she locked the doors and pressed the garage door opener. Ever since that man had tried to attack her, she made it a point to be in the car when she either opened or closed the door. One the cops had called her a few days back, informing her that Jeffrey was in Denver, working on the night of the incident. At first, Ashley believed the officer was just humoring her, but when she called the deputy district attorney, he confirmed that Jeffrey was employed, and had been at work that day. Then David had subtly suggested that perhaps therapy could help her to let go of her “irrational fear of Mr. Elion being out to get you.” Irrational fear, my ass. I’m not imaging any of this. But was it possible she was placing blame in the wrong place? Now that Jeffrey was working, it didn’t make sense that he was the one tormenting her, but someone was, and the tricky part was finding out who.
Pressing the opener, she looked obsessively in the rearview mirror, then shifted gears and slowly backed out. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man stepped into the driveway.
Startled, she cried out, “Holy shit!” and slammed on the brakes, her heart pounding as if it were about to jump out of her chest.
Then another man came into the driveway.
“Dammit!” Clinging to the steering wheel, she pressed her foot down on the gas and sped backward.
The two men jumped out of the way, one of them yelling, “Ms. Callahan! Stop!”
At the end of the driveway, her nerves snapped when she recognized Mark Ames and Gage, frozen to the spot, staring at her in disbelief. She put the car in park and jumped out.
“What the fuck is wrong with you two?” she shouted. “I almost hit you!”
Mark slowly walked toward her. “No reason to be using bad language.”
“I’ll say whatever the fuck I want to. Why the hell are you two always creeping around? I’m sick of it. Do you hear me? Sick. Of. It. Enough already!”
After several seconds, Mark stuffed his hands in his pockets, and calmly asked, “Are you done?”
Ashley stifled a scream. “I’m done with the repairs.” Her tone was tight and cold.
“That’s not really your decision, is it?”
Anger rippled through her. “I’ve told you over and over that I need to know when you and Gage are coming over, and you’ve ignored my request repeatedly. I know I’m not paying for the repairs, but it’s insulting when you purposely disregard my wishes.”
His eyes widened. “Are you saying I’m treating you bad?”
“Not badly, just rudely.”
“I’ve said rude things to you?” Mark gestured for Gage to come over. “Have you heard me say anything rude to Ms. Callahan?”
“No,” Gage mumbled, avoiding her gaze.
“This is ridiculous,” she mumbled. “As much as I’d love to discuss this with you, I have to go to work.”
“I asked you a question that you didn’t answer. Have I said rude things to you?”
“No, you haven’t said anything rude, but when you ignore what I ask you to do, like letting me know when you’ll be coming over, I see that as rude.”
He quirked his brow. “Fair enough.”
Feeling uneasy, she turned to Gage. “And what’s your deal? You act like you don’t know me whenever I see you in the grocery store, the coffee shop, and, well, most of the places I go to. Why?”
Gage shifted from one foot to another. “I didn’t see you,” he replied, bumbling out his answer.
“Did you go up to him?” Mark asked her.
Ashley threw him one of her don’t-fuck-with-me looks. “I was talking to Gage.”
“But you’re making him uncomfortable. He said he didn’t see you, but you saw him, so I’m wondering why you didn’t go up to him and say ‘Hello’? Just saying. Seems kind of rude not to have done that.”
Why am I wasting my time arguing with these two idiots? “Now, listen to how this is going to go down. You will not work on anything inside the house, because I’m not giving you the key. The next time you want to come over, you will call me—not Zach—and make an appointment. If you don’t, I won’t let you inside. Got it?”
Mark narrowed his eyes.
“Good. If you need to get ahold of me to make an appointment, you have my number.” Without waiting for a response, Ashley turned around and walked back to her car. Sliding into the seat, she closed the garage door, fastened her seatbelt, and drove away.