Ash Rising (DEAd Series) (16 page)

Ash grunted and instinctively flexed his hips, rolling her under him and rubbing his hard
shaft against her soft stomach.

“Want you,” he murmured against her mouth before sliding his tongue inside with sensual slowness.

“You’ve got me, Ash,” she whispered. “You’ve got all of me.”

She might not realize
, but she had him, too, body and blackened soul. Then again, maybe she did know after all. He made love to her again, gentler than he wanted, more rough than he should. Liz gave him everything he needed, a haven for a few short hours, but all too soon, reality and the morning light intruded.

“Got to go.” He had to do…something. Pretend he was fine, meet with Rico, with Pete, act like he had his shit together while everything fell apart.

Liz pressed herself flush against his back as he sat on the edge of the bed and bent over to pull on his boots. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do?”

“You’ve done everything.” He turned and kissed her. “I mean it, Liz. Thank you.”

“Yeah.” She rubbed her nose against his. “I just don’t want you to go.”

“I know.” He pressed one last kiss to her forehead and rose to his feet.
“Call you later, okay? Promise.”

“Okay.
I’ll come to your place, if that’s all right. After class. Make you dinner and spend the night?”

“Sounds perfect.”

His mind had already moved on to what he had to do that day. He had to meet with Rico later and be prepared to see the bastard face to face, considering what he suspected about Rico’s involvement in his parents’ murder.

Ash walked o
ut into the main room and stuck his hands into the pocket of his jacket to grab his keys and phone. Pulling the cell out to check the display, he did a swift double take at a text from Andy. Brief, a careless
hey how are you doing
on the surface, but code for Andy wanting to meet again.

“Everything okay?” Liz asked, anxiety lacing her voice.

“Hm? Yeah, yeah, it’s good.” If she noticed his preoccupation, then he’d let his concentration slip. He couldn’t afford any weakness. Too much was at stake—the job, his safety, and the safety of those he loved. “I’ll see you later.”

“Be careful, Ash. Take care of yourself today.”

“I will, beautiful.” He kissed her again, slow and deep, and then headed out the door.

After settling into
the seat of his motorcycle, he set the helmet in his lap and pulled out the cell phone once more. He hit the send button, and Andy picked up immediately.

“Where you at?” Andy
asked without preliminaries, and Ash stiffened.

“Spent the night at my girl’s. I’m just leaving. Getting ready to start the bike and go.”

“Well, it’s been one of those ashes to ashes, dust to dust kind of mornings, you know?” Well, shit. Andy’s signal for
get your ass in ASAP
.

“Yeah.” Ash’s
kept his tone subdued, but his mind raced. What now?

“I’m hanging at my cousin’s today, if you want to come over.”
Get to the safe house.

“Having fun?”

“It’s okay.” So the situation wasn’t life threatening. “See you soon?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

He made it to the safe house within minutes. Getting called in with the code phrase meant he didn’t have to worry about protecting the location, so Ash found a spot for the bike on the street out front. Andy stood in the entry and gestured him inside, shutting and locking the door behind him.

“Davenport’s here.”

Andy led him into the kitchen, where Pete sat at the table looking through another damn file folder and evidence envelope. Pete kicked the chair across from him, a silent command for Ash to sit. He lowered himself into the seat, his gaze moving from Pete’s serious face to the items on the table. Pete pushed the packet toward him, and Ash lifted the flap to look inside.

Another envelope, business sized, with his parents’ address on the front and a postmarked stamp. Ash turned the letter
over and pulled out a sheet of paper. Skimming the words, he focused on a handwritten signature scrawled across the bottom—his name, but definitely not his writing. He glanced at Pete, whose expression hadn’t changed, and then turned back to read what had been typed above the faked signature.

An invitation to the theater
. The tickets weren’t in the envelope, as they had obviously been used the night before—a gift his parents thought he’d sent. His vision blurred and then hazed red. They had been set up, and he’d been used to do it. He shot to his feet, his only intent to find Rico and kill him. The last line of the short note read:
Have a good time and don’t worry about me. I’m doing well and loving the new job. It’s the aces.

It’s the aces
. Rico’s pet term. Ash started from the table, but Andy grabbed him from behind. He tore free, but Pete appeared in front of him and grasped his arms. Ash used the last of his reason and strength to not throw a punch at his boss.

“Rico,” he managed to
rasp, voice and body shaking with repressed rage. “It was fucking Rico.”

“Ye
s.” Pete gave him a hard shake. “But you can’t go after him, Ash. Think about it. He wanted you to know. He knew we’d find this in your parents’ house, and he deliberately used that phrase so you’d make the connection. He’s trying to piss you off, make you do something stupid so he can take you out.”

“It’s working,
” Ash shouted.

“Get it together, corporal.
”

Cold tremors shook him as he
snapped out of his blinding fury, struggled to regain the detachment he needed to be of any use. Pete nodded as reason seeped back into his consciousness.

“We’re not sure how much Salvatore
knows, if he has information on the entire operation and everyone involved, or if he just knows you’re a cop.”

What little
composure he’d achieved disintegrated. Rico might not have information on everyone involved in the operation, but he did know who Ash was involved with personally.

Liz.

Deep, soul-shattering fear encased him. He looked up at Pete, knew Andy hovered behind him, but they couldn’t stop him from getting to Liz and making sure she was okay.

“Liz,” he
whispered, bolting for the door.

“Daniel’s on his way to her
house.” Pete stepped in front of him.

