Ash Rising (DEAd Series) Read online

  “I’m going to go wash my face.” Sitting up, she rubbed her swollen eyes. “Do you want a new shirt?”

  “Nah. I’m fine.”

  Lisa stared at him as she backed toward the small, attached bath. “Damn, Ash. You look better than sin lying stretched out on that bed.”

  An odd comment, but he shrugged the words off and turned back the covers on her side. When she returned to the bedroom, she was barelegged but enveloped in a worn, oversized T-shirt.

  He patted the sheets on the exposed side of the bed. “Come on. Lie down and try to get some rest.”

  Lisa crawled next to him, and Ash flipped the comforter so she was under the soft quilt and he lay on top. After long seconds, she squirmed around in his arms to face him.

  “Thank you,” she whispered to the middle of his chest. “You didn’t have to take me home, and you certainly didn’t have to stay with me, but thanks.”

  “Of course,” he murmured.

  “Ash?”

  “Yes?”

  “Would you… Would you kiss me?”

  He stiffened, sucking in a breath, and then pulled away to examine her face. “What? Why?”

  “Because I want you to kiss me. You kiss everyone. I need to be wanted tonight, and I’m dying to find out if what they say is true—if you’re as good a kisser as they say. I’ve known you practically my whole life. I want to know.”

  “Lisa…” He didn’t how to respond, but he was pretty sure hell, no wasn’t appropriate.

  “Of course not,” she muttered, burying her face in his chest.

  “Lisa, it’s just—we can’t. I don’t…” His usual flair abandoned him. Lisa was one of his best friends. He’d grown up with her—her, Andy, and Daniel. He loved her in the same way he loved the other two, and he sure as hell didn’t want to kiss either of them. Last thing he wanted to do was give her another rejection, not when her self-confidence had taken such a blow, but… Hell, no.

  “Damn it, you even smell good. How can you still smell good after all the smoke, sweat, and alcohol at the party? And the sex. There is always sex with you, isn’t there? Are you even human?”

  “Shh,” he soothed. What the hell? No way he’d address the subject of sex, not while she was in that mood and he was in bed with her, separated by layers of blankets or not. He carefully pressed his lips to her forehead, not wanting to give her the wrong idea. Awkwardness made him twitchy, when there had always been ease and camaraderie between them. “Get some rest.”

  She lay still and tense in his arms before finally falling into a restless sleep. Ash waited a while longer before he slipped his arms from underneath her and eased out of bed in a move he’d mastered well. He’d made sure she was home, safe, and resting comfortably. The best thing for both of them would be to leave while she still slept.

  Why hadn’t he let Andy bring her home? Andy had wanted to kiss Lisa for years. Ash didn’t want to hurt her, but he had absolutely no romantic or sexual feelings for her whatsoever. Any other night, if she hadn’t been blindsided by Greg and that girl, she’d feel the exact same way. He’d wanted to help a close friend, comfort her and make her feel cared for, loved even, but not like that. The night had gone from familiar and fun to awkward, alternate-reality strange in just a couple hours.

  Ash stared at her fitfully sleeping form and then reached out to stroke the sleek black hair on the crown of her head.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, and left.

  “C’mon, Ash. Let’s go shoot some pool.” Andy tipped his head toward the back room of the bar.

  Ash gave the girl sitting in his lap a last lingering kiss and whispered in her ear before lifting her to her feet. She pouted and walked away, casting looks over her shoulder until she disappeared into the crowd around the bar.

  “You can do Brunette of the Night any time. It’s our last night together before you leave for your new post. Who knows when we’ll be able to see each other again?” Daniel gave him a wide-eyed, pleading look, and Ash snorted. The puppy-dog shit might work on Maggie, but Ash knew him too well.

  “Or Blonde of the Night. Or redhead. Or even—”

  “Okay, okay.” Ash held his hands up with a laugh. “No girls tonight. I’ll just have to make do with you guys.”

  “Yay,” Andy drawled.

  “Yay,” Lisa repeated in the same tone, rising to her feet and pointing to Ash. “I’ll be right back. You buy the beer.”

