Page 131 of Asher's Assignment
“That was some crazy knot.” The officer gave a little headshake. “Took me a minute to undo it.”
“Thanks. I figured if it’ll hold a shark, it’ll hold a human.”
The man frowned. “What?”
Asher’s lips twitched.
Brooke waved a hand. “Nothing.” She looked at Stroud. “Once we realized what was happening, we went around back, where we saw the busted windowpane in the back door, which was open.”
“At that point, I suggested we attempt to flank them,” Audra said. “So Brooke went in through the garage, while Annabeth and I crept in through the open back door.”
“Which is when I saw them,” Edie said. “When we walked out to the living room, I happened to glance over and saw Audra’s face at the edge of the hallway. When I realized they’d returned and knew what was going on, I faked a stumble and told Mom to cause a distraction.”
Faye scoffed. “That wasn’t hard. I was already angry he was holding Esther hostage. And he tried to shoot Edie when she came in from checking the breaker box.”
“From the power outage?” Asher asked.
“You knew about that?” Esther frowned.
“The alarm sends out what amounts to a Hail Mary when the power’s cut. I got a message that the system was offline. Your text came in a few minutes later.”
“What happened after you created the distraction, Mrs. Campbell?” Stroud sighed, shaking his head.
“They… descended on him. From all sides.” She motioned to the others.
“I broke a potted plant over his head, then grabbed his gun hand,” Audra said. “Edie pulled Esther away as Brooke came in through the garage door.”
“She brought me a knife, and I jumped on him,” Edie said.
“Is that where the blood came from?” Stroud asked.
“Yes. He didn’t want to put his gun down, so I showed him I meant business.”
“Crazy bitch, is what she is,” Lennox muttered from the floor.
“Stockton, get him out of here.” Stroud swept an arm toward the door.
“Yes, sir.” The officer stood and rolled Lennox onto his side. “Come on.”
“Make sure you have medical check his neck.”
Stockton nodded once as he hauled Lennox to his feet, then helped him out the door.
“I’m sorry about your rug, Esther.” Edie’s nose wrinkled as she looked at the floor where Lennox had lain. “I really didn’t want to mess it up.”
“It’s fine, Edie. We can probably get it out. Or I’ll get a new rug.” She looked at Asher. “It might be time for a change. Who knows?”
A slow smile spread over Asher’s face. “It might be, yeah. A big one.” At her happy smile, he stretched his neck to press a gentle kiss to her lips.
Fifty-Six
Light filtered in from the street outside and caressed Esther’s skin, turning it a pale porcelain. Her dark red lashes rested against her cheeks, a sharp contrast to the paleness. Asher skimmed the back of his knuckles over her face as he watched her sleep.
After the police took their statements, a crime scene unit had shown up to process the house. While they worked, he’d noticed the ever-increasing droop to Esther’s eyelids. As soon as they’d left, he’d whisked her upstairs and put her to bed.
She’d argued, of course, saying they hadn’t even had dinner, that it was Halloween and she wanted to see the kids in their costumes. But her protests had been feeble. In minutes, she’d drifted off.
That was two hours ago. He’d laid beside her and just watched her rest, contemplating what their next steps were. The one thing he’d figured out for certain was he couldn’t go back to Costa Rica without her. Not even to pack up his stuff and move here, if that was what she wanted. He’d wait until she could fly down with him. After nearly losing her twice, he planned to be glue. She’d get sick of him before he’d leave her alone.
