Brutal Obsession (The Safeguard Series, Book One) (15 page)

“You’re not connecting the dots in a manner I can follow,” Keane admitted, looking out the front window. The motorcycle that Keane had first noticed veered off in a different direction and another one had taken its place by the time Jack had reached the next intersection. “How was Ashlyn’s alarm set off?”

“Did you, by chance, hear a low frequency rumbling of some sort?” Brody asked, searching for a response Keane was just now starting to form. Son of a bitch. “Maybe it sounded like a jet-aircraft taking off in the distance?”

“Yeah, come to think of it. A few seconds prior to the alarm going off,” Keane admitted, suppressing the urge to tell Jack to turn the town car around. Whoever had managed to score the type of equipment needed to create a deep enough low frequency vibration to set off the sensors in Ashlyn’s apartment wasn’t playing around on his computer. He had purposefully made it so that she understood his reach. “Do you have—”

“We’re currently watching the block around the apartment building, but it’s most likely the parking garage across the street. He took advantage of a vulnerability inherent to the system. He’s not an idiot and that makes this whole case that much more difficult,” Brody explained, unable to have eyes and ears everywhere. Even those at the NSA were limited in some capacity, although their reach was far greater than his own. “The best thing for you to do is go dark until Coulter gets some type of lead on this asshole.”

“We’re still only contracted for protection?” Keane asked, not pleased with being so limited in his job. Ashlyn was now resting an elbow on the door, staring out the window and watching the people and buildings whiz by as Jack appeared to have hit every green light the city offered. It wasn’t surprising seeing as Jack was from this area and had most likely memorized the timing of the traffic lights. “Is there a way around that?”

“No,” Brody answered regrettably. “Townes called Coulter a little while ago and offered our services, but the agent currently believes he can handle the investigation as it stands. He’s not a bad guy, but he’s young, ambitious, and has a closing rate higher than most in his department. Taking assistance now wouldn’t look so good on his résumé or in court if this ends up there.”

“Then we’ll need to convince Coulter that accepting support might very well enhance his career prospects,” Keane recommended, never having liked politics when it came to furthering one’s career. “I’ll see what I can do on my end.”

“You might want to be careful there,” Brody counseled in a low tone, most likely to prevent Calvert from hearing him. “We’re trying to build something here and it wouldn’t do you any good to go dick around and screw the pooch.”

“We’re also protecting someone’s life here,” Keane stressed, not liking how his hands were tied on his end. “You and I both know that supersedes the politics of the system. We have back channels to use that the FBI can’t utilize.”

“Is that a compliment?” Brody asked proudly, usually not in the position to receive praise. The hierarchy of the military didn’t necessarily provide commendation for off-the-books life and death procedures. Marines did their job. Period. “Don’t worry. I’m working the issue quietly in the background. No one will even notice I’m there. If this guy left some clues to his identity, I’ll let you know.”

Keane understood that to mean Calvert had already given Brody the go-ahead to assist without really assisting. It was a fine line, but it could be done. Respect for his superior increased a little more. They covered Coen and Sawyer’s presence, both of them currently on the redeye. Keane would meet up with them at the safe house. After confirming a few more things, he finally disconnected the call.

“How was my alarm set off?” Ashlyn asked, having heard every word of the conversation on his end. She definitely had patience if she’d waited this long to find out the answer. Her blue eyes zeroed in on his face, most likely catching his expression with the passing of the streetlights. “You said yourself it was just us inside my apartment.”

“The person who’s stalking you somehow managed to get within range of the building and use a low frequency direction transmitter to rattle one of the outside windows with just enough force to set off a vibration sensor and trigger the alarm,” Keane explained, wanting to reach for her left hand currently curled into a tight fist on the fabric of her sweatpants. He didn’t. It wasn’t his place and he never should have touched her back in the lobby. The imaginary line they drew needed to stay in place. “He wanted you to know that he’s not taking no for an answer.”

“I think his text to me summed that up,” Ashlyn whispered, turning her attention back out the window. She pressed her knuckles to her cheek before saying exactly what Keane was thinking. “Now we wait for him to make another move. Hopefully, he screws up at some point and reveals himself.”

‡

A
shlyn’s eyes literally
burned, as if she’d tilted her head back and purposefully poured sand into them. Her neck ached from all the stress combined with creating the motion to recuse herself from the case at this late date. It would be filed with the judge’s clerk first thing in the morning.

The judge could and might still refuse her stated reason for the petition; however, that was very unlikely given the circumstances and the fact that her second chair—one of her least favorite people—had been there for all of the court appearances…save one.

Ashlyn’s stomach was nauseated over what she had to do and why, and she was exhausted from the constant fear of something happening beyond her control. It did occur to her that the defendants of her case might be involved, but that was highly unlikely considering the people involved. They were pedophile flesh merchants and not too technically skilled when it came to computers. That was one of the reasons the FBI had been able to build such a solid case against them. She would have had herself a good cry if she’d thought that would do anything to relieve her situation.

The last motion was finally completed. Ashlyn sighed in resignation as she stood from her desk and started toward the office door. Keane’s phone had all but been attached to his ear since they’d gotten here, but she couldn’t worry about what he was setting up when she was busy disengaging from the very case she’d worked so hard on for the last six months.

That was not to mention the pile of cases she and her team had worked up for the pending court dates she might or might not be able to attend. If she was out of commission for too long, all of her caseload would be reassigned and her team would be broken up to work for other prosecutors. She might as well start all over again, having lost the confidence of the Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney’s Office after failing to carry out her assigned task.