  “Why do I have to buy?” Ash grumbled, but reached into his back pocket for his wallet as Lisa eased her way between tables.

  She’d been acting like her usual self—a huge relief. No lingering awkwardness from the odd scene in her apartment after he’d driven her home from the graduation party the week before. She hadn’t mentioned the incident, and he had no intention of bringing that night up ever again.

  “Having trouble there?” Daniel asked as Ash patted himself down when he couldn’t find his money clip.

  “Maybe Brunette stole it,” Andy teased.

  “That’s not what she was fumbling around for in my jeans,” Ash deadpanned. “I think I know the difference. Ah. Found it.”

  He brandished the clip triumphantly and slid out of the booth, but Daniel’s hand on his arm stopped him.

  “Aw, hell,” Daniel muttered. Ash glanced up at the tone of his voice, and Andy turned toward them. “Greg’s here with that girl.”

  “You’ve got to be shitting me.” Ash followed Daniel’s glare to spot Greg getting up from his table in the middle of the room. “Is the son of a bitch following Lisa around just to torment her? Where is she?”

  “At the bar?” Andy twisted in his seat to scan. “Or the bathroom, maybe?”

  “I thought she went to check the pool tables.”

  “You hit the bar,” Ash told Daniel. “We’ll take the game room.”

  They got up from the table and veered off in different directions. Last thing Ash wanted was a repeat of the night of the graduation party. Shudder.

  When he and Andy didn’t see her in the poolroom, Ash turned back toward the bar. “I’ll check the bathrooms.”

  He entered the short hallway leading to both men’s and women’s restrooms and found Lisa crowded against the wall by Greg’s much larger form in the narrow corridor. Ash slowed, his gait deceptively lazy as he ambled toward them.

  “You okay, Lisa?”

  She gave him a terse smile and crossed her arms over her middle. Greg stood much too close, in Ash’s opinion.

  “Fucking Asher,” Greg jeered. “Coming to her rescue again, hero?”

  Ash didn’t respond as he cocked a brow at Lisa. She swiped at her eyes but shook her head, silently telling him to back off. Ash started to walk past, but then Greg put his hand on the wall over Lisa’s head and leaned in tauntingly.

  “I heard Beaulieu fucked you good last weekend,” he mocked, and Ash froze mid-stride. “He’s had a lot of real women, enough to be an expert judge. Did he think you were a lousy lay, too?”

  Lisa let out a shaky, shocked gasp. Ash had Greg up against the wall with his arm across his throat so fast the other man never saw him coming. Greg grabbed at his wrist, but he applied pressure until Greg wheezed and spluttered, up on his toes. Ash lowered his head only inches from his ear.

  “You don’t talk to her anymore,” he growled, low and mean, and emphasized his words by shoving his arm harder into Greg’s windpipe. “You see her, you go the other way from now on, got it? You don’t look at her, you don’t think about her, you certainly don’t go anywhere near her, and you and I don’t have a problem. You do, and I’ll rain down a shitstorm of problems on your ass.”

  He shoved once more to be sure he got his point across before Andy and Daniel appeared behind him.

  “Ash,” Daniel settled a hand on his shoulder. “Security is on their way.”

  Ash snarled in Greg’s face. “Do we understand each other?”

  Greg nodded as best he could while being strangled. Ash eased his arm away, and the o
ther man staggered forward. His face flushed red, from anger more than lack of air. Ash sidestepped neatly when Greg took a clumsy swing at him.

  “Whoa there.” Andy grabbed Greg’s arms while Daniel took hold of Ash.

  Ash caught a brief glimpse of Lisa standing off to one side of the altercation. The expression on her face wasn’t fear, anger, or distress, but almost…eager.

  “Go ahead and fuck her,” Greg rasped, his eyes alight with malice. “You’re the one she’s always wanted, anyway. What she deserves—being just another worthless fuck on a long list of them, right?”

  Ash lunged, but Daniel held fast.

  “C’mon, Ash. Not here. Not now.” Daniel glanced at the small crowd that had gathered. “You can’t do this. You’re a constable now. You’re supposed to be breaking up fights, not causing them.”

