Brutal Obsession (The Safeguard Series, Book One) by Kennedy Layne Page A
Authors: Kennedy Layne
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looked like Brazilian hardwood flooring. A rather large white sheepskin rug lay in the middle of the contemporary furniture arrangement, consisting of a low-seated leather sectional with a couple of grey pillows to bring out the flooring in the kitchen. At least, that’s what he thought she was going for. It was hard for him to picture her living in a place right off the cover of a design magazine, for that’s what this appeared to be.
Keane could see an open arch at the other end of the apartment leading to what seemed to be her office. He chose the small hallway on his left first, calculating correctly that it would lead to her bedroom. Now this décor matched her personality better.
The rich color of burgundy in various shades was strewn throughout the room, from the comforter and pillows on her king-sized bed to the long curtains that were currently closed to prevent prying eyes from seeing inside of her sanctuary. Her bedroom furniture was dark cherry.
The bedroom and master bath weren’t disturbed and Keane quickly made his way back down the short passageway. Ashlyn was standing in the foyer with her high heels in one hand and her purse in the other. He figured it wouldn’t take long for her to remove the shoes to stand on the cold foyer floor and enjoy a bit of relief. A strand of her chestnut hair had come loose and it was obvious that her previous anxiety was slowly turning to anger.
Good.
Keane didn’t like the thought of this lowlife scum causing Ashlyn to be afraid of her own shadow. She’d always been a rather strong-willed woman. This situation wasn’t going to be the one thing that brought her down. They had a lot to talk about personally, but now wasn’t the time as he needed to finish his sweep.
It didn’t take Keane long to search the rest of Ashlyn’s apartment. He took a look at her office, the small half-bath attached to it, along with what appeared to be a storage closet. Everything appeared in place. It was then that he started to study her security system as he made his way back to the main area.
No wonder Ashlyn’s pursuer had tapped into her computer. There were no internal video cameras to allow this deviant scumbag to obtain a visual of her office, just as Coulter had said. The only surveillance camera Keane located was in the living room to monitor the front entrance from across the room. He began to get an uneasy feeling about where Coulter was taking this.
“We’re clear,” Keane called out, making his way back down the hallway to where Ashlyn had now walked back into the kitchen. She no longer had her shoes and purse in hand. “Agent Coulter should be here any minute.”
“Let’s hope the cyber unit he’s working with found something useful,” Ashlyn added on, sounding somewhat agitated. She hadn’t even bothered to look around, telling him that Coulter’s reason for actually stopping by wasn’t on her mind. “How is it someone can send a text message and the world’s best cyber technicians can’t figure out who’s sending it? I mean, everything this man has done has been through technology of some sort—my security feeds, my computer, my phone. I—”
“Not everything,” Keane gently reminded her as he took off his suit jacket. He draped it over the back of one of the chairs. He would have suggested Ashlyn do the same, but he’d seen her like this numerous times in the past…although it had always been about the court case she’d been working on at the time. Nothing had really changed, and yet everything in their lives was different from their own perspectives. He pushed the thoughts of the past to the side. “He made his way into your home at some point. It’s my job to figure out how and keep it from happening again.”
“Don’t you mean Special Agent Coulter?”
“No. It’s his responsibility to locate the person doing this. Mine is to ensure your personal safety at all times.”
Keane could see that Ashlyn wanted to know exactly why he’d
Keane could see an open arch at the other end of the apartment leading to what seemed to be her office. He chose the small hallway on his left first, calculating correctly that it would lead to her bedroom. Now this décor matched her personality better.
The rich color of burgundy in various shades was strewn throughout the room, from the comforter and pillows on her king-sized bed to the long curtains that were currently closed to prevent prying eyes from seeing inside of her sanctuary. Her bedroom furniture was dark cherry.
The bedroom and master bath weren’t disturbed and Keane quickly made his way back down the short passageway. Ashlyn was standing in the foyer with her high heels in one hand and her purse in the other. He figured it wouldn’t take long for her to remove the shoes to stand on the cold foyer floor and enjoy a bit of relief. A strand of her chestnut hair had come loose and it was obvious that her previous anxiety was slowly turning to anger.
Good.
Keane didn’t like the thought of this lowlife scum causing Ashlyn to be afraid of her own shadow. She’d always been a rather strong-willed woman. This situation wasn’t going to be the one thing that brought her down. They had a lot to talk about personally, but now wasn’t the time as he needed to finish his sweep.
It didn’t take Keane long to search the rest of Ashlyn’s apartment. He took a look at her office, the small half-bath attached to it, along with what appeared to be a storage closet. Everything appeared in place. It was then that he started to study her security system as he made his way back to the main area.
No wonder Ashlyn’s pursuer had tapped into her computer. There were no internal video cameras to allow this deviant scumbag to obtain a visual of her office, just as Coulter had said. The only surveillance camera Keane located was in the living room to monitor the front entrance from across the room. He began to get an uneasy feeling about where Coulter was taking this.
“We’re clear,” Keane called out, making his way back down the hallway to where Ashlyn had now walked back into the kitchen. She no longer had her shoes and purse in hand. “Agent Coulter should be here any minute.”
“Let’s hope the cyber unit he’s working with found something useful,” Ashlyn added on, sounding somewhat agitated. She hadn’t even bothered to look around, telling him that Coulter’s reason for actually stopping by wasn’t on her mind. “How is it someone can send a text message and the world’s best cyber technicians can’t figure out who’s sending it? I mean, everything this man has done has been through technology of some sort—my security feeds, my computer, my phone. I—”
“Not everything,” Keane gently reminded her as he took off his suit jacket. He draped it over the back of one of the chairs. He would have suggested Ashlyn do the same, but he’d seen her like this numerous times in the past…although it had always been about the court case she’d been working on at the time. Nothing had really changed, and yet everything in their lives was different from their own perspectives. He pushed the thoughts of the past to the side. “He made his way into your home at some point. It’s my job to figure out how and keep it from happening again.”
“Don’t you mean Special Agent Coulter?”
“No. It’s his responsibility to locate the person doing this. Mine is to ensure your personal safety at all times.”
Keane could see that Ashlyn wanted to know exactly why he’d
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