Brutal Obsession (The Safeguard Series, Book One) (12 page)

West didn’t waste time and immediately walked into the living room and placed the black duffel bag on the sofa. He began to lay out specialized equipment cases and specific devices onto the fabric, never once breaking stride as Ashlyn crossed her arms in defense of what was taking place. Her shoes still hung from her right hand. Keane could only imagine how violated she was feeling at the moment, most likely knowing very soon she would have confirmation someone had been watching her in other areas besides her kitchen and office.

“Would you like some coffee?” Ashlyn asked, not making any move to go into the kitchen. Keane could see she was taking a moment to strengthen her resolve. “I’m brewing some now.”

“No, thank you,” Agent Coulter replied, watching his colleague closely. “We’d like to get this done quickly. Why don’t you grab yourself a cup while we finish up?”

Keane stepped forward before thinking, taking Ashlyn’s shoes from her hand. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed, although not by her. Holding a woman’s heels conveyed intimacy and he didn’t miss Coulter’s raised eyebrow. Ashlyn was already making her way into the kitchen while warily watching West initiate the search of her apartment, who seemed unaware of the exchange and oblivious to the fact that other people were even present in the house.

“Let me know what you find,” Keane directed, unwilling to address Coulter’s interest.

Keane set Ashlyn’s high heels underneath one of the stools before walking around the small island. She was pouring both of them coffee into the mugs she’d taken down from the cabinet, not a tremor to be seen. He should have known better than to be worried, but it came naturally to him. She set the glass carafe back onto the burner before sliding one of the cups over to him.

“You think they’ll find something?”

“Yes.” Keane wouldn’t sugarcoat anything. She wouldn’t appreciate it if he did. “I do.”

Ashlyn visibly swallowed her disgust before raising the coffee to her lips. She washed down the revolting taste and then turned to watch the two agents do their job. She was trying her best to compartmentalize what was happening, but it wasn’t always easy when the crime she fought every day of her life invaded the privacy of her own home.

Keane could easily relate. He wanted nothing more than to be able to do the grunt work and track this son of a bitch down himself. He hadn’t thought it would be this hard to stay on the sidelines and just protect the primary. Isn’t this what he’d wanted though—a simpler, easier day-to-day routine?

“I wasn’t aware you’d moved to Florida,” Ashlyn said softly, keeping the topic of discussion between them. Maybe she had caught Coulter’s reaction. Most likely, she wanted to talk about anything other than what was taking place in her home. She turned and leaned up against the counter as she observed the two agents canvass her personal space. “Do you like it down there with all that sun and sand?”

“That’s a good question,” Keane responded, joining her as he positioned himself to face Coulter and West. They disappeared from view and walked into Ashlyn’s bedroom. “I’m not quite sure yet. The fact of the matter is…I moved there this morning. At least my stuff did.”

“Jarod Garner mentioned SSI was a new contractor, but I didn’t realize he’d meant within the last few days.” Ashlyn had one arm crossed over her middle as she stared at the piece of drywall that was preventing her from seeing into the hallway. Keane had a better view from where he was, but he imagined they wouldn’t see the two agents for another few minutes. “Why the change?”

Those three words had more meaning in them than just mere conversation. Keane’s desire to stay in California and the calling he’d had for his position on the SWAT team had been a small piece of what had gone wrong with their brief affair. Three months. It wasn’t enough to get Ashlyn out of his system. He’d ended up wanting more, but she hadn’t been willing to give up her goals and dreams of being a federal prosecutor after finishing up her stint as the state’s hired hitwoman. No one had been to blame for the bad timing of their relationship, but it was the cruel, passionate response to ending something so beautiful that had tarnished the special time they’d spent together.

“I guess I finally wanted something more than what southern California offered,” Keane answered honestly and not only to her. “I spent twelve years in the military, serving two combat tours, tearing up my mind and body. I probably should have finished the eight years to claim my retirement, but I was mentally too tired. It was my body that craved the adrenaline rush and LAPD SWAT gave me that without the physical toll of combat. It was like an addiction that finally faded. Let’s face it—I’m thirty-seven years old. I deserve a little R&R and some peace of mind.”

Keane didn’t have to spell it out for Ashlyn. Had they met years after his return to the States, their relationship most likely would have endured her transition to D.C. He would have picked up his stakes and planted them in wherever. She hadn’t been just one of many relationships. There was something about this woman that had nothing to do with her beauty—whether it was her intelligence, conviction, or morality he didn’t know—and there wasn’t a day he hadn’t thought of her since.

Unfortunately, it had ended and they’d both gone on with their lives.

“The things I said…”

Keane lifted a corner of his mouth in a half smile of forgiveness, knowing full well Ashlyn didn’t like to apologize. It wasn’t in her nature. It meant that she’d been wrong and that so rarely occurred. He was very much that way as well, which was most likely one of the reasons their relationship had imploded. Neither had been willing to give up what they’d had at the time.

Ashlyn hadn’t been the only one to say things they’d wished they could take back. They’d hurled hurtful words at each other, purposefully wanting to ricochet the pain they had experienced onto one another. He’d been no better than she, but nothing they said now could get those five years back.

“We were both too—”

“May I speak with you out in the hallway?” Coulter asked, not really waiting for their answer. He continued to the front door and simply walked out, knowing they would follow. Keane turned slightly so that he could set his coffee mug on the counter. He then physically took Ashlyn’s when she hadn’t so much as moved an inch. Her manicured fingers curled into tiny fists as she moved before he could put his hand on her lower back. Coulter didn’t speak until the door had closed behind them, leaving them alone in the hallway. “It’s my recommendation that the two of you stay somewhere else. The equipment we found in your bedroom and bathroom isn’t your five-and-dime variety surveillance equipment. A lot of money has gone into watching every move you make, Ashlyn. There’s no telling what this individual will do now that you’re purposefully preventing him from realizing his goal.”

