Her heart pounded like crazy. She pressed her hand against her chest, but before she could say anything, Josh had blurted his opinion. “Why did you do that, Gray? Why didn’t you just put her in cuffs and haul her off to jail? Haskins will never rest until she’s in the women’s pen. That place will kill her.”
“I told him I was the one driving.”
Gray stared at Ashley. Once again, he’d come to her rescue. Her heart deflated a little and she dropped her head. Her soul ached with fresh grief for what had been lost to her over the years. And Gray? He had given up so much to protect her. She’d never be able to get out from under the debt she owed him. Until she did, she couldn’t look him in the eye.
She focused on her picked-at nails. “You shouldn’t have done that, Gray. Maybe it’s time you quit covering for me.”
“Doesn’t matter. What he told me changed everything anyway.”
Josh scooted his chair closer to the table and leaned his elbows on the wood tabletop. “I’m not liking the sound of that.”
“What did he say, Gray?”
Tori’s soft voice seemed to slow the quickly rising tide of Ashley’s mounting fears. They had been hitting her in waves ever since Tori had suggested Gray might be telling Haskins the truth about what happened the night Jeremy died. Now, it seemed he hadn’t told Haskins the truth at all.
“He’s never going to push Halsey to close Jeremy’s case because...I’m his son.”
The chunk chunk of the refrigerator dropping ice into the bucket rattled the quiet that had descended on the room.
Josh managed to be the first to speak. “What did you just say?”
“You heard me.”
“Oh, my God.” Ashley couldn’t process it. Gray was Haskins’s son? He had to be wrong.
Gray wasn’t finished with his revelations. “We have a sort of truce.” He shifted in his seat. “I’m not going to investigate him for running the meth operation in northwest Arkansas, and he’s going to leave everyone important to me alone.”
Josh sucked in a ragged breath and then exhaled slowly. “He admitted to running the meth operation? So I was right. Cooley wasn’t the big boss. He worked for Haskins.”
Gray pulled a digital recorder from his pocket. “I recorded every word. I listened to it on the way over here from his house. This new model picks up sound really well.”
How could Gray focus on something so trivial as how well the latest model of digital recorder picked up sound? He has to be in shock. She wanted to jump up and rush around the table to give him a hug, but with Josh and Tori there, she couldn’t.
Tori pointed at the device. “You recorded that without his permission.”
“I know I can’t use it as evidence, but it’s my insurance that he’ll never hurt one of us. He’d be foolish to think I didn’t record our conversation. How do you think he’s survived all these years? He knows how the game is played. So that was our deal. He won’t try to punish us for Jeremy’s death, and I won’t use what I know to prosecute him.”
“How can you live with yourself knowing what you know, Gray?” Josh seemed appalled that he’d made such an unholy deal with the devil. “How can you ignore the fact that man is responsible for ninety percent of the meth distribution in Arkansas? Probably reaches further than that. It’s a big network, and you know how long we’ve been trying to bring it down.”
Gray smiled. “I never said I wouldn’t stop someone else from investigating him. I’m going to make sure Bennett has a copy of my conversation with Haskins.” He replaced the recorder in his pocket. “I’m telling you all this because you need to know what happened and you need to be careful. We have to have each other’s backs. We can never allow ourselves to be divided again. It wouldn’t be healthy for any of us.”
“What about her? Why does this concern her?” Ashley nodded toward Tori.
She hated that even one more person knew the truth. Gray had told Tori. Obviously. And Ashley guessed she understood that. If Tori and Gray were together, it wouldn’t be right to keep such a huge secret from Tori. Not like Gray had kept it from Caroline. The secret had ruined his marriage. Was about to ruin his career.
“Because I’ve asked her to stay with me, and unless I abide by my agreement with Haskins, she’s going to be a target for his retaliation.”
He wrapped his arm around Tori and turned to face her. “You should probably run while you still can.”