“She doesn’t know him.” Ash wrestled
with the urge to tear out of the room, grab Liz, and take her someplace where she’d be safe from any threat.

“He’ll
watch out for her until we figure out a plan."

“Why didn’t you tell me to bring her in
with me?” Ash glared at his boss. “I was at her place when Andy called.”

The two men exchanged a look over his head, and his temper boiled
.

“The operation’s blown anyway. D
oesn’t matter if she sees you or finds out about this place. She’s in danger because of us. She could get killed because of us. I think it’s okay to bring her to the fucking safe house.”

“Ash—
”

“No! I’m getting her out right now. N
ot playing games with her life, Pete. We’re not taking the chance. Let me get her somewhere safe, and then I’ll figure out what to do next. Just let me make her safe, okay?”

Pete
remained silent, considering, and then gave a curt nod. Ash released a breath. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if Pete had refused, but he was glad he didn’t have to find out.

“Call Daniel. I’ll
tell Liz to meet me at my apartment. I can’t go to her house and risk running into Gina. Not sure how she’s involved, but she is.” He had no doubt. The smug, mean look she’d given him as she left the house the night before proved she knew something.

“We need a safe place for
her. My mom and dad’s place…” He swallowed. Wasn’t his mom and dad’s place anymore. “They know the address of the lake house, so that’s not safe.”

“Tell Daniel to take her to my apartment in the
city. We’ll figure it out from there.”

“Thanks, Pete.” Ash
pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial number for Liz’s cell. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath so his growing fear wouldn’t reflect in his voice. Last thing he wanted to do was scare her. People did stupid things when they were scared, and neither of them could afford to be stupid. He had to see her safe, no matter what.

“Hey.” Her voice was warm and full of welcome in his ear.

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. What are you doing right now?”

“Just cleaning up around the
house, getting ready to go to class. Why? What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you could come to my place. I’m going to be there in a few minutes and…
I need to see you.”

She hesitated only a second before replying. “Sure
. Let me get some stuff together and I’ll be right there. I have to study tonight, so no funny business.”

“No, no funny business,” he agreed
on a slow exhale. “Hey, listen, could you bring some stuff to stay a couple of days, maybe?”

A
t least she’d have some of her things with her when he had her whisked away to Pete’s place. Her pause stretched slightly longer, but she sounded pleased when she answered.

“Of course. I’ll be right there
.” She was happy to do that for him, no questions asked. God, she was wonderful.

“Thanks, beautiful,” he
murmured. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye.”

He’d keep her safe. He shut his eyes and steadied his resolve before turning to Pete. “Okay, she’s on her way to my place.”

“Meet her there with Andy, and he and Daniel can
take her to my apartment. You have a meeting with Rico in a couple hours, right?”

“Yeah, and I’m going.” No way Pete would talk him out if it. “Put another mic on me. A hidden one that looks like a mole or a scar, because he’ll make me leave my phones.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“
If he wanted to kill me, I’d be dead. He’s playing with me. He won’t make a try for me today, not in public, and he certainly won’t get his hands dirty and get rid of me himself. He knows we’ve found the letter he sent with my name. He’ll want to see if I have the balls to show up, to rub it in my face. Let’s hope he’s stupid enough to give us something.”

Pete
nodded with a grimace. “I’ve got a surveillance team ready to get on him, anyway. Put them in place as soon as I could after seeing this letter. Might be worth a shot, but puts you in a pretty tight spot.”

“I can handle tight spots
. I can,” he insisted when Pete’s doubt showed in the grimace and lowering of his brows. “I know what I’m risking, Pete, and I can handle this.”

“You better.
Go get Liz and then meet me back here to get everything set. I’ll give the team a call and have them ready. Don’t have much time, so let’s move.”

“
Let’s go.” Ash tossed the helmet to Andy as they left the safe house. “Put that on and hold tight.”

He drove to hi
s apartment as fast as he could without killing anyone or causing permanent damage. His phone vibrated as he pulled up in front of his building. Double-parking the bike, he dug it out of his pocket and snorted at the text. Andy removed his helmet and peered over his shoulder.

“Rico’s changing the time for your meeting?”

“Yeah.”

“He knows.”

“Yeah.” Ash tightened his grip around the phone, imagining his fingers around Rico’s throat. “He thinks moving the meeting time up won’t give me a chance to get a mic or a team in place. Good thing he doesn’t know Pete.”

“I’m calling him right now
.” Andy pulled out his phone. “Got to move fast to get the mics set up and to the meet in time.”

“L
et me see if Liz is here. I’ve got to give her some explanation why she should leave with you guys.”

“Here she comes.
” Andy elbowed him and tipped his head down the street.

“Hey.” The tension in his shoulders lessened only a little as she approached. He bent for a kiss and took the large bag she’d slung over her shoulder.

“Hey.” She smiled at Andy who stood next to the bike a few feet away. “Hello.”

“Hi, Liz.” Andy
gave Ash a pointed stare. Time was very, very short.

Ash motioned Daniel closer, and
Liz turned to see whom he gestured at before raising a questioning brow.

“Liz, this is my good friend Daniel.” Ash gripped her shoulders when she
started to offer her hand. “Look, Lizzie, I need you to listen to me now. Something’s happened, something bad, and I need you to go with my friends. All right?”

“What?
” She glanced at Andy and Daniel, who stood close and exchanged a whispered conversation. Her eyes widened, the first trace of worry entering them as she took a step back. “Go with them? Where? Why? What’s going on?”