Ashley Ridge (Haunted Hearts Series Book 3)

by Denise Moncrief

Josh dragged Ashley behind him as he hit the path at a fast pace. She glanced back at the Shack. A dark cloud had settled over the dilapidated roofline. A streak of lightning pierced a clear night sky and shattered the top of the sapling that poked out of the roof. Another scream lodged in her throat but wouldn’t escape her lips.

  ****

  It was past eleven when Josh dropped Brett off at his front door. Now that he was finally alone with Ashley, he had a chance to interrogate…or rather, question her about Terrance Phelps. He’d been on edge all day, anxious to ask if she’d had a nasty run-in with her boss. Hopefully, the subhuman primate was about to be her ex-boss. The events at the Love Shack hadn’t done much to relieve his anxiety. Maybe asking her about Phelps would get her mind off Jeremy Haskins. “So how did it go today? At work?”

  She turned her head toward him. He regretted starting the conversation as soon as the pained expression crossed her face. The woman was obviously still recuperating from her experience at the Shack. No matter how much she proclaimed she was all right.

  It took her nearly a half-minute to respond to his question. “He wasn’t there.” Her succinct answer had a bit of bite to it.

  He suppressed a flinch and continued as if he hadn’t noticed her irritation. “Really? That’s interesting.”

  “No one seemed to know where he was.”

  Even more interesting.

  She adjusted her seat belt and turned a bit to face him. “My stomach was upset all day long. I just knew he would bust in on me when I was with a patient and start ranting about someone breaking into his cabin and then giving me a suspicious look. The kind of look that says, ‘I’m not saying it in front of this patient, but I know the person who broke into my place was you.’ If he thought I had been in the cabin without him, he would have been furious with me and he would have let me know it. He wouldn’t have cared who was listening. Because when he gets mad, he forgets himself. Yeah, he would have said something mean and cold and hateful in front whoever was there. Even though, you know, he didn’t want anyone to know about the place. Like it was some big dark secret. He’s always been really weird about it, and now I guess I know why. That little cage of his is just plain creepy sick weird. No, if he had been there today and knew about the break-in, he would have made my life a living hell over it, because I’m the first person he would suspect.”

  Her long rant startled Josh. It was the most words she’s strung together since they left the Shack. He sorted through her rant and picked up on a relevant bit of information, something that might be significant.

  “How often is he absent from the clinic without explanation?”

  She tilted her head, a favorite thinking position of hers. Being with her was like starting a fresh relationship with a new woman, except he already knew all the nuances of her body language. He was looking forward to getting reacquainted with every one of them. He wanted to replace his imagination with reality. Make some new memories for both of them, memories of Ashley with Josh that would push the ugly memories of being with Phelps right out of Ashley’s head.

  She scowled at him as if she knew exactly where his mind had traveled and she just wasn’t in the mood for it. He shook thoughts of being together out of his head and refocused on what she was saying.

  “There have been a few times he’s been out all day without explanation, and when he got back he’d get really upset if anyone asked him where he was or why he hadn’t let anyone know he’d be gone, especially in the last year. I’ve had to come in on my day off a couple of times to cover for him.”

  She sniffed as if she smelled something vile. “He likes to act like the boss. There’s a big difference between being a boss and just acting like one.”

  Josh kind of knew what she meant. Halsey was good a impersonating a boss too.

  “Last night, while you were in the shower, I was thinking about… Well, I was thinking about you…in the shower…”

  “Yeah?” Her voice had gotten a little huskier.

  Had she already forgotten her earlier irritation? He had been certain she had read his wayward mind and didn’t think his timing was appropriate. She was being a bit contrary.

  “But that’s not what I meant to say…” Didn’t matter. He’d said it. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and was surprised the woman was blushing.

  “No? What did you mean then? I really want to know.”

  He laughed. “No. I meant to tell you about the other stuff I was thinking about.”

  “Go on. What could be more interesting to you than visions of me in the shower?”

