If Elizabeth Maxwell recognized me from the day before at the Durango office, she sure as hell didn’t show it. Of course, her nose was so high up in the air she probably didn’t even see me sitting there.
My heart swelled a little as I heard Ashley slap her down, though. Not because the woman deserved it—I didn’t know her well enough one way or another to say if she did—but because Ashley unwaveringly cut the bad family from her life, no matter what they dangled in front of her. It reminded me of myself when I left my uncles behind. They’d tried the same thing, just with different words. What about the pack? What about the life they’d given me? Yeah, well, what about the beatings and the other shit they’d piled on me growing up?
Elizabeth pulled her phone from her purse as soon as Sheriff Peak closed the door, and made a call.
My ears, of course, perked right up.
“Barb? We’re going to have to meet the sheriff later today.”
There was a pause as she walked to the front door and pushed her way out into the entryway.
“Why are you yelling?” she asked, distressed. “I’m still on for the meeting with New York. I know how important it is to you that I’m there.”
Something nagged at the back of my mind. A hunch. Why did she have to tell Barbara to stop yelling? What kind of assistant yelled at her boss’s wife or had the boss’s wife cater to her whims? I stood up and walked over to the door, trying to hear more clearly.
“Look, I know we’re close. If Martin hadn’t taken those files, we’d be fine. But until we get them back into the office, no one is going to believe our version of events.”
I held my breath and focused on her words. Files? This was new.
“No, Barb, the spoiled little bitch wouldn’t switch with me. I know, I know. Okay? But, if you haven’t noticed, your plan is what’s falling apart here. And, no, I didn’t tip him off. Why would I have tipped him off? So I could somehow reunite with him and feel that gross shriveled old shell of his lying next to me one night longer? So I could keep spreading my legs for his money?” She pushed open the glass doors and step outside. “You’re here? Wait, no, calm down, I see you.”
I slipped into the little entryway just as the plate glass door closed shut behind her. I peered out through the plate glass window and watched as one of those big black Suburbans that Eagle Eye Security seemed so damned fond of pulled up in front with one of Simon’s goons behind the wheel.
The rear passenger side door flew open as Elizabeth stepped up to the suburban, nearly smacking the top of her head as she looked down to put her phone away. I held myself back, fighting my urge to white knight everything as she stumbled back.
“Barb!” Elizabeth Maxwell shouted, clearly flustered. “What the–?”
“Shut up, bitch!” Barbara Hacks screamed loud enough that even Ashley might have heard it inside. “We’re late! We’ll have to call on the way!”
Elizabeth climbed into the truck, joining her husband’s assistant. She glanced back at me as I stood there in the entryway, a look on her face like a woman in over her head, or a confused puppy. She let the door hang open for a moment, her foot pausing there, poised to take a step back out of the suburban.
She didn’t want to go, I realized. Something was going on here, and this woman’s part in everything had spiraled out of control. Whatever was happening, though, I had no idea.
“What are you doing?” Barbra spat. As the words were leaving her mouth, she looked past Elizabeth and right at me. “Shut the fucking door, Betty.”
I wanted to go out there, to pull out of the car. But what good would it do? Would she even come with me if I did? Or would I just make things worse?
The younger woman’s hand hung there on the armrest, unsure of whether or not she should pull it closed. Hacks’s eyes were still on mine. “I said shut the fucking door, Betty, or I’ll shut it for you, you stupid bitch.”
Elizabeth and I locked eyes. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
I shook my head. Don’t do it, Elizabeth. Don’t do it. You don’t have to go.
She wanted to come, I could tell. Instead, she just gave me a little sag of her shoulders before closing the door, hiding both her and Barbara Hacks behind the dark, tinted windows. The Suburban sat there for a moment longer, indistinct yelling that could only have been produced by Barbara coming from the back of the SUV. Even without my shifter hearing, I’d have been able to hear it clear as day from where I stood inside the building.
I grit my teeth. No. This was a damn sight more than I could stand. I put my hand on the door, about to push it open. I stopped short, though, reconsidering my action midstream. Ashley was my responsibility. She was the person I was dedicated to. And, not only was she a client, she was also my mate, whether she knew it or not. This whole money laundering thing swirling around it? Hell no. And certainly not sleuthing for the origin and nature of Elizabeth and Martin Maxwell’s relationship. If Martin wanted me to figure out what his gold digging wife really wanted, he should have hired Frost Security.
But then I heard it. There was no mistaking that loud smack of a hand slapping a cheek.
I growled. That right there? That was sure as hell more than I could handle. I slammed open the front door and launched forward at a run. “Hey!” I shouted as I closed the gap. “Stop!”
The driver glanced back toward me as Barbara screamed at him to drive. As my hand touched the door handle, he took off down the street, tires squealing.
I ran after them, smoke from the burnt tire rubber filling my mouth and nose.
He took the first left and zipped off down to the highway, blowing through the stop sign at Main Street.
I stood there and watched them go, just shaking my head.
Like Elizabeth had said earlier, she had a meeting to make. And, from the sound of it, Barbara Hacks wanted to be on that call right alongside Elizabeth.
How else would she keep pulling her strings?