by Terri Reed
“Sounds like a good plan,” Daniel said. “I’ll take first watch after seeing to Mrs. Marsh.”
“No, I will,” Alex said.
The sheriff held up a hand. “You two work it out.” He turned to Ashley and Chase. “Shall we?”
Bemused by the way these people were willing to circle around her to provide a protective bubble, Ashley blinked back tears of gratitude.
She wasn’t sure why God had seen fit to grace her with such a gift. She prayed, as she followed the sheriff and Chase into the sheriff’s office, that none of them would regret their decision to help her.
SIX
“How will you get your truck back?” Ashley asked from the passenger seat of the sheriff’s personal vehicle as Chase drove them through Bristle Township. Overhead, the sky was filled with stars and the temperature had dropped.
Noticing Ashley shiver, Chase cranked up the heat. “Tomorrow I’ll buy a new tire and have Mack, the local auto mechanic and tow truck operator, bring it back to town.”
Chase hoped a new tire was all that would be required. He hadn’t taken the time to assess the damage before he and Ashley had fled into the woods.
“I’m really sorry about all of this,” she said softly.
He turned off the main road onto the Quinns’ gravel driveway. He slowed the sedan and reached to take Ashley’s hand. “It’s going to all work out.”
She gave him a sad smile before turning her gaze to the side window. She didn’t believe him. Was it that hard for her to trust? Not that he’d given her much reason to place her faith in him. But he was determined to do everything in his power to keep her safe.
Withdrawing her hand from his, she made a sweeping gesture to the ranch laid out before them. “This is really nice.”
An L-shaped main house sat off to the right side of the long gravel road with a large patch of green grass in the front yard. A corral and pasture were to the left of the driveway, along with a barn and smaller house. “Is it all Leslie’s?”
“The spread belongs to her parents, but they are off traveling the world,” Chase told her. “Her dad had a medical scare a while ago. Leslie returned home from Europe to help her mom and stayed after he recovered. She lives in the guesthouse now.”
He pulled the vehicle to a halt next to Kaitlyn’s truck in front of the guesthouse, which was more of a one-story cottage.
Ashley popped open the passenger door, grabbing her duffel bag from between her feet. “Thank you, Chase. For everything.”
She hopped out before he could respond.
He climbed out and hurried to catch up to her. Placing his hand at the small of her back, he walked her to the door, like they were returning from a date or something. A strange sort of uncertainty and anticipation that he couldn’t explain ignited his blood.
When they stopped outside the cottage’s closed door, she gazed up at him, her pretty eyes filled with gentle concern. “Please, go home and get some rest. We both need to recover from the day.”
Tenderness filled his chest. Here she was lecturing him, when he should have been lecturing her about resting and taking care of herself. She was the civilian, not the one trained to handle stressful situations. But he had to admit, he liked her worrying about him, liked the warm and fuzzy feeling of knowing she cared about his well-being. An unexpected yearning to have her affection and attention gripped him.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He skimmed his knuckle down her petal soft cheek. “You shouldn’t have had to go through all of this. I’m sorry for what happened.”
She put her hand on his chest, creating a warm spot over his heart. “You’re taking on unnecessary guilt. Don’t do that. You protected me and saved my life. End of story.”
He covered her hand, marveling at how she was so generous and compassionate with everyone but herself. “I don’t think it will be the end of the story. This Maksim Sokolov is awfully determined.”
She glanced away, slipping her hand from beneath his and leaving an ache in its place. “I wish I’d never brought this to your door.”
Wishing she wouldn’t blame herself, he hooked a finger under her chin and drew her gaze back to him. “Now, you don’t do that. The thought of you facing this danger alone...” A shudder of dread tripped down his spine. “I want to help you. To protect you.”
To kiss you.
The errant thought nearly buckled his knees. His heart pounded in his ears. The vulnerability in her eyes tugged at him.
She seemed to lean toward him as if silently willing him to reassure her. Giving him permission to kiss her?
