Chapter One #2
One of the plush leather sofas had been made up into a bed.
There were a half-dozen stuffed animals scattered across the kitten sheets.
A juice box and crumbs were testament to a late-night snack, while a baby monitor held the place of honor in the center of the large glass coffee table she’d pushed away from the sofa.
He released her and crossed to the table. When he picked up the monitor, Ashley reached into her pocket and removed the small receiver.
“It’s so I can hear her,” she said, probably unnecessarily.
The man was a security expert. He would have access to listening devices she could only imagine.
“I don’t bring Maggie to work with me on a whim, Mr. Ritter.
I go to college during the day, which is why I work the hours I do.
I can’t afford to pay someone to spend the night.
A sitter would take most of my paycheck and I need that for rent, food and tuition. ”
She briefly closed her eyes as the room began to spin. He wouldn’t care, she thought glumly. He was going to fire her. She would lose both her paycheck and her health insurance. Still, she wouldn’t go without a fight.
“She’s never been any trouble. It’s been nearly a year and no one has ever found out.” She winced at how that sounded. “I’m not saying that to excuse my behavior, just to point out that she’s not really a problem.” She’s not a reason to fire me. Except she didn’t say that.
Maggie moved to her side and took her hand. “Don’t worry, Mommy. The nice man likes us.”
Oh, yeah, Ashley thought. Maybe served up for breakfast, but not any other way.
There was something scary about the man in front of her.
Something she couldn’t exactly put her finger on.
A stillness, maybe? Or maybe it was his eyes—so cold.
He studied her like a predator assessing a potential victim.
Jeff Ritter was tall, maybe six-two or -three. His tailored suit looked expensive and well cut, but it couldn’t conceal the power of his body. He was a honed fighting machine. Maybe a killing one.
He was blond, with eyes the color of slate. In another life he could have been described as handsome, but not in this one. There was too much wariness in his stance, too much danger.
Because of the hours she worked, she didn’t have contact with very many people in the office.
Once every three weeks she checked in with the office manager.
Instructions were left on the bulletin board in the supply closet, her paychecks were mailed to her house.
But she’d read articles about the security firm.
There had been several write-ups when a computer expert’s son had been kidnapped and held for ransom.
Jeff had been the one to track down the criminals.
He’d brought them back, more dead than alive. The boy had been fine.
A shiver rippled through her. It had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the fever heating her system. Her stomach lurched and she knew if she’d eaten dinner, she would have just shared it with the world.
Jeff gave her a quick once-over then moved to the sofa. “You’re ready to pass out on your feet. You need to be home and in bed.”
Before she could protest, he’d gathered the sheets and stuffed them into the tote on the floor by the sofa. Maggie joined in the game, collecting her stuffed animals. While she carefully threw out the empty juice container, Jeff put the baby monitor into the bag.
“Anything else?” he asked.
Just her final paycheck, she thought grimly. But that would be sent to her.
“Nothing. Thank you, Mr. Ritter. You’ve been very kind.”
She didn’t know what else to say. Would he respond to begging? Based on the chill in his gray eyes, she didn’t think so.
He didn’t acknowledge her words. Instead he turned and headed for the front of the building.
“My car’s out back,” she called after him, then had to lean against the door frame to gather her strength. She needed to sleep. Unfortunately Maggie wasn’t going to go down for more than a couple of hours. Maybe that would be enough to get Ashley on her feet enough to get through the day. Or maybe—
“You’re too ill to drive,” Jeff said flatly. He’d paused at the turn in the corridor. “I’ll take you home. Your car will be returned to you later in the day.”
She was too weak to argue, which meant he was right about her being in no shape to drive. Slowly she staggered after him. Maggie held her hand.
“Snowball says she wants to sleep with you when we get home,” Maggie said sleepily as they walked through the building. “She’s magic and she’ll make you feel better.”
Ashley knew that her daughter wouldn’t give up her favorite toy lightly. Touched by the gesture, she smiled at her child. “I think you’re the magic one.”
