Brutal Obsession (The Safeguard Series, Book One) (14 page)

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Why?

Why was his Ashlyn allowing others to make decisions for her? They were poisoning her against him…against their life together. All he wanted to do was shower her with the love and devotion she deserved; to see her relax after a hard day.

He needed to eliminate his enemies and get back what they had taken.

Once again, he was forced to commit a sin in the name of love. He would do so out of devotion, for she was the other half of his soul. The others had only been a pretense, a sham, to distract him from Ashlyn. He’d taught them a valuable lesson and now he had to teach others that he was to be taken seriously.

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I
t had taken
less than five minutes for Ashlyn to finally put on a bra and pack an overnight bag of clothes and toiletries, but at least a quarter of an hour to package up the files of the case she’d been working on, along with her laptop. Keane had been on his phone the entire time, coordinating with Coulter without going into specifics in case Agent West had missed a listening or audio device somewhere in Ashlyn’s apartment. It would have been less than a five percent chance, but stranger things had happened and this guy had penetrated a closed security system rather quickly.

“I’ll touch base when we’re free and clear of this place,” Keane advised over the annoying beeping sound indicating his phone was blowing up with texts and calls. No doubt Brody was trying to get ahold of him. “Meet us at zero seven hundred at the primary scheduled location.”

Keane didn’t have to give details of where. Coulter was well aware of Ashlyn’s court docket tomorrow and her need to be at the office. Things were going to have to change, but he understood that a federal prosecutor had to go through a certain amount of hoops to get dismissed from a case…not that he’d mentioned that to Ashlyn just yet. She’d gone into a mechanical mindset and was doing what was necessary without thinking of the overall picture so far.

“Ashlyn, we need to leave. Now.”

“One more thing,” Ashlyn said before hurrying back to her office. Keane waited impatiently, but took the extra time provided to look at his phone. Brody had messaged that he was doing his best to follow the footprint left by the IP address that the intruder had used to breach the firewall port, but that the originating signal was now showing China. They had all flipped the switch on this guy’s motor and it was only a matter of time before he crashed into a wall. It was Keane’s job to make sure Ashlyn wasn’t in the way when that happened. “Okay. Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe,” Keane answered vaguely, opening the door slowly and ensuring no one was out in the hallway. It was late, so it was doubtful they would run into anyone. “I’ll brief you once we’re underway. Jack is waiting downstairs, along with some friends of my boss. Just do as I instruct and we’ll get you somewhere secure. Do me a favor, though. Don’t look these guys in the eye.”

Ashlyn hoisted the strap of her overnight bag on one shoulder, while carrying her briefcase and purse on the other. Keane would have immediately taken her burden, but he needed the freedom of movement to reach for his weapon or respond to a threat if needed. He carried his black duffel go-bag in one hand, having shoved everything into it that he’d need. Jack could come back and retrieve his other bag, if necessary.

“Stay to my left,” Keane instructed quietly, closing the door behind them and walking down the deserted hallway. They made it to the elevator bank without a problem, but he wasn’t expecting a man to appear when the sliding doors glided open. It was one of Ashlyn’s neighbors, the one who’d been coming home when Keane and Coulter had been having a discussion out in the hallway. “Good evening.”

“Evening,” the man said with a nod, walking past the both of them without a second glance. “Excuse me.”

“Go,” Keane urged in a low voice, holding the doors open with his arm while Ashlyn walked into the elevator. He stepped in beside her, never turning his back while keeping his gaze fixated on the man strolling down the long hallway. Keane pressed the button for the lobby. “What’s his name?”

“Jim. No, Jerry,” Ashlyn corrected herself as she also stared straight ahead until the doors blocked her view. She immediately turned her attention to Keane. “He’s nice. He’s a veterinarian and also works at one of the emergency clinics down the street twice a week.”

“Everyone’s nice until you get to know them,” Keane counseled, not remembering the vet’s name on the list of neighbors. It was one more thing to check out and the list was growing with every passing minute. “We’re heading to your office.”

“What?” Ashlyn was still wearing her sweatpants, but she’d put on a pair of running shoes that had probably never been used for their actual purpose for which they had been constructed. She rarely had time to eat, let alone workout. Keane stepped in front of her as the doors to the elevator opened, revealing Jack. “Why? You’re not suggesting—”

“Ma’am, let me take those for you,” Jack said, interrupting what Keane knew to be an intense argument in the making. Ashlyn needed to disappear for a couple of weeks and the only way to make that happen was for her to hand over her current caseload to another federal prosecutor. “The car is right out front with the escort.”

