabe closed everything on his screens, knowing he wasn’t going to get any more work done until he’d dealt with his visitor.

Barely a second later there was a huff of annoyance, followed by a briskly spoken, “Detective, I need to speak with you.”

Instantly recognizing the voice, Gabe sighed. He’d been expecting this confrontation for the last week, though he hadn’t anticipated it happening this early in the morning. Locking his computer, Gabe leaned back in his chair, finally giving his attention to the person standing there. “Something I can do for you, Mrs. Belmont?”

“Jasper’s in trouble. I need your help.”

Gabe was up from his desk before she’d finished speaking. Grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair, he slipped it on as he asked, “Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

Freezing as he reached for his phone, Gabe turned to her. “You don’t know?”

“Not precisely. But I know he needs our help.”

“How?”

“Because I’m his mother.”

“Riiight.” Gabe picked up his phone, then leaned his hip against his desk and crossed his arms. “I’m going to need a bit more than that, Mrs. Belmont.”

Irritation flickered in her eyes. “Detective, my son needs our help. We don’t have time for this.”

“We’re in the middle of a murder investigation. We can’t just drop everything and rush out of here because you have a feeling.”

“Detective—”

“Do you have any idea of the number of calls we get every month from parents worried about their children when they can’t get hold of them? Hundreds. Even if we only responded to the ones who were certain something had happened because of a feeling, we’d never have anyone left to solve any real crimes.”

“This is different. I know something is wrong, and I expect you to help me.”

Adrenaline spiked at the certainty in her voice. Glancing at his phone, Gabe saw it was eleven past four, which meant Jasper was safe at home in bed, right where Gabe had left him. Telling his heart it had no reason to panic, Gabe looked at Mariella and shook his head. “I’m sorry. Unless you have something more to go on than that you have a feeling, there’s nothing I can do.”

“My son is in danger, Detective,” Mariella said, fire sparking in her eyes as irritation gave way to anger. “I need your help to save him. Are you going to assist me or do I have to get your Captain to assign me someone who will?”

A muscle bunched in Gabe’s jaw as he stared at her. “Are you threatening me?”

“I am.” She glanced at her watch. “Time is passing, Detective. Are you going to help me or should I have a word with Jack?”

Gabe slid off his desk and moved in close so that he towered over her, grudgingly respecting the fact that not only did she not back down, she didn’t look the slightest bit intimidated as she glared up at him. “Blackmailing a police officer is against the law, Mrs. Belmont.”

Mariella arched an elegant eyebrow. “Is it?”

“It is, and you damn well know it.”

“Ask me if I care?” She held up her hand when Gabe went to speak. “I realize I’m out of line, but Jasper needs us, Detective. I’ll do whatever I have to to ensure your cooperation.” Her gaze slid toward the Captain’s office before returning to him, the threat implicit.

Gabe scowled down at her. Mariella glared back. He edged in closer. Mariella didn’t move an inch. Emerson started laughing behind him. Flipping off his partner behind his back, Gabe glanced over at the Captain’s office, then back to Mariella’s unblinking gaze. After another couple of minutes, he snorted and took a step back, knowing he wasn’t going to win this one. He had no doubts that Mariella wouldn’t hesitate to make good on her threat of complaining to the Captain if he didn’t cooperate with her.

And since Gabe was already on thin ice from getting involved with Jasper when he was part of an active investigation, the last thing he needed was to give the Captain another reason to chew out his ass.

Hearing Emerson coming up behind him, Gabe turned to him, ready to tell him he could deal with Mrs. Belmont when Emerson leaned in and whispered in Gabe’s ear.

“You think maybe you shouldn’t antagonize your future mother-in-law like that.”

Gabe froze. His future what-the-fuck-in-law?

“Just a thought,” Emerson said, his eyes dancing with laughter. Bumping Gabe’s shoulder as he moved past him, he greeted Mariella. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Belmont. I’m sorry it’s under such difficult circumstances.”

“It’s lovely to see you as well, Detective Trewitt. Tell me. Is your department going to assist with finding my son?”

“Absolutely. Gabe and I are at your disposal.” He held out his elbow. “If you’ll allow me to escort you to our vehicle, we can begin looking for him right away.”

Hooking her arm through his, Mariella gave him a small smile. “Thank you, Detective. It’s refreshing to know that there’s at least one person who understands the urgency of the situation.”

“Well,” Emerson said, his smile wide as he glanced back at Gabe. “I did get the beauty, charm, and brains on the team.”

She let out a small laugh, then quickly sobered. “We really should get going. Jasper is going to need our help soon.”

Emerson nodded. “Our vehicle’s just out front.”

As the two of them walked off, Gabe stared after his possible future mother-in-law—correction, his possible future blackmailing mother-in-law—and his ass-kissing partner who was going to get shot if he didn’t stop fucking with Gabe.

As if hearing his thoughts, Emerson looked back at him and winked.

Fucker.

“Are you coming, Detective?” Mariella called out over her shoulder. “Jasper will likely want to see you when we find him.”

