Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Joe leaned back in the chair and watched Ally slide a small plate of dessert across the table toward him.
The scent of warm berries and sugar hit him and reminded him that it was the kind of homey smell that didn’t belong in the life of a man who lived mostly out of smoky motel rooms and take-out boxes.
Charlotte was sitting beside him, kicking her feet against the chair as she spooned melting vanilla ice cream and blueberry tart into her mouth. “This is so good. Thanks, Joe,” she said, her mouth full.
Joe grinned. “You’re welcome.” Then he took a bite and agreed with the kid. “Dinner was amazing too.”
“Thanks,” Ally said as she sat down. “Cooking is one of the things I can control.” She looked a little shocked, like she hadn’t meant for that last part to slip out. Her eyes moved to her plate and remained there, as if she was embarrassed.
He didn’t ask what she meant. After running into her on the beach that morning, he’d gotten some of the court transcripts from his buddy. In them, he’d seen enough photos in the files to piece together the kind of control she’d lived under. The kind that left no room for mistakes, or warmth.
The monthlong coma that she’d been in shortly after Charlotte had been born had at first been ruled an attempted suicide.
But after a neighbor had stepped forward with door camera footage that had proven Ally’s innocence, she’d been released.
The video had shown Ted attacking Ally and the baby, and he’d initially been charged, but the charges were dropped less than a week later.
Ted had fought to have those court documents sealed, and they had been. Tight.
Until now.
When Joe had seen the pictures of her bruises and the shape she’d been in that night, he’d gotten pissed. More pissed than he’d been since Lisa’s killer had gotten off with a slap on the wrist.
He’d watched the grainy video of Ally hiding while holding a nine-month-old Charlotte out on the balcony as a shadow passed by inside. Then she’d started making her way down the lattice, hoping to escape whatever horrors she’d lived through already.
Ted had appeared on the balcony and with a slash of what he could only guess was a kitchen knife, he’d cut her wrists, causing her to fall two stories, straight onto a snow-covered cobblestone pathway below.
She had still been holding the baby tightly in her arms as she lost consciousness in the snow.
It had taken everything he had to not call up Ted and quit right then and there. Instead, he’d deleted his report about being invited over for dinner that evening and had remained quiet until he could decide what his next move was.
For now, he watched the woman and child and knew in his gut there was nothing wrong with their relationship. This woman would do everything in her power to protect that child. Even if it meant giving up her own life.
After dessert, Charlotte let out a large yawn and rubbed her eyes. Seeing this, Ally nudged her gently. “Why don’t you change into your pajamas and watch a little TV before bed?”
Charlotte perked up and hurried off. The sound of her bare feet padding up the stairs had him smiling.
“I swear, she stomps everywhere. I think she likes the acoustics of the house.”
“She’s not afraid? Living in such a big place?”
“No, she thinks it’s a grand adventure. Besides, we’ve stayed at Max’s place a dozen times in the past few years.” She glanced around. “It’s almost home to her.”
“Right.” He nodded as she leaned back in her chair and looked at him. For the first time since they’d met, her guard was down, but her eyes stayed sharp.
“So,” she said, folding her arms on the table. “Why’d you take the job?”
He met her gaze. There was no point in pretending anymore. Charlotte was out of earshot.
“It was supposed to be a simple job that would earn me double my normal fee. All I had to do was find some dirt on you that could hold up in court, proving you were an unfit mother. Then it became more. Now I’m supposed to keep track of where you are at all times, who you are spending time with, and what you’re spending your money on. Your ex wants to know everything now.”
She gave a humorless laugh. “He always did hate not being in control.”
“He told me you were unstable,” Joe said quietly, tilting his head and watching for her response. “That you once tried to commit suicide with Charlotte in your arms and that he was worried about his daughter.”
Her body stiffened as her lips curved into something cold. “And you believed him?”
“I’ve met a lot of liars in my line of work,” he said, choosing his words carefully.
He didn’t want to share the news that his buddy had broken into locked court files just yet.
“Usually I can tell when someone’s rewriting the story to suit them better.
He’s... convincing.” He hesitated, then added, “You don’t strike me as unstable. ”
Her expression softened, if only a little. “That’s because I’m not.”
They sat there for a moment, the hum of the refrigerator filling the quiet. She asked him how long he’d been following her, what Ted had said about her, what kind of man he thought her ex was. He answered honestly. Maybe too honestly.
When Charlotte came back down in her pajamas, she ran straight for him. “Please come to the beach tomorrow?” she asked, her hopeful eyes tugging at something in his chest.
“Not tomorrow, kiddo,” he said, forcing a smile. “Maybe another time.” He glanced over at Ally and tried to read her expression.
The little girl pouted and crossed her arms dramatically, and he laughed softly as Ally scooped her daughter up. “Say goodnight to Joe, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight, Joe,” Charlotte said happily. “If you can make it, we’re going to have a picnic at…” She looked at her mother who rolled her eyes but answered.
“Noon.”
“At noon. Just down the stairs. I’ll make you a special sandwich. Just in case.”
He smiled and said, “Goodnight, Charlotte.”
He followed them to the door, where Charlotte waved and begged him once more to come to the picnic so he could show her the pictures he’d taken. Then she rushed into the living room to watch cartoons.