Maggie giggled, her curls dancing. “I’m just little, Mommy. There’s no place for the magic to go. If I was bigger, there could be some.”
Ashley was too tired to point out that Snowball was smaller still. But then, favorite toys were always special in ways that grown-ups didn’t understand.
They stepped out into the misting morning to find Jeff holding open the rear door of an impressive black sedan.
Ashley didn’t have to see the BMW emblem on the hood to know that the car was expensive.
Very expensive. If she could make even close to what this car cost, all her troubles would be solved.
She hesitated before sliding across the soft, gray leather. It was cool and smooth and soft. Whatever you do, don’t throw up, she told herself firmly.
It took only a few seconds to secure her daughter and herself in safety belts. With her arm around Maggie, Ashley leaned back and closed her eyes. Just a few more minutes, she told herself. Fifteen at most. Then she would be home and crawling into her own bed.
“I need your address.”
The voice came out of the blackness. Ashley had to rouse herself to speak and even then it was difficult to form words. She started to give him directions, as well, but Jeff informed her he knew the area. She didn’t doubt him. He was the kind of man who knew just about everything.
The soft hum of the engine lulled her into that half-awake, half-asleep place. She could have stayed there forever. The early hour caught up with Maggie who snuggled against her and relaxed. Right up until the car came to a stop and she felt more than heard Jeff turn toward her.
“There seems to be a problem.”
Ashley forced her eyes open, then wished she hadn’t. So much for her day not getting worse.
They were stopped close to her four-story apartment building.
Normally there was plenty of room to park right in front of the building, but not this morning.
Today, red fire trucks and police cars had pulled into the driveway.
Flashing lights twinkled in the light rainfall.
Stunned, Ashley stared in disbelief at the river of water flowing down the main steps.
Her neighbors were huddled together on the sidewalk.
No, she thought, feeling herself tremble with shock and disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. Not today.
She fumbled with Maggie’s seat belt, then her own. After opening the rear door, she stepped out, pulling her daughter with her. She was careful to hold Maggie in her arms. The girl’s slippers wouldn’t provide any protection against the water flowing everywhere.
“Mommy, what happened?” Maggie asked.
“I don’t know.”
Mrs. Gunther, the retired, blue-haired woman who managed the aging apartment building, spotted her and hurried over.
“Ashley, you’re not going to believe it. The main water pipe broke about an hour ago. It’s a mess. From what I’ve learned, it will take a week to repair the damage. They’ll escort you inside to get whatever you can carry out, then we have to make other arrangements until the pipe is repaired.”
Jeff watched the last trace of color drain from the woman’s face. Defeat clouded her eyes, making her tremble. Or maybe it was the fever.
“I don’t have anywhere to go,” she whispered.
The old lady patted her arm. “I’m in the same situation, dear. Not to worry. They’re opening a shelter. We’ll be fine there.”
Maggie, the moppet with dark curls and a far-too-trusting smile, looked at her mother. “What’s a shelter, Mommy? Do they got kittens there? Real ones?”
“I—I don’t know.”
Ashley shifted her daughter’s weight, then stared at the gushing building. “I need to get my textbooks and notes. Clothes for us, some toys.”
“They’ll escort you in,” the old woman said. “I’ll watch Maggie while you’re there.”
Suddenly Ashley seemed to remember him. She turned and blinked. “Oh, Mr. Ritter. Thanks for the ride. I, um, guess I need to get my things out of your trunk.”
She moved to the rear of the vehicle and waited until he’d popped open the trunk. When she swung the tote bag onto her shoulder, she had to take a quick step to steady herself.
“Are you going to be all right?”
The question surprised them both. Jeff hadn’t planned to ask it. He told himself that her situation wasn’t his problem. The woman would be fine in a shelter. His gaze drifted to the little girl all in pink. He was less sure about her doing well under those circumstances.
“We’ll be great.” Ashley gave him a false smile. “You’ve been too kind already.”
It was his cue to leave. Normally he would have melted into the crowd and been gone before anyone knew he was even there. Instead he lingered.