“Keane, I’m not stepping away from this case. I have an obligation to the people I’m fighting to protect,” Ashlyn continued to argue, stepping in front of him to stop his progress after Jack had taken her bags. Her chestnut waves were abundant on top of her head, swinging with the momentum of her spin. Her blue eyes were wide with trepidation and she’d lost color to her already porcelain skin, but her determination not to let this man dictate how she lived her life was to be admired. It still wouldn’t get him to change his mind. “Closing arguments should be in—”

“Do you want to be alive to try another case?” Keane asked, not having meant to growl the words as he had. He stepped close until they were inches apart and Ashlyn had no choice but to truly heed his warning, going so far as to bring up their past to make his point. He’d regret it later, but it was of use to him now. “Whoever this individual is, he is increasingly becoming agitated because he can’t see or hear you. He has become accustomed to having you in his fantasy world. We’ve taken that connection from him. We have no idea what this man has done or is capable of doing to regain that contact. I stood in a courtroom five years ago and watched a man shoot your mentor in the chest and then take aim at you. I did what I had to do then. I took a man’s life to change that equation, but I will never forget what it felt like to know your life could end with a couple pounds of pressure on a hair trigger. I will not stand by and watch that happen again. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

Keane didn’t waver his stare, waiting for Ashlyn to say or do something to contradict what he was saying or diminish the terror both of them had felt that fateful day—the same day she told him he wasn’t ready to be a civilian or cut out for a serious relationship. It hadn’t helped that he’d asked her not an hour before to give up her dream of being a federal prosecutor and move to California to be with him. He’d called her a coward and then finally agreed that neither one of them were ready for a serious commitment. Their fate had been sealed well before a madman had entered the courtroom that day with the intent of killing the people responsible for putting his father away for murdering a federal agent.

“This isn’t the same,” Ashlyn whispered harshly, shaking her head and trying to reason with him. “Agent Coulter can—”

“What, Ashlyn? What can he do to keep an unknown assailant from picking any time or place to attack?” Keane asked, pushing the issue and going against his initial intuition not to physically touch her in an intimate manner. He reached up and slid his fingers behind her neck, needing her to understand the severity of the situation. “Coulter currently has no idea who is behind this and your home is no longer safe. Your life is in danger, and therefore so are the lives of others around you.”

Ashlyn rested a tense fist on his chest and squeezed her eyes shut tight, the first time Keane had ever seen her so torn. She was always decisive and stood her ground, but this was a losing battle and she now understood that. He wished he’d been able to make protecting her in her own home feasible, but that just wasn’t the case. He could literally hear her breathe deeply before pushing herself away from him, causing him to lower his hand.

“Fine.” Ashlyn drew herself up to her five feet, six inches and wiped away the moisture that had gathered underneath her lashes. She acted as if she was about to go into court and no one was the wiser of the nerves that rattled around inside of her. The change was fascinating and commendable. “We’ll go into the office and I’ll get things in order to request a relief for myself on the case. The judge has the final say-so and we both know that.”

Jack waited for both of them by the door, keeping a close eye on the doorman seated behind a counter positioned toward the middle of the lobby. The man was of Asian descent and watched warily as the trio walked out the door. He’d no doubt seen the somewhat heated exchange and kept his response to himself. Keane pulled Ashlyn close as they exited the building and entered the dead of night.

“Quickly,” Keane urged, only releasing Ashlyn once they’d reached the town car. Jack had already opened the back door and closed her safely inside while Keane remained on the sidewalk. “Are Calvert’s men in position?”

“Yes, there are a few up the street and more behind us,” Jack replied, stowing the items in his hands into the trunk of the vehicle. He slammed the lid and then walked around to the driver’s side, letting Keane choose which seat he’d be taking. “Everyone is in place.”

Keane surveyed the somewhat busy streets filled with the night crowd. Music and laughter could be heard for blocks. There was an odor in the air that wasn’t very pleasant, but the absence of humidity this time of night made it bearable. He finally caught sight of a motorcycle at the intersection, ready to lead the procession once Jack had pulled away from the curb. The rider of the Harley Davidson wasn’t wearing his colors, most likely not to draw attention to the club should something happen that required gunplay.

Townes Calvert certainly hadn’t run with the most respectable crowd after he’d gotten out of the service and it would be a story Keane would have to hear at some point, but the benefits of having this kind of protection far outweighed the consequences if their boy showed up with well-armed hired help. He walked around the town car and opened the back door, joining Ashlyn and inhaling the light fragrance of her lotion she’d used earlier this evening. It was much more pleasant than the stench of remnants left from the nightlife of D.C.

Keane had already disabled Ashlyn’s phone by removing the SIM card and promising to get her a new one as soon as possible. She needed to go completely dark and she certainly wasn’t going to like it when he instructed her to leave her laptop on her desk at the office. He wanted nothing electronic of hers to accompany them to whatever safe house Calvert was currently setting up. Her arms were crossed around her middle and she was studying his body language, most likely to see if he’d noticed anything unusual.

“We’re clear, as far as I can tell,” Keane assured her, reaching for his own cell phone that had been provided to him courtesy of SSI. It was a burner that had no electronic link to him and he could drop it into a trash barrel anytime he thought it was compromised. He used the speed dial that he’d setup with Brody when he got the pack of four phones from SSI’s pool of burners and waited for Brody to answer. “It’s me. Has Calvert found us a place to go?”

“Yes, I’ll text over the details shortly,” Brody said over the murmur of voices. It appeared that Calvert and someone else was in the room. “Keane, the alarm wasn’t triggered remotely.”

“What are you saying?” Keane asked cautiously, not liking where his friend was taking this. “Brody, I’m telling you no one was in her apartment but the two of us.”

“I didn’t say there was. There are sensors on the window though, and while you and I know it would be virtually impossible for someone to enter via those access points…something or someone set them off. I’ve tapped into the street cameras and there was nothing unusual that stood out. The window-washing scaffold was stowed and locked so it was not used. No one was directly outside any of the windows.”