Chapter 4
FOUR
Ash knew better than to argue with direct orders, but it had taken everything in him to clamp his mouth shut when Con ordered Ellory to go.
He was really starting to question if she could handle it.
As he drove, she was whispering to herself, so low that he couldn’t catch the words. When they reached the highway, she loosened her death grip on her bag and unzipped it. She pulled out a pair of boots and flipped one over to examine the sole.
She issued a low groan that had his stomach clenching in ways he didn’t want to think about. Then with a resigned sigh, she slipped off her high heel and put the boots on.
“You’re not gonna wear socks?” He glanced away from the road.
“I can’t fit my feet in the boots if I do. They’re too small.”
“We’ll tell the ladies when we get back to base. They’ll hook you up with what you need.”
She didn’t respond, only leaned over to tie the boots. When she straightened in the seat, she combed her fingers through her thick hair with enough exasperation that he had to question how many things like this she’d been involved in.
She’d worked with Opal before, though, and that woman hadn’t been involved in anything light.
Still, Ash caught himself glancing at Ellory every mile or two, gauging her state of mind by the calm demeanor she’d slapped over the strain he’d spotted on her features.
“There should be a comms device in the side pocket of your bag. Find it.”
She hesitated only a beat before doing his bidding. She withdrew the small case and slipped the bud into her ear.
Ash nodded. “Good. Let’s go over the plan.”
She gave him a jerky nod.
“After we get into the office—”
“How do you plan on doing that?”
“Leave that to me.”
“So you’re going to break in.”
“Everything is a little gray on our ops.” He picked up again. “Once we’re in, I’ll have my body cam running, and I’ll direct it everywhere you don’t look.”
“Got it.” She tucked that lock of hair behind her ear again.
A gesture she’d done in the war room that made his body react in ways he couldn’t think about—now or ever.
Getting close to any woman, even to ease a massive case of blue balls, wasn’t possible.
And he definitely couldn’t touch someone associated with Blackout.
He tried not to notice all the other little things about her. How she went from gripping the edge of the seat to running her fingers down the seatbelt crossing her chest. One time, she even twitched her hand toward him before pulling it back and folding her fingers in her lap.
“How much longer?” Her voice was a feminine rasp.
He took in their surroundings, tracking the landmarks he’d committed to memory along this route. “Five minutes out.”
“Okay.” She drew in a breath as though steeling herself for battle.
He considered ways to put her at ease but couldn’t think of anything, so he remained silent. When they arrived in front of a big building that housed office spaces, he cut the headlights and they drove in blind.
At his side, Ellory was silent and drawn. He parked the van in the shadows far away from the parking lamps and looked at Ellory.
“Stick close.”
He tapped the comms device in his ear to turn it on and slipped out of the van.
Ellory did the same. In seconds, they were swallowed by the night. He felt her body heat against his side, aware of how well she mirrored his movements as they approached a side door.
Into his ear came Sinner’s voice as he guided him in. “Camera over the door is cut. You’re incognito, brother.”
He let one hand hover over the weapon tucked along his spine as he opened the door. Since it was after business hours, the place was empty.
“Cleaning personnel on the third floor. Steer clear,” Sinner told him.
“Copy,” he murmured and felt a jolt go through Ellory as she realized he was talking to his team.
“Tap your comms in your ear to turn it on,” he said under his breath.
She reached up and brushed her fingertip over the device.
They found the office easily. When he pulled out a small tool and picked the lock, Ellory’s breath came in fast stutters.
He glanced at her profile. Beautiful even in the darkness. He turned the handle but paused before pushing the door inward.
“Ready?” he asked her.
She gave him a single nod.
Then they were in.
A quick sweep of the space revealed filing cabinets, a desk and a computer system. A basic setup for any office, but strange for how it seemed staged.
“I’ll take the filing cabinets. You get the computer,” he instructed.
In their ears came Dante’s voice as he provided Ellory instructions for entering the system. While she set to work, Ash swiftly picked the lock on the first filing cabinet. The drawers were empty.
Definitely for show.
He opened the next and found the same.
Suddenly, he felt a change in Ellory. Her back stiffened, and she went completely still.
“Did you find something?” He kept his voice pitched low in case the cleaning personnel was closer than they thought.
“Yes.” He heard her swallow. “Bills of sale. He’s liquidating properties. Four have been sold so far.”
“Keep digging.”
She swiped through the data so fast he wondered how she could be processing it all. But if Opal’s claim was correct about Ellory having a photographic memory, all she needed was a single glance.
“This is all encrypted,” she said after he’d gone through the third filing cabinet, filled with empty folders, and the desk too.
“Let me show the team.” He lined up his body so his camera transmitted it back to base.
A low ding sounded from the hallway outside.
Ellory whipped toward him, eyes wide and frantic.
“The elevator,” he breathed out, moving to the door.
When a key ground in the door lock he’d just picked to gain entry to the office, Ash signaled Ellory to get back.
His adrenaline surged, and he held on to it, enjoyed the burn. Reaching along his spine, he pulled his weapon and trained it on the door.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Ellory—frozen, eyes fixed forward.
The door swung open and a tall guy filled the frame.
He saw Ellory first.
“The Accountant,” he gritted out.
He whipped out a gun and aimed it straight at her.
Ash hesitated only a quarter of a heartbeat before he took the shot, but a decade drained from his life in that time.
The man dropped to the floor, face up, wearing a shocked expression.
Ellory issued a sound, part muffled scream, part gag.
Ellory plastered her hands to her cheeks and hunched forward, making squeaking sounds that alarmed him far more than taking out the threat.
“Ash. Ash!”
In their ears came Con’s voice, low and urgent. “Charlie 8, report!”
