by Janie Crouch
“Ashton, report.” Derek was in full team leader mode, but Ashton couldn’t speak. He slammed his foot against the shutter again. Vaguely he could hear orders barked over the comm unit.
The shocks eased again. Ashton reached for the light netting-like material that covered his SWAT garb. The sensors, like the ones that had shocked Roman when he’d been “shot,” were giving the shocks. Although obviously malfunctioning since Ashton didn’t think death by electrocution was supposed to be part of the training simulations.
“Sensors malfunctioning. Shocks.” Ashton barely managed to get the words out before the voltage cranked again.
Through the agony coursing through his body, Ashton could hear Derek demanding that the control room shut off all the suits since they seemed not to be able to isolate Ashton’s. Could hear Roman and Liam attempting to get under the metal shutters at his feet.
And a whole lot of cursing from just about everyone.
They weren’t going to make it to him in time.
Ashton tried to pull the netting holding the sensors off of himself, but they just snapped back into place like they were supposed to, designed to keep from hindering any movement.
Too bad they could work that detail out but not halt the overloading of electrical voltage that was going to kill him right here on the floor. Ashton reached for the knife in his boot—almost from a distance, he could hear everyone screaming in his ears, the team, the control room, telling him to hold on—but he knew he was going to lose consciousness before he could cut the netting off himself. Not to mention sticking a metal object into live voltage probably would compound the about-to-die problem.
Damn it, he did not want to die in this simulator. The voltage amped up again and Ashton didn’t even try to stop the deep grunt of pain that fell from his lips.
Then everything fell into complete blackness. Every light blacked out, every sound stopped.
The voltage stopped, too. Had he passed out? No, he could still think. Could still feel the pain echoing through his body even though the sensors had stopped their attack. He rolled over onto his back, too exhausted to even remove them in case they switched back on.
Lillian’s voice came over the comm unit. “Main power outside completely cut.”
Now that an electronic lock wasn’t keeping the shutters closed, Roman and Liam were able to use their strength to open the one over the door. Liam held it open and Roman rolled under, shining his flashlight onto Ashton. He nodded his head toward the other man.
Roman knelt down next to Ashton, knife in hand and began cutting the netting material that held the sensors against their clothing. “Ashton is down, but alive. I’m getting these damned sensors off of him. I suggest everyone else do the same.”
“Roger that,” Derek said. “Steve has a medical team on the way.”
“I’m okay,” Ashton finally managed to get out. “I can move everything, at least, and don’t seem any more brain-damaged than normal.”
“Just sit tight,” Derek continued. “It’s going to take a minute to get to you since we’re in complete blackness out here.”
“Hey,” Lillian huffed. “I didn’t have time to finesse it. I just shot the hell out of the whole power box. I’m probably going to get fired for this.”
“Thanks, Lil,” Ashton said. Her quick thinking—shutting down all the power rather than trying to isolate the problem—had probably saved his life.
“No problem, Fitzy. How else am I going to get homemade muffins if you’re not around?”
It wasn’t long before people swarmed the training warehouse. Temporary lights were set up and a medical team got Ashton onto a gurney and out of the building. They took him back to the main Omega building where he could be thoroughly examined.
He had two noticeable burns—one on the back of his shoulder and one on his waist—and generally felt like he’d been hit by a truck, but he would live.
The entire SWAT team, plus Steve Drackett and the lab coat guy from the control room, was now crowded into the medical holding room with him.
“We’re glad you’re okay, Ashton,” Steve said, leaning back against the wall.
“What the hell happened in there, Steve?” Derek asked. “That was well beyond not having the kinks worked out.”
Steve gestured to the glasses lab coat guy. “This is Dr. Castillo, one of the main contracted developers of the training facility.”
Dr. Castillo cleared his throat. “We’re not exactly sure what happened. And it will be a little difficult to find out since Agent Muir basically decimated the power box.”
Ashton just lay back in his bed as the entire team started defending Lillian’s actions all at once. Loudly.
Steve finally shut them down. “Nobody is blaming Lillian. That was smart thinking and probably saved Ashton’s life.”
Lillian just shrugged from where she leaned against the bed. Ashton held out a fist toward her, which she immediately tapped with her knuckles.
“The truth is,” Dr. Castillo continued. “I don’t know what happened. All I know right now is that it wasn’t just one problem. Yes, the sensors malfunctioned on Agent Fitzgerald’s suit, but multiple other problems occurred. Problems that didn’t happen when we tested the facility before you went in there.”
“We’re going to need answers, Dr. Castillo,” Steve said. “As to whether this turned ugly due to human and/or mechanical error or if there’s something bigger at play.”
Dr. Castillo scrubbed a hand across his face. “Yes. Absolutely. Finding out what transpired here is my team’s number one priority. And not that it’s worth much, but we’re all terribly sorry and completely flabbergasted at the situation, Agent Fitzgerald. Please accept my sincerest apologies.”
