Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Carter
“T his is kidnapping, you know?” Ashley was in the passenger seat of Carter’s rented SUV as he drove them to her brother’s house.
“No, it’s not. And if you hadn’t constantly tried to run off, we might not even be in this situation.” Carter was as over her nonsense as she was him.
“I didn’t try to. I got away from you more than once.”
“Well, you agreed to go to your brother’s house, so it’s not on me that we are going.” He was already annoyed with her, and they had several hours left in their trip.
She huffed. “I never said I wanted to leave right away.”
Carter sighed heavily and glanced at her before looking back at the road. “For once in your charmed little life, princess, take things seriously. You don’t know what threats are waiting for you, and you’re living life like you’re invincible. Just take it a little seriously.”
“Charmed life? Ha! You have no idea about my life, only what’s written on a piece of paper. I wasn’t born into money or anything even close.”
“Yet you act like you were and like there’s no chance anyone would want to hurt you or trap you or anything else.” He was close to shouting and had to take a deep breath to calm his voice back down. “I’m just trying to keep you safe, even though you’re actively trying to get hurt.”
Ashley didn’t reply.
Carter let the conversation drop. He wasn’t doing anything wrong like she wanted to guilt him into believing. Ashley had agreed to this trip with her sister, or whatever she was, Catherine.
They didn’t stop on the way to Luke’s house, and as much as Carter wanted to, he didn’t try to talk to her again. The silent ride was annoying and gave him too much time to think when he didn’t want it.
When he got there, he was about to meet Ryker, the silent partner to Matt and the owner of Guardian Legion Security, who would no doubt have a lot to say when he saw Carter in person. He was hired specifically for this job, and while the mission had been successful, he didn’t doubt that he was failing with all the times that Ashley had gotten away from him.
A week ago, they’d even sent another man to help Carter. It had bothered him up until Ashley had slipped from him. The other man, Liam, had been shocked, and Carter had laughed outright at the fact that it wasn’t just him.
He’d thought Liam would go off on her when they found her, not even at her usual spots, but at a coffee shop she’d never been to. Instead of yelling, Liam had calmly asked her what she’d done and given her kudos on being able to pull it off.
The smug smile that had come from Ashley to him had nearly been too much to take. She and Carter had barely spoken since. What pissed him off the most, though, was she wasn’t taking care of herself.
He’d convinced himself it was just because she was the mission, but with all this time to think, he realized that as much as she annoyed him, he really didn’t want her to get hurt. She was a good person, kind to nearly everyone she met. Carter had the misfortune of being hired by her brother to keep her safe.
As much as it annoyed him, he understood why she was pushing back. She loved her freedom, and from what he’d learned over his time with her, she loved her privacy and alone time. As friendly and nice as she was, she seemed to have no social battery and it would quickly drain after being near people.
He had done his best to give her space until she kept up her escape attempts. The more she tried to slip away, or did manage to, the closer he had to be.
As he got off the highway, he broke the silence. “GPS says less than an hour to go.”
“Okay,” she answered quietly.
He was shocked that she was awake. There was no hint of sleep in her voice.
The silence was suffocating this time. Unable to handle it, he rolled down his window some to help the air circulate. As he did, he looked in the mirror and took note of a car that he had seen a few times on their trip.
Carter stayed on edge as he watched it. It wasn’t strange on the highway, but off of it was putting him on alert. The odds of someone traveling the same distance as them and to the same exit were small.
“What’s wrong?” Ahsley asked, sitting up and looking around.
“What?” He hadn’t said anything to her, didn’t know why she was asking.
“You’ve gone all tense, so what’s going on?” Ashley turned her head, looking out of all the windows.
He debated how much to tell her but landed on the truth. “There’s a car that I’ve seen a few times that got off the highway with us. I don’t know if it’s anything, but I’m keeping my eyes open.”
“Which one?” She looked around.
“Spoiler alert, if they’re trying to hurt you, you’re making a damn good target right now.”
“Maybe I’ll recognize the car.”
He sighed. “The blue SUV three cars behind us.”
She reached up and pulled down the sun visor, revealing the mirror behind it. He kept his eyes on the road but cut them to her a few times, watching as she watched the mirror.
“I don’t know it.”
“It’s probably nothing,” he admitted. “Coincidences are rare, not impossible. But I want to see where they go to make sure we don’t lead them to your brother’s.”
“I’ll help watch.”
