Page 2 of Ogre on Patrol (Monsters, PI #5)

Chapter 2

Thain

E llie Landish was close enough I could touch her.

However, I didn’t dare touch her more than I already had. My heart was trying to hammer its way through my ribcage to make its way to her.

What a mistake that would be. She’d hurt me—bad—back then, and I’d be a fool to let her do it again.

The door clicked closed behind us, sealing me in with Ellie and the noise in my head that had been quiet for years until now. Crouton remained beside her as if she'd personally delivered him from a lifetime of loneliness, his tail wagging so hard his entire hindquarters wobbled. He’d missed her. Almost as much as I did.

“Ellie, take a seat.” I nodded toward the chair in front of my desk. She was here. Inside my office. And I couldn't do much about it but behave. My voice came out rougher than I’d intended, but seeing her again wasn’t exactly easy. It was like trying to navigate a field of broken glass barefoot .

She settled, but didn’t say a thing, skimming her hand down Crouton’s back as he pawed at her leg, whining.

“Crouton,” I said softly. “Go lay on your bed.” My terrier always listened and did as I asked.

Except now.

Ellie scooped him up and lowered him onto her lap. He heaved out a sigh, his head resting on her leg, blinking at me as if daring me to challenge his right to be held by the woman he used to adore as much as I did.

Lucky dog.

She scratched him behind the ears and kissed the top of his head. “He remembers me.”

That was the problem, wasn’t it? Crouton remembered her, but so did I.

The way her blue eyes caught the light hadn’t changed, like they were oceans hiding secrets no sailor had ever dared to explore. Her light brown hair, which now brushed her shoulders, though she’d kept it shorter back then, struck me harder than it should’ve. I used to tease her for cutting it, though secretly, I always loved it no matter how she wore it. Silky. Soft. I’d almost kill to touch it again.

I cleared my throat, dragging my chair back to sit opposite her. I had no clue how to smother the ache in my chest. “About us?—”

“No,” she cut in, her tone sharp enough to shut me up mid-thought. She pinned me with a look that could’ve frozen fire. “We’re not discussing the past. Not now, not ever.”

“Ellie—”

“I mean it,” she said, her voice pitched low but final. “There’s no one else available to help me? Fine. I’ll deal with you. But this is strictly business. You work my case, ask your questions, you do your… Monsters, PI thing, and we’re done. No wandering down memory lane, no rehashing old wounds.” Her grip on Crouton tightened, the only sign that her confidence might be as shaken as mine. “Swear on it.”

I leaned back in my chair, fixing her with a look that usually worked on uncooperative clients, my don’t-push-me glare. It didn’t faze her. Of course. This woman never backed down from anyone.

“Fine,” I said, tossing her word back at her. “All business unless you tell me otherwise.”

She must be able to tell I wouldn’t give on the last bit, because she jerked out a nod. “Let’s get on with it.”

I grabbed a pen and dragged a pad of paper in front of me. “Start from the beginning.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “Two incidents.” She launched into explaining about the smashed greenhouse windows and plant destruction, plus the table knocked over in her propagation room. She mentioned contacting Detective Carter, her clipped tone grating on my nerves. This woman used to sigh from my touch, melt in my arms, love me.

I believe she loved me.

Maybe she hadn't.

Did women pretend about things like that?

Some, but never Ellie. I knew that if nothing else .

“Why aren’t you letting law enforcement handle this?” I tapped the pen against the paper, watching her reaction.

Her jaw tightened. “Because this isn’t something they can handle delicately.” Her lips parted as if she might say more, but she must’ve thought better of it. “I think it’s magical, Thain.”

The sound of my name on her lips was almost more than I could take. I focused on my notepad, scribbling as she spoke. Her voice carried that same rhythm it always had, firm and steady with just a hint of softness underneath, like the ocean when it’s calm but you know trouble’s lurking under the surface.

“Delicate, huh?” I leaned forward, holding her gaze. “What makes you think this is anything more than simple vandalism?”

“You’d understand if you saw the ordrids,” she shot back. “Those plants aren’t ordinary. Whoever broke in destroyed something magical. Same with the table. Those were precious biclaws, a magical plant that?—”

“Can cure simple illnesses when the leaves are brewed into a tea.” Had she forgotten that I also had an interest in magical plants?

“Right. This can’t be a coincidence.” Her fingers smoothed across Crouton’s fur.

I nodded, filing away her words. “Did you notice anything off before all this? Suspicious people hanging around? Strange smells? Anything out of place?”

She hesitated, her lips pressing together. “A chill last night. I should’ve looked into it, but I was tired after working all day.” Her intuition had always been sound. “Otherwise, I haven't seen anyone hanging around, and nothing’s been stolen as far as I can tell. I keep a good inventory list. My plants are exotic. Expensive. Sought after by exclusive clientele.”

Magical beings, she meant.

I watched her carefully, trying to ignore the way my pulse picked up when her hair brushed her cheek, swaying as she shifted in her seat. Memories battered at the walls I’d built around my heart. The smell of her favorite candles, the feel of her hand in mine, the way her magic had always hummed in her presence, like a melody only I could hear.

I could even see it now, a light lavender mist as pretty as her.

Stop it, I chided myself.

Shutting my feelings down was harder than it should’ve been. I bit my tongue and stuck to her case, forcing myself to think like a professional, not an ogre who used to love this woman more than life itself.

“Tell me about the greenhouse windows,” I said, scribbling again. “Was anything taken? Did it look like they were searching for something?”

Her head shook, and her creamy skin caught the light filtering through the window behind me. “Nothing was taken, as far as I can tell. It looked like pure destruction for destruction’s sake.”

I drummed my fingers against the desk, my gaze flicking to her hands. They curved so naturally around Crouton, who slept in her lap now, completely ignoring the tension in the air. Seeing the two of them like that shouldn’t have stirred anything in me, but damn. Of course it did.

For the first time since she’d walked in, I hesitated. It wasn’t the kind of pause I could chalk up to fleeting thoughts. This woman had torn the ground out from underneath me, and I was still scrambling to act like I was fine.

“You think you can handle this or not?” Ellie’s tone cut into the silence. Her blue eyes, steady and unforgiving, pinned me in place.

“I can handle it.” My voice came out flat, betraying none of the mess she churned up inside me.

“Good.” She peeled her hand away to rub Crouton’s side. “I need results, not a reunion tour.”

Her words hit, but I nodded as if they hadn't, jotting another note I probably wouldn’t be able to decipher later.

Anything to keep myself focused on the case and not her.