  Oh, there were a few things he could have shared with her. But no, he kept those sweet imaginations to himself. He’d let her imagination work overtime for a little while.

  “Well, you don’t have to put it that way, Ash.” He dropped his voice an octave.

  “Tell me. I’m really curious now.”

  He licked his lips. Flirting with her had always been a heart-pounding experience. He’d missed that so much. All they had done the past few years was grumble and accuse one another of interfering with the each other’s life. They were starting fresh. She’d promised him that. He’d promised her that. They could make this work.

  Flirting was a good thing.

  “I got a call from an FBI agent out of Springfield last week.”

  Not really what he wanted to talk about after their indulgence in their little flirt fest, but he was stuck with the conversation he’d started.

  “He wanted me to pull whatever evidence I had on three missing person cases from north Arkansas. I was thinking about that room underneath Phelps’s cabin and the cage you described and all the young girls the fed told me about that have gone missing from north Arkansas and southern Missouri in the last five years.” He glanced her way. “And then I wondered… When did Phelps move to Fairview?”

  Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. A few stray tears dropped from her eyes. The woman could tune up and bawl on a moment’s notice, but then, he guessed her emotions were probably close to the surface.

  As were his, and he’d never considered himself a particularly emotional sort of guy.

  “I’m so tired, Josh. I don’t want to do this anymore. Everything…it’s just too much. The way Terrance has treated me practically ever since I’ve known him. And keeping this huge secret from you all these years when I really didn’t have to. And Gray says that Haskins isn’t going to harass us, but how can we rely on any promises Fred Haskins makes? You know that man will eventually get his revenge on me for what happened to Jeremy. Gray might be safe, but I’m never going to be safe. And what happened tonight at the Shack… What if that follows me everywhere I go? I know you’ve thought about that. I saw the look on your face when we were listening to the EVP.”

  He couldn’t deny it. He’d thought about it.

  “The only good thing about any of this is…”

  His heart thumped harder. “What, babe?”

  She reached over and slipped her hand in his. “I don’t have to do this alone anymore, do I?” Her tone was so hopeful it made his heart sing.

  He lifted their hands and kissed the back of hers. “No, darling. No, you don’t have to be alone anymore. I just want you to know that I thought you were awfully brave today. You could have let him scare you into running away. Maybe not physically, but certainly emotionally or mentally, but you didn’t run. I admire you so much for that. So no, if you’re brave enough to stand your ground then I’m going to be brave enough to stand with you. Let him come at both of us.”

  She made a small noise of amusement. Kind of a throaty little chuckle. “Do you mean the ghost of Jeremy Haskins or do you mean Terrance Phelps?”

  Ah, he could see what she did there. She’d braved two villains in the same day. She didn’t have to go face Phelps at work any more than she had to face Haskins at the Love Shack, yet she’d done both in one day. If she could face her demons, then surely he could face his.

  “Whichev
er.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Shaw hated media types, hated every stinking blasted one of them. The grief he’d been given by the press when the Lipton case had exploded in the news still made him angry enough to curse one of them when they approached him. Reaching out to a reporter made the gastric juices in his stomach churn. Belinda Daniels was probably the most offensive of the lot of Little Rock news channel reporters. Calling her had taken quite a bit of pride out of him.

  She had been absorbing what he’d said for a least half a minute before she spoke. “So you’re telling me this cop in Fairview was the first on the scene before dispatch was called? And the dead woman was his ex-wife?” The sound of a large exhalation of air came across the airwaves. “Wow!”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” He glanced out the kitchen window and welcomed the sunrise as it shot rays of light across the deck at Shaw’s Landing. The sunshine peeking over the eastern horizon promised a gorgeous day, a relief from the storms and sporadic rain of the last few days.

  “So why are you telling me this? What’s in it for you? You’re a cop, one of them.” Suspicion resonated in her smooth, television-ready voice. “And I didn’t think you and I had a particularly good working relationship.”

