Page 7 of Ashes to Ashes

For a second, I thought Gage wasn’t going to take it, but then he did and the awkward moment passed. “Nice to meet you Miss Jones,” he replied as the elevator came to astop.

When the door opened, he pulled his hand from hers and stepped aside to let me pass. I shot him an apologetic smile and Gage smirked, then dragged his blue eyes to my best friend. The look he gave her was one of exasperation, amusement, and … heat.

Interesting.

“Warsaw will take it from here,” he said as he moved back into the recesses of the elevator and the doors closed, ending our brief time with JulianGage.

“Let me guess,”Charlotte said, eyeing the new man. Like Gage, he wore a black suit paired with a crisp, black button down and a black tie. “Your last name is Warsaw?”

But unlike Gage, Warsaw was much more forthcoming with his smiles—and with information. He flashed us a dimpled grin and his brilliant white teeth stood out in stark contrast to his mocha skin. “No ma’am, I was born there. My daddy was a diplomat and my mama his next-door neighbor. The rest, as they say, is history. Now if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to meet Mr. McClintock. Your manager is already with him,” he said, catching myeye.

“So, it is Mr. McClintock,” Charlotte whispered triumphantly as we were led to a glass-enclosed conferenceroom.

I was beginningto form a definitive opinion about Mr. McClintock’s bare bones aesthetics. His men wore head to toe black, while the room we were meeting in was like a giant glass box—glass walls, glass windows, shiny glass table … even the whiteboard was made of glass! And don’t get me started on the giant crystal sculpture sitting in the corner of the room. I did not envy his cleaninglady.

When Charlotte and I entered,Rocky and the man next to him stood to attention. Surprise, surprise—another blacksuit.

“Hello Ms. Griffin,” he said, extending his hand over the table. “I’m Dermott McClintock.”

“Nice to meet you Mr. McClintock, but please, call meRae.”

I settled in my chair and he did the same. “Fine, but only if you agree to drop the mister.”

“Agreed.”

“Rocky filled me in on your situation and I want to assure you we don’t take these threats lightly. Unfortunately, celebrity stalking has become all too common. Personally, I think social media plays a large part in these behaviors—twenty-four seven access to your favorite stars doesn’t sit well on some personalities—but regardless of why people develop these fixations, we work with our clients to make sure they don’t impact your life any more than they alreadyhave.”

“Thank you.” The last time I’d had a security detail, I hadn’t been involved in the process. Now, I wasn’t sure what sort of role I was supposed to play. Did I just sit here and nod? For want of knowing, that’s what Idid.

“I have a team at your house now going over it with a fine-toothed comb, looking for details the police might have missed. While Detective Staufferson will want to catch whoever is behind this, it’s my experience his department doesn’t have the best resources at their disposal. It’s nothing against him—Jason is a fine, honorable man—but budgets can only stretch so far. On the other hand, we have access to all of the latest and most innovative technologies on the market—and off. Through this, my team is often able to uncover evidence that would otherwise go overlooked.”

To my surprise, Charlotte went from a giggling companion to a bulldog in the blink of an eye. “That’s great, but we don’t really need a rehash of your qualifications. You’ve been hired because we already know all that. What we need is your assurance that you can keep Rae safe, that you’ll find who is behind these threats and put a stop toit.”

“Charlotte,” I said, laying my hand on her arm to calm her. “I’m sure he was going to get to that. Why don’t you let him finish?”

Charlotte sat back and crossed her arms. “Fine.” Then, under her breath she muttered, “Sorry.” She hated apologizing more than anyone else I knew; the fact that she’d done so, even if it came out sounding half-hearted, meant it was genuine.

“Please, go on,” I encouraged the man who’d be responsible for my safety for the foreseeable future. “I’d like to know what the planis.”

McClintock shuffled some papers, then cleared his throat and met my stare. “Surveillance is only one part of the equation. An important one, yes, but all the surveillance in the world doesn’t matter if you don’t also have protection. Rocky and I have spent the last hour putting a plan in place that we both think you can live with. Starting tonight, you and Charlotte will stay at the apartment upstairs—”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Just a minute, Rae. Before you blow your top,” Rocky interjected, “I’ve already checked it out, and this place is nicer than most hotels you’ve stayed in while on the road. It’s certainly a damn sight nicer than your tour bus. You’ll be comfortable here until we can move you to the safe house.”

Chills ran down the back of my neck and the hair on my arms stood at attention. “The safe house?” I squeaked.

McClintock took control of the conversation. “You will be flown by private jet, accompanied by your personal guard, to a safe house on Monday. That gives us a few days to prepare it for your arrival. This particular one comes equipped with a small recording studio. Rocky was very explicit about that requirement.

“Now, Ms. Jones,” McClintock continued, turning to Charlotte, “while you haven’t been threatened directly, whoever is after Ms. Griffin knows how close the two of you are. No one wants to take any chances with your safety.” He cleared his throat again. “While this isn’t what you were expecting, it’s our recommendation that you leave town too—at least for a short while. We’ve assigned you a guard as well. You’ll be placed in a different location.”

“You can’t do that!” I pushed out of my chair and slapped my palms on the table. “Charlotte and I are a package deal. I can’t live in a house with no one but a goon to keep me company.”

“I understand why you feel that way,” McClintock answered, his voice laced with sympathy. “But I’m afraid this is non-negotiable, and Rocky has already agreed.”

“Rocky?” I asked, my eyes finding his guiltyones.

“It’s harder to protect two people at the same time,” my manager explained. “We don’t know that Charlotte is in danger, but it’s not worth taking the risk. Keeping you both safe is my number one priority, Rae, and I trust McClintock’s team to do that. If this is the best way to accomplish that, we need to go along with it.” I flicked my eyes between the two men who’d already decided my fate, and tried to find a loophole in their logic. And then inspiration struck.

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