Chapter 2 #2
“I wasn’t suggesting she shouldn’t be believed because she’s a woman. My wife would kill me.” Bill went back to surveying the area. “I’d expect Kayn to be emotional too if he were married and his wife had just walked out on him. Anyone would be.”
“Fair enough, but this whole situation makes me uneasy, and I don’t know why.
I understand from Kayn that Ahri’s very left brained.
I don’t think she’s the overly emotional type.
I can’t see her getting so spooked that she’s seeing bogeymen everywhere.
I know I could be wrong. Sounds like she’s been through a lot lately with her husband.
That could mess with anyone’s head.” Rafe had an irrational desire to punch Zed Meisner for putting her through this.
“I understand, sir. I’d already decided not to discount her concerns. I’ve also decided to request that Kayn have the truck deliver his sister’s possessions to a different location, in a different state.”
“A different state?”
“If someone’s after Mrs. Meisner, we don’t want the truck to lead them right to her. I’ll call Kayn about making the change while I check things out here.”
Rafe nodded, his stomach knotting. He reached for the door handle. “I’ll find her while you do that.”
“Sounds good.”
Rafe made his way up the stairs in between the movers and identified the apartment by the open door.
He was about to rap on the doorjamb when he saw Ahri in the middle of a pile of stuff that must be meant for the dump.
She held her face in her hands. His heart gave an odd twist. Maybe he had underestimated the emotional drain on her.
“Ahri?” he asked, striding toward her.
At the sound of his voice, she jerked up her head, her hands flying to her chest. Recognition washed over her face.
“Rafe!” She launched herself into his arms.
He staggered back a little, as much from surprise as from her forward motion. It definitely wasn’t her usual way of greeting him.
“Hey.” Rafe had to wrap his arms around her to keep them both from tumbling to the floor. “Are you all right?”
Ahri trembled and shook her head against his chest. He held her, rubbing her back, and making soothing sounds like he did when his younger brother or sister were upset, though holding her definitely didn’t make him feel brotherly toward her.
“What happened?” he finally asked.
She took a deep breath and looked up at him. “They took pictures from our wedding album. Why would they do that?”
Rafe glanced at where she’d been standing. An elegant white binder lay open. He’d attended the wedding and recognized some of the people.
“Show me.” He took her hand without thinking about it and led her to the pile. That was when he noticed the slashed and jagged tears on the clothing. His mouth went dry. No one had mentioned that. He’d need to let Bill know. And Kayn.
Ahri picked up the album, flipped some of the pages, and handed it to him. She pointed to the spots where three photos used to be.
“And you just now noticed these pictures were gone?” Rafe asked. “Could Zed have removed them some other time?”
She shot him a flat look.
“I’m just trying to figure this out.” He shrugged.
“I’d been looking at it the night before he left as a reminder.”
“A reminder of what?”
“Of what it used to be like.” Ahri looked off in the distance, blinking her eyes. “To help remind me why I should stay.”
When she self-consciously wiped at her eyes, he wanted to take her in his arms again.
He resisted, though he did take a slow breath to calm himself.
How long had she been unhappy in her marriage?
The more he was hearing about the situation, the angrier he was getting with Zed.
What had the man been thinking to hurt her like this?
He’d had this smart, talented, beautiful woman—
Rafe shut down the thought. It wasn’t getting them anywhere. He pointed to the empty spaces on the two pages.
“So, you’d just been looking through the album, and you know the pictures were there?”
“Isn’t that what I just said? Do you think I’m making all this up too?” She glowered at him.
That was more like the Ahri he was used to seeing spar with her brother. It made Rafe feel a little better.
“Don’t fly off the handle. I wasn’t insulting you. I wanted to make sure I understood you right.” He tilted his head and arched a brow. “It’s a form of active listening.”
“All right.” She huffed out a breath. “Sorry I snapped at you.”
“And there’s no way Zed would have taken these.”
“Why would he take our wedding pictures? He walked out on me.” Her tone went flat, monotone. “He didn’t even take his bathroom stuff.”
“So, why would someone else take the pictures?” he asked softly.
“I have no idea.” Ahri dropped her arms, weariness radiating from her. He wished he could do more for her.
“It looks like you’re planning to toss this.” Rafe held up the album.
“Why would I hang onto it?”
“I think you should keep it as a precaution—because whoever did this to your apartment wanted them.” His instincts told him the missing photos meant something. If it’d been a random act, why steal the pictures? “Do you remember who the people were in the shots?”
“One was of me with my maid of honor and my bridesmaids. Another was of Zed and me, and the last one was me alone.”
“So, you were in all of them.”
Ahri turned those bright eyes to meet his, the tendons on her neck taut.
“Hey.” Rafe brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, surprised at the tingle of attraction. “Don’t be afraid. We have your back.”
“Thanks.” Ahri looked down and sniffed.
“Let’s go. The car’s waiting.” He tucked the album under one arm. “I want to talk with my head of security about this.”
“You believe me?” Ahri pressed her palm to her chest.
“Yes. It’s obvious something’s going on here.
” Rafe didn’t want to upset her more, but the condition of the apartment unsettled him more than he’d expected it to.
The idea that some ugly character was willing to trash her place—and do that to her clothes—made him anxious to get her away from here.
“Since we have no idea what it is, I think we should enlist some help while getting you away from here.”
“It makes me so mad that someone’s trying to scare me, and I don’t even know why.”
“Same here,” Rafe said. “Let’s go.”
“I still have to clean,” Ahri said, “or I’ll lose my deposit.”
Rafe pulled out his phone and dialed the office, putting the phone on speaker.
“What’s up boss?”
“Did you order a cleaning crew?”
“Of course.” Olaf sounded insulted that Rafe had felt the need to ask. “They should be there by now, waiting for the movers to finish before coming in.”
“Excellent as always. Please contact them and tell them to haul to the dump whatever is left in here. Pay whatever the fee is.” He ended the call.
“I can pay my own fees.” Ahri crossed her arms, reminding Rafe of his mother when she anticipated resistance to something she wanted done.
“Okay.” When Ahri frowned at him suspiciously, like she expected an argument, he added, “I’ll have Olaf send you a copy of the invoice. Now, why don’t you check the rooms to make sure you haven’t left anything.”
She didn’t say anything but turned toward the bathroom. While she was busy opening and closing drawers and cupboards, he flipped through the photo album. Her happiness showed through the pictures. Zed’s behavior couldn’t have been going on too long, or Kayn would have said something.
Unless Ahri had been hiding her crumbling marriage from her brother. It’d been bad long enough that she’d resorted to looking through the album to talk herself out of leaving. Like Kayn, she had some pretty strong opinions about people who walked out of a marriage.
Rafe did too, for that matter, though for different reasons. An image of Tess when she’d refused his ring flashed through his mind, and he pushed it aside. Sometimes you could think you knew someone and not know them at all.
“That’s everything. Let’s go.” Ahri had her pocketbook over her shoulder and carried a glass box holding a doll in traditional Korean dress. She held her back rigid and barely flinched as she walked away from her old life.
Rafe’s respect for her went even higher. He followed, still carrying the photo album.