“Melissa liked to have fun. Everything was a game to her. And she loved men.” Ashleigh’s tone was filled with bitterness and resentment. “She always wanted to do something new and exciting, including meeting new people. She found them fascinating. In all fairness to my sister though, she was usually pretty responsible. She never drove if she was drinking and never got in a car with someone who’d been drinking. No one knows what happened that night, just that she left the bar with a man she’d just met. She was killed when the car drove off an overpass. The guy was drunk, he’s in jail now, but that won’t bring my sister back.” She shrugged.
He kissed her temple, wiped her tears, and helped her stand. She brushed the sand off her dress and stared into his eyes. “Do you still want to be with me, knowing I have a daughter?”
“Sorry.” Cole smiled. “I’m not that easy to get rid of. Let’s go eat.” They strolled back down the beach toward the restaurant. “You know…it’s none of my business, but you sound angry with your sister.”
“She had so much and gave it all up—for what? One night of fun?” Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “Savannah doesn’t remember Melissa. She was only six months old when her mother died, but she wakes up with terrible nightmares almost every night. We don’t know why. I can only guess Savannah’s dreams know there’s someone missing. My sister and I were very close, but we were very different.”
“I’m sure if she’d known how it would end, she wouldn’t have gone.”
Ashleigh shrugged. “I know I should forgive Melissa and I want to. I just feel so angry and hurt.” She stared at the sand sprinkled across her toes.
“You’re allowed to be angry, and the loss will always hurt, but that doesn’t mean you can’t forgive her. Maybe you need to forgive so you can let go of the anger, and heal.”
“I never thought of it that way.”
When they reached the restaurant, Cole decided to hold his story, at least until after they finished their meal. They both deserved a relaxing dinner and time to get to know each other.
His secret could wait another hour.
Chapter Nine
To start letting go of the anger she’d harbored toward Melissa would relieve Ashleigh of a tremendous burden. The weight of the guilt that anger caused slowly lifted from her shoulders allowing some of the happier memories of Melissa to surface. Cole was right, Ashleigh had to forgive first, and then healing would soon begin. She’d spent the last two and a half years judging her sister for having left the bar with a stranger, instead of trying to understand why Melissa gravitated to danger. But wasn’t Ashleigh doing the same thing? She’d been alone in a house twice with a man she had just met. Was her encounter really so different because it hadn’t ended in tragedy?
She glanced at Cole, studying him in the dim light cast by the car’s dashboard instruments. She enjoyed having dinner with him, talking, and getting to know him. There was definitely a certain amount of excitement in learning about someone, and sharing personal details about her own life.
Cole stopped the car, got out, and walked around to Ashleigh’s door. She never took her eyes off him. When he opened her door and reached for her hand, she was surprised to find they were at the Bronson house.
“What are we doing here?”
Cole guided her toward the back of the house. “I thought we’d sit on the deck for a little while. There’s something I have to talk to you about.”
“Cole.” She tugged his arm. “We can’t be here. This is private property.”
“It’s all right. We’re just going to sit for a few minutes. We need to talk.” Cole’s somber mood was quickly becoming reminiscent of the way the evening started.
“Is something wrong?”
Before he could respond, his phone rang. He excused himself and walked to the other end of the deck.
Ashleigh leaned on the railing and gazed at the ocean sparkling in the moonlight, while Cole spoke in a hushed tone.
“Come with me.” Cole gripped her firmly by the arm and propelled her rapidly toward the house. His mood was worse, even more serious than earlier. He wasn’t hurting her arm, but he was definitely scaring her.
“Is something wrong? Where are we going?”
“We have to go inside. Please, Ashleigh, just trust me and do what I say. I’ll explain everything in a few minutes, I promise.” His forced smile probably meant to ease her fear, but it didn’t work.
They reached the living room and Cole told her to leave the lights off. He led her to the far corner of the room, and knelt in front of a safe hidden behind a wall panel. He spun the dial on the safe. Was he robbing the house?