Coulter didn’t need to spell it out for them. Keane straightened for what he knew would be a battle. Ashlyn’s first instinct would be to stay and defy that this man had become more than just dangerous—he was now lethal and she was in his crosshairs.

“No.”

“I don’t think you understand,” Coulter countered, trying to reason with a woman who had already made her personal stand. Keane rubbed his jaw in total doubt the man would be able to get more than three words in before Ashlyn put a stop to the line that would lead to a roller coaster ride she didn’t want to take. She didn’t understand she was already in the car. “You—”

“I understand perfectly,” Ashlyn stated evenly, squaring her shoulders and pointing to her front door. “That is my home. Mine. Not his and no one else’s. I refuse to be put out by some pervert with a personality disorder. Destroy whatever you find, or better yet, take it with you as evidence and use it to track this son of a bitch down. SSI has hired Keane to protect me and he’ll do just that while you do your job of finding out who has been watching me every minute of my day. So please, Special Agent Coulter, clear my home office of any threats so that I can do my job in putting away three men involved with the illegal distribution for sale of child pornography which has ruined sixteen children’s lives.”

Ashlyn opened the door to her apartment, leaving it standing wide open as she made her way to her bedroom without a backward glance. West had to move to the side in order for her to pass, but the action didn’t faze him as he continued to run what looked like a baton across all the furniture in the living room.

“You need to get her to see reason.” Coulter held up a disabled video lens with various wires dangling from the end. “There were multiple cameras positioned around her bedroom and master bathroom. I don’t need to tell you how these cases escalate quickly. We’ve just removed the one thing that’s given him some measure of satisfaction. He’s already changed his course of action by texting her, reaching out to her personally instead of through anonymous letters and gifts. He most certainly has compromising video images of her which he could do anything with in an attempt to blackmail her or influence her behavior.”

“We’re also dealing with someone who is high-profile,” Keane countered, not truly arguing what Coulter was saying, but wanting the agent to understand just how far reaching this case could go in the media. “Ashlyn’s father was a federal judge with a reach that can stretch to the entire political stratosphere. He’s a household name and you can bet your ass that some reporter isn’t sitting on the sidelines waiting for a press briefing to update them on a case that was made to appear as if it was nothing of any significance. Should she step away from this case, someone is going to connect the dots and this scumbag is going to become notorious. That isn’t a route we want or should take, but I will make a call in to my team and tell them that reinforcements are needed on the ground now. We’ll have every entrance and exit point covered, along with extra security when traveling. We will electronically seal this place up so you couldn’t tell the difference from an Amish farmhouse.”

“I’ve already had the privilege of speaking with her father,” Coulter admitted, palming the black camera and looking past Keane’s shoulder. Someone was walking their way. “I don’t like having to deal with politics in any of my cases, but we were both hired to do our jobs regardless of our personal preferences. I just don’t want to have to finish up mine where my victim ends up dead.”

“I didn’t say you were wrong in giving your advice, just as you did.” Keane looked over his shoulder to see a man entering his apartment three doors down before glancing to the apartment across from Ashlyn’s. There was about to be a change in this complex’s tenants. “As the saying goes, it’s always better to know the ground prior to a battle. We’re going to need all the advantages we can get.”

‡

“V
ictor and Noah
just punched out. Your security system should now be state of the art, hands down the toughest system to crack.”

Ashlyn looked up from the laptop and multiple file folders she had opened on her desk to find Keane leaning against the doorframe of her home office. She’d literally shut out all thought of what was taking place in her apartment as she focused on writing her motion to allow the files found on the laptops discovered in the company vehicles.

She had found numerous instances in case law that supported her conclusion that the company vehicles parked on the property leased by the corporation and used solely for business purposes should be recognized as included in the scope of the original warrant. Therefore, the judge could reverse his presumptive ruling and allow the evidence collected from those drives into evidence.

Ashlyn had emailed her assistants instructing them to write a brief that cited each of the cases she’d indicated and their relevance to her argument for the court’s review tomorrow morning. Work was the only way she could escape the terrible feeling of violation she felt deep down inside when she’d seen the tiny camera lens that Agent Coulter had shown her. The job was the only way for her to get through to the other side, or else the fear would take over and she’d be frozen in this seat crying her eyes out.

“Who’s Noah?” Ashlyn asked to give her something else to focus on besides the fact she now wanted nothing more than to move away from the scene of the crime. That wasn’t an option though. She refused to be afraid in her own home. “I’m surprised he didn’t bring Paul. He’s always been our go-to guy at the office.”

“Noah installed additional hardware for the security system, whereas Paul Bostle’s experience lies in the software applications,” Keane explained, crossing his arms as if he were settling in for a conversation. He didn’t seem to understand that she wasn’t ready to deal with their past either. Every time she heard his voice from the other room, it brought back memories of their time together. She’d wavered countless times with her urges to contact him after she’d left California for D.C. She hadn’t been ready for a serious commitment then and wasn’t in a much better position now. Why, then, had she felt as if she’d made a mistake? Was it the way it had ended? Why was she still feeling that way? “There’s no need to worry. I’ve run background checks on both of them, but we’ll still keep a close eye on anyone having anything to do with this system upgrade and computer access to your CPU and network hardware.”