“Aw, am I picking on you?” Tripp teased, as he released Zack’s finger.
Zack jerked his hand away, shook it, and for some reason, Alex took a full step backward. Just in time. Without so much as a whisper, Zack barreled into Tripp, and the fight was on. In seconds, he had Tripp pinned flat to the floor, his massive forearm across Tripp’s windpipe. “You think you can take me, smart ass?”
Ashley stepped alongside Alex. “Make them stop. He’s hurting him.”
“No, he’s not,” Alex answered, both arms crossed over his chest. “Watch.”
Tripp’s face turned red. Ashley bit her bottom lip at the sweating male pretzel sprawled before her. It certainly looked like Tripp was in trouble. His eyes bugged out. He wheezed. Sweat dripped off the ugly face Zack was making at him. But the second he eased back just a tiny fraction, Tripp twisted his body and bent one leg, then stuck his other knee up into Zack’s groin.
“Pressure points,” he whisper-gagged at Ashley. “It’s all about making the most of your attacker’s pressure points. With one good kick, I can now knee this big boy in his—”
“Like hell!” Zack rolled off Tripp.
Tripp was now sucking in air like a fish out of water.
“Damn, for a minute there, he had me,” Zack admitted as he looked up at Ashley. “He could’ve broken my finger, remember that. Might does not make right. Men who assault women are generally bullies and cowards. They’re weak. They think because they might be physically bigger and male, that women are easy targets. Now you know better. If you ever find yourself up against some jerk...” He stuck his chin at Tripp. “Surprise the hell out of that son of a bitch and prove him wrong.”
“Eyes, nose, throat, balls,” Tripp rasped. He was sittings cross-legged, looking up at her with a crazy smile.
“But the best defense for an untrained woman,” Alex interrupted, “should always be to scream bloody murder and run in the opposite direction. Know your surroundings at all times and never get into a car with someone you don’t know. Don’t look for trouble, Ashley, but don’t be afraid to knock it on its ass if it comes looking for you. Now, about weapons training… Tripp, get your lazy ass off the floor.”
“Yes, Boss,” he replied, as he bounced to his feet and extended a hand to help Zack up.
Zack slapped his offer away. “From a place you’ll never see, asshole, will come a sound you’ll never hear.”
Ashley didn’t get the joke, but Tripp and Alex both laughed.
“Get this woman a weapon,” Alex ordered. “Teach her how to shoot. That okay?” he asked, turning those icy blue lasers back to Ashley.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I’d really like to be able to defend myself.” Because hiding under the bed when I’m scared sucks.
A big sweaty arm landed around her neck. “You bet, Boss,” Tripp replied. “Right after Ashley and I have a little talk.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tripp steered Ashley away from his boss and Zack and into the waiting elevator car. The second the doors closed, he asked, “Why didn’t you wait for me?”
“Because you were working, and everyone was busy, and I didn’t want to be a bother.”
“I thought we were going out for coffee after I finished here?”
She looked up at him. “You don’t need to babysit me, Tripp. Besides…” Her voice trailed off.
“Did Mother say anything to you? Was she rude?”
Ashley blew her hair out of her eyes. “She’s seriously depressed. Did you know she lost a child? I’m not sure when. Recently, I think.”
“I had no idea,” Tripp murmured, wondering how she’d come to that bit of gossip. “That explains why she’s difficult to work with. I’ve been bounced between here and Seattle since I was hired, but every time I needed something from her, she’s been difficult. I usually work with Beau. He’s just as smart, without the attitude.”
“Try being kind to her for a change and don’t call her Mom. That’s a huge trigger for her. I’m not sure why Jameson keeps calling her that. Do you?”
“Sure don’t, no.” Because I mind my business at work, and I’ve got enough family drama of my own to worry about. “Hey, listen—”
“Alex and his wife lost a baby, too. You’re surrounded by people with PTSD.”
Ashley was certainly full of personal TEAM information, but Tripp needed answers. “Okay, stop. This is all good gossip, but—”
“Oh, it’s not gossip. Mother had a little breakdown while I was sitting with her. She told me about losing her daughter. Then Alex showed up and told her to hang on, that everyone who’s lost a child feels like they’re drowning some days. That he and his wife Kelsey were still drowning, too. Your boss and his wife lost a child, Tripp. Isn’t that awful?”
Tripp nodded but said nothing. Things in the office were making a little better sense now. Alex’s obsessive-compulsive attention to detail might’ve come out of his need to make sure no one else died on his watch. The loss of a child also explained Mother’s bitter comebacks at the drop of a hat. The way Alex and Mother seemed to tolerate each other some days, then hate each other the next morning. The way Mother snapped at Jameson. Alex seemed to have a handle on his grief, but Ashley was right. Mother was still drowning. That was the perfect descriptor.
Tripp felt like he and his mom were drowning in his sister’s drama. How could he even begin to help someone like Mother, who wouldn’t let him close enough to ask a simple question? Better question, what did Jameson know about Mother that no one else did? He wasn’t usually an instigator, yet he seemed to be taunting her even after she’d told him in no uncertain terms to stop calling her Mom.
The elevator was nearly at
