I laughed. “You guys have any openings? Because it sounds like I might need a job.”
Frank’s phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket. He pulled up a message, read it, and tapped out a response.
“Who’s that?”
“Richard’s fiancée, Jessica. She’s bringing clothes so you don’t have to show up for the interview looking like a low-rent lumberjack or a hobo.”
My eyes went wide as I pulled in my lips. “Oh? She’s so sweet!”
“She’s pretty sure she has some clothes that should fit you. Should be here in just a few minutes.”
“I should probably shower then, shouldn’t I?”
“Yep. Just another hour or so before our meeting with Sheriff Peak.”
I was still uncertain of how everything was going to play out. What if he tried to back me into a corner on something and I incriminated myself? I nodded. “Yeah.” I paused, nodded again. “Yeah. Let’s get this over with. Maybe then we can start to put this all behind us, right?”
“Reckon I agree,” he said with a nod. “Wholeheartedly.”
Chapter Thirty-four - Frank
Telling Ashley most of everything had been like pushing a stack of sandbags off my chest. I felt like I could breathe. Better than that, I could even see myself thinking about the future. At least farther ahead than the next job that was dropped into my lap by Peter.
Jessica Long came by, a makeup bag over one shoulder and a stack of clothes in the other, as well as a plastic bag full of shoes dangling from one finger. Ashley had gotten out of the shower a little while before and was in my room trying on a couple different outfits. Jessica came stepping out of the bedroom, brushing a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear as she approached me and Richard at the kitchen table.
“Want some coffee, babe?” Richard asked, getting up from his chair.
“No, no,” she said as she pulled out the chair across from me and sat down, “I’m fine. So, you and Ashley, huh? Richard says you found your mate?”
I grinned. “Guess so. Surprised the hell out of me, that’s for damn sure.”
“She’s a good one.”
“Yep.”
“So…” she began slowly, but stopped. It was like she was searching for just the exact words needed. “Have you told her?” she asked, emphasizing the word “told.”
Richard and I looked at each other.
She leaned in close. “About you being a freaking wolf.”
I sat back in my chair and scratched my chin. “Not, uh, exactly. We had some other things to work out first.”
Jessica and Richard exchanged glances. “You know,” she said, “that’s kind of a huge bomb. One you don’t necessarily want to just drop on a girl after you’ve been dating a while.”
I leaned in. “Ain’t exactly something you wanna talk about before the first date, neither.”
“She needs to know,” Jessica said, her voice almost a hiss. “It almost didn’t work between me and Richard.”
“But it did, didn’t it?” I asked.
“Because he fucking saved my life, Frank!”
“Well, I’ve already done that part of it, haven’t I?”
She rolled her eyes. “Richard, can you help me out here?”
My pack mate, her fiancé, just sipped his coffee. Sensible man, that one, not wanting to get in the middle of this. He set his coffee down. “Think I’m going to give Peter a call, let him know the status on everything.”
Jessica huffed and rolled her eyes as he got up from the table, taking his coffee with him. She followed him with a narrow gaze as he stepped out onto the balcony. When he disappeared, she swiveled her gaze back on me like a fifty caliber machine gun. “Well, I still think you should tell her sooner rather than later.”
I tried not to shrink beneath that gaze of hers, but damn, it was hard. I felt myself sink lower in my seat. “Fine. Do you want me to do it before she talks to the cops? Or after? We’re still in the middle of a case, you know, and her life still may be in danger. Your fiancé and I weren’t exactly staying up all night playing Yahtzee here. We were on guard duty.”
She made a placating gesture with her hands. “Okay. I understand that. But soon, Frank. You need to let her know soon. It might be second nature to you, but it’s awfully strange to everyone who isn’t a shifter. It’s not exactly like you guys are just part of the Elk’s Lodge or something. It’s pretty earth-shattering to find out.”
