Ashes to ashes, p.1
Ashes to Ashes, page 1
Ashes to Ashes
TK Eldridge
Graffridge Publishing
First published by Graffridge Publishing 2022
Copyright © 2022 by TK Eldridge
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
TK Eldridge asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
TK Eldridge has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.
Cover by Lizzie Dunlap of PixieCovers.com
Editing by Donna A. Martz of MartzProofing.com
Previously published under the penname Preston Holt Wilder
Contents
Dedication
Prologue
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
19. Chapter 19
20. Chapter 20
21. Chapter 21
22. Chapter 22
23. Chapter 23
24. Chapter 24
25. Chapter 25
26. Chapter 26
Epilogue
27. Teaser from Daredevils
About the Author
To all of us who believe in taking chances. This one's for all of us.
Prologue
He was gentle as he laid her down.
The flowers, a mix of bright red Poppies and golden Brown-eyed Susans, made a lovely frame around her pale face and long, dark hair. His gloved hands brushed her hair to remove any bits of grass that might have been caught in it when he carried her here, then tugged the white cotton dress into place. A touch of ruby red lipstick for her cupid-bow lips, then a little on her cheekbones to give her some color, rubbed into a blush with his thumb. It added just the right touch.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin, then carefully opened it to reveal a plastic bag full of ashes. Whispering “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, he gently marked her forehead with the ashes. A sigh slipped from him as he took a minute to look her over. So innocent, so perfect – she looked like a sleeping doll, from the carefully folded hands to the neatly aligned feet.
He picked up a stick and used it to brush the flowers and grasses back into place as he backed down the slope and made his way over to where his car was parked. He tossed the stick onto the floor of the back seat, then settled behind the wheel before he pulled the gloves off and tucked them into a bag of trash on the seat.
He started the car and rolled along in the dark for a few yards before he turned the lights fully on and joined the highway traffic as it flowed by him. It was a shame she hadn’t worked out. He had had such high hopes for this one. Oh, well. Failures were bound to happen. He knew just where to go look for his next girlfriend. Eventually, he’d find the perfect one.
Chapter one
Evan pulled into the driveway and parked in front of the closed garage door. It felt wrong in so many ways to be here and know that her sister and her wife wouldn’t be inside. The cooling engine clicked in the silence and Evan told herself to get her ass out of the car and go inside. Finally, her need to use the bathroom got her to get out and walk up to the door.
The digital lock took the code she entered and the door opened without any trouble. A rushed passage from the front door to the half-bath just off the foyer kept Evan from having to see too much before she could ease the urgency of her need. She stared at herself in the mirror as she washed her hands, then splashed water on her face in an attempt to clear some of the weary fog. “You’ve got this, Evan,” she said to her reflection, then stepped out into the silent house.
There was nothing that would give a person the hint that those who lived here wouldn’t be back at any moment. The house was clean – she’d paid a service to come in and throw out the spoiled food and take out the trash, clean and polish, and do the laundry. All she had to do was wait for the grocery delivery and unpack her own things. For now, anyway. The list of things she had to get done in the next three days was as long as her arm and only about half of it would be easy.
The photos of her sister Emery, with her wife Darra, and the twins were scattered about on the mantle, a side table, on the wall in the hallway. It felt like a punch in the chest, and Evan shook her head and turned away. A few breaths and she decided to unload the car first. She knew it was best to do it while it was still daylight and before all of her energy disappeared, so she went outside and grabbed the totes out of the back and started to carry everything inside to stack up in the foyer and living room. Six tote bins, five boxes, three suitcases, and a handful of trash bags had filled Evan’s car to the brim, but it was everything she felt she’d need to get started in this new chapter of her life. There was a small moving pod full of stuff that would show up in a couple of weeks, but it would all likely get loaded into a storage unit anyway.
She lifted her travel mug from the console, grabbed the bag of trash from the floor and locked up the car. The afternoon light still had warmth, but Evan could feel the first teasing hints of autumn in the air. The leaves on the huge maple in the front yard had a hint of gold here and there, promising a blaze of glorious color before they’d carpet the front lawn. Movement caught her eye and Evan turned to see the next door neighbor dragging a trash can out to the curb. The man waved and Evan gave a polite wave back before she turned and went inside. She really didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.
