“I seriously hope they won’t sit up there with binoculars watching the patio doors.”
“Funny. No, we’re putting up a satellite dish, which is really a cover for a camera. The back entrance will be monitored visually from there, and the front entrance will be watched from a remote camera set up from Craig’s house. I still want you keeping all the exterior lights on, Ashlyn. I’d prefer it if we find this guy without him coming after you.”
“Me too.”
She watched the shadow cross his face as he glanced at his desk for a moment, his fingers tapping the surface absently, like they often did when he was thinking hard about something. When he lifted his head to look at her, she felt her gut tighten.
“Daly—”
“Hear me out, Ashlyn. This isn’t a simple assignment. And it’s complicated by the fact that you personally know your partner.”
“I don’t see that as a complication. I see that as a bonus.”
He looked at her for a moment, tried to bury his real concerns. “I just want to make sure you’re comfortable with this.”
“Daly, it’s Craig. I’m perfectly fine with this.”
“Maybe that’s the problem.”
She tossed her hands up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know Craig, and you know Tain. Tain almost covered for you the other day. Your personal relationship with both of them could compromise their judgment. And yours.”
“Personal relationship? We’re colleagues. We work together. I’ve been partnered with Craig and with Tain. Partners have to get to know where each other’s limits are and when to give them some latitude.”
“Ashlyn—”
“Daly, I’m not going to do anything.” She sat up straight as she looked him in the eyes, “I won’t compromise Craig’s safety or my own. I’m simply going to be the doting girlfriend by day and the investigator behind the scenes. I’ll relay everything to Tain, and I’ll make sure every person we come in contact with is screened. That’s it.”
“I’m still not sure about this.”
“Daly, it’s Craig. I’m in good hands. Seriously, you’ve got me working with someone I can trust. That’s all I can ask for.”
He sighed. “There’s a van scheduled to meet you at your apartment in forty-five minutes. They’ll move your stuff.”
For the first time since this idea had come up she looked uncertain.
“You didn’t think we’d go about this halfway, did you? This guy has to believe you and Craig live together, or he’s going to work it out. Guys around the department know you’re a cop, so when you’re out with Craig…” He shrugged.
“I get the idea.”
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Does Craig have Internet access?”
“I don’t know. How crucial is it?”
“I can check some things from our system from remote access, and it will enable me to do online searches for related case information. I’ve been using it at home.”
He reached for his phone. “Then I’ll make sure you’re hooked up.”
When Ashlyn came downstairs from unpacking Craig asked, “Did you have enough room?”
“How many clothes do you think I have?”
He shrugged. “It looked like a lot.”
She opened her mouth to offer a retort and then shook her head. “It wasn’t all clothes, Craig. Pictures, books, stuff that I would actually have at home. You know, to make it look like I really live here.”
“Have you reviewed all the security information?”
Ashlyn nodded as she sank into a chair. “Daly really went overboard.”
“I drew the line at having audio feeds in the bedroom.”
“How thoughtful of you.”
Craig glanced at the coffee table for a moment and then got up. “Can I get you anything?”
“So we’re still in phase one of our relationship, are we?”
“What’s phase one?” he asked as he walked to the kitchen.
“The stage where you still offer to serve me before you start complaining about all the house work I haven’t done all day.”
“I thought I wouldn’t start in about that until tomorrow. Last chance,” he called.
“Cranberry tea.”
“I meant a cold drink.”
“Thought you said anything.” Ashlyn got up and managed to straighten her face by the time she reached the kitchen door. “How do you feel about this? Really?”
She couldn’t see his face because his back was to her. He filled the kettle, located a tea bag and a mug and waited for the kettle to boil. Then he unplugged the kettle and poured the water. He opened the drawer and removed a spoon, all without speaking or looking up.
“I think my dad’s having a coronary.”
“It’s not like we haven’t shared the same roof before.”
“Not the same thing.” He passed her the mug, and she backed out of the doorway, turning on her heel, careful to avoid eye contact.
After she sat down on the smaller couch she blew on her tea for a moment and tested it. Then she looked over at him. “Daly’s not always impartial when it comes to giving me assignments.”
Craig smiled. “I know the feeling.”
There was a knock at the door, and they exchanged a glance.
“That better not be him coming over to check up on us,” Ashlyn said. Craig got up and she listened as he went down the hall and then opened the door.
