Mason never locked his car. That was one of the things Ashton had made note of. Nicole crept up to it where no one inside would have been able to see her. She was pretty confident when she opened the door and pulled out the lock-picking kit. He'd taken back the tools he'd given her when he found out she broke into Clive's house with them. As quietly as possible, she closed the door and began to make her way back around the side of the building.
About halfway around, she stopped. Just on the other side of this wall, she realized, was Ashton. She wanted to figure out how to get up high enough to look in the window at him, but there wasn't anything nearby she could use. Instead, she stared up longingly at the window about two feet above her head. It was nothing more than a skylight, nowhere near large enough to fit through, but it was large enough it would let her poke her head in a little if she needed to see right below her.
She chewed on her lip for a moment but continued on her way. There was really no point in trying to get up there. After all, she could get stuck. Then where would she be? She sighed and made her way to the street around the other side, and strolled on the sidewalk until she was able to get inside through the front door.
Mason was there, as she knew he would be. Clive was sitting at his desk in the back. Norman, sitting at the only other unoccupied desk, looked up at her and gave her a small smile. She frowned. What did he want? Ignoring him, she walked up to Mason. "Hey."
He looked up, concerned. "Hi. What do you need?"
She leaned in close. "I want you to take me back to see Ashton." She purposely said it loud enough that Norman could hear her at the next desk.
Mason glanced over. Norman was obviously listening, even though he was staring at the paper in his hand. With a sigh and a look like she was overstepping, Mason stood and walked her back to where the door to the cells was. It was closed. Mason pulled it open and stepped in behind her. She pulled it closed behind them.
When she didn't move, he gestured down the hallway. "Last cell. Same place as before." He shook his head. "You just couldn't leave him alone, could you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Shut up and listen a moment." He closed his mouth and clenched his teeth. "If he doesn't want to see me, fine. I won't go back there." She wanted nothing more than to go see him. "I just need him to tell me something."
"What's that?"
"How to break into his house the right way. He's the only one that knows that place well enough."
---
Voices carried down the hallway. Ashton stood the moment he recognized Nicole's voice. What was she doing here? He'd told Mason to keep her away. His heart skipped a beat. He wanted to see her, to touch her and hold her, so badly, but he couldn't let her in the cell. After a minute of arguing, one set of footsteps came closer.
Mason appeared at the bars. He looked mad. "Nicole wants to know the best way to break into your old house. Because she wants back in."
Ashton's eyebrows shot up. He felt like he was punched. "What?"
Mason shook his head. "I tried to convince her not to do it, but she won't budge. Would you – please – talk sense into her? She said that she wouldn't come down here because you said you didn't want her to, but she won't agree to not go."
Ashton rubbed his face. It was still sore, but he barely noticed the pain. His mind was frantic, trying to figure out what to tell her. After a long minute, he said, "Bring her here." It would probably work the best in person. "And then step out. Go back to work. Or something."
Mason rolled his eyes. "I can't just leave you and her to talk alone, but I'll go wait by the door." With a shake of his head he left. There were a few words said and then a lighter set of steps came his way.
Nicole came into view and nearly stole his breath. She was so beautiful to him. Except it was marred by the annoyance and stubbornness in her face. "I won't not go. Where else would he keep those files?"
Ashton sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. He didn't know just how awful he looked, but he could guess enough to know he didn't want to look in a mirror. "I wasn't going to tell you not to go. I know you well enough that if I don't help you, you'll just get into trouble."
Her lips parted a little and he realized he'd been watching her mouth. He adjusted to look in her eyes. She was regarding him with a little suspicion, but mostly hope. "You're right."
He sighed with a smile, shaking his head. That was something he loved about her: once her mind was made up, it didn't change. She was sticking to it. He described the back room, which boards creaked on the way to the office, and which cabinet they were in. He told her when his mom and sister would be home that day. "As long as they leave on time and don't forget anything," he finally said, "you should get about two uninterrupted hours inside. But be out before they get home. If you don't, you're liable to be found by Clive, and that won't end well. He comes home for lunch today, and he usually takes it to his office.
"If you get out while they're trying to get in the front door, go out the back and crouch under one of the windows until you see them in the kitchen. Then you can get to the front and leave. No neighbors will be home to see you, so don't worry about them."
She nodded. He could tell she was making mental notes and wouldn't forget. "Thank you."
He smiled and looked down. Her left hand was bare. "Where is it?"
She looked at him, confused for a moment, but then understanding came. "It's right here." She pulled up on a chain around her neck and the ring slid out of her shirt. He grinned as she let it slip back down.
"Good place," he commented.
She gave him a shy smile in return. Her hand took his through the bars. He gave her a light squeeze. "I didn't want to wear it in case your dad noticed it and put two and two together."
"Good call."
