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NINE

MADDOX

AUDREY AND I are halfway through our second day working together, and I’m folding that fucking tan shirt for the five hundredth time, when my cell phone starts to ring in my pocket.

I’ve got it on vibrate, but Audrey’s so close, she can hear it and her eyes jump to mine, full of uncertainty.

I tip my head toward the back room, motioning for her to follow me, and weave through the clothing racks.

Dane is working again today—because of course he is—and gives me a strange look as I pass.

I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m fucking Audrey—using her to get what I want—but that’s at the bottom of the list of my concerns right now.

As long as he does what she tells him to do, I don’t care if he thinks I’m the biggest piece of shit walking the earth.

I quickly reach the back room and duck into Audrey’s office, waiting to close the door until she joins me, then I answer the call from Shadow’s tech coordinator. “What’s going on?”

Isaac knows what I’m doing today. I made it clear he can only call me if it’s an emergency, because for now, I need it to seem like I’m genuinely an employee here. One who follows the rules, and the rules are no phones on the floor.

“We got a call from your private investigator friend. Apparently, his company has a connection with us.”

I motion for Audrey to sit down. She’s been on her feet all day, and now that I know how much that sucks, I want her to sit as often as possible. “He didn’t mention anything when I talked to him yesterday.”

“He didn’t know yesterday. I guess he called his boss and found out the guy used to work here.”

I scrub one hand over my face, because it’s starting to seem like Isaac doesn’t understand what the term emergency means. “You called me to tell me the boss of the private investigator Audrey’s ex hired used to work for Alaskan Security?”

“No. I called to tell you Pierce asked his friend to have his investigator continue keeping an eye on Audrey’s ex, and said ex seems to be up to something.”

“I made it pretty clear he’s always up to something, so that doesn’t surprise me.” I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. “Anything else?”

“Of course there’s something else, dick.

You told me not to call you unless there was an emergency.

I’m calling to tell you that apparently Audrey’s ex has a whole lot of unmarked vans leaving his house, and the number of people walking through his door doesn’t seem to match up with the number of people walking out of it. ”

Okay. So maybe there is a small emergency. “Have we identified anyone who’s gone in but didn’t come out?”

“We’re working on it.” Isaac types in the background. “Your private investigator friend was taking pictures for us, but it started to seem like Audrey’s ex was getting suspicious someone was watching him. He backed off to make sure he didn’t end up leaving in an unmarked van.”

“Probably a smart decision.” I don’t like what I’m finding out. It’s got me worried for Audrey. “Do you think he’s trying to cover his tracks? Maybe got worried someone’s going to look into what he’s been doing?”

“I’d say it’s pretty fucking likely he’s figured out somebody’s trying to get him in trouble.” Isaac sighs. “We’ve been trying to find someone with the Memphis police we can get information from, but it’s been a little tricky to figure out who would be a reliable informant.”

“Fuck.” I rub my eyes, frustrated with the way things are playing out.

I’m glad Shadow left Alaska. It was cold as fuck up there. Isolated and dark all the damn time. But in Fairbanks, we knew everyone. We’d been there long enough to establish relationships with all the local PDs. If we had issues, they were ready to help and easy to handle.

Here? Those foundations haven’t yet been built, so when we do need help from law enforcement, we have to sift through the dirt to find the diamond.

“What’s the plan for me and Audrey then? Is it time for us to go yet?” I’m getting itchy. I don’t like sitting here waiting for someone to make a move.

“Not yet. The PI was able to feed Trevor some bullshit and thinks he convinced him Audrey’s not doing anything that would cause issues. Her suddenly disappearing would go against that and cause all sorts of fucking problems for everybody.”

Not for her. I could keep her safe. Hide her away where no one would find her. I don’t give a shit what happens to anybody else. They can take care of themselves.

“I do have backup headed your way now. Luca and Owen will be coming in and staying two minutes from where Audrey lives, so you’ll have someone close by. They’re also going to conduct surveillance of her apartment, making sure there’s no unexpected issues.”

“I don’t like this plan.” I never argue with orders. Never go against what I’m told to do. Isaac and Intel know better than I do in just about every situation.