When Craig returned Tain was following him.
“Have you got your computer set up yet?” he asked her.
She shook her head.
“Then you’d better get to it. Daly wants to make sure everything is working so we’re ready to go tomorrow morning.” He passed her a box. “He’s got you an e-mail account and a messenger system that you can use to relay information directly to him. Daly says he wants you to keep the phone lines clear when you’re home alone, so that the team monitoring you can call and check on any potential false alarms.”
“God. He really is going overboard, isn’t he?” she said as she looked at the laptop and folder in the box. When she got no sympathy from Tain she forced herself to her feet. “Upstairs or downstairs?”
“Phone jack or cable?”
Ashlyn turned to Tain. “Phone.”
“The spare room upstairs has an empty desk and a phone jack,” Craig said.
As soon as Ashlyn left the room, Tain sat down.
Craig frowned. “We haven’t even started. What could possibly—”
“Someone was watching the movers at Ashlyn’s place.”
“Are they sure?”
“Somebody turned down the block and parked, started to get out of their vehicle, and then Ashlyn arrived. The driver didn’t think anything of it until he realized the guy had gotten back into the car and was still sitting there. As soon as Ashlyn went into the building, this guy drove off.”
“Tell me he got a license plate.”
Tain shook his head. “When the guy pulled out, another moving van came down the street, going in the opposite direction. He double parked our guys in. They’d had some words before, and the driver was pretty choked about being held up, waiting to start loading. By the time the argument was over…” Tain shrugged.
“Shit.” Craig’s mouth twisted. Then he looked up at Tain. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs silenced both of them.
“Okay, there. Satisfied? It’s all done, it works, ready to roll.” Ashlyn glanced from Craig to Tain. “What’s going on?”
“Just wondering if you’d be a good little kept woman and get me some dinner. I’m starving,” Tain said. He gave her the most innocent smile he could manage.
Her hands went to her hips, and then she tossed them up. “As it so happens, I think there are leftovers.” She turned on her heel and walked to the kitchen.
Craig shook his head. “When I was working with Lori I should have take
n a page from your book.”
“Lori Price?” Tain snorted. “That one would have you written up before you could say sex, never mind sexual harassment. How’s she doing, anyway?”
“Not good.”
Their eyes met for a second before Ashlyn returned to the room. Tain pushed the weight from his face and forced a grin.
“See, this is bringing out your hidden domestic talents.”
“Just because I don’t cater to you on a daily basis doesn’t mean they’re ‘hidden.’”
“I’ll just have to drop by more often. Wouldn’t want you to get out of practice.”
She glanced from Tain to Craig and then reached for her tea. “I’m going to bed. Don’t forget to rinse that before you go,” she said to Tain.
He waited until he heard her reach the second part of the stairs. “There’s always a chance it could be nothing. Daly said we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. He’s got an extra team monitoring your place for a few days, and someone’s watching her apartment. Just in case.”
Ashlyn heard the door shut, then footsteps coming up the stairs. She sensed him stop at the doorway.
“That’s my side of the bed.”
She didn’t look up from her book. “You sleep by the fireplace.”
“Not while you’re here, I don’t. Move.”
Ashlyn set Cross down on her lap. “Are you serious?”
“Stay where you are and you’ll find out.”
He disappeared into the walk-through closet, into the bathroom. For a moment she tried to go back to the book, but her mind was focused more on Craig’s imminent return than anything else. She marked the page she was on.
The bathroom door opened, and Craig came back through the closet and into the bedroom. He pulled his shirt off and glared at her.
“I meant it, Ashlyn.”
“Really, Craig.”
After a moment under his relentless gaze she muttered, “Fine,” and moved over.
“How did you know I usually sleep on the other side, anyway?”
Ashlyn lifted a copy of A Good Day to Die, which glistened in the firelight. He took it from her, setting it down on the nightstand. She turned on her side to face him.
“This guy doesn’t break in when men are home. Being on this side or that side doesn’t make me any safer, but you’re willing to have a stupid argument just to put more distance between me and the door.”
He was lying on his back and didn’t turn to look at her, instead staring up at the ceiling, his right arm folded back, his hand tucked under his head.
“And I am capable of defending myself. Just last night, I slept all alone.”
