Distortion Control (A Makayla Rose Mystery Book 3) by Audrey Claire Page A

“Whoa, chilly. I’m here to make peace.”
    I raised my chin and turned back to my computer screen. “I wasn’t aware we were at war.”
    He strode over and took a moment to study my pictures. “Nice place. That across the street?”
    “Observant,” I said in a dry tone. He chuckled.
    “If you don’t hold my mistakes against me, I’m willing to look past the fact that you’re a woman who can’t keep her nose out of other people’s business.”
    I gasped. “How dare you?”
    “Is it a deal?”
    His grin widened, and he stuck out his hand. I hesitated, and he stooped beside my chair, bringing his handsome face way too close. The silver eyes twinkled bright and clear, but they reminded me of eyes I would rather see and couldn’t. I found myself wondering how Ash took it knowing he had been with Penelope but she had still loved Spencer.
    “Hello?” Ash prompted.
    “I suppose it can’t hurt if we work together,” I said.
    “Good.” He straightened. “Besides, Spencer would kill me if I don’t protect you.”
    “Don’t be dramatic, Ash.” I closed out the files since I wasn’t going to get them done today.
    “You’re either being modest, or you truly don’t realize my brother’s into you.”
    “If you recall, we broke it off.”
    “Interesting.”
    I scraped back my chair—as much as it could scrape on a plastic mat over carpet—and stood. A glare didn’t wipe the dang smirk from his face, but at least with it there, my fear had all but dissipated. I knew right away that was his intention. He knew I had run from him in fear, and he was being obnoxious to nip it. Gratitude flooded me, and I relaxed.
    I folded my arms over my chest. “All right, Detective Norwood, you’re going to prove yourself to me.”
    “Am I? Mm, sounds fun.”
    “I don’t know about fun, but it will be a big help. If you can do it, that is.”
    “You’re trying to motivate me by issuing a challenge, Makayla?” He shook his head as if disappointed. “What do you want me to do?”
    Darn, so manipulation was out. Well, I had to take the direct approach. “We need to find out who helped Penelope pull off the supposed kidnapping. Is it possible for you to check into who she might have used? Spencer mentioned servants. Surely, you know some or all of them?”
    He rubbed his jaw, thinking about it. “She did have regulars, but most were retainers from her parents. I can’t imagine them helping with this harebrained scheme, but Penelope went through personal assistants like water.”
    “Personal assistant? Like a secretary?” I turned to look at the pile of bills, contracts, and other paperwork on the edge of my desk, along with books on the desk, on the floor, the table, and atop the file cabinet I hadn’t gotten around to putting away. “Must be wonderful.”
    “Now, now,” he chided, amused. “We all have our crosses.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Yes, well, I won’t speak ill of the dead. So, can you do it?”
    “I’ll make some calls back home.”
    “Thank you.”
    “What will you do?”
    I didn’t want to say. “I have a couple of leads I want to follow. I’ll get back to you soon if I find out anything. For now, would you please promise to answer your phone when I call? I assure you, I won’t do it unless I have to.”
    He laid a hand over his chest. “You wound me, Makayla. I thought we were making progress to something more serious.”
    I offered him a wide-eyed, innocent look with my head tilted to the side. “Nope.”
    He laughed. “Fine. We’ll keep it to the case…for now.”
    He waved as he left, and I had the feeling I wasn’t done rebuffing his advances. Ash was either arrogant enough to believe every woman wanted him, or some internal mechanism never let him stop trying to win over the female population. I wavered between both explanations but then dismissed him from my thoughts. What I intended to do weighed heavier and had a lot more trepidation tearing through my system.
    After I had