“Fine, my nick. Did you get some sleep?”

“I grabbed a few hours, then came in. I’m used to it from my NSA years.”

“So, you weren’t a Ranger, or one of these uber-secret Ghost Ops guys?”

Ace shook his head. “Nope, but I spent many an all-nighter in the office when we had important missions.”

She nodded and studied the screens. A lot of them showed traffic cameras or CCTV footage.

“What are you doing?”

“Searching for your father, and this boy.” Ace tapped a keyboard and an image of a boy popped up. He looked like he was eleven or twelve, with dark hair, brown eyes, and a belligerent look on his face. He had worn clothes and a red baseball cap.

“Who’s that?”

“Daniel Brewer. He stole the dagger out of your father’s car.”

She gasped. “A kid has the dagger?” Jeez.

“I tapped into CCTV near Fisherman’s Wharf. He likes to pick pockets there, and break into cars. He’s been laying low. Probably deciding how to sell the knife. He tried a couple of pawnshops, but the owners ran him off.”

“And Dad?” She searched the screens for any signs of her father.

“I’ve narrowed it down to some properties owned by his mate, Gregor Howard.”

“I knew Gregor was lying to me.”

“He was staying in a rental property owned by Gregor. Vander searched it, but your father had already left. Vander questioned Gregor, and he said that he gave your dad access to several places. He’ll turn up soon.”

She swallowed. “What if Antoine or Rhoda find him first?”

Ace didn’t reply.

Harlow shook her head. “It’s damn hard being angry and loving someone at the same time.”

“I know.”

The understanding in his voice had her turning her head.

Ace sighed. “When I was younger, my kid brother tried drugs for the first time, and OD’d.”

“Oh, Ace.” She touched his hand.

His jaw worked. “He’s alive, but he suffered brain damage. The Rodrigo I knew, my best friend, he’s gone. He’s in a home. I see him every week, and we all go there for birthdays and Christmas.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I’m still angry at him. We always talked about how bad drugs were, and not to get involved with them. He’ll never stop being my brother and I’ll never stop loving him.” Ace stared at his screens, lost in his own pain.

Harlow bit her lip and decided to change the subject. “Any word on my mother?”

“She’s fine. Rome said she does a lot of yoga, and drinks a lot of green smoothies.”

Harlow smiled. “Sounds like Mom. Wait, Rome’s watching her, so is he attending the yoga retreat?” Her brain tried to imagine big, bad Rome in a downward dog, and failed.

Ace snorted. “I highly doubt it.”

She stared at the screens. “Now what?”

“We wait.”