“Why?” I asked. “It’s not like you come home and Richard’s just lounging around on the couch as a wolf or chewing up your shoes or anything, is he?”
She raised an eyebrow and gave me a look.
“You’ve got be shitting me. Really? He lays around on the couch?”
“I’ve found wolf hair.” She took a sip of coffee. “He says it’s just from Eli and Wallach, but I know better.”
I laughed. The idea of Richard lounging around in his wolf form with the dogs in her living room was just absurd. “Well, until you catch him, I guess you don’t have any proof.”
She made a face. “Well, that’s not the point. It’s like telling someone gravity only exists most of the time, or, I don’t know, that some men can turn into wolves.”
“Women, too.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Tell her as soon as you can. Okay?”
“Okay, Jessica. I will.”
“Promise me, Frank.”
“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “I promise. I’ll tell her as soon as this is over. No waiting for her to find out because my wolf hair ends up on the couch. Okay?”
She nodded, breathed a sigh of relief. “I guess. I think that’s the best I’m going to get out of you, anyways.”
I gave her a grin and decided to change the subject. “Think those clothes will fit her?”
She gave me a small shrug. “We’re both about the same size. I don’t know if it’ll be appropriate, though. All I could find was a nice blouse and some slacks.”
“You honestly think her normal wardrobe would have been more appropriate?”
“Ironically, no, probably not. But under normal circumstances she could’ve at least gone down to Durango to go shopping.”
As Jessica finished her sentence, Ashley came bustling out of the bedroom. “What do you guys think?” she called as she came into the kitchen. Her eyes went well with the dark blue blouse she’d chosen, and the black slacks were about as somber as you could get for a police interview. She gave a little spin. “I thought to myself, ‘W-W-B-H-D.’ What Would Barbara Hacks Do?”
I chuckled as Jessica and I nodded approvingly. “Looks good,” Jessica said.
“There are heels to match this, right?”
“Flats. But, yeah, should be in the bag.”
I picked up my cell and checked the time. We were getting close to our appointment time, and Sheriff Peak hated nothing more than being kept waiting. “Ladies, I hate to cut this episode of business-eye for the trust fund girl short, but reckon we better hurry this along.”
“Right,” Jessica said, getting up from the table. “I’ll find your shoes. You start getting your makeup on.”
“Got it,” Ashley said, then went shuffling back through the kitchen on her stocking-ed feet.
I got up and poured myself some more coffee, then headed out onto the balcony to join Richard. I stopped with the door pulled halfway open. “And be conservative with the makeup!”
“I know what I’m doing, Frank!”
I grinned and went out onto the balcony.
Richard stood there, both hands on the railing of the balcony.
“Peter say we’re all good still?”
Richard nodded. “Yep. Still on. Still nothing on the names, though. Lacy picked up some interesting info on that Simon Falkowski buddy of yours, though. You know he worked with Bridgewater before going down to Brazil?”
Bridgewater had been one of the myriad of private contractors that operated throughout Iraq in ‘04 and ‘05 before being effectivel
y kicked out of the country by the Iraqi government due to “excessive force.” I tried to steer clear of guys like them while I was over there. Most of them seemed to have a “shoot first, ask questions second” kind of mindset. They barely had any rules of engagement they followed, and they seemed to prefer it that way.
“What about these Eagle Eye people he’s working with?”
“He’s actually a partner,” Richard said. “Set it up with a number of old co-workers.”
“Lemme guess. Guys he worked with at Bridgewater.”
“Got it in one, bucko.”
“Shit. So a bunch of paramilitary guys are helping out M Three to hunt down its primary partner. Anything else?”
“Nothing yet. No cartel members have checked into any clinics–”
“–ain’t exactly a surprise.”
“And no more info on your Russian.”
I took a sip of coffee and leaned back against the railing. “What I don’t understand is where the hell her father went. You know? He’s headed this way, right? At least, that’s what they say, and we’ll take them at their word, I guess.”