He was watching on it his own and didn’t need her help, but if it made her fell useful, she could go for it.
“I’m going to turn right up here.” He didn’t have a reason to tell her, but he did it anyway.
As he made the turn, Ashley kept her eyes on the mirrors. “They didn’t turn.”
“Good. Let’s make a few more turns and see if they turn up again.”
She nodded.
After several turns, taking them out of the way of the destination, Carter was satisfied that the car wasn’t tailing them and righted their course. “Guess it was nothing.”
“That’s good.”
They pulled up to Luke’s house less than an hour later, and Ashley was out of the car the moment he put it in park. Annoyed, he took long strides to catch up to her before she made it to the door.
“You can stand down.” Ashley rolled her eyes.
“Actually, that’s not true. I’m still on patrol for now.”
“Ugh,” she groaned as they reached the door and knocked.
Catherine answered and greeted Ashley with a huge hug. Carter recognized her from the articles about Ryker’s self-defense case.
Ashley awkwardly returned the hug before stepping back. When she caught sight of the baby, her whole mood changed. She lit up and went right to him, speaking to the woman holding him.
He wasn’t listening but saw the other woman get surprised and then giggle. Carter followed them through to the living room as she spoke with her brother. He made sure to hang back and not intrude on the family time.
It was habit for him as he looked around the room, noting all the exits and the people in it. Exits first, always. Realizing he recognized all of the people in some way, he relaxed slightly. She wasn’t likely to get away from everyone in this room.
“Okay. I’m here, so fill me in.” She plopped down on the sofa and looked up at Luke and Ryker.
“We’re waiting on Cade,” Ryker said.
“You’re the one in charge of that guy?” Ashley asked, pointing at Carter.
Ryker nodded.
“So does he get to go now that I’m here?” she asked.
Ryker shook his head. “Not until we know what’s going to happen.”
She sighed. “Fine.” Her eye roll wasn’t even a little hidden. Luke knew that she only said something because it seemed he wasn’t needed. She definitely wasn’t fine and wasn’t going to just go along with things.
“Just wait for Cade to get here. He’s got a new baby, so he didn’t want to come and hang out early.” Luke hoped she would just be patient and actually listen.
“I’m an aunt twice over so quickly after finding out all of this. It’s weird to think about. I guess I get to be the fun aunt,” Ashley joked.
“That job’s taken,” Catherine told her. “But I suppose we can share the title.”
Ashley laughed. “Works for me.”
Carter stood off in the far corner, where he could see everything but be out of the way, taking it all in. As he did, he wondered if Ashley would be as drained after hanging out with family as she normally was.
“Cade’s here,” Catherine said after checking her phone.
“I’ll let him in.” Luke left the room.
Cade introduced himself to Ashley when he came in and shook her hand.
“So, siblings, huh?” Ashley asked.
“Actually, why don’t we start with the less dramatic stuff,” Cade said.
Catherine agreed and spoke next. “Cade and I talked it over and we already told Luke, but we wanted to ask you as well. Would you both like to change your last names to Hawkins? I know our father is ruining the name, but we wanted to show everyone that we are siblings and that we stand by you.”
“If you don’t want to, no hard feelings, but we wanted you to know how we felt about both of you and that we accept you no matter what,” Cade added.
“Just like that? You don’t even know me,” Ashley said.
“Of course. You’re family no matter what,” Catherine told her.
Ashley cut her eyes to Carter, and he tensed again. He did his best to offer an encouraging smile. Luke sent him a curious look but didn’t say anything.
“Are you?” Ashley asked Luke.
He looked at Paisley, who smiled back at him. “I’d like to, but only if you’re on board too.”
She nodded, wiping her tears away. “I want to.”
“That’s settled then,” Catherine said with a clap.
“Carter, why don’t you join us for the rest?” Ryker addressed the man in the corner. “This is relevant to your job protecting Ashley, as much as she’ll let you.”
Carter walked farther into the room but stayed still on the outside of what was clearly a family conversation, taking a seat on the edge of the large sofa.
“We know there’s a threat, but not what it is or who it might come from. So everyone is a threat?” Carter asked, summing it up pretty much perfectly and then pointing a glare at Ashley.
“Don’t start.” She sighed and leaned back in her seat.
“I’m just saying, it’s an actual concern. You need to follow the rules,” Carter pressed.
“Rules?” Ashley shot up from her seat. “You don’t get to impose rules on me. You’re so busy worrying that you smother me until I have to sneak away to have a good time.”