Ashton nodded. “Just figure out what happened so it doesn’t happen again.”
Dr. Castillo agreed, said a few more things to Steve, then left.
Grace Parker, Omega psychiatrist and in this case Ashton’s physician, entered the room. “Okay, this place is not intended for the entire SWAT team. Steve, Derek, are you guys done debriefing?”
Steve straightened from where he leaned against the wall. “For the moment. Until we get a better sense of what the hell occurred in there today.”
“I’ll tell you this much, you’re lucky it was Ashton in that suit that malfunctioned,” Grace said as she lifted the edge of Ashton’s shirt so she could see one of the worst electric burns on his waist.
“Lucky me,” Ashton muttered.
Grace chuckled. “No, what I mean is that you have a lot of body mass, so those defective sensors were spread out further. For someone smaller—” she turned “—for instance, you, Lillian, the sensors would’ve been closer together and would’ve resulted in far greater damage. Maybe even death.”
The team glanced at each other, saying nothing. They’d all just chosen random sensors as they’d entered the facility. It could’ve easily been someone with less body mass than Ashton.
“Well then, we’re glad Ashton took one for the team.” Derek slapped him lightly on his unwounded shoulder. “Does he need to stay overnight, Grace?”
The older woman checked out the other burn on Ashton’s shoulder, then returned his shirt to its place. “No. No damage here that won’t heal on its own. Even your burns don’t look like they’ll blister too badly.” She smiled at Ashton. “You’ll just be sore for a couple of days, so take it easy.”
After showering gingerly, with cooler water than he would’ve liked because of his burns, he met the team at the Omega canteen to get their first meal since Summer’s muffins.
Nobody knew exactly what mood to be in. Everyone was glad Ashton wasn’t hurt any worse, but also hadn’t expected anyone to be in any danger to begin with.
It wasn’t a loss. But it wasn’t a win.
“Hey,
who wants to go get a drink?” It was late, already after 9:00 p.m. Their day had been long, but no one wanted to go home.
Everyone nodded and looked at Ashton.
He smiled. “Sure. I’m buying.”
That certainly cheered everyone up. Derek begged off since his wife, Molly, and baby son, Sebastian, were waiting for him at home.
Ashton was just walking into the bar the Omega team often frequented when his phone rang.
Summer.
Why would she be calling him at nearly ten o’clock? He stepped back outside so he could hear more clearly.
“Summer?” he said by way of greeting.
“Hi, Ashton. I’m so sorry to call so late. You weren’t asleep were you?”
“No, not at all. What’s up?”
“I feel like an idiot.”
“No, I promise, it’s fine. What’s going on?”
“The power in my condo went out. I checked the breaker like you showed me, but couldn’t find anything wrong. I called the power company—they said they would eventually get here but had other priorities.”
“Do you want me to come check it out? See if there’s anything I can do?”
There was silence on the other end for so long Ashton worried they’d been disconnected.
“Summer?”
“No. No, that’s not necessary. I’ll just wait for the power company. One night won’t kill me.”
She laughed but it sounded brittle.
“It’s not just the power, is it?”
“I thought I saw someone looking in the window. Which is ridiculous, I know. I’m being ridiculous,” she repeated.
“No. It’s easy to get frightened when you’re alone. Everybody deals with that.”
“It’s just...something bad happened the last time my power went out. Somebody...” She faded out again. “Something bad happened.”
She’d been kidnapped by a crazy woman. He knew. But Summer didn’t know he knew. He didn’t blame her for being a little spooked.
“Look, I’ll be there in just a few minutes okay?”
“No. It’s silly. You were already over here once this morning. My condo is not your only job.”
Her condo wasn’t his job at all. Ashton scrubbed his hand across his face, wincing as it pulled on the burn on his shoulder. Like Derek had told him, he needed to tell her who he was before it bit him in the ass.
“It’s no problem. Just for both of our peace of minds. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“Are you sure? Please, Ashton, you can tell me if this is inconveniencing you. Augh, who am I kidding, of course this is inconveniencing you. Just don’t worry about it.”
“Summer.” He waited until he had her attention to continue. “I promise I don’t mind. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.” He disconnected the call before she could begin to berate herself again.
“Looks like I’ll be buying the rounds.” Roman walked up to the entrance behind Ashton.
Ashton lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. “I’ve got to go. Summer needs—”
“Summer needs to know what you do for a living. Who you are.”
“I’ll get to it.”
“Get to it soon, brother. It’s going to be hard enough now. If she finds out on her own...” Roman shook his head.
“You’re right. I’ll tell her.”
Because ultimately telling her he worked for Omega was going to be much easier than telling her he could’ve saved her husband’s life two years ago.
How exactly did one phrase that?