  Ash seethed but forced himself to relax, never taking his eyes from Greg’s. He’d pound the moron’s stupid face for the comments directed at Lisa, but…

  “You’re right.” He shook his shoulders to loosen Daniel’s grip and ease the tension. “Not worth the trouble.”

  Lisa gave a soft gasp. Ducking her head, she spun toward the door. Ash motioned Daniel and Andy after her and went to pay their bill at the bar, ignoring Greg as the burly bouncer stepped between them. Andy took off after Lisa, but Daniel stuck around to keep an eye on Ash.

  “Fucker,” Ash commented as he gave Greg one last glare on their way out the door.

  “Yeah, nice of him to ruin our last night together.”

  “Are you okay?” Ash asked Lisa when he and Daniel joined her and Andy just outside the door.

  Lisa’s face formed hard lines. “He’s not going to leave me alone, is he? He gets off making me feel like shit.”

  “You’ve got to stop letting him get to you.” Daniel slid an arm around her shoulders. “Giving him a response only makes it worse. Any attention is good attention, you know?”

  “He never deserved you,” Andy offered.

  Ash exchanged a glance with Daniel. They’d both listened to Andy mope about his unrequited feelings for Lisa too often over the past decade.

  She snorted a humorless laugh. “Yeah, well, I do know I don’t deserve to be tormented until the end of time by that asshole. I won’t let him get away with it.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Daniel rubbed a hand through her hair and smacked a kiss to her temple. “Let’s go grab something to eat. I’m hungry.”

  “You’re always hungry,” Ash said, but he grinned. “I’m in.”

  “So am I.” Andy turned expectantly to Lisa.

  “I’m going home.” She wouldn’t meet any of their gazes, her mouth tight.

  “Come on,” Andy urged. “It’s our last night together for who knows how long. Don’t let that asshole spoil the fun.”

  “You guys go on ahead. I won’t let him ruin any more of my nights. I promise,” she added when Andy started to argue. “I’m just going to go home tonight. I’ll see you all later.”

  “Should one of us go with her?” Daniel asked as she walked to her car, her head bent and shoulders hunched.

  Ash suppressed a shudder at the memory of what had happened the last time he’d taken her back to her apartment when she’d been upset over Greg.

  “No,” he said, perhaps a little too sharply. Andy narrowed his eyes, but Ash managed a casual smile and slapped him on his back.

  “No,” he repeated in a more normal tone. “Best thing to do is let her work her own way through this.”

  Andy sighed, frowning in the direction Lisa had disappeared, but then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go get food.”

  “Now you’re talking.” Daniel rubbed his hands together, and they turned toward the parking lot and Andy’s car.

  “Here’s the thing, Beaulieu.” Pete Davenport leaned back in the chair behind his desk, tapping a pen against his lower lip. “You’re just too damned good looking.”

  What the hell did that have to do with anything? Maybe the late night with his friends had affected the early morning meeting in Davenport’s Toronto office more than he’d thought.

  “Coming on to me, big guy?” he teased. No way he’d blow this chance to work for a legend in RCMP investigative and undercover operations.

  Pete snorted. “You’re not really my type. No, I’m saying you’re noticeable. Most plainclothes and undercovers blend. People see and forget them. You, not so much.” Pete eyed him and winced. “I’ve seen you cause mass shortness of breath and whiplash in your wake when you’re dressed in uniform.”

  “So that’s why I got assigned to Buttfuck, Saskatchewan?” Ash had expected to be assigned away from home, friends, and family, but he didn’t look forward to spending the first years of his career in Saskatchewan or even further north, chasing moose across the tundra.

  “Not quite Buttfuck,” Pete said dryly. “But I think we can use your looks to our advantage. No one will believe you’re a Mountie. You need to get some experience working the street and finish your Field Coaching. I’d also like to start you out doing some plainclothes work—hanging around the usual suspects and locations. Let them see you, get you some experience observing, listening, gathering intel. Means a lot of extra hours above and beyond your rookie duties. You’ll put in a full shift, go home, change, and then head out to the locations I give you. You’ll be lucky to get a couple hours sleep before starting all over again.”