Trash into the kitchen bin, travel mug rinsed and put beside the sink, and Evan turned to look over the kitchen island towards the main living area. She remembered when Emery and Darra had bought this house. It had been dark and dingy but had ‘good bones’ as Darra liked to say. They had torn out walls, updated the systems and added a sun room off the back that was a wonderful retreat year round. Gleaming dark wood floors contrasted nicely with the crisp white trim and soft paint colors. The house boasted four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, a study that had become Emery’s office and writing space, a large living space and instead of a fancy dining room, there was a kitchen where the whole family could cook a meal and then sprawl around the table by the back windows and enjoy it together.
Evan would be using Emery’s office for her own work now, but she had a week or so before she had to actually log in and make her presence known. The twins’ bedrooms shared a bathroom between them and the other two rooms were suites. One was Emery and Darra’s room – and Evan couldn’t even go in there yet. She looked in to make sure it had been cleaned, then closed the door. Across the hall were the twins’ rooms, and down the end, past the laundry room, was the guest suite that Evan would claim for her own. Windows on two sides that looked out to the front and the side yard, and a large bathroom with separate shower and tub and a walk-in closet would be more than enough space for what Evan had brought with her.
With all but the last two totes dragged down the hall and stacked in the room she’d chosen, Evan took a break and got a glass of water. A knock at the door and she went to open it for the grocery delivery.
“Hello, ma’am. Want me to bring these in for you?” the delivery man offered.
“No, thank you. Just put them on the porch here and I’ll take care of it,” Evan said.
“It’s no trouble…” he started and Evan sighed.
“I appreciate the offer, but I just had the floors redone,” Evan said. In truth, she just didn’t feel comfortable with strangers in her space.
“Oh, I understand. It should only take me a couple of minutes to get them all set up here.” He turned and went back to his van, and Evan started to bring the bags inside. She found the list and checked it for substitutions, then signed off and handed it to the man with a tip.
“Here you go. Thank you,” Evan said.
“You’re welcome, ma’am,” he replied as he left.
The last few bags she put in the foyer and locked the deadbolt. She stared at the bags for a moment, then shook herself all over. “That’s enough of that, Evan Wylder.” She pulled out her phone and selected a playlist, then set it on the docking station so the music streamed throughout the whole house.
“Much better,” she murmured to herself as the silence of the house was filled with the upbeat pop music.
Groceries put away and a frozen pizza in the oven, Evan moved the last of the boxes into her room and got a few things unpacked and sorted. Her favorite sheets and comforter on the bed, her robe on the back of the door, and her toiletries in the bath made her feel a bit more settled. The buzz of the timer told her the food was ready, so she took care of the pizza and carried her plate and a glass of wine over to the table.
The view of the backyard and the gardens could truly be appreciated as the sun started to set. The landscaping crew had already winterized the fountain for the small pond, tucked between bushes that flowered in the spring and summer, and the light played across the leaves that were promising a riot of color in a week or two. She saw the tire swing that Darra had hung from the oak that filled the back right corner of the yard and remembered the twins playing on it the last time she had visited. How long ago was that now? Three years?
Evan and Emery had grown up in Haven, a coastal town on the southern edge of Boston, Massachusetts, but Evan had moved to Washington, DC for work after graduating college, while Emery had stayed in Haven with Darra and the twins. Focusing on her career and the promotions that came with each success meant her visits to Haven were few and far between. It was more often that Em and Darra brought the kids to DC so they could go to the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian. Em knew why Evan avoided Haven, so she never pushed her into coming home. Haven was a small town and everyone knew everyone else’s business – or so they assumed. The less time Evan spent in Haven, the less chance her secrets would be exposed. She only hoped now she had learned enough to keep the past in the past.
As much as Evan wanted another glass of wine, she made herself wrap up the rest of the pizza and clean up her dishes. “You can have another glass when you soak off the miles in that jetted tub. For now, you have work to do.”
A cup of coffee was brought into Emery’s office instead of the wine she really wanted, and Evan gently sat down in the leather chair behind the desk. The book that Emery had just finished had made it to the editor, but there were decisions that needed to be made and Evan hoped her sister had left notes somewhere. She also needed to back up the computer and check the household financial files to verify everything had been transferred over to her. The sheer volume of everything that needed to be done was almost too much for Evan to deal with right now.
Instead of getting to work as planned, she sat in her sister’s chair and sipped coffee while her gaze wandered across shelves full of books, photos, awards, and little ceramic pots and bowls made by the twins when they were small. The desk sat facing into the room with a long cabinet behind her that held a printer, a file basket, a free-standing microphone, and other bits and pieces. Closer to the French doors that led out to the sunroom, sat a loveseat and a low table laden with books and a bowl of pretty stones. Bookshelves lined both walls and stained glass lamps gave the room a warm glow, while drapes framed the view into the sunroom and the yard beyond.
