by Gillian Joy
"Yeah, right." Connor chuckled, knowing that this might prove a big issue for Ash.
"She can't be on her own at the moment though. Not until we know how this is all going to pan out."
"Agreed. So you're staying tonight I assume?"
Connor nodded. "I'm not going anywhere."
Ash relaxed back in the bath, letting the bubbles massage away the weekend stresses. Shame it wasn't really working though. There were too many stresses for a few bubbles to fix. She thought about the text messages, the underlying threats that only she could hear. Then again, maybe she wasn't the only one who could hear. Connor had been adamant about going straight to the police, and the police themselves had been very supportive, and keen to get the interim order in place, so they must have heard the underlying threats as well. What Ash struggled most with was everyone's disbelief that he never actually physically hurt her; he had so many tricks up his sleeve to humiliate her, that he had no need to hurt her. The threat alone of what he might inflict on her was enough to make her submit to whatever humiliating act he wanted from her anyway, nothing he had done had even so much as left a bruise on her skin. Except the first time...
Ash was still in the bath when Hayden left. Connor knocked quietly before entering.
"Hey. Feel better yet?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bath.
"Mmhmm." Ash mumbled. She kept her eyes closed even as Connor reached across the bath and grabbed the soap.
"Sit up baby and I'll wash your back."
Ash didn't hesitate. She sat up quickly giving him full access to her back as she wrapped her arms around her legs. Connor started leisurely wiping the soap and his hands side to side, up and down, across her back.
"You realise that soap is going to dissolve all the bubbles." Ash said.
"Baby, I hope so." Connor replied.
"What time is it?" Ash asked.
"Just after midnight."
"A new day." Ash sighed.
"Come on Babe." Connor said, pulling on her hand. "Let's go to bed."
Ash stood up and let the water and what was left of the bubbles run off her before she stepped out of the bath and into the towel Connor held out for her. He dried her off and led her back towards the bedroom
"Are you staying tonight?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah Babe, is that okay?"
"Only if you promise to make love to me Connor."
"You better believe it baby. Slow and sweet, I'm going to torture you so bad, there's no way you'll be able to even think about anything else that's going on."
He was right, Ash thought later as she was lying sated in Connors arms, she was enjoying listening to his heartbeat, she loved lying with her head on his chest and waiting for his heartbeat to slow back down to a more normal rate after sex. It amazed her that he could get so lost in her.
"Move in with me Ash."
His comment pulled her out of her almost relaxed state and she jerked back to look at him.
"What?"
"I know you heard me. Move in with me Baby."
"Why would I do that Connor?"
"Because I love you, you love me, I want to spend every available second of every day with you, and I need to protect you."
Ash started to get annoyed. "Firstly, I don't need protection. Secondly, even though I do love you, it doesn't mean I'm ready to take that step yet."
Connor rubber her arms softly as he spoke quietly. "Please Babe, I need this."
"Connor, I don't want to feel pressured into moving in with you because Mark is being an arsehole." She sighed. "I don't want to feel like you only asked me because all this is happening." She raised her arm to stop him from interrupting. "You and I both know that's the only reason you’re asking me right now, and I'm not saying it means you don't really want to, I'm just saying... Let's put all this behind us and then revisit. Okay?"
Connor knew what she was saying, and he didn't disagree, but he also didn't agree, he may not have thought about it before, but he definitely really wanted her living with him. He figured it was probably best to give her a little bit of space though. "Okay. I'll let it go for now.... But we will be revisiting this conversation, sooner rather than later."
Ash sighed, but secretly loved her small victory.
****
Chapter 21
Senior Sergeant Tyson Callum pulled up in front of the address Marianne Cross had given him the night before. He knew Ash would be waiting for him to call and let her know the interim order had been delivered and she was for all intents and purposes safe from her ex-husband, so he wanted to get it done as early as he could. It was still after ten though. Nothing was going to plan at all this morning and he felt even worse when he noticed the notice on the building he was stopped in front of. Storm and Masters attorneys at law, not a good sign for Ash Cross that's for sure. He'd be able to get good representation at the hearing.
Tyson was in awe as he entered the reception area of the law firm, it was a damn site nicer than the police station that's for sure; he almost wished he'd been a lawyer.
"Welcome to Storm and Masters, how may I help you today, officer?" The pretty receptionist asked.
"I was looking for Mark Cross please."
"Do you have an appointment with Mr Cross today?" She asked typing info onto her keyboard.
"No sorry, I don't."
"Oh. Hold on please, I'll see if he's available. What was your name?"
"Senior Sergeant Callum."
She pulled her mike down to her mouth and pressed a button on the switchboard in front of her. "Mr Cross, I have a Senior Sergeant Callum here, he would like to see you. He doesn't have an appointment."
Tyson had a really bad feeling building in his stomach, the formality with which she addressed him, was leading him to believe Mark Cross wouldn't only have the contacts he needed, he was almost sure he was actually a lawyer; which made him wonder what would make the man think his behaviour was acceptable in any way.
The receptionist looked back up to him.
"What's it in regards to officer, Mr Cross would prefer you make an appointment?"
