Page 56 of Live for Me

But that wasn’t an option.

My eyes dropped down to the wrapped art piece against her chest. “You can take that back to Hallow Ranch,” I said. She looked at me again, her eyes wide. I gestured around the room. “All of this can go.” She began to shake her head, but my next sentence stopped her. “He’ll never touch your art again, Abbie.”

“Abbie, the police need to take photos,” Dave said gently from the doorway.

She bent her head, her hair falling around her like a curtain. “I’m not going anywhere.”

I heard heavy footfalls coming down the hall then, and a second later, Denver appeared behind the couple. He jerked his chin to me. “Ash is here.”

I nodded. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

Denver’s gray eyes scanned the room, growing harder and colder with each passing second. When he was done, he shot me a look before disappearing back down the hall.

“Who is Ash?” Harris asked.

My eyes met his. “Ash works with Red Snake Investigations. He’s going to help us find this fucker,” I vowed darkly as I rose to my full height. I looked back down at Abbie, thankful to find her looking up at me. “You have my word.”

She said nothing and looked away from me, sniffling.

I sighed through my nose and carefully made my way back to her friends. They backed into the hallway, giving me room. I looked at Dave. “She isn’t going to listen to me,” I began gruffly, “but she will listen to you.” My eyes slid over to Harris. “Both of you.”

Dave got the hint. “I’ll get her out of there.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “Thank you. She’s damn lucky to have friends like you, and I’m thankful for that.” I turned, ready to go talk to Ash, but Dave’s kind voice stopped me.

“You still love her, don’t you?”

I looked over my shoulder, jaw tight. “You already know the answer to that, Dave,” I answered, my voice firm.

He looked back into her art room and then back to me. “I wish—”

“—wishing won’t change anything between us,” I told him, cutting him off. Then, I was moving back down the hall and into the living room.

Ash was standing in her kitchen, wearing black cargo pants and a dark gray thermal, a gun strapped to his hip. His face was coated with anger as he questioned the officers. As I got closer, I heard that anger laced through his voice. “Are you boys aware Ms. Spears contacted the police twice about her stalker?” he clipped, a muscle jumping in his cheek. He held out a file to the officers. “Maybe the boys in blue need to take this shit more seriously. When a woman comes to you, you listen to her. You don’t brush her off.”

“Mr. Doss, most stalker cases—”

“Not every stalker is the same, just as not every case is the same. Don’t throw statistics at me while we stand in a woman’s house that was destroyed by a deranged stalker. The next time a woman comes to police for help, you help. Do you understand me?” he clipped.

I folded my arms over my chest once I stopped, and the officer closest to me turned his head. “We need to take photos of the damage,” he told me. He wanted to be done with this, with Ash lecturing him.

“That won’t be necessary,” I replied. “We got it from here.”

“If she wants to open a case—”

“—she did. Months ago, and you turned her away. Have a good day,” I cut him off.

“In that folder, you’ll find a direct order from the FBI to stand down,” Ash said, gesturing to the file in his hand. “Red Snake Investigations will be working in conjunction with the FBI to bring down this stalker.”

Minutes later, the officers were driving away as the four of us watched.

“The FBI?” I asked, keeping my eye on the cruiser rolling down the street.

“Anytime the cops don’t want to back off, Red Snake pulls some strings,” Ash answered simply from beside me.

When he didn’t elaborate more, I turned to him, holding out my hand. “Thank you for coming out,” I said. I didn’t care what strings Red Snake pulled, just as long as Abbie’s stalker was delivered to me on a silver platter.

He shook it, dropped it, then dove in. “Took a lap around the house. None of the cameras were damaged, and Jake is pulling up the footage now.”

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