“You can’t take her there,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “It’s not right.”
“She’ll be fine,” Ashley assured him. “We’ll be fine together.”
He told himself to step back, to not get involved. He told himself— “I’ll pay for a hotel room if you’d like.”
Her eyes were an odd hazel color. Neither blue nor green. Not brown. Some swirling combination of all the colors.
“You’ve been very kind already. Goodbye, Mr. Ritter.”
She dismissed him. He accepted her decision, but before she took a step away, he slipped one of his business cards into her jacket pocket.
It was an impulsive act, so unlike him. Later he would try to figure out why he’d bothered.
Then he did what he was good at. He blended in, moving toward his car. In a matter of seconds, he was gone.
* * *
“You plan on joining the conversation anytime soon?”
Jeff looked at his friend and partner, Zane Rankin, and shrugged. “I’m here.”
“Physically. But you keep drifting off. Not like you at all.”
Jeff returned his attention to the plans on the table without acknowledging the truth of Zane’s words. Jeff was having trouble concentrating on the work at hand. He knew the cause—he couldn’t get the woman and her child out of his head and he didn’t know why.
Was it their circumstances? Yet he’d seen hundreds in worse trouble.
Compared to a war-torn village with its winter food stores destroyed, Ashley Churchill’s plight was insignificant.
Was it the child? The girl? Maggie’s bright smile, her foolish trust, her pink pajamas and stuffed, white cat were so far from his world as to belong to a distant universe.
Did it matter why they haunted him? Better the living than the dead who were his usual companions.
There were no answers to any of the questions, so he dismissed them and returned his attention to the diagram of a luxury villa overlooking the Mediterranean.
The private residence was to host a secret gathering of several international business executives who were responsible for the manufacture of some of the world’s most deadly weapons.
The threat of industrial espionage, terrorist attack or kidnapping would be high.
He and Zane were to provide the security.
Step one: learn the weaknesses of the location.
Jeff pointed with his pen. “All this has to go,” he said, indicating a lush tropical garden creeping down a hill.
“Agreed. We’ll use the latest sensors, hiding them on what’s left.”
The new high-tech sensors could be programmed to ignore the movement of the security team, yet pick up the wanderings of a field mouse at fifty yards.
“What about—”
The buzz of his intercom interrupted him. Jeff frowned. His assistant, Brenda, knew better than to bother him and Zane while they were involved in tactical planning. She would only do so if there was an emergency.
“Yes,” he said, as he tapped a button on his phone.
“Jeff, I know you’re busy but you have a call from a downtown shelter. About a Ms. Churchill and her daughter. I didn’t know...” His normally take-charge assistant sounded fairly flustered. “Is she a friend of yours? Or should I take a message?”
All of his senses went on alert. “Put the call through,” he instructed.
There was a moment of silence, followed by Brenda’s voice politely saying, “Mr. Ritter is on the phone now.”
“This is Jeff Ritter. How can I help you?”
“Oh, Mr. Ritter. Hi. I’m Julie, a volunteer at the shelter.
Ashley and Maggie Churchill are here. The problem is Ashley is very sick.
Too sick to stay, but she’s refusing to go to a hospital.
As she only seems to have the flu, I can’t blame her.
But we don’t have the facilities to take care of her.
We found your card in her jacket pocket and I was wondering if you’re a friend of the family. ”
Jeff knew what she was asking. Would he take responsibility? He reminded himself that Ashley Churchill had already refused his offer to pay for a hotel. Then he remembered the defeat in her eyes when she’d seen the ruin that was her home. She was sick, she had a child and nowhere to go.
It wasn’t his problem, he reminded himself. He didn’t get involved. Not ever. According to his ex-wife he had the compassion of the devil himself and a heart made of stone. Telling the shelter volunteer he wasn’t anything to the Churchill females was the only thing that made sense.
“Yes, I’m a friend of the family,” he said instead. “I’ll be right there to pick them both up. They can stay with me.”