Protecting You - Complete

Chapter 12 - Christian

On Tuesday, Ana started temping in marketing. Dressed in some of her new professional wardrobe, thanks to Taylor, we arrived at Grey House right at eight-twenty and parted ways at the elevator in the underground garage. As we'd agreed, I had no interaction with her throughout the day, so as far as her colleagues and even her superior were concerned, Anastasia was just a temp brought in to cover the shortfall until the intern returned to work.

Yes—there really was an intern on leave. Her next rotation had actually been finance, but a quiet word in Ros' ear on Monday had resulted in a last-minute change, thus the temporary job opening in marketing. Ros had even promised to keep my secret—for a price.

Elliot and I checked out the SIP building, and he believed it was worth saving. In fact, with a bit of love and attention, he thought it could be a real showpiece and win some 'Seattle Urban Regeneration' award he wanted to enter. I didn't give a shit about that, but since Elliot did, he was willing to prioritize the job and get onto it ASAP. However, realistically it would take around six weeks to retrofit and re-badge into Grey Publishing. While I could start hiring additional staff a few weeks before then, there was no way I could convince Ana to stay with me, without an income, for four to six weeks—hence the need for short-term employment. With Ana temping at Grey House, it made sense for her to remain living with me at Escala, and that suited me just fine.

It was hard not to invent reasons to drop by the eighth floor, where Anastasia worked during the day. Since she was taking a packed lunch from Mrs. Jones, I couldn't even use lunch as an excuse to tempt Anastasia to the twentieth floor. Andrea had lunch with her on Wednesday, and since I knew Ana would be otherwise occupied for an hour, I assembled the security team.

"What can you tell me?" I growled, staring at Welch, Barney, Sawyer, and Taylor. "It's been a week—I want to know what's going on!" The four looked at one another uneasily before Taylor started.

"Our last sighting of the unsub was on Saturday outside Ms. Steele's apartment block. I've had a rotating crew on the area, but since Saturday he hasn't reappeared. Sawyer has been staying in Ms. Steele's unit, checking the cameras in the hallway. He's left from time to time, but there has been no interest in Ms. Steele's former apartment." Taylor paused so I could take in this information.

"What else?"

"Ms. Steele and I have been through hundreds of felon photos. Whoever the perp is, we haven't been able to find him in convict mugshots," Barney stated. "I'll keep trying, but I think this guy has yet to come in contact with the police or law enforcement."

"He could be anyone," I growled fatalistically.

"We have some leads," Taylor suggested. "With now six women, plus Ms. Steele identified, I'll have operatives looking for this guy at all the locations where those ladies lived. Since we know his modus operandi, we can check out other short-term apartment blocks that would also fit the bill."

"So, you're telling me we have a serial offender stalking woman, who subsequently disappear, and you do not know who or where he is?"

"For now," Welch acknowledged. "Just give us time. This guy has a pattern. We will locate him, eventually."

"And until then?"

"It's imperative Ms. Steele remains out of sight. Keep her working here and living at Escala. Provided you do, we can keep her safe."

Dismissing the four of them before I totally lost my shit, I sat in my Eames chair with my feet up. I'd canceled Monday night's appointment with Flynn, preferring to spend the evening hanging and making out with Ms. Steele. Every time we kissed, our intimacy moved further forward. At the rate we were going, it would be a matter of days before I tried to take her to my bed. Unfamiliar with a vanilla relationship, I'd scheduled a meeting with Flynn for the afternoon.