“Are you afraid of Haskins?” Tori whispered.
“No. Not any more. I’m going to make sure no one is ever afraid of him in this town again. He just won’t know I’m the one doing it.”
He rose from his chair and reached his hand out to Josh, who hesitated only a moment before shaking.
“I’m leaving town for a while. You and Ashley watch after each other. When I come back, we have some things we need to catch up on, and some things I’m going to need your help with.”
What kind of help could he possibly need? Ashley couldn’t help him bring down Haskins. She would barely be able to survive knowing that the man knew part of the truth. How much digging would Haskins have to do before he discovered the whole truth?
“Like what?”
Gray glanced at Tori before explaining his plans. “I don’t think the paranormal activity at Victoria House is going to stop until we discover who murdered Victoria Hamilton. Tori and I are going to help Victoria get the peace she asked for.”
Josh nodded. “Yeah, you’re going to need help with that.”
He glanced at Ashley.
She lifted her hands, a defensive reaction. “Don’t look at me. I gave up ghost hunting.”
Despite her objection, the thought of joining them in a ghost hunt caused her pulse to quicken.
Gray turned toward Tori, offered his hand, and then pulled her from her chair.
“Let’s get out of here, baby. I want to leave this town so I can be alone with you without everyone knowing my business.”
Gray was out the door with Tori before Ashley could say another word. She watched them descend the porch, get into Gray’s car, and drive away.
She spoke to Josh without looking at him. “You need to leave.”
“What? You heard what Gray just said.”
She shook her head. Fear rose up from her toes. “I heard what he said, but Terrance has been trying to call me ever since I left the clinic, and if he finds out that you’ve been here—”
“When are you going to ditch that jackass? He’s making you miserable. I can see it in your eyes every time you say his name. What kind of stranglehold does that son of a bitch have on you?”
She turned her head away before he read too much in her eyes.
“Oh my God, Ash. He does have something on you. What is it?” Josh paused just long enough to apparently think it through. “He knows, doesn’t he? He knows about Jeremy Haskins’s death.”
Terrance knew more than that.
“Please…just go.”
He wrapped one arm around her and gently pushed her head onto his shoulder. The way he stroked her hair was the sweetest comfort in the world. The way her body molded to his felt oh so right, like they were made for each other. The sweetest memory of being with him crowded her mind. She wanted to be with him again. Desperately wanted it.
“I can help you with this, Ashley. Just let me.”
She pushed him away and wrapped her hand around the doorknob of the still open door. “No, you can’t. No one can.”
Josh pulled the door out of her hand and shoved it shut before lifting her chin and staring into her eyes. She refused to flinch under his scrutiny. She had to hold fast and remain silent no matter how much she wanted Josh to help her. The truth as seen through Josh’s eyes might destroy her.
Gray had been right when he’d told her Josh could never hate her. She and Josh didn’t hate each other. No, just the opposite.
Josh still loved her. His feelings for her vibrated in his every word, his every touch. The pain she caused him b
y pushing him away shadowed his eyes. It nearly killed her to say no to him when she wanted him to stay with her so very badly.
Chapter Five
Josh had only been gone a few minutes when a hard knock rattled her last nerve. Ashley drew in a deep fortifying breath and flung the door open. “What do you want now?”
Terrance pushed past her into the house and slammed the door shut behind them. “What was Josh McCord doing here?”
“He was here with Gray.” She bit her lower lip as soon as the defensive words left her mouth.
“Gray? You mean Grayson? That cop that helped you bring McCord into the clinic?”
Ashley backed up a step when he clenched his fists at his sides. “Yes, that Gray.”
“McCord is the only one I saw leaving.” Suspicion resonated in his angry voice. A vein in his neck pulsed.
“Gray just found out his ex-wife is dead. Josh and I are his friends. We were comforting him. That’s what friends do.” She raised her chin. “I shouldn’t have to explain that to you.”