“Clubs are dangerous,” Carter argued back.
“Then go and protect me. I’m not going to stop living my life on the off chance that something might or might not happen.”
“Ashley,” Catherine interrupted. “Do you know what happened to me?”
Ashley gave her an unsure look. “A little. Your dad tried to get some guy to marry you.”
“And then he broke into my house,” Catherine started.
“I ended up in jail for killing him.” Ryker stood to face Ashley. “You’re smart, act like it. Have a seat because there is a real threat against you and we are all here trying to help you. Carter, too.”
Sufficiently scolded, Ashley didn’t say anything as she sat.
“Now that that’s settled,” Cade began. “I know this is a hassle. We do believe that the guy you keep running into all the time and blowing off may be the link back to my father. We are digging, but the money is our best connection. Matt’s working on connecting the dots there.”
Carter sent Ashley a look, but she didn’t glance in his direction. “Julian,” he practically ground out.
“Yes. We can’t prove a connection yet, but with how you’re describing his behavior and family wealth, it just lines up with what we’d expect. It also seems he might be escalating,” Cade explained.
“Do we have someone watching him now?” Carter asked.
Ryker chimed in again, “We are monitoring him discreetly.”
“Ashley, we all really just want to keep you safe,” Luke pleaded with her to understand. “No one wants to change or smother you. We just want you protected while doing things.”
“First, that is not what he’s doing,” she said, jerking her thumb in Carter’s direction. “Second, I’m not an idiot. I don’t even like that guy and have told him I don’t want to hang out with him. I ignore him whenever I see him.”
“Yeah, but you’re seeing him more places now,” Carter reminded her. He didn’t like the guy, and the fact that he always seemed to be nearby had put him on Carter’s radar.
“I make sure not to be alone with anyone, Carter. I’m not an idiot about protecting myself.” She glared at him.
“I never said you were. I’m just pointing out that it’s getting worse. Like it or not, that’s a fucking concern, Ashley.”
“Please don’t act like you really care other than to do your job,” she snapped.
“Okay,” Luke shouted, stopping the back and forth. “If it’s that hard for the two of you to get along, then maybe Ryker should put someone else on your detail. But if he does that, you can’t run from the guy.”
“I didn’t run,” Ashley whispered.
“Ashley,” Catherine said. “Come with me for a moment. I think we could all use a small break before we make any decisions.”
As they left the room, Ryker walked over to Carter.
“Can you handle this job or not?” Ryker’s tone was casual, but his body language was anything but. He was tense all over and his fists were clenched.
“I told you I can do it and I meant it. Despite her behavior, I’ve been able to keep her safe, and I already assumed that guy was no good before knowing what you do.” Carter ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t want taken off the case, but I’ll do what you think is best. You better find someone that can handle her because she’s going to run.”
Ryker looked at Luke.
“I agree that you are doing a good job. You won’t get any argument from me on that. However, I want her to be safe, and I worry that if the two of you are so busy arguing with each other, something could happen because you’re not on your game,” Luke told Carter.
“Despite the way she’s been acting and the arguing, I have never not been on my game with her. I have to stay on my toes just to keep near her. It would be better if she would tell me where she wanted to go in advance so I could scope it out, but she won’t. It’s all last minute and that makes it hard. It’s like she’s trying to get in trouble.” Carter stood as he was speaking and walked to look out the window. “I do intend to keep her safe.”
Ryker nodded. “I think we can come up with a way to make this work.” His phone rang and he pulled it out, checking the ID before answering. “What?”
Luke turned away from the phone call and focused on Carter. “I have faith in you to get your job done, but why stay with this one when you know how she is?”
Cade snorted.
“What?” Luke demanded.
“Those two are interested in each other and that seems to piss them off.” He choked on a laugh.
“That’s not what this is about,” Carter said, his only defense, caught off guard by being called out on something he’d only just realized himself on the way here.
“We have a problem,” Ryker interrupted. “Julian has gone to all of the places that Ashley normally would be and now he’s in the wind. My guy says he was getting more and more agitated as he looked for her.”
“Well, shit,” Cade muttered.
“Guess we have our guy,” Carter said what they were all thinking.
“The question is, what are we going to do with this information,” Luke wondered out loud. “All of it.” With a look letting Carter know the conversation between them was far from over, Luke turned his attention back to Ryker. “How long has he been gone?”