Ally lingered in the doorway for a second as he stepped outside, her hand resting on the frame. “Thank you for being honest tonight,” she said.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “Thank you for dinner.”
The door closed behind him, leaving him standing in the salty night air.
Back at his hotel, he typed up his report, feeling very dirty. Every line came out mechanical at first, detached, professional. He noted her daily routine, her brother’s absence, and what he’d found out about her staying in the place all by themselves. All the details Ted wanted.
But when he got to the section about dinner, about Ally’s questions and the way she’d looked at him, clear-eyed and unafraid, his fingers froze over the keyboard.
He stared at the half-finished paragraph for a long time before finally saving the file and closing his laptop without sending it.
The next morning, his phone buzzed before sunrise.
“Good morning,” he answered cautiously after seeing Ted’s number on the screen.
“Don’t play dumb with me,” the man snapped on the other end. “You think I wouldn’t find out that you had dinner with her?”
Joe sat up, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You hired me to check on her. That’s what I did.”
“I hired you to watch, not to eat at her damn table!” Ted’s voice rose, ugly and sharp. “She’s mine, Dalton. You hear me? She may think she’s free, but she’s not. You stay the hell away from my wife unless I tell you otherwise.”
Joe’s jaw clenched. “You’re divorced. You hired me to get close to her, to find anything that would stick in court. That’s what I’m doing.”
There was a pause, a dangerous, heavy one. Then Ted’s voice dropped to a hiss. “Careful who you piss off, Dalton. You forget what kind of man I am?”
“No,” Joe said quietly. “That’s exactly the problem.”
He hung up before Ted could respond, the sound of silence buzzing like static in his ear.
After a shower to clear his head, he sat at his computer and deleted the report he’d typed up the night before. Instead, he wrote a letter quitting the job. He added the last invoice, which had not been paid yet, and cc’d his lawyer for shits and giggles.
After hitting send, he pulled on his running shoes and went for a jog to clear his head. As he headed toward the beach, he realized that, for the first time since taking the job, he knew exactly what he needed to do next.
By the time he’d run the strip of beach that stretched the length of the town twice, he was covered in sweat and snow was falling from the sky.
He went back to his room to take a hot shower, and when he was done, he noticed that the snow had increased.
It looked like Charlotte’s picnic lunch was going to have to be postponed. His heart sank, knowing the little girl was going to be upset.
His phone rang, and when he saw Ted’s number on the screen again, he debated answering it.
He stared at the phone, his muscles still buzzing along that thin edge between exhaustion and adrenaline.
He thought about letting it go to voicemail.
Hell, he should have. But old habits die hard.
He swiped the screen and brought it to his ear.
“Hello?” he said flatly.
Ted’s voice came through clipped, icy. “You think you can just walk away? You don’t quit on me, Dalton. You finish what you’re paid to do.”
Joe exhaled through his nose, staring out the window at the flurries falling across the parking lot.
“You haven’t paid me in two weeks,” he said evenly. “And I don’t work for men who use their ex-wives and kids as leverage to lie and hurt them.”
“Watch your mouth,” Ted snapped. “You don’t know a damn thing about my family.”
“I know enough.” Joe leaned against the counter with his jaw tight. “I know you’ve got someone tailing me right now. I know you’ve been calling her lawyer, stirring up trouble. You’re trying to make her crack.”
There was silence on the line, the kind that stretched too long.
Then Ted’s voice came back, soft and dangerous.
“You think you’re some kind of hero? You think she’s innocent?
She’s not. She’s manipulative. She’ll twist you up until you can’t tell which way is up, and you’ll wish you’d never met her.
She’s a narcissist. An abuser. She lies about everything. ”
Joe didn’t answer.
Ted gave a short, bitter laugh. “You already took the bait, didn’t you? Jesus, Dalton, I expected better. Don’t make me remind you what happens to people who get in my way.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise.”
Joe’s grip tightened around the phone. “You don’t scare me.”
“God, have you already fucked her? She always was such a whore.”
Before he could respond with something he’d regret saying, Joe ended the call and set the phone face down on the counter. His pulse pounded, hot and sharp, drowning out any other sound.
He stood there for a long moment, the quiet of the hotel room closing in around him. Outside, the snow thickened, the flakes swirling like ash against the gray morning sky.
If Ted thought intimidation would scare him off, he was dead wrong.
No doubt the man was using the same tactics on Ally to get to her. Only, she’d been dealing with the man for years, and would be dealing for a lot longer, no doubt.
Joe could walk away now and never deal with the man again. But his gut twisted at the thought of what the powerful man was doing to the innocent woman and child.
Not once in all the times he’d talked with him had Ted asked about his daughter. Every single question was about Ally. As if the child was just a tool he was using to get to the woman.
There was no way that he’d work for the man now.
He didn’t even give a damn if he paid the invoice.
Hell, he could pay him a hundred times what he’d asked and he wouldn’t do it.
Part of him wished he wouldn’t pay him so that he could take him to court over it and give him a taste of his own medicine.
Because, whatever happened now, he wasn’t just walking away from the job.
He was walking straight into hell’s fire.