“No one,” Ashley said.
“Really no one else?” Colleen asked. “Not even Clark? Didn’t you give it to him when he and Kenneth came to visit a few months ago?”
“Well, yeah,” Ashley said. “But the system allows me to give temporary codes to visitors, and then reset the system after they’re gone. And I did. I’m not an idiot.” Yeah, actually she was, because her apartment had been broken into, and yet all she could think about was the way Jim had touched her as he’d helped improve her paintball-marker firing stance. That brain-melting warmth of his hand against her stomach… The sparkle of his eyes when he sat outside of his trailer and laughed with her…
“I’m not an idiot either,” Colleen said. “I swear, the detective asked me fifteen different times if maybe I’d forgotten to set it, last time I was over here. I finally called the alarm company who verified that it was set at precisely the time I said I’d set it, thank you very much.And—this is the extra-bad part: they have a record of it being turned off at around oh-three-hundred—three A.M.—last night.”
Three A.M. Usually Ash was sound asleep at three A.M.Thatwould’ve been a really bad surprise… “They should have a record of which code was used,” she told Colleen.
“Yeah, it registered as your regular code,” Colleen told her. “The one I use.”
“And you haven’t given that code to anyone…?” Ashley pushed. “Did you write it down or leave it in the office, or—”
“Nope,” Colleen confirmed. “I mean, maybe I mumbled it in my sleep, but I really doubt Bobby’s the one who broke in to murder your green beans. So, you don’t have some kind of online account, where you keep all your passwords or…?”
“No,” Ash said.
“Is it possible that… someone who, you know, maybe, um, knows youreallywell might’ve been able to figure out the combination of numbers—”
“You meanBrad?”
“Yes,” Colleen said. “Yes, I mean Brad.”
“You honestly think it was Brad who broke in?” Ashley asked her friend.
“I still had a picture of the two of you in my phone,” Colleen said. “Some of your neighbors have seen him around lately. You know, skulking near your condo door.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly breaking news. Ashley was here in Florida becauseshe’dseen Brad skulking.
“I know you gave him back that giant engagement ring,” Colleen said. “But did he give you, I don’t know, any other jewelry or…?”
“I gave him back everything,” Ash said, and asked again, “You seriously think it was Brad?”
“I’m on the fence, but Bobby and Wes are both convinced. Okay, here’s the next question,” Colleen said. “Who, besides me, has got a key?”
***
Jim tried his best not to listen as Ashley told her brother that someone had broken in to her apartment.
“But there was no sign of a forced entry,” she reported to Clark as they all waited, once again, outside of the trailer leading into the paintball field. “How they got in is a mystery.”
Kenneth was sitting in the shade, looking even more pale than he’d looked just a few hours earlier. Jim made a mental note for Thomas King to take a quick look at the kid when he made his rounds.
“I swear,” Clark told her. “I didn’t lose your key last time we visited.”
“If you ever do again, promise you’ll just tell me,” Ashley said. “I’d prefer to change the locksbeforesomeone lets themself into my apartment at three in the morning.”
Kenneth spoke up. “I find it hard to believe it’s not Brad, considering.”
Jim couldn’t stop himself from jumping in. “Someone broke into your place at oh-dark-thirty, plus youknowyour ex has been stalking you, and youdon’tthink it’s him…?”
Ashley’s eyes flashed with something—surprise? Annoyance? But it was quickly gone. “Brad’s a lawyer,” she said. “While he might’ve been able to guess my password—somehow, maybe, but I really don’t know how, unless he bugged my apartment and listened in while I gave it to Colleen—”
“Has Bob or Wes scanned the place for listening devices?” Jim asked.
Ashley laughed. “I was kidding.”
“Well, I’m not. The Team’s got the gear. Might as well do it.” He took out his phone and fired off a quick text to both SEALs.
