Top of Your Ambitions

“So when did you get back to Baltimore?” Ace asked as she took a sip of her French onion soup.

Liezel looked up from her food and pushed a few strands of her fallen black hair behind her ear. She bit her lips, visibly troubled by something.

“Last week.” She replied.

Acacia shook her head at the star athlete before returning back to her food. She cannot believe that Liezel would not even think about contacting her, especially after a whole week of being back.

“I’m sorry I haven’t kept contact with you. Everything has been crazy lately, a lot of things happened ever since the Australian Open.”

The detective continued to taste her soup, making sure to not slurp.

“So how’s Alex? I mean you guys are always together, what’s the deal?” Liezel asked with a strange edge to her voice.

Ace now knows the real reason why Liezel has been keeping her distance. The tennis player is angry with her for supposedly moving in on her ex. That is far from the truth; Ace only wants to be with one person, even if that one person is the one she cannot have.

“Liezel, is there something we need to talk about?”

The athlete moved her head back in shock; Ace has never ever referred to her by her first name, ever since middle school. It is strange to hear the name leave anyone else’s lips but Alex’s.

“Tomas broke up with me.” Liezel dropped her spoon on the clothed table and placed both hands on her lap.

Ace can see her eyes water and the feeling of sympathy sudden washed over her. She knows that her friend really liked or even loved the Czech tennis player.

“And I don’t even know why.”

“Beckett…”

“It hurts so damn much, especially since I have no idea what I did wrong.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he was afraid of screwing it up, but he didn’t… I don’t understand.” Liezel looked really confused and uneasy.

She stuttered through her words before shaking her head profusely.

“Oh my god, I’ve been trying to get Alex to move on. I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” Acacia apologized, cursing herself for trying to help detach the singer from his ex-girlfriend.

Liezel’s gaze hardened on her.

“You had no right!”

“Well he was heartbroken, I had to help him get over you!”

“Yeah, by getting with him!” Liezel shot up from her seat, attracting the attention of the people seated nearby.

The detective buried her face in her hands.

“Oh my god, Beckett, sit down.”

“I’m sorry, Ace. I overreacted. If you really have feelings for him, go for it! Who am I to tell you what you can’t do? He’s not even my boyfriend anymore and the thing with you and Zack really tore you open, and I think Alex is really going to be a nice change for you and…”

“Oh my god, please just listen to me!”

Beckett finally stopped, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

“There is nothing going on between me and Alex, never ever in a million years!” She groaned, almost in disgust as she mentioned Alex’s name.

The tennis player laughed, shaking her head. She feels foolish for rambling on about the topic. Then she sat down.

“What?”

“Yeah, I brought him to the New Years Eve party at Lockheart’s as a favor for Rian. Alex wanted to show you that he got over you. And I was in the studio with him today because he had to do an interview and I had a word with Loki.”

Liezel laughed to herself again and placed a hand over her face.

“Oh my god, I am such an epic failure.”

“No you are not, Beckett. If you want to get back together with Alex, go for it!” Ace laughed along with her friend, patting her shoulder several times.

“Whoa, no way! I’m not going back there again! He cheated on me and that’s where I draw the line.”

“But you know he won’t do it again!” Ace added.

Liezel sighed, clearly bothered by this topic. It is hard to just let go of a relationship that lasted for such a long time. Alex and Liezel had spent so many wonderful years together; they understand each other so well, and learned to live together and love each other. She cannot just pull the plug after one drastic action, even though it was horrific and wrong.

“Look, Ace, if Zack had cheated on you with Wallace before you guys broke up, would you ever get back together with him?”

The blonde sucked her teeth several times, deep in contemplation.

“Honestly?”

“Yeah, honestly.”

“If he wants me back, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. But don’t tell him I said that because that’ll just complicate things.”

Liezel’s eyes softened, noticing just how much she cares deeply for Zack. It is silly of her to ever think that Ace would ever move in on Alex. She would never date Alex or develop any sort of romantic relationship with him, or anyone else in fact.

“Wow, I am not even doing a good job at proving my point.” Liezel shook her head once again.

“Well, I know what you mean. I’m not going to convince you to get back together with Alex. It’s hard to come back from him cheating on you.”

“Yeah, and besides, I’m still trying to get over Tomas. I guess we’re better off as friends, and I just need to work on pushing the romantic feelings away.”

Ace finished her soup and pushed the empty bowl aside for the waiter to take away. When the waiter snatched the bowl as he passed, the blonde looked back up at her friend.

“I don’t get it. Tomas has been pining for you for so many years and when he finally has the chance to date you, he blows it off? What’s this dude doing?”

“I don’t know. But I guess he just doesn’t want to screw up our friendship. This is the only explanation.”