"Thanks." She looked down at their hands for a moment. He reached out with his other hand and he gently put his palm to the side of her face. She pressed her face into it and closed her eyes. "I love you. I promise I'll help you before you leave."
He swallowed. "I love you. I know." He kissed the hand he was holding, the only part of her he could get to through the bars. After several kisses, he lowered her hand and let go. "Nicole, you need to go."
Her eyes fluttered open. "Oh. Right." She kissed the hand on her face once and backed away. Before she left, she hesitated. "Do you want me to come back later?"
He watched her. "Yes. I need to tell you something someone said, but it can wait. Go on."
She bit her lip and smiled before walking away. He returned to the bench and sat. His legs didn't want to hold him up right then. The door closed and Mason came over. "What all did you tell her?"
Ashton shook his head. "Does it really matter?" While Mason tried to explain that, yes, it did matter, he leaned his head back against the wall, closed his eyes, and drowned everything out. He was tired. Of so much.
---
Nicole was more than a little surprised Ashton was letting her do this. She wondered just what he'd told Mason, because Mason had been so sure that he was going to tell her not to go, it was dangerous and stupid. Of course, Nicole had decided she was going to go no matter what he said. He knew her. He didn't stop her. She smiled from her hiding place.
She was crouched behind bushes along the side of the house, watching and waiting for Meredith and Ella to leave. Right on time, Ashton's mom and 6-year-old sister walked out, and the woman stopped to lock the door. Nicole watched long enough to make sure they kept walking.
The pair walked right by the new car and down the street towards town. Once they'd gone a block, Nicole ran around the back of the house and opened the kit. She pulled out the tension wrench and the standard pick. She placed them like Mason had shown her and took a deep breath. Less than a minute later she tried to open the door. The knob turned easily, and she slipped inside.
She closed her eyes and summoned some more courage. After a moment, she walked quickly to the office and slipped inside. She kept the light off and locked the door behind her. She took out the light she'd picked up from her room on the way over and flicked it on. She kept it pointed at the cabinets. It was pitch black in the room because there were no windows. She wasn't sure why that was, but she was thankful for that at the moment.
Three file cabinets occupied a small-ish space behind the desk. She made her way over and yanked on a drawer. Locked. She sighed and glanced around. Ashton had said he kept an extra key to this here. It was just a matter of finding it. He said it was in the desk, but it was a rather large one.
She sat in the office chair and looked at the things on top of the desk. Other than the laptop and a few pictures, the space was empty. No place to hide anything. She opened the top middle drawer and saw a keyring.
Hoping it was the right set, she walked over to the files and tried it in the first one. It turned easily. She unlocked each cabinet and began looking through the files. There were dozens of people named. The town was about 60 people and it seemed like this man had a file on nearly all of them.
The files on the people she'd written down were pulled and she made copies of the papers with the machine in the office. Ashton had said he never used it, so he wouldn't notice less paper or ink. Once it was finished, she stapled the papers on each person together and sat them aside. She had one last file to check out before she left.
She pulled out the drawer labeled A-D. She started at the back and worked toward the front. Dodd, A. She pulled it out and sat down. The folder was over an inch thick.
The first several pages were on his childhood, how he was progressing towards becoming a cop. He'd been a quick learner, and he was allowed to make arrests at age 13, though none of them were officially credited to him in the reports because he was too young and had no formal training, which meant that he technically wasn't supposed to be making any arrests.
After that were reports by Mason to Clive, talking about how he'd trained Ashton. He had met all of the requirements for the job except for the weaponry skills. That was about the time he left. Mason had praised his skills and even said he would be proud to serve with Ashton. When Ashton turned 18, Clive set the date for his hiring process to begin a week later, but he moved and quit everything before he had let anything begin.
She frowned when she moved on to handwritten reports from Ashton to his father. Reports said that a tourist was arrested for shoplifting while someone local walked out the door with the reportedly stolen items. After a few like that, his handwriting got neater, but the reports also became more mechanical. It dawned on her that the reason they seemed that way was that they lost all defiance. They said the same thing, about the same tourists and visitors.
Below those were reports by Clive on Ashton's behavior. He claimed Ashton had gone off the deep end and was unfit for the uniform. He said Ashton was blaming innocent people for things and then he demanded their arrests. In one of the reports he said Ashton needed a taste of his own medicine, see the way it felt to be wrongly arrested.
Nicole shivered and made a copy of it. She put it with the rest of her things and checked her phone. A half-an-hour left before she needed to leave. She went back to looking through the file.
Below the reports were updates on his movement and updates on how things were progressing in . . .
Nicole jumped up and began copying the papers. Her pulse was wild. She sat the papers together and hurriedly replaced the file, making sure everything was as neat as it was when she pulled it out. She got the papers and ran to the back door. She still had fifteen minutes, but she wasn't sticking around. Not with this evidence.