“I know last night was pretty crazy.”
She nodded. “Definitely not something I thought I’d be doing on a Wednesday night.”
“This whole thing is pretty disorienting for most people. Takes them out of their comfort zone and thrusts them into a place that is uncomfortable and sometimes frightening.”
She focused on him, understanding spreading from those deep eyes to the slight frown of her full lips.
“For you, this is a temporary situation. Eventually, the person doing this to you will be found and incarcerated. Then you will be able to go back to your everyday life.” He paused, his eyes searching hers. “For Donovan, this is his everyday life.”
Her eyes fell to the floor. He thought, for a moment, that she was processing what he’d said, perhaps coming to an understanding. But when she looked up again, her eyes fixed on his, he could see that same stubborn determination that he’d met in her hospital room.
“I get that you care about him. I even get that you probably know our history and you might even think that my opinion of Donovan is off or skewed in some way. But, to be perfectly honest, this is our business. Donovan’s a big boy. He knows what he’s getting into with me, probably better than you do.”
“I just want to make sure one or both of you don’t get hurt when this is all said and done.”
She nodded as she placed her hand on his knee. “We’re both grownups. We can watch out for ourselves.”
It seemed like an ironic thing to say, considering the nature of her relationship with Gray Wolf Security at the moment. However, Ash couldn’t help but admire her hutzpah. It would likely get her through whatever was yet to come.
“Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are here,” Rose called from her desk, gesturing to the front door.
Ash stood and went to greet them. Mr. Thompson’s expression was tight, but Mrs. Thompson was more interested in checking out the house and the people populating it than in consoling her clearly upset husband.
“Mr. Thompson,” Ash said, offering his hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“What the hell is going on, Grayson?” Mr. Thompson said. “I get a phone call from a friend telling me that cops were all over my daughter’s house all morning.”
“I wanted to wait until we had all the information before we called you.”
Mr. Thompson opened his mouth to argue when Kate came around Ash.
“Daddy.”
He hugged her as if he’d not seen her in twenty years. Ash watched, touched by this clear example of familial affection. He remembered those kinds of hugs with his mother and father. He might not seem like the kind of guy who was close to his parents, but he adored them and believed that they adored him. And he missed them every minute of every day, especially at times like this.
He glanced over at David and caught him watching. However, the moment had a different impact on him. David expression tightened and his eyes darkened. And when Ash made the mistake of catching his eye, he immediately turned away.
There was that guilt. Ash had worked for more than a year to ease his guilt, to make him see that the accident was not his fault. But once David made up his mind about something, his mind was made up. There was no changing it.
“Daniel,” Donovan said, offering his hand to Mr. Thompson as he finally released his daughter.
“What’s going on, Donny?”
Donovan gestured for Mr. Thompson to follow him back to the same loveseat Ash and Kate had just abandoned. The five of them took a seat in the small sitting area—after Mr. Thompson called to his wife several times to get her to pay attention to them—and Donovan quickly explained how the program David had designed notified him of a possible intruder and how he got Kate out of the house as quickly and safely as he could.
“We have reason to believe that whoever killed the security guard at your daughter’s bank is after Kate,” Ash said, watching alarm burst across Mr. Thompson’s face at the same time Kate looked down at her hands, resignation clearly written on the curves of her face. “We are working closely with the Santa Monica Police Department to identify this person as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we will be keeping Kate in a safe house we own in downtown Santa Monica.”
Kate’s eyebrows rose. So did Donovan’s.
Normally, in a case where there was some thought that the safe house had been compromised, the target would be housed at the compound. But Ash didn’t want Donovan and Kate to have the opportunity to spend too much time alone. Although they’d be physically alone in a safe house, all the safe houses were wired with cameras, so they were never truly alone. It’d be safer for Donovan. Then, when the case was over, if he wanted to pursue something, Ash couldn’t do anything about it.
“Our safe houses are as secure as this compound,” he assured everyone. “There is no reason to believe that there will be a repeat of what happened last night.”