It was midnight and I’d worked all day. I even saw two patients, yet I was still scouring Lynn’s credit card records, looking for any hint that she had used them so that I could at least pinpoint her location. I set up notifications that would go to my phone if any of her cards had activity, and then I pushed back from the computer.

I had grown comfortable, probably complacent, because it had been so long since Lynn had left me like this. When we were younger, she took off all the time. The smallest thing and she’d detach, trying to protect herself from life. From me. From pain. From feeling things she didn’t know how to process.

However, as we got older, she disappeared less and less, and—dumb of me, I knew—I thought she was done running. For over two years, we’d weathered the storms together. She’d come to me when she was feeling stressed, and we’d talk about it. Then we’d make love until she forgot all her fears, until she remembered that together we could get through anything.

Her taking off like this with no provocation whatsoever… Well, she might as well have kicked me in the teeth. It made me doubt everything we’d shared for the past twenty years. It made me wonder if I would ever be strong enough to keep her safe and to make her feel it in every fiber of her being.

Suddenly, my phone chimed in my pocket. Unknown caller. My heart leaped into my throat and the breath in my body left me. “Hello,” I croaked.

“Dr. Mason Peterson?” a male voice said.

“Yes.” I deflated a little. It wasn’t Lynn.

“I think I have something here that belongs to you.”

“Beg your pardon?”

He chuckled. “She’s about five-four. Dark makeup. Mouth like a sailor.” He grunted. “Don’t hit,” he commanded. I heard a short scuffle and then he came back, breathing heavily. “I don’t want to lock her up, Dr. Peterson. That didn’t go well for her last time. But she’s on my last nerve.” He grunted again.

“Put her on the phone,” I barked.

“Gladly,” he said, his voice droll.

“Mason?” a voice said.

“Ash?” In my gut, I’d still hoped it would be Lynn. It wasn’t.

“The one and only,” she cried. In my head, I could almost see her lifting her arms like she’d just won a race. The corners of my lips tipped up, even though I sorely didn’t want them to. “So, Mason,” she whispered, giggling uproariously.

“Yes, Ash.” I rubbed my forehead.

“I’m a little bit drunk. And this kind officer has taken pity on me. I kind of think he’d rather I slept if off in the drunk tank, but after he saw the other guy…well…he’s sending me home. With you. If you’ll come and get me.”

“What other guy?” I asked.

The officer must have taken the phone back because he suddenly spoke. “She got into an altercation with another patron at a bar,” the man explained. “He’s a little worse for wear, but he had it coming.”

“What did she do?”

“She completely emasculated him, in front of everyone.” He chuckled.

“Let me talk to her again.” Something important was biting at my conscience and I had to know.

“So, Mason,” she said slowly, “I think we should have some bang-up drunk sex. Come and get me and I’ll make all your dreams come true.” She sang out the last few words and I heard the officer laugh.

“What did you do?” I demanded.

“Wasn’t me!” she whispered. “It was her.”

“Her who, Ash?” I bit out, but I already knew.

“Shelly. It was her,” she whispered vehemently. “Not me. Not me!” Her voice rose. “I was just standing there, about ten feet from the bar, throwing darts, and this asshole came up and put his hands on me.”

Fury spread through my veins.

“Don’t worry, Mason,” she said quietly, as if she knew what I was feeling. “Shelly and I were hanging out, and she saw the whole thing. She took care of it. Next thing I knew, he was on the ground, holding his nuts. His eye was already turning purple, and he was writhing in agony. It was great.” She giggled. “So are you coming to get me or what?”

“Where are you?” I grabbed my keys.

She handed the phone back to the officer, and he told me where I could collect her.

“I’ll be right there.” I shoved my phone in my pocket.

She’d gotten off lucky this time. Next time, it might not go so well. I was always afraid for Ash, because she was determined to find her way into the seediest bars on the worst side of town. She liked to skirt the underbelly of society. It worried me, but I couldn’t exactly stop her. She wasn’t my wife, and she had a mind of her own.

---

I stopped the car next to the curb. Ash sat on the edge, near the corner, with a big burly cop next to her. He had dark skin and kind eyes. But most important, he was nice enough to call me, so I owed him one. I got out of my car and stuck out my hand as he stood up. “Mason Peterson. Thanks for calling me.”

“She’s a piece of work, huh?” he said.

“You have no idea.”

He laughed. “I was a little worried for the other guy. I’m pretty sure she broke his arm.”

“Not me,” Ash whispered fiercely. “Shelly!”

“Does she always talk in riddles when she’s drunk?” He stared down at her like she had two heads.

“She talks in riddles even when she’s not drunk,” I admitted. It was true. Why lie about it?

“I saw the whole thing,” he said. “One second, this dude reached out to put his hand on her hip, and then he was on his back gasping for air. A friend of his tried to pull her off, but she belted him across the throat and he went down like a stone.” He chuckled, but it was a sound without any humor in it. “You’ll never have to worry about this one taking care of herself.”

“She’s a joy to have around,” I replied, deadpan.

“Next thing I knew, she was sweet as pie. She got off him, and asked me for a phone so she could call you. I couldn’t say no.” He shrugged.

“Thank you again for calling me.”

“No problem.”

“What about the other guy?” I asked. “Do I need to do anything there?”

He chuckled. “That guy won’t go grabbing another unsuspecting woman any time soon. Not after that ass whooping.”

I was thinking along the lines of restitution for medical bills, but whatever.

“He got what was coming to him,” the officer said. He nodded toward Ash. “Take her home. This job is over.”

“Thank you again.”

I looked at Ash, hugging her knees to her chest and rocking gently. She had laid her cheek on her knees, and stared into space.

“You ready to go home?” I asked her.

She looked up at me and smiled. “Yes.”

“…Ash?” I asked.

She nodded and heaved out a breath. “Still me.”

I held out a hand and she took it, her fingers gentle and soft.

“Thanks for coming to get me.”

“I’d go just about anywhere for you,” I admitted, albeit reluctantly.

“Because you love me,” she sang out.

I helped her into the car and closed the door, staring down at her for a moment. Truth was, I did love her.

I loved her. That was part of the problem.