Gabe scowled at their backs as he started after them. Jasper had better fucking be at home or Gabe was going to take out his frustrations on his ass. Hell, he was probably going to do that even if he was at home.

Knowing that Jasper would be a willing victim to whatever he wanted improved Gabe’s mood instantly. His steps quickened. The sooner they finished with this wild goose chase, the sooner Gabe could get back to Jasper and show him what else his handcuffs were good for.

——

Gabe frowned as they drove further into Dead Man’s Gulch. What the hell were they doing here? He looked over at Emerson and saw a matching frown on his face.

Emerson’s eyes flicked to his before he looked in the rear-view mirror. “Are you sure he’s this way, Mrs. Belmont?”

“Yes. I can feel that he’s close.”

Before Gabe could ask how, the car’s headlights picked up the black streaks on the pavement. “Em, do you see—”

“I see them.”

“What is it, Detectives?” Mariella asked as she leaned forward between the seats. She gasped when the next set of black streaks appeared. “Those are from Jasper’s vehicle.”

“How do you know that? They could be anyone’s,” Gabe said as he looked back at her, his heart needing her to agree. But Mariella wasn’t playing along.

“They’re Jasper’s.”

“No,” Gabe said, shaking his head at her. “They can’t be.” Please, God, don’t let them be Jasper’s.

“They are,” Mariella said, her gaze as unwavering as her words.

Gabe’s stomach clenched at the certainty in her voice. “Em,” he whispered, not looking away from her, more terrified than he’d ever been in his life, “if Jasper went over the side…” He couldn’t finish knowing that if Jasper had gone off the highway, there was no way he would have survived. Not along Dead Man’s Gulch.

“I know,” Emerson said quietly, his hand landing on Gabe’s arm.

“He’s not dead, Detective. Not yet anyway. But we need to hurry.”

Too scared to believe but wanting to desperately, Gabe turned around in his seat. His eyes stayed locked on the road as Emerson drove along the twisting highway, his heart breaking a little more with every black streak they drove past.

Gabe saw the broken guardrail at the same time as Mariella. Her hand shot between the front seats as she shouted, “There. He went over there.”

Emerson slammed on the brakes, sending the car fishtailing. Once he got it stopped, Emerson pulled over to the side of the road near the broken guardrail.

Gabe was out of the car before Emerson had put it in park, emergency flashlight in hand as he moved past the broken barrier, getting as close to the crumbling edge as he could. He shined the light over the side and shouted in disbelief when he saw Jasper’s car wedged between two giant rocks that jutted from the side of the ravine about sixty feet below.

Emerson skidded to a stop next to him, his light joining Gabe’s. “Holy shit. He’s right there. How’s that possible?”

Gabe shook his head, not having an answer.

“The odds of him going over in this exact spot have to be astronomical,” Emerson said, shining his flashlight to the left and the right.

“Or a miracle,” Gabe whispered, unable to take his eyes off the vehicle that held what might be his only chance for happiness, something he hadn’t realized until almost losing it.

“It was the shard,” Mariella said as she joined them. “It looks after its own. Isn’t that right, Detective?” she asked, glancing at Emerson.

“Does it?” Emerson asked, his face blank as he looked at her. “I wouldn’t know.”

She studied him for a long moment, saying nothing, then nodded. “Something to look into, perhaps.”

The exchange was strange enough that Gabe looked up, glancing back and forth between them. “Is there something I should know?”

“No,” Emerson said. Then he looked at Gabe and frowned. “Actually, there is. But it’ll have to keep for another time. Right now we need to work on getting Jasper out of that car before gravity takes over.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than they heard the ominous sound of groaning metal. Gabe’s heart jumped into his throat when Jasper’s car dropped a few inches. There was a loud crack. Then another. The glass in the rear window shattered. Metal screeched as the car dropped another few inches.

“Fuck!” A blast of panic-fueled adrenaline rushed through Gabe as he reached for it. Emerson’s hand fisted the back of his jacket, yanking him back. When he let go, Gabe immediately moved back to the edge and looked down. “We need to get him out of there, Em.” Gabe looked away from the car to the deserted dark highway, to his partner, then back to Jasper’s car, the panicked chaos in his mind making it hard to think. “We have to. Now. Before I lose him.” He looked at Emerson again. “But I don’t know how.”

“It’s okay, partner. I do,” Emerson said as he pulled Gabe back from the edge again. “But I want you to stand here. Okay?”

When Gabe nodded, Emerson took Gabe’s phone from his pocket and handed it to him.

“I’m going to call Cliff’s Garage and tell him we need his winch truck. You call the fire department. Tell them we need someone trained in rappelling.”

“I think Tank and Jefferson took a course,” Gabe mumbled as he pulled up the number for Starfall Grove’s main fire station.

“I’d better call Shaw and let him know we found Jasper,” Mariella said, pulling out a tiny phone from her skirt like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Gabe just stared at it, wondering where she could possibly have hidden it in the tight skirt she was wearing. Then wondered why he was worrying about something so stupid when the man he lo—liked might be moments away from falling to his death. Then his call went through. After talking to the Fire Chief, who said they’d be right there with their ladder truck, Gabe called the Captain to let him know what was going on.