  He smiled at how easy it was proving to manipulate the woman. “I just think it’s strange that no one in Hill County is investigating him, and I knew you’d see the problem while others might not want to get it.”

  She snapped up the bait he dangled. “You mean there’s no internal affairs investigation?”

  “Not that I’ve heard. I think Grayson has taken a leave of absence, but as far as being questioned in connection with his wife’s death…un-uh. He’s disappeared.”

  The sound of a pencil tapping on a desk came across the call. “Why aren’t the state cops investigating this?”

  “I am with the State Police, and I have been investigating it, but there’s only so much I can do where another officer of the law is concerned, if you know what I mean.” He paused a moment. “I think you can understand why I would want to keep my name out of it.”

  Oh yeah, Belinda would understand. She was the prime piranha that had snapped at his flesh during the whole Lipton ordeal.

  “Gotcha. So if I’m leaving you out of this, where I do I start looking?”

  “Well…I heard a rumor…”

  She sucked in a breath. Belinda loved a good conspiracy theory. He had counted on it.

  “What did you hear?”

  “Halsey is covering it up as a favor to Fred Haskins.”

  “Why would Haskins ask him to do that?”

  Shaw smiled. She was falling for it. Every bit of it. “That’s what I’d like to know, and I bet the citizens of Hill County would also like to know why. Don’t you think?”

  She hesitated. “I’m not sure I want to get into that.”

  But she did. He had her. As soon as she hung up, she’d be in her news manager’s office telling him about her scoop. Within hours, news of the favor Halsey had done for Fred Haskins would be frontline news in Arkansas. Belinda got off the phone rather quickly after that.

  Shaw glanced across the table at Grayson. “She bought it.”

  An expression of sheer panic crossed Grayson’s face. “Oh my God, what have we done? Haskins threatened the people I care about if I didn’t leave him alone.”

  “Hopefully, we’ve started a feud between Haskins and Halsey that will absorb his attention for a while. He won’t know which direction it came from since your part in all this will be questioned as well. He’ll suspect Halsey of talking too much. He’d never believe you’d do this to yourself on purpose.”

  “I can’t believe I did this to myself on purpose.” Grayson was not attractive when he was being snarky.

  “Haskins will need someone with law enforcement experience in his camp once Halsey turns on him. He’ll turn to his son for help. You’ll be reluctant, even belligerent, but eventually he’ll make you an offer you’ll pretend you can’t refuse.”

  Grayson rubbed the back of his head hard, ruffling his brown hair with swift up and down motions. “What about Tori? And Josh and Ashley. I don’t want them caught in the middle of this.”

  Tori was already there. The other two could handle themselves from what Shaw had seen and heard. “Don’t worry about Tori. I’ll make sure she’s safe. And the other two…they’ll distance themselves from you and they’ll be fine.”

  “How are you gonna keep Tori safe? By hiding her at your defunct chicken strip restaurant?”

  “Catfish. It was catfish.”

  “Whatever.”

  “No.” Shaw leaned forward to press home his plan and make his point. “You and Tori are going to have a very public fight. We need her to stay on the inside of the Sheriff’s Department so we’ll know what Halsey is up to. So you’re gonna have to make it look like the two of you are splits in a very public nasty sort of way.”

  “This isn’t giving me a very good feeling.”

  Shaw smiled at Tori. “She can handle herself.”

  “You mean the way I handled the Lipton thing,” she snapped at him, clearly pissed off.

  Tori had a point, but Shaw had a stronger one. “You’ve learned a lot since then. You’ve learned to distrust me.”

  Grayson snorted. “She’s smart.”

  Shaw couldn’t wait to jump on the obvious comeback. “Well, not too smart. She’s involved with you.”

  Grayson rose to his feet. “I can’t leave Ashley and Josh in the dark like this. The four of us made a pact to have each other’s backs, no matter what came at us from Haskins. They have to know.”

