Page 130 of Asher's Assignment
The other woman looked over.
“Find out if Leah’s safe.”
A wicked smile crossed her face. “Gladly.” She knelt onto Lennox’s back again, making him howl. Bending low, she spoke to him.
“No.” He tossed his head. “Goddammit, get off! I didn’t touch her. I don’t know where she is.”
Brooke rose, then turned to Annabeth and Esther. “I’d say she’s safe.”
Esther rolled her eyes. “You’ve spent too much time with my sister.”
Edie snorted. “She got that attitude from Ford.”
“You’re both wrong.” Brooke smirked. “I was born with it.”
Fifty-Five
Dear God, please let them be okay.
Asher repeated the prayer over and over in his head as Stroud turned onto Esther’s street. They’d heard the all clear come over the radio, but little else.
Sirens still screamed through the cloudy afternoon skies from the patrol units parked haphazardly out front. Their light bounced off the front of the house. No one was outside. What did that mean?
Stroud came to a bone-jarring halt behind one of the cruisers. Asher was out of the car before the detective could tell him to wait. The front door was open, but he couldn’t see inside.
“Esther!” He ran through the grass. Stroud called out behind him, but Asher ignored him. Bursting through the door, he paused, taking in the scene.
Conversation ceased at his appearance. Faye and Edie stood to his right, speaking with an officer. To his left, Lennox lay on the ground, a colorful scrap of fabric wrapped around his wrists, which one officer was attempting to remove and put handcuffs in its place. Brooke stood to Lennox’s left, watching. Audra stood on the other side, speaking to a third officer.
Behind her, he saw the only thing that mattered, however. Esther sat at the table beside Annabeth.
Oh, thank God. The relief made his legs weak, but they were strong enough to carry him around Audra and the officer.
“Horn, I told you to… wait.” Stroud stepped inside and took in the scene. “What the hell happened?”
Asher dropped to his knees in front of Esther, still ignoring the detective, and wrapped her in his arms. He breathed in her sweet scent, then lifted his head, gently cradling one side of her face. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’ll probably be sorer later from being manhandled, but I’m okay.”
“Manhandled?” Asher glanced over his shoulder to glare at Lennox. “What happened?”
“I’d like to know that too,” Stroud said.
“The Lady Brigade happened,” Faye said, grinning.
Edie chuckled. “Lady Brigade?”
“Badass Lady Brigade,” Brooke said. She looked at Asher. “You guys aren’t the only ones who get a cool nickname.” She turned to Audra. “I think we did pretty good, don’t you? Maybe I should make us some business cards and give Ford’s little side business a run for its money.”
Audra laughed. “No, I think we can leave the chaos to them. I’m quite looking forward to just running security for your hotel.”
“None of that tells me what happened.” Stroud raised a hand, the glower on his face telegraphing his exasperation clearly.
Brooke rolled her eyes. “Fine. We got back from the store and noticed the house was dark. With the clouds, we had a few lights on in the house, but they weren’t on when we got back.” She pointed up. “It’s still cloudy, so why no lights? Anyway, Audra made us get out all quiet-like, and we snuck up to the house and peeked in the window. That’s when we saw him holding a gun on Edie, Esther, and Faye.” She pointed at Lennox, who now sported some shiny handcuffs instead of the colorful fabric.
Brooke noticed and pointed to the scarf on the floor beside the officer kneeling next to his prisoner. “Oh, that’s mine.”
He picked it up and held it out to her. Asher now recognized it as the scarf she’d had on earlier.