Terrance had been watching her house. That was a little creepy. No, that was a lot creepy. How often did he spy on her?
She crossed her arms over her chest. She’d just said she shouldn’t have to explain herself, and she wasn’t going to do so. Not this time. Outside of the job, she should never have to defend her actions to him, not if her life was normal, not if her relationship with him was normal, like an employer and an employee instead of blackmailer and blackmailed.
But their relationship wasn’t normal. The will to battle him deflated. If she stood up to him too much and too often, he would crush her. Terrance knew exactly what buttons to push, exactly how to manipulate her, exactly what exposing her secrets could do to her. A brand new thought bombarded her mind. One she’d never considered. Her biggest secret wasn’t what Jeremy Haskins had done to her. No, her biggest secret was that she had let Terrance use her past to control her.
She wanted to yell in frustration at the terrible irony of her situation.
He must have sensed her internal struggle because he unclenched his fists. Terrance knew when he had her. He could relax and play his games with her. It was a pattern. A damnable pattern she wished she could break.
“I don’t like that guy hanging around. He’s not good for you.”
And you are? She cursed the day she met Terrance Phelps.
Initially attracted to his almost perfect good looks, she thought he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. The more he showered her with attention, the more she ignored his unfaithfulness to his wife. But once he had Ashley under his control, she quickly learned what a deceptive façade the man presented to most of the world. He’d sloughed off his superficial qualities like a snake shedding its skin. The charisma resurfaced when he was trying to manipulate her. Actually, he was more like a chameleon than a snake. Both reptiles.
“What does it matter to you whether he hangs around or not?” Her snide response was an impulsive question that didn’t come out sounding as belligerent as it should have. Nor was it a true portrayal of the depths of her anger and resentment toward Terrance.
He moved a step closer. “He could cause a lot of trouble for you.” His words sounded like concern, and the gentle hand he placed on her arm suggested he was trying to protect her, but the warning was all too clear. “He might find out what you don’t want him to know.”
Okay, there it was. The threat. The fear that Terrance would expose her deepest, darkest secrets had kept her enslaved to him and his demands for months.
She pushed his hand off and stared him in the eye. “He knows.”
He blinked. For once, Terrance seemed speechless.
“I told him everything.”
“Everything, Ashley?”
He closed the gap between them and stroked her cheek with his knuckles. “I bet you didn’t.”
She flinched. No, not everything. She could never tell Josh what Terrance had done to her. Her heart stuttered. Actually, Josh was beginning to guess the truth. Maybe Terrance was right. Maybe she didn’t need Josh hanging around. If he kept poking into her business, he’d discern the depths of her humiliation.
Terrance radiated triumph. “That’s what I thought.” He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. “Stay away from him. You really don’t want him to find out the truth. Now, do you?” His mouth found the soft flesh of her neck below her ear, and he sucked until the skin pulled.
She pushed him away. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”
Confusion covered his features. No one told Terrance Phelps no.
“I want to spend some time together tonight.”
Her head started pounding. She pinched the bridge of her nose and stepped away from him. “I can’t tonight.”
“I would think you’d be nice to me after the huge favor I did for you.”
She groaned. “Huge favor?”
“I didn’t have to treat McCord for his injuries. I did because you wanted to keep him out of trouble with his boss.”
She smiled. Her attempt to keep Sheriff Halsey out of the situation had failed. Gray had called him anyway, and the sheriff had shown up at the clinic just as she and Gray pulled into the parking lot with Josh.
“But you didn’t treat Josh. You took one look at him and then at Halsey, and sent him to the hospital. Right where he didn’t want to go. Not much of a favor.”
He rushed forward, and the maneuver pushed her against the wall. “I’m not really concerned about what he wanted.”
She shoved her hands against his chest. Rock hard. The man lifted weights. He was practically immovable. “Leave, Terrance. I’m tired and I need some sleep.”
He brushed her hands aside, pinned her arms to the wall, and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I know you want me to stay.”
