Brutal Obsession (The Safeguard Series, Book One) (21 page)

“You’re right,” Ashlyn agreed, guiding Keane back to the couch. She gave him a gentle push and then sat down in front of him like they’d been positioned before. His arms wrapped around her waist and he rested his cheek against hers. “Tell me how your parents and sister are doing. Are they all still up in Seattle?”

Keane revealed that his mother had passed away three years ago of cancer and then proceeded to tell her about his life in California and his hopes for a new beginning in Florida. Listening to the rich timber of his voice relaxed her and she found herself sharing in his happiness and grief through the stories he told and wishing she’d had the chance to be with him for those experiences…both good and bad.

They spent the rest of the morning and the majority of the afternoon getting caught up, talking and laughing through most of it. They’d made lunch and talked more over the meal, enjoying each other’s company. The devastation that had been left in the wake of a killer was always there, just around the corner, but Ashlyn savored this time she’d been given with Keane.

Ashlyn wasn’t sure what would happen after this, but she knew without a doubt that she would never be the same. Whether it was due to the realization that she wasn’t really living life or the thought that this could all be taken away in the blink of an eye…she finally admitted to wanting more in her life than just a career.

“Sawyer’s walking over,” Keane said after having looked at his cell phone. They were back on the couch, with her on one end and him on the other. He’d been massaging her foot and she groaned when he stopped, moving her legs to the side so he could sit up. He was wearing a pair of jeans instead of his usual khakis, which he’d thrown in the washing machine earlier this morning. There was no telling how long they would be here. “One of the sensors Coen put in the back isn’t connecting to the system. They want to get it up and working before the neighbors arrive home from work.”

“You haven’t met Sawyer, have you?” Ashlyn asked, tossing her legs over the side of the couch. She reached for her hair tie lying on the coffee table beside the piece of paper Keane had folded earlier. She couldn’t help but think the answer lay in that list, but looking at the names only took them in endless circles leading nowhere. “Where is he from?”

“Brody mentioned he was friends with Calvert back in the day, so I’m assuming they were in the same unit,” Keane replied, standing and adjusting his shoulder holster. The only time he’d ever taken it off was when they were in bed and she didn’t leave the room without her own weapon. Her Px4 Storm was currently within reach on the side table behind her. A knock sounded on the door before she could ask any more questions. “I’ll get it.”

Keane made his way across the small living room and peered out the side window after having pulled the white curtain to the side. Once he verified who it was—and Ashlyn assumed Keane had been shown Sawyer’s picture at some point—he opened the door and stepped back.

“Sawyer,” Keane greeted, shaking the man’s hand and then shutting the door behind him.

Ashlyn wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Maybe she thought he would resemble Coen—tall, dark, and muscular. His black hair and matching eyes made him appear a rather deadly adversary. Keane reminded her of a tiger with his lean build and stunningly perceptive eyes.

Sawyer? He was the boy next door, with the most charming grin Ashlyn had ever seen. The dimple in his right cheek had her returning his smile.

“I think I might want to switch places,” Sawyer remarked after sending a wink in Ashlyn’s direction. Her smile widened when Keane stepped in front of his teammate and blocked his view. “Or not. I didn’t mean anything by that.”

Keane lowered his voice to the point where Ashlyn couldn’t hear what he had to say to Sawyer, but both men were somewhat more relaxed by the time they turned around to face her.

“Ms. Ellis, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Sawyer greeted, stepping forward to shake her hand. “I decided I should come over so you’re not subjected to Coen’s bad mood. Apparently, the orange juice that was in the refrigerator had his name on it.”

Ashlyn laughed and decided that Keane had a good group of men he’d be working with, regardless of Coen’s somewhat serious nature. She knew of his brother’s troubled past and it couldn’t have been easy on his family. She wouldn’t mention it again though, because it wasn’t her place.

“I think there’s an unopened container of orange juice in our refrigerator, if you’d like to take that back as a peace offering,” Ashlyn proposed, slipping her hands into the back pockets of her shorts. Keane came to stand beside her, resting his hand on her lower back. It felt somewhat odd to have someone claim her as his, not that she objected. It just felt different. It wasn’t something she was used to, which reminded her of the reason they were even here. “Sawyer, thank you for keeping an eye out for us. I feel better knowing someone is watching the outside, even with the bars and all.”

“Are you kidding me? When Townes Calvert calls up and offers you the job that dreams are made of, you take it…no questions asked.” Sawyer glanced at his watch with a somewhat regretful expression. “I don’t have a lot of time. Ms. Hallowell, the neighbor on your left, comes home in about thirty minutes from her job at the post office. She also likes to walk her dog first thing and is quite interested in what goes on in her neighborhood. The last thing we need is for Ms. Hallowell to report a suspicious person in the area to the police.”

“Sawyer,” Ashlyn said, stopping him when he would have walked past her. “Have you heard anything from my office? Gina is supposed to give Mr. Calvert or Brody updates, but they haven’t been in contact with us since this morning.”

Sawyer glanced over at Keane, who had now crossed his arms and gave a small nod of encouragement. Their brief conversation by the door hadn’t just been about her then. Ashlyn tensed and did her best to brace herself for whatever Sawyer was about to reveal.