“I see, I see.”

Just when the entrée arrived at their table, Acacia’s phone went off from her purse. The loud buzzing from the purse startled both women, mostly Liezel. Ace snatched her purse from behind her seat and dug inside its content for the device. She finally pulled it out and checked the screen.

“Shit, it’s Iverson. I’m going to have to take this.”

She glanced at Beckett apologetically. The tennis player smiled at her and encouraged her to take the phone call.

“Kovacs.” She announced as soon as she took the call.

“Hey, Kovacs, I’m going to text you an address. That is the warehouse where the bombs were manufactured. You should go on and check if there is any evidence left in it. Jacobson found the address and the Jacobs duo would go check it out themselves but the captain assigned them a new case.”

“Yeah that’s fine, I’ll go as soon as you send me that address. And how’re you doing on that warrant for Lockheart?”

“We got the judge to pass that warrant and uniforms are searching his house as we speak. I got Loki to pull Ryland out of the house and distract him so I am going to head over there in a few minutes to see if we can collect enough evidence.”

“That sounds good! We’re going to tackle all of these cases at once, okay?”

Iverson chuckled.

“Yeah, we’re on a roll! But be careful okay? If anything happens, call for backup immediately. If you need me, I’m just a phone call away.”

“Thanks, James! Text me the address ASAP alright?”

“Sure! Good luck, partner!”

After she hung up the phone, she shot her friend an apologetic look. But Liezel returned with a reassuring smile.

“I understand, duty calls!”

“Yeah, we’re solving two cases at once and we are executing our leads right now. If we don’t get right onto it now, it’ll be too late.” Ace dropped her cloth and placed them on the cushioned seat.

She scratched at her head as she gathered up her purse.

“I will see you soon okay?”

Liezel nodded, giving her a thumbs up.

Just as Ace made her way to her car, the text message from Iverson came in.



Acacia parked a few blocks away from the warehouse to allow herself to approach the vicinity discretely. She ran her hands through the glock in her front pocket quickly and closed her car door as softly as the car allowed her to. This area is nearly deserted which is a good thing because getting as far away from the civilians as possible would be better in situations like these.

She gave this area a onceover and walked toward the direction of the warehouse when the coast is clear. Everything in this area screams shady to her, which is why she believes that the bomb making definitely happened here. It is isolated from everything else and no one would ever think to look here.

Just as she neared the warehouse, she heard light footsteps behind her. Ace pulled out her gun from her pocket and turned on the person with the glock pointed at the direction of the footsteps. Her eyes narrowed in shock and in annoyance when she realized that she is pointing her gun at Zack.

He is staring at her in the same expression of irritation.

“You might want to put that gun down.” He said bitterly.

“Oh yeah? Why don’t I just shoot you right where you stand? What the hell are you thinking, following me here? Now is NOT the time.” She spat out at him.

Zack took several more steps toward her with a permanent glare on his face.

“You do not get to preach to me about following you here. I’ve been following you here from the precinct, by the way. And what a lovely lunch you were having with Beckett.” Sarcasm coated his low voice.

Ace dropped her arm, removing the gun from his face. She sighed loudly at him.

“Get out of here, Zack! It’s dangerous here, a bomb was built here, do you understand?”

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what is going on.” Zack said stubbornly.

The blonde rolled her eyes in annoyance. She takes her job very serious and their safety and position would be compromised if he were going to let his stubbornness keep him here.

“I just told you what is going on. I’m following a very important lead and if you screw this up for me, I will never forgive you.” She snapped at him.

The bassist seems unfazed by her threats.

“What was Iverson doing at Wallace’s? What have you guys been hiding from me?”

“Zack, get out of here. I cannot do this right now; do you not understand?” Ace nearly shouted as she pointed at the direction in which he came from.

He shook his head again.

“I’m not playing this game, you either tell me or I stay here.”

“Zack, I need to do my job, so please.”

The bassist opened his mouth to speak but then Ace noticed a figure emerge from behind him all too suddenly. Her eyes widened.

“ZACK, BEHIND YOU!” She shrieked.

However, it was too late. Before Zack could react, a needle is stuck into his neck and he fell backwards unconscious.

“ZACK!”

The figure behind him caught his unconscious body and Ace took action to shoot. Just as she held her glock up at the man dressed in black, she felt something sink into her upper neck. Her eyes fought to close and no matter how hard she resisted, it just closed on its own. She felt herself slip helplessly into unconsciousness.

The last thing she remembered was falling into a pair of arms.

Notes

Ooooh, anyone wondering what's happened to Ace and Zack? Are they okay???? What types of trouble will they face?

emilypfletcher, you are the best! Thanks for commenting!