Page 5 of Hidden While In Sight

Hannah didn’t stumble behind him. She was more aware than her husband, Diego noted.

“You’re on private property,” Ashford sneered. “Do I need to ask you to leave?”

“You can ask,” Diego said, letting his lips spread in a smile. He stepped forward, holding his hand out. It was inked with his favorite tattoo, the tiger’s tail wrapping around to his palm. “I’m Diego.”

Ashford ignored his hand. “Step aside. You shouldn’t be here.”

Diego chuckled, though he didn’t feel amused. Not that he felt insulted, either. He hadn’t expected the asshole to take his hand. “Just being neighborly. Or is that something someone like me can’t do?”

“There’s no way you live anywhere near here,” Ashford said, his eyes hard.

“Right next door.” Diego let his hand drop. “You didn’t seem to notice. They thought it was important that changed.” He enjoyed the angry flush that spread above the collar of the prick’s suit. Yeah, Ashford knew who he was talking about.

Hannah’s eyebrows drew together at the mention of them, but she remained silent, her gaze trained on her husband’s back.

Ashford released his grip on her wrist. “Get in the car, Hannah,” he ordered, not bothering to walk her to the passenger side.

She scurried to obey.

Diego kept his gaze on the husband.

“Who do you work for?” Ashford asked. His voice only remained even with obvious effort.

“An interested party,” Diego said. He smiled again. “Very interested, at least in certain things.”

“Well, I’m not interested.” Ashford shifted closer to the Porsche, and Diego let him. “If I see you near my property again, I’ll call the police. This is trespassing.”

“That’s not very neighborly,” Diego scolded, wanting to grin for real as the man’s chest puffed in his irritation. He let his gaze shift to the tinted windows of the car. “What if I want to borrow some sugar sometime?”

“You don’t actually live here. The properties in this neighborhood cost—”

“More than a prosecutor’s salary should afford?” Diego lifted an eyebrow. “I was thinking the same thing.”

Ashford’s lips pressed together, and his gaze shifted away, though only for a moment.

Diego’s smile widened. The fucker was dirty. He was almost certain of it.

Ashford opened his car door. “I’ll be calling the police,” he warned as he slid inside.

Diego would note the names of any cops that came. Hopefully they were all rolling around in the same muddy ditch.

The door clicked shut, and Diego moved to one side when Ashford reversed out of the driveway a little too hard.

Hannah’s eyes lifted to take him in one more time, so Diego lifted a hand to her. Her eyes dropped again before the Porsche took off down the road.

Diego kept an eye on the driveway, waiting for the Ashfords to return home. He’d already sent Ramiro the names of the officers that had stopped by, just as Colin Ashford had promised they would. Likely dirty cops. There were always a few, though even the clean ones could be dicks. Not that Diego didn’t deserve the treatment.

There wasn’t much they could legally do. He owned the house, though the paperwork was a few layers removed. It had to be. None of it traced back to anything the client didn’t want seen.

Small vibrations rumbled against the top of the desk, and Diego dropped from the pull-up bar to check his phone. Not a call this time. His timer had gone off. He sighed as he opened the phone, pulling up his texts. One held nothing but deletions and his few words.

‘Proof of life.’

He sent the message and placed the phone face up as his gaze returned to the monitors. A flash of headlights blinded the camera for a moment. The Porsche had returned. He must have spooked Colin Ashford at least a little because there was no parking in the driveway this time. He studied Hannah’s expression as the garage door finished opening enough for the car to fit inside. Her face held a blankness that he wished he could read better.

The image of fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist flashed in his mind. The image mingled with a similar memory, though in that memory the wrist wasn’t covered in blue material but was bare and tanned.

Diego scowled as he lost sight of them. There was no camera in the garage, but they appeared in the hallway soon enough. That grip was back around her wrist.

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