“Parker Davis didn’t show up for work this morning,” Sawyer disclosed reluctantly, as if he hadn’t wanted to add to Ashlyn’s stress. “He’s not at his residence and there was no sign of foul play. Agent Coulter is doing his best to locate him as we speak. Chances are probably that he got spooked and took off for a while to get somewhere safe.”

Ashlyn could hear from the tone of Sawyer’s voice that no one of authority could verify if Parker was a victim or if they should be looking at him for an entirely different reason. She was physically sick to her stomach at the thought the twenty-nine year old paralegal could have done the vicious and disturbing actions that had been executed within the last few days, let alone what had been done to her. She’d vetted him personally and he had been one of the top students of his law class at George Mason University.

“Parker could just be upset due to Aiden’s death,” Ashlyn put out there, mostly for her own sense of peace. She wasn’t able to hide the hint of desperation. Keane brought her closer to his side. “Agent Coulter might be jumping to conclusions due to Parker’s initial background in technology. Look at what happened to Victor. He was interrogated for how long and thought to be the subject we’re all looking for, only to be proven innocent. Too many people are being thrown under the bus without enough evidence.”

“Ma’am, I understand how frustrating it is to be cooped up in here while not knowing every step the authorities are taking,” Sawyer offered, gesturing toward Keane. “His job is to protect you while Coen and I do our best to safeguard the two of you and provide some level of early warning. That’s two layers of experienced protection this perpetrator would have to go through should he somehow inadvertently discover your location. I’d say that the chances of that happening were close to impossible, seeing as how you brought nothing with you that had any kind of technology in it for him to track your movements.”

Ashlyn was grateful she’d put on the summer sweater instead of the other short-sleeved shirt she’d brought with her. She always kept an extra business suit in her closet, so there hadn’t been a need to pack one when they’d decided to stay somewhere else. The chill that invaded her body now wasn’t something a piece of clothing could eradicate anyway.

“I really need to speed this up,” Sawyer said somewhat apologetically. “I won’t be long. Keane, could you let me out the back door?”

Keane let Sawyer out into the backyard and returned to find Ashlyn still standing in the living room with her arms wrapped around herself. He turned her toward him and pulled her into a tight embrace. She rested her cheek against his chest and ran through the last couple of years Parker had been assigned under her supervision. He wasn’t the person responsible. She had written several evaluations for pay raises and performance reviews. She knew him really well. She’d been confined to doubting every person she worked with, lived by, or had daily encounters with. It wasn’t fair and an anger stirred within her that hadn’t been there since the initial break-in.

“We’re going to go through every name on that list, those that aren’t, and anyone who could have had access to murder Jarod in cold blood without anyone being the wiser,” Ashlyn stated with determination, pushing away from Keane and walking over to where the list had been left on the coffee table. She grabbed her pen, got as comfortable as she could on the couch, and started with the first name. “Mia Hernandez.”

*

She had been
soiled. Taken by a dirty beast who had no more intellect than an animal.

Ashlyn had been disloyal…to him! How could she have betrayed him like that?

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, his anger mounting with each passing mile. The large green sign ahead indicated he had less than thirty miles to drive.

He had her location. It hadn’t been all that difficult, really.

He also had the tools he would need in which to take her away from Keane Sanderson. Who did he think he was? He didn’t have the right to come into Ashlyn’s life and pretend like their past had meaning. It didn’t matter to anyone.

His chest burned with the pain Ashlyn had caused. No matter what happened now, it would never be the same. He would never be able to touch her without envisioning the sweaty beast hovering over her or smelling the rancid odor of deceitful sex on her body.

It was appropriate to see the storm clouds gathering outside the windshield. The thunder and lightning would be the perfect cover for what he had planned for this evening. It would take quite a bit of time to dismember the bodies. He had all the information he needed to successfully eliminate those involved in trying to keep Ashlyn from him, but he now had to include her on that list. Only her lifeless body would come with him.

She would join the others in her rightful spot, to join him later in paradise.

‡

K
eane walked the
inside perimeter of the house checking all the windows and doors as Ashlyn took a hot, steaming shower to ease away the anxiety that had caused nothing but knots in her neck. He offered to give her a deep tissue massage once she was out, but he first wanted to ensure the doors and windows were locked up tight. He also wanted confirmation on the whereabouts of Parker Davis.

“Calvert.”

“Any word on Davis?” Keane asked, verifying the deadbolt on the door that led to the backyard.

“No,” Townes replied, the quiet in the background telling Keane he was somewhere private. “I’m heading in your direction.”

Keane tensed upon hearing Calvert’s declaration. He wasn’t supposed to be directly involved in the investigations of his team members unless absolutely needed. He hadn’t had much of a choice other than to fly into D.C. at the request of the Attorney General, but to then leave the multiple crime scenes to visit a safe house where the subject was currently secured wasn’t protocol unless it was warranted.

“Why?”

“Special Agent Coulter’s cyber department was able to confirm that the person responsible for hacking into Ms. Ellis’ private security system did, in fact, do it from a server inside the U.S. Attorney’s Building,” Townes conveyed, going into a deeper explanation of how this evidence had been obtained. “Coulter was able to get a search warrant on all the servers utilized in the building based on the access the killer would have had to Jarod Garner’s office. There is little doubt that the person responsible for stalking Ms. Ellis and committing multiple murders has administrative access to all those mainframes and a number of other strategically placed systems within the federal service agencies including State, DOJ, and the current Administration.”