“Why else would they be here?”
I nodded. “Exactly. So where the fuck is he? Our littlest hacker dig up anything on other properties? Places he might be hanging out?”
He shook his head. “Nope, still nothing. Only thing we can find that’s even vaguely connected to him is the cabin Ashley was staying in. Hell, Lacy even got hold of his credit cards, and those stopped getting charged east of the Mississippi. He made a large cash withdrawal, and then he just went off the grid.”
“How big?”
“About five grand.”
“Ain’t even walking around money for Maxwell.”
“And definitely isn’t enough for him to get out of the country and start a new life.”
I shook my head. “Hear ya on that.”
“So, what, then? He just disappeared?”
“Dunno. I mean, I could start a new life on five grand but it ain’t gonna be a nice one.”
“Well, my bet’s on him still being around. Plenty of places to hide around here.”
“Unless someone got him already. Who’s to say the Russians and the cartel are the only ones hunting this guy?”
“Don’t forget the FBI.”
I looked back through the window into the living room, to Jessica and Ashley talking in the kitchen. I just shook my head. This was going to screw Ashley up something fierce by the time everything was said and done. And the longer it dragged on, the worse it would be. Right now, she was handling it pretty well, but I had a feeling that was just because of her and me. If I hadn’t been here with a shoulder to cry on, there was no telling what kind of world of hurt she’d be in. Especially with those two harpies, Elizabeth and Barbara Hacks, in her life.
“Yeah,” I said after a long while. “Can’t forget the suits. Second you do, they might come after you.”
Richard nodded and straightened up from the balcony railing. “I know I didn’t say anything in there earlier, but–”
“You sure as shit are now.”
“–you gotta tell her, man.”
“I know, pardner,” I said, taking a sip of my dwindling coffee. “I know. Like I said, let’s get through this interview with the sheriff, then we’ll see where this rabbit hole leads us. Alright?”
He nodded. “Alright. But don’t say we didn’t warn you.”
Chapter Thirty-five - Ashley
“You’ve got this, Ashley, you’ve got this, Ashley, you’ve got this, Ashley.”
“What are you muttering?” Frank asked as we sat in the lobby of Sheriff Peak’s office.
It wasn’t much of a lobby, really. Just a handful of seats pressed up against a wall in an old, wooden building on Main Street. Just over a short barrier were a few desks, mostly empty except for the one occupied by Deputy Glick, who was on the phone following up on leads about the cartel members. From the frustration in his voice, though, he wasn’t getting anywhere.
“How can you even hear me?” I asked.
“Good ears, is all. You gonna be able to handle this? I mean, we can postpone it if we really need to.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to postpone it. I just want to get this over with and move on with everything. I didn’t have any part in anything, and I want it all to be over.”
He reached down, grabbed my hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Well, when you go in there, just be honest, much as you can. Okay? Peak’s a good guy, like my boss said. He’s not going to try and trick you up. He knows you weren’t going to go shooting up your own property, especially after a break-in. Okay?”
I nodded, biting my lip. “Right.”
“And, if all that fails, just turn on some of that east coast charm of yours.”
I laughed. “I don’t think he’ll take kindly to my city slicker ways.”
“You might be surprised by us country folk.”
Sheriff Peak came out of the back office, one thumb hooked into the front of his belt, his bald head shining beneath the yellow lighting and the sun just barely coming in through the windows. “Ms. Maxwell?” he asked, adding a Z to the end of miss.
I went to stand. “Sheriff.”
“Thank you for coming down, ma’am. We just had a few questions we wanted to ask, that’s all.”
I nodded and walked through the little gap in the short wooden fence, and followed him back into his office.
The office was dominated by a big, solid desk. Not as big as the one my father had in his office back in Manhattan, but pretty close. This one had a lighter, nuttier color to it, though, and not the rich mahogany like father’s. The rest of the office looked like it was one part western museum, two part hunter’s trophy room. An old rifle like the ones they used in the John Wayne movies hung on the wall behind the desk, just over the sheriff’s chair. On the right was a big, growling wolf’s head.