“Cole, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I don’t want any part of it. I’m leaving, right now.” She didn’t make it half-way across the room before the front door was suddenly pushed open and slammed against the wall. She froze and Cole hurled her back, sheltering her with his body. She instinctively slapped her hand over her mouth before a scream could escape. Ashleigh’s heart pounded faster, realizing they were in trouble. Tears gathered in her eyes.
A man, dressed in black, entered the room, a gun in his hand. He walked to Cole. Her breath came in short, harsh gasps. She couldn’t breathe.
“We have to get out of here, Mr. Bronson, now.”
“Where’s Bob?”
“He’s down. They snuck up on us, seemed to know exactly where we would be, and Bob was hit.”
“Get Ashleigh out of here.” Cole pushed her toward the stranger, and headed for the back door.
“Cole!”
“Cole!”
Both Ashleigh and the man yelled at the same time.
The man took the lead. “Dennis is missing.”
Cole stopped dead in his tracks. “Missing?” He turned to the man who was holding Ashleigh’s arm. Cole’s eyes, usually so expressive, were hard and dark, a predators eyes. This was a dangerous side of him that made her nervous.
“No one knows where he is. He hasn’t been seen since late this afternoon.”
“That son of a bitch...”
“Will someone
please
tell me what’s going on here?” Ashleigh was slipping, bordering on hysterical. She had no idea what was going on.
“Andy, close the blinds.” The other man released Ashleigh and did as Cole demanded. Cole walked toward Ashleigh. “Calm down.” He rubbed his hands up and down her arms as if trying to warm her, but she knew his gesture was to calm her…as if anything would work right now. “Everything will be fine. Andy will take you somewhere safe. You can trust him. He works for me.” He then turned back to Andy. “Where did Charlie take Bob?”
“Last I saw he was dragging him toward the cabana. Charlie told me to come get you, that you’d be here because Bob just spoke with you and told you to get inside…to safety. A shot came from the roof of the house next door, and Bob went down. I ran to the house, sir, I’m sorry I don’t know anything else.”
Ashleigh was shaking, tremors tearing through her body by the time Cole turned to her, once again. “What is going on, Cole? Who’s Bob and why did he get shot? Why does this guy have a gun and why did he call you Mr. Bronson?”
A deafening crash blasted from the front window as it shattered and sent glass flying through the room. The air was sucked from Ashleigh’s lungs as Cole grabbed her by the waist and dragged her to the corner bar. “Stay down!”
****
Cole had to stay calm and think rationally if he was going to get them out of this. His first instinct was to storm out the door, find whoever was responsible for this mess, and strangle him to death. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option at the moment. His first priority had to be keeping Ashleigh safe.
He could kick himself for putting her in this position. He should have realized the danger he was placing her in, but thought he had it under control. His father worried too much, and Cole didn’t take the threat seriously enough. Well, it was too late to change the clock now. At this point, he could only do everything in his power to keep Ashleigh safe.
“Cole?” A pang of guilt shot through him, hearing her voice tremble with fear.
Andy tore from the room and shots rang out in the stillness of the night. Not knowing what was going on outside was killing him, but he couldn’t leave Ashleigh. “It’s okay, Ashleigh.” She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her head on her knees. She sobbed in her hands.
Her vulnerability burned his gut. How could he have involved her in his mess?
“Ashleigh, I’m so sorry.” The apology was horribly inadequate. “I’ll get you out of here. I have men outside, a number of bodyguards, they will have notified the police by now, and help should be on the way. Just sit tight a few minutes more.”
He crouched by her side and took one of her hands in his. When she yanked her hand away, his heart sank. How could he ever expect her to forgive him for this? “Ashleigh, please listen to me.”
“Why, so you can lie to me more? I can’t believe I ever trusted you.” She cried.
“I didn’t lie to you.”
“Really, Mr. Bronson?” She said his name dripping with enough sarcasm to make him cringe.
The sound of sirens in the distance was followed by further gunfire.
Cole stole a glance at the doorway, seeing Andy and Charlie guarding the door. Andy nodded, his signal that the threat was taken care of. “It’s almost over, Ashleigh. The police are on their way. We’ll get you home soon.” He rubbed circles on her back, hoping to ease her fears, but her trembling body was inconsolable. He put his arm around her, waiting for the police to enter the house. “Come on, Ashleigh.” He held her hands and helped her stand. “It’s over.”