It would be so easy to close the gap and press his lips to hers. The longing pulsing through his veins was stronger than anything he’d experienced before for any other woman. He was captivated by Ashley in ways that both terrified and thrilled him. Her innate kindness, compassion and bravery were alluring.
But giving in to his yearning and taking advantage of her vulnerable state of mind wouldn’t be honorable. He prided himself on always doing the right thing. Now was not the time to make an exception.
Clearing his throat, he took a half step back, putting some much-needed distance between them while he regained his composure. “Daniel and Alex will take turns guarding the ranch’s entrance while Kaitlyn and I are here with you and Leslie.”
She cocked her head for a moment and a slow smile touched on her pretty lips. “You really are a good guy.”
Had his expression given him away? Had she known he’d fought the urge to kiss her? Had she wanted him to? He’d have to be more careful.
He turned to the door and knocked lightly. The door opened immediately to reveal Leslie and Kaitlyn crowding the entryway. Clearly, they’d been hovering, waiting for Ashley.
“Come in,” Leslie said to Ashley.
Ashley put her hand on his arm, keeping him from leaving. “We’ll be okay. You really don’t have to stay.”
“It isn’t a matter of having to,” he replied. He focused on Kaitlyn. “I’m going to walk the perimeter.”
He moved back, allowing Ashley to enter the house. He needed a moment alone with God to figure out what he was going to do about his growing attachment and affections for the woman he needed to protect.
* * *
Ashley shut the front door with a soft click. The two women stared at her with similar expressions of mirth and anticipation on their faces.
A flush heated Ashley’s cheeks. For some reason embarrassment squirmed through her. “What?”
Leslie grinned. She’d changed from her pantsuit into black yoga pants and a deep purple T-shirt, and had pulled her honey blond hair out of its bun to hang loose around her shoulders. “For a minute there, we were hoping...expecting...”
Kaitlyn shook her head, setting her dark blond curls shimmering around her face. She wasn’t dressed nearly as casually as the other woman. Kaitlyn wore well-worn jeans and a light green Henley-style, long sleeve shirt with the sleeves pushed to the elbows. Her badge and holster were at her waist. “Chase blew it. We thought for sure he was going to kiss you.”
So had Ashley. But then he’d stepped away, dashing her hope. He was a man of integrity. And evidently kissing his star witness wasn’t in his wheelhouse. She should have been grateful he’d called a halt when she wouldn’t have had the strength. She wanted to kiss him. Wanted to believe she was worthy of his attention, despite knowing it was better this way. It would make leaving easier not to have any sort of romantic attachment to Chase.
But how had the ladies known he had almost kissed her? “Were you two spying on us?”
Leslie’s grin widened.
Kaitlyn shrugged, totally unrepentant. “The window is cracked open. We could hear and see everything.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “Okay, you guys, stop. Nothing is happening between Chase and me.”
Only problem was she kind of wanted someth
ing to happen between them. She wished he had kissed her. A missed opportunity that might not occur again. She sighed inwardly. She knew there could never be anything between her and the handsome deputy. Not only were they from totally different worlds, but he’d made it clear he was happy with the way his life was now.
Besides, regardless of what the Los Angeles district attorney said about her staying put, at some point she was leaving this town, whether on her own or with an escort to LA. It would be better for everyone if she didn’t get too emotionally involved. She was relying on him to keep her safe. But she couldn’t give him her heart.
Leslie tucked her arm through Ashley’s and drew her to the couch in the living room where she sat beside her. “I want to know all about you.”
Kaitlyn moved to the window and looked out before securing the latch and making sure the curtains were completely closed. Was she expecting something to happen tonight? Chase was out there. Would he be safe?
As her heart rate ticked up, Ashley asked the female deputy, “Alex will be close by, right?”
“I think Daniel is taking first watch,” Leslie stated.
“That’s right,” Kaitlyn confirmed. “And you’ll have me and Chase here in case anyone gets by Daniel.”