“Lone shooter. Dropped him,” he fired off to his CO.
“What just happened?” Ellory’s cry forced his full attention to her.
“You tell me. You’re cleared to work with every agency. Why didn’t you pull your weapon?”
“I-I don’t have one. I don’t need one because everyone I work with has one!”
“I’m getting that information a little late!”
“I told you I should stay on base!” Her voice rose a notch with an edge of hysteria. She stared at the dead guy on the floor and her knees buckled. In slow motion, she began to slide down the wall she’d backed against when he motioned her away from the door.
In three strides he was on her. He gripped her by the elbows and pinned her to the wall with his body, blocking her view of the man on the floor.
Her blue eyes were fixated, pupils blown so wide that it darkened the depths by two shades. One trembling hand lifted to latch on to his shirt, and his heart squeezed hard in reflex.
She started to slip to the floor again, and he locked his hips to hers and cupped her jaw, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Listen to me. You’re safe.”
“No, no, no,” she whispered under her breath over and over until he could take it no more.
He crushed his mouth to hers, stopping her flow of words—of fear. The kiss was slow and gentle, but with enough pressure to send a dark need through him.
She trembled, lips going softer with every second that passed. When he pulled back, her eyes were focused again.
“That was a bad idea,” she whispered.
“Yeah.”
“You don’t sound sorry.” Her words were a breathless rasp.
He searched her face. Ghostly white and beautiful, her lips a scant inch away, plump and damp from the kiss he never should have given in to.
His response almost shocked him more than that shooter recognizing her as The Accountant and taking aim at her.
“I’m not.”
* * * * *
“The FBI is on the way.” Con’s statement in Ellory’s ear brought her back from…
Well, whatever that was.
Ash’s body surrounded her—shielded her.
And he didn’t move away. His body pinned her to the wall as much as his dark gaze. She listened to him debriefing the team, but she only heard her heart thundering in her ears.
If Ash had hesitated at all, she would be lying dead on the floor instead of that shooter.
Dozens of questions rambled through her mind, overlapping images of the things she’d seen on the computer—files, transactions and code.
Sophie could see them on Ash’s camera footage and was probably deciphering them now.
Oh god. The body cam he wore was still on, pointed right at her chest. The team would know he was holding her up.
They might even know he’d kissed her.
What only felt like moments later, they heard people entering the building. Ash met her stare, eyes searching, probing so deep that her heart skipped a beat.
Then he turned away from her as three FBI agents rushed in.
She leaned on the wall, forcing her mind back to the situation. Ash quickly filled in the agents.
He sliced a look her direction. “They knew her. They called her The Accountant.”
All three heads whipped her way. “Ms. Carmichael,” one of them said with a nod.
“Hi, Stefan.”
She felt Ash’s surprise like his body was an extension of hers since saving her life.
And molding his body against hers.
And kissing her.
One of the agents twitched his head toward the door. “We have what we need. We’ll take care of this.” He directed his attention to the dead man on the floor, and Ellory closed her eyes to avoid following his gaze.
She barely registered Ash cupping his fingers around her elbow and leading her out. Her feet didn’t want to work in the boots that were too tight, and her legs were wooden as he led her to the van.
Neither of them spoke for the first few minutes of the drive. As they navigated the dark maze of streets to the highway that would take them to base, she gripped the seat and tried to stop the constant tremor rolling through her.
“Tell me your real role in the FBI.” Ash’s voice had a harsh edge, like he’d gargled glass.
“I’m not in the FBI.” Her own wavered.
“CIA then.”
“I’m not CIA either. Or Homeland or anything else. I told you—I’m The Accountant.”
“You say the like it’s different from an accountant.” He turned his head and pierced her in his stare. His eyes glittered in the lights of the dashboard.
“It is different.” She pulled off her glasses and bit the stem.
“Oh my god,” he said in a low, stunned tone. “You’re serious.”
“I’m serious about everything! I’m The Accountant.”
Only the sound of the tires on the bridge leading to the base in New Jersey filled the van.
She shoved her glasses on her face. “I’m actually an accountant. A consultant.”
“You don’t have a weapon.”
“No. I don’t like guns. I don’t use guns. I am mostly gun adjacent, which means I’m protected by default.”
“Jesus Christ. You could have been killed. I thought you were going to defend yourself, and I hesitated. If I hadn’t taken that shot when I did—”
She gaped at him. “You didn’t hesitate. You shot him the instant he aimed the gun at me.”
He made a sharp gesture, like slicing his hand through the air could rewind the footage.
“You’re a good shot,” she said quietly.
Several heartbeats passed before he said, just as quietly, “Thanks.”
She didn’t go into the field. She viewed all the dirty work through a screen. She might have the clearance, but she wasn’t equipped to handle people aiming guns at her.
All at once, the adrenaline wore off, and the situation hit full force.
She folded forward around the fear throbbing in her chest, trying to force down her tears.
“Ellory. Look at me. You’re okay. You’re safe.”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She couldn’t breathe.
“Look at me, Ellory.”
She responded to his commanding tone, swinging her head to fix her stare on him.
Whatever he saw on her face through the dim lighting made his jaw flex. “I want to help you calm down. Tell me what to do.”
She dug her fingers into the seat. “Three things I can see.”
“Yeah. That’s good. Tell me what those three things are.”
“Th-the streetlights.”
“Good. Keep going.”
“The parked car. The median.”
“Now touch.”
“The seat. The window.”
He shifted his arm over the console. “Me. You can touch me.”
Without hesitating—nothing like the pause he’d claimed before shooting the man who wanted her dead—Ellory gripped Ash’s muscled arm like a lifeline.