Chapter Twenty-One
Cole
The minute my door is shut and Lori has joined me on this side of the desk, I back her against the desk, my hands on her hips. “What are you doing?” She laughs as my fingers slide down her hips toward her hemline.
“Finding out what color of panties you have on,” I say, walking her skirt up her thighs.
She grabs my hands. “No,” she says firmly. “You wait until tonight.”
“Just let me look.”
“No,” she chides, holding up the file in her hand. “Murder case. Really interesting. Please read it, but I’m warning you. It’s a federal judge’s wife. It’s going to get lots of attention, but we have to take it. I want to take it.”
“If I read the file—”
“You’ll make me very happy,” she supplies.
“Well then,” I say. “I guess I better read it.” I accept the file and set it on the desk before updating her on Ashley.
“She must be a wreck,” Lori says. “I’m going to see if I can take her to lunch. Maybe talking will help her.”
“Order in,” I say, sharper than I intend. “I don’t want you out with her.”
“Cole,” she says, her hand settling on my shoulder. “I thought you were easing up.”
“This isn’t about a case, Lori. I’m paying for security for Ashley for a reason. The FBI is involved for a reason.”
“Right,” she concedes. “You’re right. We’ll order in. I almost overreacted. I’m sorry.”
I kiss her hand. “Just protecting what is mine and you are mine.”
“Yes,” she says, cupping my face. “I am.” She kisses me. “I’m going to ask Ashley to lunch, in my office.” She smiles and heads toward the door, peeking over her shoulder to say, “Those pink panties you like so much.”
I groan, and she laughs, shutting me in my office, alone. I’m about to reach for the phone when my eyes settle on the file she gave me now laying on my desk, I know it’s a fight ready to happen. I open it and start reading and confirm my assessment. Federal judges lead to politics, this particular one especially, and there’s nothing more volatile than politics which isn’t necessarily something the firm needs in its newly formed identity.
I have to hope Lori understands this, but my gut says that she’ll think I’m holding back to protect her, that I’m incapable of giving her the freedom I know she craves and the growth she deserves. If I’m not careful, that’s exactly what will happen, and that would be my mistake again. I can’t insist that Lori tear down her walls while I try to hold her captive, but deep in my gut, I still feel what I felt right before we returned from Paris. Trouble hasn’t finished with us yet.
Ashley and I sit down for a lunch that includes salads and soup, which suits my intention of losing my five pounds quite well. “How are you feeling about everything?” I ask, then add, “Though we don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”
“It’s fine. It really is. I’m fine. I have to be, right?” She jabs her fork at her salad before continuing, “How do you love someone that was a lie? That makes the love a lie, too.”
“But it didn’t feel like a lie,” I surmise.
“No.” She swallows hard. “It felt more real than anything I’ve ever known.” She shuts her eyes. “I’m not sure how I was that foolish.”
I have no idea why but I get the sense that despite her reactions, she wants to talk. “How did you meet him?”
“Jogging and texting. I ran right into him, as in literally. Of all the men I chose this tall, dark, and gorgeous man to run into. I thought it was a fairy tale. And now, I think it was a set-up. I was an easy target. I don’t have any family. If I disappear, no one misses me.”
“Is that what the authorities told you?”
“They thought I was an accomplice.”
“To what?”
“I never got that answer. It’s crazy, right? Not to know what I was accused of? But I was in another country and I heard the word ‘spy’ several times. Spies don’t get the same rights.”
“You think he was a spy?”
“I have no idea, Lori. I’m being guarded from a man I was going to marry. I’m clearly not objective.”
“What can I do?”
“Listening helps. Thank you.”
“Of course. Do you want me to go to the FBI interview tonight?”
“No,” she says. “I wish Cole wasn’t going. I’d like to learn what kind of fool I am on my own, but I know that would be foolish.”
“Call me after, will you?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Maybe you should make out with Smith. It might make you feel better.”
“I wish it would,” she whispers, no laughter in her voice.
We finish up lunch, and Cat and I finally end an all-day game of phone tag. “I’m in for the book! When do we start?”
“Yay!” she says. “Tonight. How about the coffee shop around six?”
“Six it is.”