She bit her lip and then held her ground. “I want you to go.”
He jerked his head as if he’d been slapped and then took two quick steps back. “Fine. I’ll leave…and then I’ll go see Josh McCord.”
Inspiration hit her hard. She’d searched for months and months to discover Terrance’s weakness. Pushed his hot buttons until he’d pushed back so hard that her emotions practically bled from the pounding he’d inflicted on her psyche. Threatening to tell his wife about their affair was no threat. Cissy knew. Cissy didn’t care. Cissy had her own agenda. But this threat? It was sheer brilliance, and she could have been using it all along.
“And I’ll go see your wife and tell her about the cabin you don’t want her to know about.”
His face came within centimeters of hers within seconds. The intensity of his sudden heat scorched her. “You say anything at all to Cissy, and I will hurt Josh McCord.” He grinned and the expression distorted his features. No longer handsome, his countenance had become unrecognizable. The man suddenly seemed…evil. He was probably capable of murder, but she wasn’t going to test it.
Their eyes locked for a long, terrifying minute. She had to recover the situation, pretend she hadn’t heard what she’d just heard. “Just go, Terrance. I’m really tired tonight, but… I’ll see you at work in the morning. We’ll get together tomorrow night. Okay?” She faked a sweet smile. He returned her smile with a sneer, and his mood changed in a heartbeat.
“Sure, darling. Tomorrow. Let’s plan on it. No, let’s leave town tomorrow night and make it a long weekend. A few days alone at the cabin will be good. Just the two of us. Maybe all you need is a little time away from everything. You’ve gotten way too tense.”
He thought he’d gotten his way, acted as if nothing at all had just happened. But she’d just made her declaration of independence. There was no way she was going to his cabin with him. The place was too remote, too far away from anyone who might hear her scream.
As soon as his car left her driveway, she bolted her door and headed straight to her bathroom to throw up.
****
“McCord.”
Josh closed his eyes for a br
ief moment while he absorbed the grating impact of Terrance Phelps’s strident voice behind him. He turned slowly on his heel and faced Ashley’s lover.
“What do you want, Phelps?”
The doctor came within a couple of paces of him. Josh imagined steam coming out of his ears.
“Stay away from Ashley.” Phelps clipped each word between stiff lips.
So pretty boy doctor thinks he can tell me what to do.
Maybe the authoritarian tone worked with his employees, and maybe even his wife, certainly his mistress, but Josh wasn’t going to be pushed around by Terrance Phelps, no matter how loud and demanding he became.
Josh emitted a derisive laugh. “It’s her business whether I hang around her or not. I don’t answer to you.”
He crossed his arms. No way was he letting this jerk dictate to him how many times or when he saw Ashley. He closed his mouth tight to keep from saying what he really thought and waited for the self-important jackass to say something else stupid.
“As her employer and her friend, I am just trying to watch out for her.” Phelps acted as if he was patiently explaining something simple to a two-year-old.
“Really? Is that what you call it?”
“You pulled her into a bad situation the other night. She doesn’t need that kind of trouble.”
A bad situation? That description minimized the experience. Josh had been beaten and knocked unconscious. If Ashley hadn’t come out to the Jepson place to help him, there was a chance he might have died.
Josh counted to five before answering, hoping to keep his tone even. “I think she’s capable of deciding for herself what kind of trouble she wants to get into.”
Phelps’s fists tightened into two balls. His face contorted as if he was trying to control his temper. Really, would the guy hit him? How dare the son of a bitch come to his house and threaten him on his front lawn?
He glanced around the neighborhood. A few of his neighbors had stopped what they were doing to observe their confrontation. Good. He might need a witness if Phelps took a swing. Josh wished he would. He had been punched a lot lately and he was kind of getting used to it. He could take it…if it meant Phelps spent a night in a holding cell.
Ashley Ridge (Haunted Hearts Series Book 3) Page 5