Leave Me Love (Call Me Cat Trilogy #2)(26)

I took my medication and logged what happened in my journal as per instructions from my doctor and therapist, then went up to our bedroom and undressed to take a bath.

Ash beat me to it, running the hot water for me and filling the bath with salts and oils. "Do you want to be alone, or could I join you?" he asked.

"Please join me. I've had enough of alone to last a lifetime."

I watched as he stripped to nothing. I took his hand as he helped me into the bath then got in behind me, wrapping his legs around mine.

I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes, letting my mind drift as his hands rubbed a sponge over my body and between my legs. Letting go of the sponge, he moved his hands up, cupping my breasts and teasing my nipples. When he dropped one hand and slipped a finger between my legs, I rubbed my back against his hard cock, pushing my hips into his hand as I fought for the release I was so desperate for.

When I came, he massaged me, demanding nothing more despite his hard-on. He kissed my neck and we fell into silence, holding each other, enjoying the heat of the water.

"I'm scared, Ash," I confessed.

"I know, sweetheart, but I promise I will do everything in my considerable power to protect you."

"Someone's setting me up, aren't they?" I needed to hear him say it. Needed to know I wasn't imagining this.

"Yes, it looks like it. But we'll find out who and why."

"And Brig, in her diary, all her fear, and the gun. Why? It couldn't be her, could it? Why would she try to hurt me that way? I just can't imagine it."

"There's got to be an explanation that makes sense," he promised. When his cell phone rang on the shelf by the bath, he checked the number then answered it. After another mono-syllabic conversation, he hung up.

"That was Jim."

I turned around in the bath to face him. "What did he say? Did he find something?"

"Yes," he frowned. "A place was rented recently."

My heart skipped a beat in excited nerves. "By Bridgette?"

He shook his head. "No. By you."





Chapter Twenty Two


Don't Say A Word


WE TOOK ASH'S motorcycle at my insistence. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and feel the power of his bike thrumming underneath me. He fought me on it, worried about my head, but I assured him I'd be fine. I needed the adrenaline rush and didn't want to sit in a car.

My fingers dug into his flexed chest muscles as he drove to the edge of town. Finally, we arrived at a dilapidated motel by the side of the road, a rundown affair patiently waiting for weary travelers who were too tired or too desperate to find a place more suitable for safety and sleep. We walked into the main lobby.

An old man sat behind the check—in counter watching M*A*S*H reruns on a small black and white television. He vehemently sucked on a peppermint candy, a bowl of which lay by his hand. The whole room smelled like peppermint, a creepy smell in this dingy room with its peeling paint. The waiting room had one lonely chair with a small but growing hole in the center of its orange seat. I could imagine a rat gnawing through it, slowly growing the hole until the seat no longer remained.

"Excuse me," I said.

The man turned, his eyes bloodshot and coated with a milky, creamy film. He smiled a half-toothless smile. "You need a room?" he said through the peppermint on his tongue.

"No. I need to know about a room you rented." I took out my phone and showed him a picture of Bridgette. "This girl rented a room under the name of Catelyn Travis."

He peered closely at the picture, squinting and pulling my hand so that the phone was an inch from his eyes. "Ah, yuh. Didn't recognize her ‘til that P.I. came by. Sure, she got a room. Paid for a month in cash. Can't turn down that, now can I? Don't get much business ‘round here since that fancy Hilton popped up."

I had no doubt that was not the major detractor to his business, but I held my tongue. "Can we see the room, please?" I showed him my ID. "I'm actually Catelyn."

He scratched his chin, considering. "Well, seeing’s how the room's in your name. Figure I gotta let ya, don't I? Room's locked up tight. Ain't seen no one there. After that P.I. told me about the girl I had to call the cops, you know. Since everyone is looking for her. But seeing’s how the room's in your name, like I said, then figure I can give you a peeksee ‘til they get here. Can't harm me for that, right? With your name and all."

"No, they can't harm you for that," I assured him.

Knowing the police had been called made me nervous. I had no doubt Detective Gray would be showing up on his proverbial white horse to slay the dragon and save the girl. With me, unfortunately, in the role of the dragon.

When he opened the room for us, the first thing I noticed was the smell. An old, wet, moldy smell that I was sure predated Bridgette's rental of this place. The second thing I noticed were the pictures.

Hundreds of them, everywhere. All of Bridgette and Ash in innocuous poses.

Ash sucked in his breath and the old man chuckled. "That man be you, sir. Looks like you got caught between two beautiful women. Worse places to be, I figure. Worse places, indeed."

I turned to the man. "Can you give us a moment?"

"Sure thing. I'll be in the office if you need me. This one’s a good one. That guy Hawkeye is just too much," he said, referring to his M*A*S*H episode.