And tried not to think about the word he’d almost used.

It took four heart-stopping hours before they managed to pull Jasper from the car and get him to the top of the ravine.

They were unhooking him from the safety harness so the paramedics could check him over when there was a shriek of metal stressed beyond the point of holding itself together, followed by a loud crack that shook the ground under their feet when the car broke free. A few seconds later there was the sound of a distant explosion.

Gabe stared at the fiery mass at the bottom of the ravine hundreds of feet below. Then reaction set in. He stumbled back from the edge, falling to the ground when his legs gave out on him, his entire body shaking from knowing how close they’d come to losing Jasper. If they’d taken even five more minutes to get there…

If Mariella hadn’t been so determined to make Gabe listen to her…

If Emerson hadn’t taken over when Gabe had gotten stubborn…

If the rescue teams hadn’t arrived as quickly as they had…

If the fire department hadn’t had recent training in rappelling…

If Cliff’s winch hadn’t been strong enough to hold the car as long as it had…

If any of that hadn’t happened…Jasper would have died.

Gabe raised trembling hands to his face, not sure how he would have lived in a world without Jasper. A world without his laughter and joy. Without his snarky sunshine. Without his daring and willingness to challenge Gabe. Without his optimistic belief in his own invincibility, or his determination to see only the good in people, something that drove Gabe crazy but made him like him even more.

Overwhelmed by the emotions running through him, Gabe just sat on the ground, watching numbly as the paramedics loaded Jasper onto a stretcher and began checking him over, knowing he should go over but for some reason, he couldn’t make himself move.

“You really care for him, don’t you, Detective?” Mariella as she sat on the ground next to him.

Gabe looked over at her. “What?”

“My son. You love him.”

Gabe just stared at her. Love Jasper? No. He liked Jasper well enough and couldn’t imagine not being with him, but that didn’t mean he loved him. Anyone would like Jasper and the joy and energy he brought to everything he did. Even when Gabe had arrested Jasper, thinking he hated him, he still hadn’t been able to resist him. And then, when Gabe had finally learned what it was like to be inside of him, it had been like coming home. He’d never felt more at peace, more balanced in his life. He could easily imagine spending forever with Jasper. But love? No. Gabe wasn’t ever doing love again. He was too fucking scarred, too broken by what Robbie had done to him to be willing to risk his heart with anyone a second time. Not even Jasper.

He shook his head. “No. I don’t love him.” Then winced, pressing a hand to his chest when he felt a sharp pain.

Mariella studied him, then murmured, “I think maybe you do.”

“No, I don’t. We’re just—”

Mariella raised her hand, cutting him off. “It’s fine Detective, I know how you feel about my boy. And when you’re ready, you’ll know it too.”

“No. Seriously,” Gabe said, needing her to understand. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up thinking Jasper and I are some epic love story, because we’re not.”

“One day you might very well be.”

“We won’t,” Gabe said, then pressed harder on his chest when he felt another stab of pain, stronger this time. “I’m sorry, but we won’t ever be that.”

Gabe found it suddenly hard to catch his breath.

Mariella’s smile was as gentle as the hand she rested on his arm, her touch unlocking his lungs and letting him breathe again. “It’s alright, Detective. If you say you don’t love my son, I believe you.”

Which should have made him feel better, but for some reason, it didn’t.

“But perhaps you could do me one favor and look out for him,” Mariella said. “Better than you have been.”

Gabe sighed. “I’m trying. Believe me. But he doesn’t make it easy.”

“No. I don’t imagine he does.”

“He’s just so damned stubborn and won’t listen to anything I say.”

Mariella laughed, getting to her feet with a grace that shouldn’t have been possible in that tight skirt. “He gets that from me, I’m afraid.”

Gabe had no trouble believing that.

“Stubborn we may be, Detective, but you’ll never find anyone more loyal than a Belmont. Especially when we give our heart to someone,” she said, giving him a look that had his heart thundering in his chest.

Unable to hold her gaze, Gabe looked away and pushed himself off the ground, muttering, “I’d be happy if he’d just do what I tell him.”

Mariella laughed. “I wish you luck with that, Detective.” Then she glanced over to the ambulance. “It looks like they’re ready to take him away. Come,” she said, holding out her arm. “I’m sure Jasper would like a chance to say goodbye before we go.”

Gabe walked with her over to Jasper but managed to only get a few hurried words with him before he was rudely shoved out of the ambulance by a paramedic he didn’t recognize—obviously a new guy who’d learn better—who closed the doors in his face when Gabe tried to speak to Jasper again.

As he watched the ambulance drive away, Gabe promised himself this would be the last time. Once he and Emerson had finished processing the accident site and he’d had a chance to check on Jasper himself to make sure he was all right, Gabe was going to pull on every resource he’d accumulated over his years on the force and find the asshole who’d almost killed him. And when he did, he was going to end them.

Permanently.