But leaving Audrey here like a sitting duck makes me want to peel my skin off.

“You’re not alone, but it’s the best option we have available until we have more information.” Isaac is right, and I fucking hate it.

I hate that I can’t do what I want—what I know is best for Audrey’s mental and possibly physical well-being—because we don’t have the rules for the game we’re playing yet.

“Fine, but the minute I think she’s in danger, I’m gone. I won’t risk her. She’s come too far and been through too much.”

“Understood.” Surprisingly, Isaac doesn’t argue with me. “Just keep me in the loop.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I’m not making any promises. Not right now. Not when I’ve just heard people are going into her ex-husband’s house and not walking back out.

“Call me the second you know more.” Fuck emergencies only. I’m starting to feel like everything in this shit show qualifies as an emergency.

“Will do.” Isaac hangs up, and I turn to where Audrey sits.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Her skin is pale but her voice doesn’t waver. “That sounds like Trevor is trying to make his problems disappear.” She pulls in a deep breath. “And I definitely qualify as a problem.”

“Not necessarily. Hopefully he thinks you’re scared enough to keep your mouth shut.

” I crouch down in front of her, resting my hands on her thighs.

“Isaac is right. If we run, it will be obvious you’re expecting him to come after you and he’ll assume that’s because you’ve been talking to people.

” I hesitate, knowing it’s going to be difficult for her to come to terms with what I’m about to say.

“And there will come a point where you have to talk to people and tell them what’s going on. ”

I hold my breath, worried she’s going to crumble in front of me, because I know how scared she’s been of reporting her ex’s crimes.

But, proving how strong she really is, Audrey sits straighter, determination hardening her pretty face. “Find someone trustworthy in the police department, and I’ll tell them everything.”

That was going to be the tricky part—finding someone we can trust in the Memphis police. Because the longer I sit on it, the more it seems like Trevor has them in his pocket. Generally, reports like the one Audrey made, even anonymous ones, are taken seriously. Investigated to some degree.

My brain trips over that theory though, because it still doesn’t make sense. “Did you call the Memphis police directly to report Trevor?”

Audrey nods. “A few times, but nothing ever seemed to come of it.”

“If Trevor does have someone in the department watching out for him and keeping him from getting into trouble, wouldn’t they have relayed those reports to him?” If they had, Audrey would’ve been the first person he went after and retaliation.

Unless Audrey isn’t the only woman who could have ratted him out.

“Is it possible someone else could be trying to get him in trouble?” I ask the question carefully, but there’s no good way to broach the topic of being cheated on.

“I mean, it’s possible.” Audrey offers a humorless smile. “I’m sure I’m not the only woman he fucked over.”

I don’t want to be relieved another woman could be caught up in this mess, but a little part of me is, because it will take the heat off Audrey.

“We should get back out there before Dane starts getting any more ideas.” I straighten, reaching out a hand to help her up.

Audrey angles a brow at me. “Any more ideas?”

“I’m pretty sure he suspects there’s something going on between us, but I don’t think he’s positive yet.

Every minute we spend back here will only make him more confident in his assumption.

” I don’t really care. Actually, I prefer Dane thinks Audrey and I have something going on.

Maybe then he’ll stop looking at her the way he does and flirting every time she’s within a twenty-foot radius.

But him thinking Audrey is messing around with me will make her job harder. It’ll make him question what kind of a manager she is, and I don’t want that. Her life is hard enough right now as it is.

“Why would he think that?” Audrey takes my hand and lets me help her up, her soft palm lingering in mine.

“I think he’s just feeling territorial because we’re working so closely together. Plus, I’m sure the only explanation he can come up with for why I got the assistant manager spot and he didn’t is because there’s something going on between us.”

Audrey wrinkles her nose at me. “Dane would never get the assistant manager spot. If anyone here would be offered that position, it would be Ginny. She works her ass off and is responsible. She’s also got a don’t-fuck-with-me sort of temperament that can come in handy when you deal with customers and employees. ”

I smile. “What I’m hearing you say is I’m actually overqualified for this position.”

Audrey laughs. “Your version of don’t fuck with me is a little bit more than what company policy allows, so yeah. We’ll call it overqualified.”