"It is official police business; I only need a moment of his time."
The receptionist raised her eyebrows in surprise and relayed the message.
"Down the corridor there, third door on your left. Just go straight in." She pointed the way.
"Thank you." He said and walked off down the corridor.
Tyson walked straight through the door and into another, much smaller reception area where another young pretty receptionist greeted him.
"Go straight in Officer." She said and pointed to the doors.
Tyson again walked straight through the door and took in the man sitting on the other side of the desk. He was big, although not excessively huge, maybe only just over the six-foot mark at a guess, but he was lanky rather than stocky, he looked like the penultimate businessman in his obviously expensive tailored suit.
"Mark Cross?" Tyson confirmed as he shook hands with the man.
Mark nodded "Senior Sergeant. What can I do for you today?"
Tyson handed the envelope across the table to Mark Cross.
"What's this about?" He asked as he accepted the envelope.
"It is self-explanatory, it’s an interim intervention order. Filed with the magistrate’s court last night on behalf of your ex-wife. I'm sure you've seen one before in your line of work, assuming you are actually an attorney."
"What! She wouldn't dare. I haven't even spoken to her in over two years."
"No. But you did leave quite a number of text and voice mail messages on her mobile phone over the course of the weekend."
"I need to speak with her, and she still hasn't returned my calls as of this morning. It's been very frustrating as I'm a very busy man and I urgently need to get some personal matters sorted out with her. She's proving rather difficult to contact."
Tyson had to remind himself of the fear he could see in Ash's eyes when they were discussing this very
man last night. He made a valid and reasonable point, although the methods were extreme.
"Well, unfortunately Mr Cross, you are no longer legally able to contact her at all."
"This is ridiculous; it'll never stand up in court. What silly hair brained pencil pusher advised her that this was a good idea?" Mark had stood up and was pacing as he read over the orders. "This is absolute rubbish."
"I did sir, after reading the texts and listening to the messages and discussing the phone conversation you had with your ex-wife's boyfriend. I was the hair brained pencil pusher who believed this was the way to go. Personally I'd like to lock you up right now, but we both know I can't legally do that, so this is the best we've got. Stay away from her Mr Cross, you will hear from the magistrate’s court in regards to a hearing date."
"She doesn't have a boyfriend. She's my wife." Mark stated.
"Ex-wife, Mr Cross."
"I can assure you Senior Sergeant, I never signed any divorce papers. She is my wife. You can't keep me away from her."
"If you go near her, if you call her, if you threaten her Mr Cross, I will throw your lousy arse in jail with a smile on my face. I shall see you in court Mr Cross." With that Tyson left the office and left the building without turning back. He hoped Ash hadn't lied about the divorce, ultimately it wouldn't make any difference but it wouldn't look good in front of the magistrate if she lied. He didn't see Mark drop back into his chair and pick up the phone or he might have hung around long enough to try to eaves drop on the conversation.
****
Connor was sitting in the office of Declan Blunt, his direct contact at Regal Records. Anything he needed was supposed to go through Declan, usually anything he wanted, he went through his agent, but since the label had offered, he decided to go through them directly.
"Hey Connor, what can I help you with?" Declan asked.
"I need some security."
"What? Why? What's wrong?"
"Not a problem with me. I need security for my girlfriend."
"What's up? She's not even known to the public; surely she hasn't got issues with stalkers already."
"Only her ex-husband."
"What?"
"Her ex-husband is stalking her."
"What? Hang on a minute Connor; you want us to supply security because your girlfriend is being stalked by her ex?"
Connor handed over Ash's phone and showed Declan the messages that had been sent.
"Well, no! Not really. I mean if you are offering I'll accept, but all I really want are the security firm's contact details. I'll hire them myself. I have to protect her. I just didn't want to pull up any Tom Dick or Harry off of Google; at least the guys you use are reputable and reliable."
Declan handed the phone back just as it rang. Connor looked at the unknown number again, for a moment or two, undecided over whether or not to answer the call. He swiped to answer and put it onto loudspeaker.
"Hello."
"You again! Where is Ash?"
"Not here Mark. She has a new phone; I'll be holding onto this one from here on out."
"I'll simply get her new number off of Marianne again."
"You mean your mother, Marianne? Marianne and Christian won't have her new number. They'll have to come through me to contact her."
"Do you think I won't find her, you arsewipe? She's my wife. You can't keep me away from me, and some stupid piece of paper can't either. I'm taking back what's mine."
"You've already been served the interim order and yet you're still trying to contact her?"
"I don't give a fuck about a stupid piece of paper, you idiot! Get that through your thick idiotic skull. And tell Ash, I'll be seeing her real soon." Mark said before the dial tone hit Connor’s ears.
Declan nodded. "Consider it done. What are you after? A single bodyguard, on relief, stationed around the clock?"
"Yes please, can they be discreet?"
"You don't want her to know?"
"No, she'll know. I don't want everyone she comes into contact with to know. I think the police will probably be keeping an eye on her as well though."
"The police aren't usually as concerned as they should be about domestic cases."
"I'll make sure they are."
