might have used was set aside as they holstered their guns.
“Mr. Dodge. Ma’am, I’m Officer Ramos. What’s going on?”
“It’s not what it looks like,” Boyington said.
“Yes, actually it is,” Charlie said, and proceeded to tell them Boyington’s name and what he’d witnessed, and how he’d caught him as he was trying to leave.
“And these are the GPS trackers he put on my car,” Wyrick said, and handed them over. “This is not the first instance he has intruded upon my privacy. He followed me from the parking lot once, but I lost him on the freeway, and then he was waiting for me here again, after being told to leave me alone. This is the third instance, and I want to file charges against him for stalking. I have video of him on two separate occasions harassing me here, and video of what he did today.”
“If you need further statements, could we do it out of the rain?” Charlie asked.
“I think we’re good for now,” Ramos said. “We have your names and contact information in the system, and the evidence you have turned over. You will need to come down and make a formal complaint and sign it.” Then he pointed at Boyington. “Load him up and read him his rights.”
For the first time in years, Darrell Boyington was worried. He’d taken Parks’s money on the pretext that he quit the contract. From Wyrick’s accusations, if he didn’t wind up in jail, he still might wind up dead.
* * *
Wyrick and Charlie were soaked to the skin, so hurrying to get out of the rain wasn’t worth the effort. They walked back into the office building in silence, then took the elevator back up to the office in the same manner.
The moment they were inside, Charlie stopped her with a look.
“Take what you need from here, and for the next few days, work from home. I don’t want you here by yourself with this shit going on, and I can’t be here to protect you. There are two women in my life whose well-beings matter to me, and you are one of them. My Annie is the other, and she is dying. The last thing I can do for her is be there. I can’t help, but I can stand witness to the person she was until she’s gone.”
Wyrick ached for his sadness. There were tears on his face hiding within the raindrops. She wouldn’t argue, and she couldn’t touch him, so she waited in silence as he took a slow, shuddering breath so he could continue.
“I need to know you are safe before I can walk away from this job to be with her. Will you do this for me?”
She met his gaze without flinching.
“Yes.”
“Thank you. For now, you are Dodge Security and Investigations. I will not be available for another job until I know I can put my full attention to it. If there is anything you can solve by simply researching it from home, then do it. Otherwise, turn it down. If there are decisions to be made, make them. Tell them I am unavailable and nothing more.”
“Yes, sir.”
Charlie searched her face for fear or uncertainty, and saw nothing but resolve.
“Thank you for always having my back,” he said.
“Ditto,” Wyrick said. “You have a change of clothes here. Get dry, then go home. Pack what you need to stay with her. If you need anything else, message me. I will always know how to find you.”
Charlie sighed. “So you’re finally going to admit you’re psychic?”
“No. Because after the last time I lost you, I put a tracker app on your phone, remember? If you don’t lose your phone, then I’m not going to lose you.”
Charlie shook his head. “Remind me to give you that raise.”
“Right after you go get changed,” she said.
He went through his office, then into the bedroom beyond it to get out of his wet clothes, while Wyrick went to her private bathroom to do the same.
She was changed and packing up her gear when he came out.
She paused and looked up at him, then had to turn away to keep from crying. She kept working until she heard the door shut behind him, and then she dropped down into her chair, put her head down on the desk and sobbed.
* * *
A couple of hours later, Charlie arrived at Morning Light with a duffel bag over his shoulder.
“Good afternoon,” Pinkie said.
Charlie nodded and signed in, then walked to the door to be let