At least Ashlyn had a great team of paralegals to help her get everything filed and transferred to Bishop Vance in this last case. He wasn’t her choice. The boss assigned second chairs after the court determined the docket. Bishop was the only one left standing now that the music had stopped.

Ashlyn was grateful that Mia and Parker had come into the office when she had called at two o’clock this morning to help her with the endless amounts of paperwork that had to be done in regards to such a process. It made her uncomfortable to put Mia in Bishop’s crosshairs, especially since her team would be aiding him through closing arguments and awaiting reassignment. Bishop had the ability to charm a cobra, but Mia was an adult and smart enough to know when someone was blowing smoke up her skirt. As for Andrew Rutledge, he’d have to consult with one of the other federal prosecutors regarding the Haung case.

“Were you able to get ahold of Aiden or Reed?” Ashlyn asked both paralegals as she walked out of her office. She’d purposefully not called Gina in so early, knowing full well her administrative assistant would be busy fielding phone calls all day tomorrow…well, make that today. She had been briefed as to what to expect and what she would need to do once she arrived. It was going on six o’clock in the morning, but Keane had expressed his desire to leave within the next half hour, if at all possible. He was currently sitting at Gina’s desk and making himself at home.

“Reed just returned our call and is heading into the office now,” Parker replied, running a hand down his face as the fatigue of the night finally got to him. Reed was twenty-eight years old and had a bright future ahead of him. That was if he was able to get a handle on that girlfriend of his. She was a party girl and she tended to spend the weekends out late partying with her girlfriends to the detriment of their relationship. He was quick to learn, eager to please, and had a tendency to make the right calls at crucial moments. He was also a bulldog when it came to unearthing old case law to aid their position on current motions. “He’d accidentally turned his phone off after having it out with Cynthia again.”

Ashlyn was too tired to make a cynical reply back to such a foolish and obvious sarcastic response. Reed could go far if he applied himself a little more to the work, but he still liked having the picture perfect model of a girlfriend. He was going to find that in being a responsible adult, let alone a prosecutor who was held accountable for things far beyond their control, life was a much harder won race when one tied themselves to an anchor at the start.

“And Aiden?” Ashlyn asked, handing off the last of the motions to Mia. “It’s not like him to dodge my calls.”

“We haven’t been able to reach him, but he did say yesterday that he would be in the office by seven o’clock today,” Parker informed her as he reached forward for a half-empty mug, most likely filled with bad coffee out of the office pool machine. The pool always bought the cheapest shit coffee they could find, along with generic creamer and five-pound sacks of granulated sugar. Parker’s baby doll face was just an illusion, but she noticed he managed to look younger the more tired he became. “I can call you if—”

“Everything goes through Gina,” Keane ordered, interrupting the conversation as he came to stand beside Ashlyn. He made eye contact with each of the duo sitting at their desks to ensure their understanding. His tone suggested no one argue with him. “No exceptions. Ashlyn’s cell number won’t be any good after we leave here. Gina will be given an emergency takeout number to call only in the case that one of you isn’t breathing or the Attorney General dies. Ms. Ellis will return to work once the individual who’s been stalking her every move is behind bars or dead.”

Ashlyn bit off a few choice words, not liking the fact that she wasn’t able to make her own decisions or communicate with the people she was responsible for. Well, she could have said something, but it wouldn’t have been in her best interest. If she’d had her way, she’d be completing her closing arguments and carrying on with this case as if nothing was happening outside of those windows. As it was, court would probably be continued a day or two in order for Bishop to take over the case, regardless that it had come down to nearly the end. He would use her words during his closing argument.

“I need to speak with Chief Garner before we leave,” Ashlyn replied, releasing her hair band and rearranging her hair so that she appeared more professional. She hadn’t really been given the time to change, but she could manage some dignity by appearing composed. “Mia and Parker, is there anything else you need from me?”

“No, we’ll be fine and don’t worry—we have your back,” Mia responded for both of them. She then offered up a strained smile, her worry evident in her brown eyes. “You just be safe and stay out of the line of fire.”

“I’ll do my best,” Ashlyn replied, telling herself she really needed to walk away. Her legs wouldn’t move. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t just abandon a case she’d worked six months to prosecute or the life that she’d built for herself out of sheer grit and determination. There had to be some way she could—

“Ashlyn,” Keane urged gently, “we need to go. Now.”

She nodded and then turned on the sole of her running shoe, forcing her legs to carry her back inside her office. She reached for her father’s leather satchel, instantly thinking maybe she should call her parents to give them an update on what was taking place, but she decided against it this early in the morning. She could contact them later once she was able to explain to them at length what had really happened and why she needed to get off of the grid. There wasn’t anything they could do for her right now and it would only ruin their anniversary trip they’d spent a year planning.

“Ashlyn, you’re going to have to leave your laptop and phone here, along with anything else that emits a signal.”

She must have misunderstood Keane, because there wasn’t a chance in hell she wasn’t taking her only form of communication, her files, and her one remaining lifeline. He’d already removed the SIM card. Wasn’t that enough?

“He hasn’t touched my laptop, Keane. Only my home computer and my phone,” Ashlyn said, doing her best to keep her desperation to a minimum. This was her life and it was being stripped away one piece at a time. “How am I going to—”

“We are dealing with an individual who truly believes you are an object that belongs to him. You’ve read all those emails and letters. The texts are stating his need to possess you while exhibiting a rather tenuous grasp of reality. You realize he’s showing us he’s not going to stop until he has you. I believe he doesn’t care how you end up together—dead or alive. This type of psychopath will, sooner or later, flip a switch and kill someone to prove his point. He uses high-end technology to keep track of you and we have no idea how in-depth that goes…so you need to leave everything here. Your clothes will be swept for bugs before we get into the vehicle.”