"We need to keep your name out of this Connor. I know they say all publicity is good publicity, but at this stage I think it's better if we keep it as quiet as we can."
"I'm happy with that, and I'm sure Ash will be too."
Connor was walking out of the building when his phone rang.
"Hello."
"Is that Connor Maise?"
"Speaking."
"Mr Maise, it is Senior Sergeant Callum here. Is Ms Cross available please?"
"I'm not with her at the moment, sorry officer."
"Does she have another contact number?"
"Not yet. I'm not giving her back her old phone. I'm picking up a new one, with a new number now and I'll drop it off to her shortly. I can get back to you with the new number when I've got it."
"That would be great Mr Maise, I wanted to let her know I've delivered the papers; I think he's going to be a problem though."
"Yeah I know, he's already called with more threats."
"Really? When?"
"Not even five minutes ago."
"God damned son of a bitch. I knew he was going to be a problem. I didn't realise I'd be back out there today to arrest him. Did you know he's a lawyer?"
"A barrister actually, I think."
"God damn son of a bitch, I'm going to be wasting my time." He said, sighing in frustration.
"I'm hiring twenty-four-hour security for her."
"I think that would be a good idea. Can you prove the phone call? Did you speak to him?"
"Yeah, I answered it. The log came up as an unknown number. I don't know if you can trace it, but I had the call on speaker in the record labels offices. Declan Blunt heard the whole thing. I was in the middle of negotiating the security when he called. I wanted them to realise the seriousness of the situation. It was just good timing."
"Can I have his number?"
"I'll message it to you when I get off the phone."
"Thanks, I'll go back to the station, take his statement and send someone to pick up Mr Cross. I doubt we'll be able to hold him though. Just so you know."
"Whatever you can do Senior Sergeant. I appreciate it."
"Not a problem Mr Maise."
"I'll talk to you soon."
"Oh, Mr Maise, before you hang up. Can you please confirm if Ms Cross is indeed divorced?"
"Yeah she is."
"Are you sure? Mr Cross seems adamant they are still married. Not that it makes any difference whether or not they're actually married. I'm worried about getting a magistrate on our side if she lied in the initial report."
"I believe he refused to sign the papers. It went to court, he never showed up, so the divorce was issued anyway. I'll confirm with Ash though and let you know if it's any different."
"Thanks Mr Maise. I'll hear from you soon."
"Thank you, bye."
****
Connor hung up the call and climbed into his car, anxious to get back and see Ash as soon as he could. Not that he'd get to see her as soon as he liked, although he was heading straight back to her place after picking her up a new phone, he knew she was at work, he wanted to go there but knew she wouldn't appreciate him barging in on her at work. So he had to settle with going back to her place to wait for her instead.
He didn't actually need to get her a new phone, he knew he could easily arrange a new sim for her, but looking at her phone... damn she needed a new one. It was old, an original iPhone 3, the back was totally smashed, and the screen was cracked. So he figured it was just as easy to get her a new one, hell it's not like he couldn't afford it. He called into the local Telstra shop on his way home. He was getting her a new phone on his account so it couldn't be traced back to her. He wouldn't put it past Mark to have contacts who would be able to access a ne
w number in her name even if it was unlisted, but if it was in his name, nobody could trace it back to her.
****
Connor got back to Ash's place just after lunch, he had a couple of hours to kill until she got home, she was supposed to finish work at three so she could pick the girls up from school, then she'd be home shortly after and he'd be able to relax again. What he really wanted to do though was get her to move into his place with him. It would make everything so much easier, not to mention the fact that he loved her. Her loved being with her, and he wanted her around him all the time. He loved her, with a passion he had never felt in his entire life. He'd never imagined himself with a wife or a family, and yet here he was, seriously considering asking Ash to marry him. The thought of her sharing his name and wearing his ring caused a stir in the pit of his stomach that brought a smile to his face.
Connor filled the water pot on the coffee maker and rummaged in the pantry for a coffee pod to make a cuppa while he waited for Ash. He was adding the milk when his phone rang again. He looked at the screen but didn't recognise the number.
"Hello."
"Mr Maise?"
"Speaking."
"Mr Maise, my name is Liam Chalmers from Startrust Security. I understand you are interested in our services."
"I am Mr Charmers."
"Please call me Liam, what were you after Mr Maise?"
"Connor please. My girlfriend is having problems with her ex-husband, he's stalking her and I'm concerned for her safety."
"Well, we can help with whatever you need. I've been authorised by Regal Records to supply you with whatever you need. So what were you thinking?"
"I was hoping for discrete twenty-four-hour security; outside the house, outside her work."
"Will she be aware of our presence Mr Ma... Connor? Is she likely to make it difficult for us?"
"She'll be fine. Provided you're discrete I don't think there'll be an issue. I'll let her know you're following her and I'd like her to be comfortable with the guards you station."
"We have a couple of female officers we can put on her so she doesn't feel intimidated if you think that might be an issue."
"Liam, I don't mean to sound like a sexist arse, but I want someone looking after her who can kick arse if need be. I'm not sure a female would be able to take on a fit male."