Page 38 of Ashes to Ashes

Chapter Fifteen

Ash

Rae stormedinto my office waving her arm out in front of her like a woman possessed, her face red with fury and her other hand clenched at her side. “What the fuck is this all about?” She shoved her phone in myface.

“Whoa, hold up!” I grabbed the device and my eyes flicked over the screen, reading the text Charlotte had justsent.

I’m sorry I hung up on you, but I really don’t know anything. I just confronted Gage about what I’d overheard about your bed, and he told me to mind my own business. You really need to talk toAsh.

I handed the phone back to Rae and pushed my chair back, its wheels creaking over the uneven wood floor. Obviously, I’d given Gage too much credit for keeping an eye on Charlotte. I’d have to have a little chat with him about making sure she wasn’t eavesdropping on things she shouldn’tbe.

“You’re not even going to deny you’ve been keeping something fromme?”

I blew out a frustrated breath. “I was going to tell you. Eventually.”

“When?” Rae demanded.

When indeed? Instead of answering a question I didn’t have a concrete answer for, instead I deflected. “I made an executive decision and maybe you think it was the wrong one, but I stand byit.”

“Stand by what?” she asked, flinging her arms wide and pacing. “I don’t even know what you’re keeping fromme.”

I hadn’t filled Rae in on what Staufferson had relayed because I didn’t know what good it would do having her know that a fucking psycho had broken into her supposedly secured house and jizzed all over the place.

But now that she knew there’d been a complication, she deserved to know what it was. I notched my head toward the couch. “You’ll want to sit forthis.”

“No thank you, I’ll stand.” She crossed her arms angrily over her chest.

I ran my hand through my hair with a frustrated sigh. God, I hated this part of the job. Diplomats and businessmen who didn’t care about the details of their protection were much more my style. All they wanted to know was that I was taking care of whatever they’d hired me to do. But Rae? Not her. She wanted to know every minor detail about her case and maybe that was her right as the client, but she should be getting those updates from her manager or from the police. I was just the protection as far as I was concerned.

That’s bullshit and you know it, a more reasonable part of my brain argued.

And yeah, I did know it. Which is why I said, “Staufferson called yesterday with an update.”

“I thought you said those calls happened every Monday and Friday at three o’clock unless there was new information worth sharing.”

I raised my eyebrow.

“Oh, right.”

I linked my fingers and rested my palms flat against my stomach. “The cops are still on the lookout for this guy, but they’re stretched thin and can’t devote the necessary resources to case. You really should talk to Dermott about letting us take over everything.”

“Tell me what happened first.”

“Look Rae, can’t you just accept that we’re keeping you safe and you don’t need to know the particulars? You really don’t want to know what’s going on. Trust me, just let itgo.”

Rae canted her head and chewed her lip. Her eyes studied me and a myriad of emotions passed over her face. I watched them all as she came to her decision—anger, frustration, worry, reluctance, hesitancy, then resolve—and knew I’dlost.

Without her having to say so, I rested my forearms on my thighs and started talking. “Your stalker broke into your house the day before yesterday.”

“How’d he get inside?” she asked with a mixture of shock and incredulity. “Staufferson said they’d placed a patrol car outside my gates?”

“That was a couple of weeks ago, Rae. When this asshole went quiet for awhile, they reassigned the team to a more pressing case. Los Angeles is a big place, and there are a lot of murders to investigate. I’m afraid your stalker isn’t high on their list of priorities rightnow.”

“Fuck,” she whispered and then swiped her hand across her mouth, as if to wipe away the distaste of her home being violated. And then her eyes started watering.

“And that right there is why I decided not to tell you,” I said, pointing at her. “You’re safe out here with me, and besides there’s nothing you can do back in L.A. Now you’re terrified all over again and for no reason.”

Rae’s eyes brimmed with tears. When our gazes locked, I hardened my heart against her disquiet. “Charlotte mentioned something about my bed. What happenedAsh?”

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