He wouldn’t worry about it tonight. Summer was upset, needed help. Honestly, Ashton didn’t mind being the person she called. He just wished it was because she wanted to see him, not because she thought he was under contract with the building.
Because he sure as hell wanted to see her. Maintenance problem, boogie man or for whatever reason she called.
He liked hanging here with the team, drinking a couple of beers. But he’d rather be with Summer and Chloe any day of the week.
Roman was right. He had to tell her. There were too many other things he was keeping from her—planned to continue keeping from her—to let his occupation be a secret.
He’d almost died today. In his line of work, he could honestly die at any time—it was a risk they all accepted as part of the job.
He hadn’t had any grand moments of his life passing before his eyes earlier when he’d been electrocuted. But he did know one thing for sure: he needed to come up with a plan when it came to Summer. Figure out what truth he could give her and what he couldn’t and see where that left him.
It was time. Past time.
Chapter Five
Summer felt like she had set women’s lib back a hundred years. What sort of grown female called a man over to her house just because the electricity went out?
She walked into Chloe’s room to check on her again. Found her daughter sleeping peacefully in her crib just like she had been the last two dozen times Summer had checked.
And that face at the window had just been a figment of her imagination. Nobody was standing outside her condo.
Right?
Summer was willing to cut herself a little slack. The last time the power had gone out, a psychopath had drugged and kidnapped her and Chloe and trapped them in a burning building.
So she had reason to be wary of her power being out. Of course, Ashton didn’t know any of this. He was just going to think she was a coward.
Or maybe he was going to think she wanted to see him. Seduce him or something.
She wasn’t sure which was worse. At least if he showed up here and she was waiting in some kind of negligee, he wouldn’t think she was terrified of being alone in the dark.
But would he be interested?
She pushed the thought away. That was not why Ashton was on his way over.
But she promised herself this was the last time she would allow herself to call. She was taking advantage of him. Of his politeness.
The knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts.
“Summer? It’s Ashton.”
She opened the door. “Thank you again for coming over. I’m sorry. It was totally unfair for me to ask you to come back again today. Especially so late at night.”
He completely surprised her by putting a finger up to her lips. “It’s okay. Don’t apologize.”
He dropped his hand back to his side almost immediately, but Summer still felt shocked. She didn’t think Ashton had ever touched her except to shake her hand or in passing Chloe between them.
And more than that. He looked different.
She opened the door farther to allow him entrance, shaking her head. How could he possibly look different when she’d seen him just over twelve hours ago?
But he did. Just in how he carried himself. How he was looking her in the eyes without looking away.
How he’d just touched her.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I know you must think I’m a hot mess, but the last time the power went out something...” She swallowed. She really didn’t want to get into the details. “Something bad happened.”
Ashton cocked his head sideways, studying her for a long minute, but he didn’t ask her what she meant. “It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Let me double-check the fuse box, then I’ll go to the main breaker near the street.”
She stood at the top of the stairs as he made his way down into the basement/laundry room of her condo. He was back up in just a few minutes.
“You were right. There weren’t any fuses tripped in the box,” he said softly, making her appreciate his awareness of Chloe’s sleeping state.
She smiled at him. “I�
�m glad. If you had been able to come over here and fix the power in under ten seconds, I would’ve never been able to show my face in this town again.”
He smiled. “It looks like you’re free to show that beautiful face whenever you want to because there’s nothing you could’ve done about the power.”
Summer just stood staring at him. Not only did he just speak an entire sentence to her without stuttering, but did he just flirt with her?
“Oh. Oh, okay. Good.” Now who was stuttering?
“Let me go check the larger fuse box out by the street.”
Summer watched him walk back outside, trying to get herself under control. Maybe Ashton was just more confident and talkative at night.
If she thought she was attracted to him before, now she felt like she was smoldering inside.
Maybe she should’ve met him at the door in a negligee.
She needed some water to cool herself down. She turned away from the window—because staring at him probably looked a little desperate—and walked into the kitchen.
And found the same hooded face pressed up against her kitchen window.
This time she knew it wasn’t any figment of her imagination.
She ran to the front door, then stopped. She couldn’t leave Chloe alone in the house.
“Ashton!” she yelled.
He looked up from where he crouched at the fuse box by the street. He got one look at her face and began immediately running toward her.
He grabbed her arms. “What? What happened?”
“The face in the ski mask. It was back. At my kitchen window.” She could hardly get the words out around her own breaths.
“Go inside and lock the door, okay? Don’t open it for anyone but me. Call the police and tell them what happened.”
“But—”
“Summer, just do it, okay? I’ll be alright. I promise.”
She nodded and did what he said, locking and dead-bolting the door. She grabbed her phone and called 911.
* * *
ASHTON PUSHED AWAY all physical discomfort from his injuries as he bolted around the building and into the woods behind Summer’s unit, Glock in hand. He knew how much she loved the privacy these trees provided. He hoped this incident wouldn’t change her opinion.