Craig turned to look at her, the somber expression reminding her of the Craig she’d first met a year before, the Craig who had carried the weight of the case, and a hell of a lot of guilt about his past, on his shoulders. “Are you seeing anybody?” he asked.
She felt her jaw drop and forced it back up as she tried to decide what she wanted to say to that.
“Seriously, Ashlyn.”
“Are you?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Well, if you don’t mind me asking, what is?”
“Is there any reason a man would be coming to your house to look for you?”
Even in the dim light she sensed a shadow passing behind his eyes. “What did Tain tell you?”
“It’s possible someone was watching you when you were with the movers.” He told her what Tain had said earlier and shifted his left arm under the pillow.
She blew out a long, slow breath. “Craig, there could have been a dozen reasons the guy left that have nothing to do with me.”
“All the same—”
“Everyone is overreacting because of this case.”
“Nobody wants to see you get hurt.”
“Neither do I, but you’re all beginning to sound like broken records. I’m not your little sister, and I don’t need you rushing to my defense every time you see someone step on the playground you don’t like the look of.” She could see his face harden at her words, his shoulders taut. “Look, I didn’t mean it quite the way it sounded. It’s bad enough having Daly looking out for me, but I’ve had Tain playing the overprotective-partner thing to the hilt. I just want everyone to let me stand on my own two feet.”
Ashlyn started to turn onto her back, but he reached for her shoulder and stopped her.
“It isn’t you I don’t trust. It’s the guys out there.”
His hand slid down onto her arm, and then he pulled it back to his side of the bed. For a moment they both lay face to face unmoving, and then Craig turned away and switched off the lamp.
She rolled over, gently rubbing her arm to try to alleviate the pins-and-needles sensation that bombarded her when he touched her, listening to his breaths, which hadn’t deepened yet.
“No.” The word came out of nowhere, unexpectedly breaking the silence.
“No what?” Ashlyn asked.
“The answer to your question. I’m not seeing anyone.”
He rolled over all the way, his back to her, and her head snapped back against the pillow again, her eyes wide as she stared at the ceiling.
FRIDAY
Neither of them mentioned the conversation in the morning. They began working their way through a list Quinlan had provided through Daly of things Craig needed to get to work at the fire department.
“What’s next?” Ashlyn asked Craig.
“I have to go pick up some uniforms.”
“That’s it?”
He shook his head. “Fortunately, I was on a volunteer fire department during university, so I have enough training to get by, although Quinlan gave me some refresher videos. I have to watch those later. First, a full physical exam by the department doctor. And them I have to get a pager.”
“What’s the pager for?”
“That’s what they use to bring in volunteers on call. And regular firefighters who might be needed for backup if there’s a big fire, like one of the angel arsons.”
“They page those guys in?” she asked.
Craig nodded. “Smaller departments still use radios. They have a tone that gets broadcast and then the call center relays the information.”
“Hardly secure. Any journalist with a police scanner can pick it up and be at the scene before the department has even responded.”
“Why do you think they’re using pagers here? And not just journalists. Anyone with a scanner can know who’s just been called out of their house in the middle of the night.”
“Can you imagine? You live in some small town where everyone knows you. You get called out to a fire and come back hours later to find your stereo’s gone because some thief with a scanner knows you live alone and that you’ll be out for a few hours.”
“If they used them here it could be harder to pin down a rape suspect.”
A tingling sensation worked its way down Ashlyn’s spine. “Anyone could know whose wife was home alone…. Scary.”
“Maybe the departments will catch up to the twenty-first century before the rapists catch on and start relocating.”
“Well, it doesn’t have any bearing on this case. Whoever’s doing this has to be connected to the department. There’s rotation for who’s on call and who isn’t.”
“Hopefully I can get that information from Quinlan tomorrow.”
“You’re starting rotation then?”
He nodded. “Two day shifts, followed by two night shifts. Four days on, four days off.”
“So do you get paid by the fire department and the police department while you’re doing this?”
Craig gave her a wry smile. “Be serious.”
“There should be something in it for you. After all, you’ve got a girlfriend to support now.”
“One with her own credit cards.”
“Did I ever tell you about the course I took in check forging?”
“Ashlyn…”
She spent the next twenty minutes or so
trying to occupy herself while Craig got his uniforms, inspecting every item the store sold, trying to feign interest in shopping while making mental notes of every guy who looked at her sideways while the salesclerk fussed over Craig.
What Burns Within Page 26