Solar lights set in strategic places in the yard started to light up the space as night fully settled in. Evan gave up on trying to accomplish anything more today and carried her coffee into the kitchen to dump into the sink. She rinsed the mug, reclaimed her wine glass and grabbed the bottle out of the fridge.
“If I’m going to have to step up, Emery, I’m going to start with wine. This isn’t how it was supposed to play out, and you know it,” Evan said to the empty house. “You and Darra were supposed to raise the girls and I’d get to be the bad-ass FBI agent who hunted the monsters. No one said that you two could die and leave me with the girls. That’s not what we agreed to.”
Tears streamed down Evan’s cheeks as she put the wine glass down and sipped from the bottle. Her gaze went from photo to photo until she found one where she and Emery had their arms around each other and silly hats on their heads. Taken last New Year’s Eve, they had been gathered to watch the fireworks over the Potomac from the hotel suite Em and Darra had rented for the weekend. The girls had loved being in the city for the First Night celebrations and the balcony view had been perfect if not a bit chilly. Em had hugged Evan to her and kissed her cheek – and Darra had snapped the picture.
Evan sat on the sofa, picture hugged to her chest, as she cried, drank the wine, and cried some more. She didn’t remember putting the bottle down on the table, or lying down with her feet up, but soon she was asleep while the music shifted to her usual nighttime playlist and soothed her dreams.
Daylight flooded the living room, but it was the pounding on the door that dragged Evan to her feet. “What?!” she yelled.
“Open the door, it’s the police,” a male voice yelled back.
“Hold on, I’m coming,” Evan yelled back and grabbed her ID off the entry table before she unlocked the front door and yanked it open. “Seriously? It’s barely seven in the morning.” Her head pounded in time with the fist that had attacked the door and she knew her hair was a mess. Which is why it didn’t surprise her in the least to find Max Prescott on the other side of the door. Just her luck.
“Oh, hey Evan. I didn’t know you were back in town,” Max said.
His hair was still dark and curly, but there were hints of gray at his temples. He looked freshly shaven, and his bright green eyes were probably taking in her tangled hair, wrinkled clothes, and nasty wine-bottle breath.
“Just yesterday afternoon. Why were you pounding on the door?” Evan asked.
“Someone saw lights and a strange car and wanted to make sure no one was squatting or something. You know how people get. I’m also sorry for your loss. Emery and Darra were good people.”
“Yeah, thanks. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get my day started,” Evan said as she moved to shut the door.
Max’s hand grabbed the edge of it and held it open. “My folks moved to Florida a few years back. I live in their house, so if you need anything, just give me a call.”
Great. That meant he lived three doors down. “Yeah, thanks, but I won’t,” Evan said and pushed the door a little harder. “Have a good day, Max.”
“Sure, Evan. See you around,” Max said and let the door close.
Evan leaned her back against it and groaned. Of all the people to see her hung over and messed up, it had to be Max. “Well, fuck.”
Evan turned to peer through the peep hole and watched his patrol car drive down the street. Locks re-engaged, she padded towards the bedroom and into the shower. No point in trying to sleep now, she had to pick up the twins in three hours and she still had to stop at the lawyer’s office and sign a stack of paperwork.
Soaping herself up in the shower, Evan had to consciously keep her thoughts from replacing her hands with Max’s hands. They’d loved taking showers together in their tiny apartment’s bathroom, then ending up back in bed instead of getting dressed. Oh, she’d had a few lovers since Max, but no one ever stuck for long. Either they couldn’t handle her job, or the fact she could probably take them down faster than they could spit. She had been called ‘intimidating’ more times than she cared to count, because intelligent women were not likely to be submissive and meek – and that fucked with the macho powerbroker mindset of most of the men she’d encountered in DC.
Max hadn’t been intimidated. He’d thought her intellect was sexy. He liked that he could talk about criminal justice and policing with her and she would debate right back. They’d both gone to Harvard and shared an apartment until he’d joined the state police academy and she’d been headed to Quantico. Then everything had changed.
Evan shook off the memories and got herself ready to face the day. Dark slacks and her ankle boots so she could use the ankle holster, a silk blouse, blazer, and stud earrings completed the look. She pulled her shoulder-length hair into a twist and pinned it in place before she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.
Whether she wanted to admit it or not, seeing Max sent a thrill through her. She hoped he was married and had kids because then he’d really be off limits and she could put a stop to all of those little fantasies that played in her head.