Sinking deeper into the cushions, Ashley asked, “Where will Daniel station himself?”
“At the entrance to the driveway.” Kaitlyn perched herself on the arm of the couch. “You don’t have to worry. You’re safe.”
Taking a deep breath, Ashley tried to calm her racing heart. She had to trust these people, but she wanted to think about something other than the danger she was in. Curious about the people she’d surrounded herself with, Ashley met Leslie’s gaze. “So...you and Daniel? You two have history, I take it.”
Leslie curled her lip. “Yes, there is history. We practically grew up together. His family’s ranch borders ours. And with our last names of Q and R, we were always table mates in school.”
“And you dated,” Kaitlyn interjected.
Leslie rolled her eyes. “You can’t call attending one homecoming event dating. And we only went because our parents insisted, but he was a jerk then and he’s a jerk now.”
Ashley frowned. “Daniel doesn’t come across as a jerk.” But she couldn’t speak to what he’d been like in high school.
Leslie waved Ashley off. “Enough about me. I want your story. Where did you grow up? How did you end up in Bristle Township and why is somebody trying to kill you? Who—”
Ashley held up a hand and turned to Kaitlyn for help.
“She can’t really talk about the case,” Kaitlyn said by means of rescue.
“It’s not like I’ll tell anybody,” Leslie said. “You don’t trust me?”
“Of course I trust you,” Kaitlyn said. “It’s just somehow the bad guys seem to know our every move. So if you don’t know anything, then you can’t slip up. And you can’t tell anybody that she’s staying here.”
Leslie frowned. “Of course not. Although Maya also knows she’s here, but I trust her not to say anything, either.”
A soft knock on the front door had Ashley’s nerves jumping. Kaitlyn strode to the door, her hand on her weapon. She peeked through the peephole, then relaxed and opened the door for Chase to enter.
Overwhelmed by how relieved she was to see him, Ashley rose. She needed some distance and rest. “I am exhausted. I promise I’ll fill you all in on my past some other time.”
Leslie stood and gestured toward the hall. “I’ll show you where you’re sleeping.”
With a nod and smile to Chase, Ashley followed Leslie to a large bedroom. “Is this your room? I can’t put you out of your own bed.”
Leslie waved away her protest. “Nonsense. You need sleep. We’ll camp in the living room.” She gestured to a door. “Restroom’s in there. Towels under the sink. We’ll see you in the morning.”
After Leslie left, Ashley showered and dressed in long flannel pants and a matching shirt that she’d purchased at Leslie’s store for Christmas. Turning out the light, she prayed and then tried to sleep but her mind raced with nervous energy.
Finally, sometime after midnight, she couldn’t take her sleeplessness anymore and padded out to the living room to find Leslie painting her toenails, Kaitlyn watching the news with the sound turned off and Chase sitting at the dining room table with a laptop open. His expression went from grim to commiserating when he lifted his gaze to her. “Can’t sleep?”
Ashley shook her head. “I’m too nervous about tomorrow. Mind if I get a glass of water?”
“Help yourself,” Leslie called out. “Glasses are in the cupboard next to the sink. There’s filtered water in the refrigerator door.”
“Thanks.” Ashley went to the kitchen, found a short glass in the cupboard and rinsed it at the sink. Having grown up in the Mojave Desert, she’d formed the habit of always rinsing her utensils and drinking cups to wash away the dust. As she turned off the faucet, movement in the window above the sink caught her eye. Unlike the front window, there were no curtains or blinds for Kaitlyn to close. Ashley frowned, going on tiptoe to peer out.
A dark figure appeared in the window. Only the whites of the person’s eyes were visible in the ambient light.
Startled, she screamed and she dropped the glass she held as she ducked to a crouch. The sound of glass shattering in the sink echoed through the house and assaulted her ears.
Chase and Kaitlyn ran into the kitchen. “What is it?”
Recovering from her fright, Ashley realized she’d dropped the glass into the metal sink and thankfully not on the floor. Cautiously, she rose and pointed at the window. “There was someone out there.”
