Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Carter

C arter slept like shit. No surprise there, but damn he was miserable. It wasn’t just his body; he was mentally exhausted.

Trying to do the right thing last night had made him look like an ass. Ashley had clearly been into their kissing, and he’d had to go and ruin it. He’d had to. This was a job for him, and she would end up regretting things.

He was the only one around right now and, not to brag, she was likely having some sort of hero complex about him that she would get over. Nothing had really changed, and she’d hated his guts before the situation had turned real for her.

Slipping out of bed before she woke up, Carter let himself in the bathroom and closed the door. After splashing his face with water, he took a good look at himself in the mirror.

“Idiot,” he said out loud because that was what he was.

Unable to hide for too long, he sucked in a fortifying breath and left the safety of the bathroom, where he didn’t need to face her.

Ashley was still asleep or at least pretending to be. He grabbed the room service menu and stepped into the hall, ordering them both breakfast and coffee. It was still early, but not as early as he wanted it to be when they got back on the road.

That was his fault, too. She’d lain there awake for a long time last night, and he didn’t have the heart to wake her up after she’d finally fallen asleep.

He knew he was doing the right thing, but Ashley didn’t see that. He wanted her to understand that they couldn’t kiss again, couldn’t go any further. There was too much at risk with his job, not only with his bosses, but because she was his mission.

When Julian was under control, whatever that entailed, Ashley would move on with her life and the job she didn’t actually want. Carter would probably accept the training role that Ryker was offering. She’d be happy he didn’t let things go anywhere with them.

Not wanting to wake her, he crept back into the room to wait for the food.

“Where did you go?” Ashley yawned as she asked.

“I ordered breakfast. Didn’t want to wake you.”

“Oh.” She reached over and turned the lamp on. “What time is it?”

“Early. You can shower if you want, but we need to get on the road after we eat.”

Without another word, she stood, grabbed her bag, and went to the bathroom. He heard the water turn on a few minutes later.

He wondered what today would be like from here. Were they going to pretend last night hadn’t happened? He doubted it. Ashley would probably go back to hating him.

It was for the best, as long as she continued to understand that danger was out there and listened to him. He’d keep his word and include her in decisions, but he was ready to get home and put some distance between them.

Feeling his phone vibrate, he looked down to see the group thread with Ryker and Matt going off.

Matt: I’m sending more security to your place, Carter.

Ryker: A lot more.

Matt: No. We discussed this.

Ryker: And I didn’t agree with you.

Matt: There are already people there that can help.

Ryker: Not enough.

Matt: Carter, want to chime in here?

Carter: Any luck with Julian?

Matt: Nothing yet. I don’t know how he can be getting treated for a bullet wound and not popping on any radar.

Carter: I know I hit him.

Matt: Blood on the scene confirms it.

Ryker: Local police are looking for him in the area still, too.

Carter: Have they checked vets?

Ryker: What?

Carter: He might know that showing up at a hospital would get him too much attention, especially with us looking for him already. What’s the next best thing?

Matt: I’ll check and look for any doctors or nurses that didn’t show up for work.

Ryker: We need to fucking find this guy.

Carter: How many are you sending to my place?

Matt: Two. They will keep low-key, but you need to let your foreman know to expect them.

Carter: On it.

Ryker: That’s not enough.

Carter: It’s plenty. It means around-the-clock security. Adding the hands to that, she’ll be more than covered.

Ryker: I’ll try to keep Luke here.

Matt: He will blow any chance at this being discreet if he goes there. For now, we don’t know how he found their location, but I don’t think he knows who Carter really is.

Ryker: No one believed he was an exchange student.

Carter: I didn’t use my real last name and didn’t speak to anyone if I didn’t have to. They don’t know me.

Matt: I got no indications that people knew Carter’s identity.

Carter: Anyone check her phone, yet?

Matt: Nothing there. A lot of angry messages from Julian, but nothing else and nothing that helps us.

Carter: Damn.

Matt: We do know that Julian’s family cut him off recently. He’d been in contact with Mr. Hawkins through his father, but the conversations picked up in the last few weeks.

Carter: So this is money motivated? Does he not know Ashley? She doesn’t like to spend money.

Ryker: Can confirm. She’ll try to pay me back when this is over.

Matt: Doesn’t matter. Mr. Hawkins is offering him a lump sum to “make his daughter legit” and promised him that this would smooth things over with his parents and get him his allowance back.

Carter: If he did what exactly?

Before the next message came through, Ashley opened the bathroom door. "Any coffee yet?” She walked out and took one look at him before she froze. “What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer, just set the phone on the table where they could both read it.

Ryker: He needed to marry her and then “knock her up” and he’d get several million off Mr. Hawkins.

Matt: Julian was already sniffing around Ashley and interested so he went for it.

Carter: That’s bullshit.

Ashley backed away and sat on the bed. “I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this.”

A knock on the door stopped all conversations. Carter checked the peephole and opened up for room service, taking the tray off the cart and bringing it in.

“There’s nothing I can do to stop this,” Ashley whispered. “What’s the point?”

“Drink your coffee and wake up.” Carter set the tray on the table and picked his phone back up.

Carter: We have to find a way to stop this soon. Things are settling in with Ashley and it’s getting more real as time goes on.

Ryker: She holding up?

Carter: I don’t know for how much longer.

Ryker: Have her call Catherine at some point.

Carter: When it’s safe.

Ryker: Fair enough.

Carter sighed heavily and put the phone back in his pocket, giving Ashley his full attention. “You’ll get through this.”

“Will I?” Ashley snapped. “When? How much of my life will go by as I hide from this asshole?”

“Not much longer.” It was an empty promise and they both knew it.

“I want to lure him out. Use me as bait and get this asshole caught.”

Absolutely not. “Wait til we reach the ranch and we can talk to Matt and Ryker.” He’d pull Luke in on this if he had to.

“I know you are going to try to get out of this. It won’t work. I’m an adult and this is my choice. All you men might mean well, but I’m done being in some ivory tower, playing the damsel in distress.” Ashley was mad now, her hands moving about as she spoke.

“Again, it’s not a conversation for now. And since I just shot the man, I don’t know what will even be an option.” This was much more dangerous than it was before.

Julian would likely come prepared next time, and that meant having some sort of weapon. They needed to figure out who was helping him and how he was getting their location and past the cameras at the cabin.

“You might think I’m joking, but I promise you I’m not,” she warned him.

“I have no doubt that you aren’t kidding.”

“Good. Now, which of these is mine?” She pointed at the two dishes on the table.

“Either one, I didn’t know what you’d want, so I got two different things and figured I’d eat what you didn’t.”

“Thanks.” Ashley grabbed a plate and carried it over to the bed, where she quietly ate.

Carter took the chair since she wasn’t and ate his own food. They’d get this sorted one way or another, and he needed to get the info on the men coming to his ranch still. It was going to be a long driving day, but no more hotels after this.

They cleaned up and headed to the car. Ashley only sighed when he insisted on checking it before they got in.