  “Telling them what you’re doing puts their lives at risk.”

  Tori placed her hand on Grayson’s upper arm, gazed up at him from where she was seated at the table and then shot a mean glare at Shaw. “Not telling them puts their lives at even greater risk. I’ll be the go-between. I’ll tell them not to believe what their hearing. To wait before they jump to judgments. But that’s all I’ll say.”

  Shaw shook his head. “That’s too much.”

  Grayson leaned both hands on the tabletop and bent toward Shaw. “You’ve set me up for a hard time, Shaw. I agreed to this, but I didn’t like it. I agreed that it was the only way to get on the inside of Haskins’s operation, but if you want my complete cooperation, you’re going to have give me a few concessions here.”

  “I got you immunity from prosecution for any criminal acts that you might have to perform in the line—”

  “I’m not talking in an official, legal, keep-our-butts out of jail sort of way. I mean friend-to-friend here. Because we’ve known each other a long time. Because we’ve kept each other’s secrets. I made a promise to the people I care about to keep them safe from this. Let me do what I promised for them, or I’ll blow my cover before I even get started.” He paused, his neck muscles straining. “Do you really want to bring all this paranormal crap into the conversation? Because that’s what I’ll do. I have nothing to lose.”

  Shaw fell against the seat back. If there was one thing he’d learned in his years of law enforcement it was that a cop didn’t get between a desperate man and the people he cared about. Never a good idea.

  “Okay, Tori is the go-between…between me and you, between your friends and you. She’ll tell them only as much as will keep them from believing you’ve gone to the dark side.” He crossed his arms. “If you intentionally blow your cover before we’ve gotten enough evidence to indict Haskins, then you’re immunity deal will go bye bye.”

  “Really, Shaw? You’re gonna be that way…with me?”

  He shook his head. “Those aren’t my words. Those are the state prosecutor’s. Getting an immunity deal for you, considering it was your ex-wife that you found dead, was difficult. I had to convince him you had nothing to do with that without mentioning anything paranormal. You tell me? Was that an easy sell?” He pointed at the paper in front of them. “Sign the document, Grays
on. It’s your get out of jail free pass.”

  ****

  Ashley had arrived at the clinic about seven that morning. Her stomach stayed volatile for about an hour after she walked in the back door until it became clear that Terrance wasn’t going to show up for work again that day. She stepped into the employee’s restroom and typed a brief text to Josh’s cell. He’s not here again today.

  An even briefer reply come back almost immediately. Weird. Again.

  She and Josh had sat on the back patio of Gray’s house early that morning and watched the sunrise. It promised to be a gorgeous spring day, the rain and the dark clouds of the last few days banished by a big, bright sun, except that an unsettled feeling in the pit of Ashley’s stomach warned her that a storm of another sort was fast approaching them.

  She concentrated on symptoms and diagnoses and writing numerous prescriptions for the next few hours. The longer the day progressed, the more anxious she became. Terrance never missed more than one day at a time unless he had planned a few vacations days. His behavior was highly unusual. So unusual that Ashley didn’t know how to interpret it. Her co-workers kept asking her when he would arrive, like she would know, and she supposed most if not all of them were well aware of their horrid affair. Maybe not the humiliating details but at least the fact of its tawdry existence.

  She had just stepped out of an exam room in the back hallway near the door to the parking lot when her cellphone vibrated in her pocket. She sighed with irritation. She hadn’t checked in with Josh in hours. Was he going to be that level of clingy?

  The phone was at her ear and she was answering before she even considered checking the display to see who was calling her during work hours.

  “I’ve been watching you and McCord, Ashley. I know what’s been going on behind my back. I told you to stay away from him.”

  She bit her bottom lip to stop its sudden trembling, drew in a deep fortifying breath before she responded. “You can’t tell me what to do anymore. We’re done.”

  “You’re going to regret that attitude, Ashley. When you come back to me you’re going to have to make up for being so stupid and stubborn.”