Kaitlyn grasped Ashley’s bicep and pulled her into the living room. “Leslie, take Ashley into the bathroom and lock the door.”
Leslie was already moving with her phone in her hand. “I’ll call Daniel.”
Chase had his weapon drawn. “Stay here,” he said to Kaitlyn. “Don’t let anyone in.”
Kaitlyn nodded, her gun at the ready. “Be careful.”
Ashley’s heart tore as Chase disappeared out the back door in pursuit of the intruder. Then Leslie was tugging her into the bathroom.
Sinking to the floor, the heavy weight of distress spread through her body. She’d put these people in danger by staying here. She sent up a plea to God to keep them safe.
* * *
As Chase’s eyes adjusted to the dark, he searched for the prowler. The dark shadows made his quest difficult. Bushes lined the sidewall, providing numerous places of concealment. His nerves stretched tight with readiness. Cautiously, he stalked forward, wishing he’d grabbed a flashlight. He wanted—no, needed—to find this intruder.
A wisp of noise on his left provided a split-second warning. He spun, bringing his gun up just as something metal crashed down on his right forearm. Pain exploded through his system and his hand went limp, his gun falling to the ground.
A person dressed all in black rushed at him.
Calling on his one year of high school football as a defensive guard, Chase dropped his shoulder and met the assailant’s charge, taking him off his feet and propelling him backward onto the ground with an audible thud.
A siren rent the air, signaling that Daniel was arriving.
Before Chase could secure his attacker, the man rolled to his side, got his feet beneath him and bolted, running away from the cottage toward the pasture that stretched for acres in darkness.
Breathing hard, Chase picked up his weapon with his nondominant hand and contemplated firing after the suspect but he couldn’t see the target. Awkwardly, he returned his weapon to its holster, then massaged his forearm where he’d sustained the blow. No doubt the tire iron lying on the ground had been the assailant’s choice of weapon.
A moment later, a Sheriff’s Department cruiser pulled to a stop an
d Daniel jumped out.
“What’s going on?” he asked, as he raced to Chase’s side. “Leslie said there was an intruder.”
“One perpetrator. He got away,” Chase said and recounted the incident.
“No way could we have anticipated an attacker coming at the house through the field in the dark,” Daniel stated.
Logically, Chase agreed that he and the other deputies couldn’t have secured all access points of the hundred-plus acre spread. But it made him so mad that the men hunting Ashley had even known she was here at the Quinn ranch. It was like Maksim Sokolov had eyes and ears everywhere. And everything Chase had read online about Maksim Sokolov had chilled Chase’s bones.
The guy was a ruthless gangster with ties not only to Eastern Europe but to the Colombian cartel. His name was associated with gunrunning, drug smuggling, prostitution and murder.
And he always managed to evade the law.
Chase remembered Ashley saying that Gregor, the man who’d helped her disappear, had told her not to trust the police because Sokolov owned many of them. Anger burned in Chase’s chest. That an officer of the law, who’d sworn an oath to protect and serve, would join forces with the likes of someone like Sokolov made Chase’s blood run cold. Dirty cops were a blight on all law enforcement agencies.
He trusted his fellow deputies and the sheriff. He was confident none would reveal Ashley’s location. Not intentionally.
But clearly Sokolov had spies in town. And Ashley wouldn’t be safe until the man was locked away for good.
Daniel eyed him. “You okay?”
“My ego is more bruised than I am.” Keeping his arm tight against his middle, Chase headed back inside, informing Kaitlyn of the escaped intruder.
“You chased him away,” she said. “That’s a win in my book.”
He grunted his disagreement.
Kaitlyn went down the hall and returned a moment later with Leslie and Ashley following close behind.
Chase’s gaze collided with Ashley’s. Her eyes lit up, sending a ribbon of affection unfurling through his system. In three long strides, he met her halfway. Silently, she slipped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his chest.