  “Okay. I can deal with hard work and late hours.” Ash wanted the knowledge and experience.

  “Most jobs are going to be a distance away, probably a few back here around Toronto working with the Ontario Provincial Police, airport, Port of Toronto, so it’ll mean a lot of driving.”

  “I’ve got my car.”

  “Not the Mustang,” Pete told him after a second of thought. “Don’t want you driving anything that can be traced back or associated with Constable Asher Beaulieu. Do you have another car?”

  “I can come up with something.” He had the perfect idea.

  “Some places I do want you seen in plainclothes, some people you need to be seen with. Opportunities to build your cover for the ops I have in mind. We’ll bring you in slowly, send you on a couple of drops. Get people used to seeing you around. We can increase your involvement gradually.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “If I can set this up right, you’re going to be part of a long-term op that could be huge. We’ll eventually work you in, but first you have to finish training and build your background. A lot of time and resources are invested in this, and we expect big returns. Can’t give you all the details—not yet—but if you’re interested, we’ll work on your street rep and getting you some experience.”

  “I’m interested.”

  “Good. Okay. So, all this is setting up to insert you an op where my unit moves money and drugs, some fake IDs. Don’t have to risk front money or the substances getting out on the street.”

  “Read the files you gave me on a couple of those ops.”

  “There’s going to be more. A lot more. I’ll have you drive for some mid-level deals, move guys that work for the UC identity I’m setting up for myself, name of Peter Russo. They’re all undercover officers, and you’ll make deliveries, drop off, pickup, transfers. You’ll accompany Russo’s ‘employees’ delivering packages, but first you need to pay your dues and finish your training. Show me you can handle yourself, and then we’ll talk about getting you more involved. You up for it, Beaulieu?”

  “I am, sir.”

  “Good.” Pete stood and walked around the desk to clap him on the shoulder. “I’ve got high hopes for you, constable, but working in this division isn’t all excitement and glory. You’re about to get thrown into a world of drugs, money, and corruption that will threaten the foundation of your beliefs and most likely your safety. I see a bright future if you can handle the pressure and things go according to plans—and I try to make sure they do.”

  “I can handle it,” As
h said with quiet determination.

  “If I didn’t think you could, I wouldn’t be wasting my time. Takes the right character and personality to work undercover. From what I’ve seen and read in reports, your nature is suited. You’re smart, able to deal with stress, adapt to the conditions as needed. You’ve got the ability to distance yourself, too, know how far to bend to make a situation work. Your family has money and strong values, makes you less vulnerable to bribes or temptation. Plus, you can charm people of either sex. That’s something I can’t teach.”

  Nothing better than a challenge. He’d prove Pete right and earn his place among the elite team of undercover officers. “Thank you, Commander. You won’t be disappointed.”

  “Thank you, Constable. Have a safe trip north. I’ll be in touch.”

  By the time Ash made the drive back to his parent’s house, his mom and dad had left for the night to meet friends in downtown Toronto for dinner and theater. The possibilities he and Pete had discussed rolled in his head and knocked around in his chest. Keyed up, needing an outlet, he usually turned to a woman and sex. Tonight, he’d savor the tension and anticipation all by himself.

  He sat in his father’s study, absorbed in the notes Pete had given him, when a scrape from the front hall jerked his head toward the door. His parents would come in through the garage, not the front. His head tilted at the familiar cadence of Lisa’s footsteps, easily recognizable from sneaking around with her, Andy, and Daniel since childhood. A glance at the clock showed the time close to midnight—way too late for her to tiptoe around his parents’ home unannounced. A few seconds later, she stood framed in the doorway.

  “Should have known I couldn’t surprise you.”

  “Hey.” He chose to stand between the chair and the desk instead of the more vulnerable position of sitting in the chair. Lisa had been to the house thousands of times, with or without Daniel and Andy, and he’d never felt awkward. The sudden discomfort stemmed from the events of the previous weekend. Sucked to feel that way about one of his best friends. “What are you doing here?”