“Please, ma’am, have a seat.”
I took a seat in one of the two wooden chairs right in front of the desk as he shut the door behind us. The springs of the leather-clad seat cushion whined as I sat down, and a moment of worry that I’d go crashing through to the floor passed through my mind. “Anything to help, Sheriff.”
“Now, Ms. Maxwell,” he said as he came around and took a seat behind the desk, “I really just had a few questions.”
Before he could ask them, though, we both heard a loud voice outside in the office. “But I was told to be here at 9:30. Why isn’t this incompetent asshole of a sheriff ready to see me?”
I knew that voice. It was the bimbo!
“Now, Mrs. Maxwell,” Deputy Glick replied, his voice rising a little despite his obvious attempt to control himself, “like I just said, the sheriff is with someone else at the moment. If you’ll have a seat, he’ll be right with you.”
“But,” the bimbo said, “my appointment was for 9:30.”
“And I understand that, ma’am, but it’s only 9:10.”
Sheriff Peak sighed like he was used to this kind of thing. He had to be when he dealt with as many tourists as he did. “Sorry, ma’am. I’ll be right back. Lemme just handle this real quick.”
“Good luck,” I said, my voice not much louder than a mumble.
He got up and came around his desk, stepping out into the small open desk space outside. He left the door slightly ajar, allowing me to hear everything that was said.
“Sheriff Peak?”
“Mrs. Maxwell? If you’ll just have a seat, I’ll get right to you. I’m currently going over some questions with your stepdaughter, and it’ll just be a moment.”
“Well, why can’t we just switch our appointments? I have a meeting I need to attend at ten o’clock, and I absolutely must be on time.”
“I can understand that,” Sheriff Peak replied. “But if you’d known about this meeting, shouldn’t you have scheduled a different time? Seems like the reasonable thing to do.”
I rolled my eyes.
>
“I would have, but I only found out about this meeting this morning. Could you just give me a moment to talk to my stepdaughter, see if she’d be willing to exchange times with me?”
“Well, I don’t see how that’d be fair to anyone, Mrs. Maxwell.”
“Please, Sheriff? Just give me a moment?”
Sheriff Peak sighed. “Well, if it’ll just take a moment, I don’t see why not.”
As soon as I heard her designer heels clicking on the hardwood floor as she walked towards the office, I put on my bitch face and stood up. I turned and faced the door, ready.
The bimbo opened the door, her clearly expensive pantsuit perfectly pressed. She looked like she was ready to take on Wall Street, not some small town sheriff.
“Ashley?” Elizabeth asked sweetly as she came in, both hands carefully holding her clutch bag in front of her.
“What?”
“Honey, would you mind terribly if I took your appointment time? I have a meeting with the board at ten o’clock our time to discuss your father’s recent troubles, and–”
“No.”
My flat denial of her request was like a slap in the face, and she almost visibly recoiled at the blow.
“What?”
“Did you not hear me?” I said stoically. “No.”
“I can’t believe–”
“Wait. Your. Turn.”
“But, Ashley,” she said, coming forward a step, “you don’t understand, honey. I need to be on this call. It’s very important to all of us.”
I leaned forward. “What?” I asked in a harsh whisper only she could hear. “So you can keep conspiring with those assholes to cover up my father’s crimes?”
She sighed and carefully bit her lower lip and gave me a little nod. “Fine. I’ll just reschedule this little interview. Or see if they can meet me.”
I nodded. “Good. And don’t worry, we’re just going to talk about the cabin, the break-in, and the men who showed up trying to kill me.”
She pinched her lips together so tightly they pressed into a thin line. “That’s fine. Do you want to know what the board comes up with today?”
Frost Security: The Complete 5 Books Series Page 43