She pushed him away and with a wobble to her walk, moved uncertainly from behind the bar. “I’m going home.”
“The police will need to talk to me first, but I promise to take you home as soon as they’ve finished.”
“I don’t want you to take me home.” She turned away from him and stormed out the door.
The police questioned Ashleigh for a few minutes before walking her to a squad car, which drove her home. She never once looked toward Cole. It crushed him to watch her leave without him, but he could have gotten her killed tonight. It was better to let her go.
He turned to the police officer who’d been questioning him. Cole was in for a long night. First with the police, then he would have to call his father, and he desperately needed to get to the hospital to see Bob. An officer had been kind enough to call the hospital for an update on Bob’s condition. The bullet grazed his leg and he was doing okay. Cole wouldn’t rest until he saw for himself that Bob was out of danger.
“Cole.” His father stood in the doorway. “Are you all right?” He pulled Cole into a tight embrace.
“I’m fine, Dad. What are you doing here?”
“After you called to tell me about Sara, I had them fire up our jet and came right away. I had a feeling trouble was on its way.”
“Have you heard anything about Bob?”
“His prognosis is good. We’ll go to the hospital as soon as they let you leave here.”
“A detective was about to update me on the shooter.”
Cole and his father listened as the detective informed them that Cole’s bodyguards had injured the shooter when he’d tried to flee the scene. He was currently in surgery, and the doctors weren’t sure he was going to make it.
As the detective continued his ramblings, Cole’s thoughts drifted. Would Ashleigh ever forgive him?
Chapter Ten
More than an hour had passed since the incident at the Bronson’s house, but she was still shaking. She sat at the kitchen table as her mother, who had woken when the police vehicle dropped Ashleigh off, made herbal tea and pancakes. Her mother always cooked when she was nervous.
Ashleigh wasn’t the least bit hungry. Her stomach churned with nausea. She was glad she’d agreed to let Savannah stay with Lindsay. If the police showed up with more questions, which they told her they might, she didn’t want her daughter to be caught in the middle of this mess.
“Well.” Her mother put the plates on the table. Pancakes, Ashleigh’s favorite. “I still think you should give Cole the opportunity to explain.”
Ashleigh chimed in to disagree. “He lied to me. I think you are being way too forgiving.”
“Did he lie? It seems to me as if you made your own assumptions and he didn’t correct you. How can you know his reasons for doing so if you don’t offer him the chance to explain? I’ve checked his family’s background and they are very wealthy. I would imagine a man like that would have to be careful of gold diggers, perhaps he was just being careful. I’m not suggesting you forgive him, just listen to him.”
Ashleigh didn’t respond. She was too stunned by her mother’s proposal of allowing Cole the chance to explain, but even more confused by her statement of checking up on Cole’s family.
Her mother seemed to guess Ashleigh’s bewildered thoughts. “You’re always telling me I should use that internet thingy more, and a mother has to be certain her daughter is working for good people.” She tapped Ashleigh’s hand “Before tonight’s events, you seemed to be happier than I’ve seen you in quite some time. In my opinion, that’s worth something.”
They continued to bicker back and forth. Her mother was a forgiving woman, never holding a grudge against anyone without reason. She always gave everyone a chance to explain their actions, but Ashleigh wasn’t sure she could be as forgiving. Exhaustion beat her. Maybe after she rested she’d be able to think more clearly. She pushed her plate of untouched pancakes away and excused herself.
Disappointment filled her. Now that she couldn’t be with Cole, she realized how much she wanted him in her life.
****
“About a week ago…” Cole glanced to his father for confirmation on the timeframe. The older man nodded, and Cole continued his explanation to the detective. “My father found money missing from our company. After watching the financial records for a few days, he concluded there was money being skimmed from several of the accounts on a regular basis. He called me in to go through the books.”
Cole took a deep breath, his thoughts drifting to Bob, who was still in the hospital, and Ashleigh, who probably never wanted to see Cole again. How had things gotten so far out of hand?