We disconnect and I smile. Things happen for a reason. I left school and that lead to Cat and Cole. I wonder where this all leads for Ashley? I wish it were to her Cole. I trust Cole and she trusted this man, too. Maybe she trusted him just as much as I do Cole. I’d be crushed if Cole wasn’t what he seemed. Shocked. Destroyed. Any way you lose the person you love destroys you.
Savage brings an SUV to the office to pick up Cole and Ashley for the meeting, and I hitch a ride to the coffee shop. I don’t miss the fact that Savage, who is normally quite the personality, is silent. “Good luck, everyone,” I say, hugging Ashley before Cole steps out of the car to help me exit, offering me his hand.
Once I’m on my feet, he pulls me close, kisses me, and in a short stroke of his tongue, he has curled my toes and managed to make me moan. “I’ll come back and get you.”
“Savage is weird. Did you notice?”
“Yes. He never keeps his mouth shut and his mouth is shut. I’ll find out.”
“Make the FBI tell you what’s going on,” I say. “If anyone can, you can.” I kiss his cheek and head into the coffee shop, but I feel Cole watching me. When I step to the door, I turn and wave to him, and only then does he get in the car. He’s still getting used to our normal again and since I’m a little antsy, maybe I am, too. Not maybe. Those tears last night showed I am affected by the attack. I don’t like it, but it’s true. It just drove home that there are too many things in life, like death, that we cannot control.
I find Cat at our normal table, and it feels like old times. I hurry across the coffee shop and the two of us are quickly in deep conversation. “I didn’t think Cole was going to go for this,” she says. “He’s very protective.”
“He’s getting over it. It was pretty intense. Roger was running at me and he’s big while it was a small space.” I think of Cole’s mother, of the little boy watching his mother’s attack, and my gut twists. Certain Cat will read more into my silence and ask questions, I stand up. “Let me go order coffee.” I rush to the counter and order, texting Cole: Good luck. Love you.
He doesn’t reply, which means he must already be in the interview. I sit back down waiting on my order, and Cat and I start plotting. I try to focus, but I just keep thinking about last night. Cole holding me. Me crying. I don’t know why this is happening right now while I’m with Cat. I’m obviously on edge. It’s Ashley. I’m worried about Ashley. She has no control. I know what that feels like. It’s like hanging on a ledge by your fingers that are bleeding, barely breathing as you do. I should have gone with them to the meeting.
I’m back in the SUV with Ashley beside me, but I’m still thinking about Lori. I have no idea why I had to force myself to let her go into that coffee shop without me, but I did. I promised myself I wouldn’t let my demons suffocate her. “How close is the interview location?” Ashley asks beside me.
“Ten minutes,” Savage says from the front seat. “The agents are already at the office, looking all Men in Black or Matrix. Yeah, Matrix. They have on glasses.”
“Wonderful,” Ashley says. “Now all I need is the Terminator waiting on me.”
Savage gives a bark of laughter. “Good one,” but even then, he’s stiff. Maybe it’s personal. Maybe he knows something I don’t know.
We finally arrive at the Walker offices, and Smith is waiting to escort Ashley inside. I fall back to talk to Savage. “What don’t I know?”
“One of the agents is an ex-friend of Royce’s. It’s like having two caged tigers inside who want to rip each other’s throats out. Great fun, if Ashley wasn’t in the middle of it.”
“Wonderful,” I say, steeling myself for war. “Let’s go do this.” I head for the door.
I walk inside and Royce greets me. “Ashley is in the conference room. The agents are in an office. They sent someone I consider a bastard ex-friend. This meeting is not to help Ashley. You need to protect her, while I have someone in the CIA try to get me real answers. I don’t know what Ashley’s ex-fiancé is or was, except trouble. Prep Ashley and let me know when you’re ready. And make sure there’s nothing she hasn’t told you.” He leads me down the hallway and he’s about to open the conference room door when his phone buzzes with a text. “Houston, we have a problem. Roger is free. They let him go.”
“The man who attacked my wife?”
“Yes. Him.”
“How soon?”
“Already done. An hour ago.”
And now I know why I didn’t want to leave Lori at the coffee shop. My demons were winning. I felt this. I felt him. He was there. “Get someone to her. Get me to her.” I pull my phone out and dial Lori, but she doesn’t answer. I run for the door.