Page 126 of Chasing Your Ghost

“No, she didn’t tell me, but I knew she had nightmares a lot. Maybe this is why.” His jaw tightened. “And as for why she didn’t tell me, you’ll have to ask her.” He picked up another piece of bacon from the plate in front of him. “Is there anything else you need, or can I get back to my breakfast?”

Asher didn’t wait for an answer before he took a bite of the bacon.

“No, that’s everything.” The man considered Asher with narrowed eyes. “On paper, this case seems pretty cut and dried, but I’ve been around for a while, and something doesn’t feel right here. Jealous pen pals, pentagrams drawn in blood, a kidnapper inviting over a group of friends, which just coincidentally happens to include the woman he’s been stalking, to the very house he’s keeping his victim in. It all seems very strange.”

Asher lifted his shoulders, hoping his expression didn’t betray his nerves. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

The detective let out a sigh that said he knew he wouldn’t be getting anything more out of Asher. “I’ll be in touch if there’s any progress in finding Brett Moore.”

That was the name that the mortgage of the house was under—Brett Moore. Apparently, he was from a pretty wealthy family in L.A., and his parents had given him more than enough money to move into a house close to Georgetown University, where Brett had enrolled for the fall.

“Please do,” Asher said, even while he knew the police wouldn’t be able to keep Brett detained for long, if at all.

“Oh, and Mr. Lewis,” the detective said, turning around when he was halfway to the door. “I’m glad you’re home safe. It’s not often that cases like these end happily.”

Asher swallowed. Until recently, he’d thought he was one of those cases that did end badly. He’d thought his parents would never find peace and never stop searching for him. It still scared him to think about what would have happened if Riley hadn’t seen him that day.

“Thank you, detective.”

“Take care.”

“I will.”

Asher returned to his breakfast, practically inhaling the bacon and the questionable scrambled eggs.

???

It was two hours later that Riley, Ella, Noah, and Chris came to visit him, all four of them arriving together and invading his room in a welcome procession. His parents left them to it, but he knew they wouldn’t be gone for long. They would probably have separation anxiety for months, if not years, after what they’d been through.

“Hey, guys.” Asher didn’t hesitate to pull Riley in for a relatively tame kiss in front of his friends, resulting in some grumbling from her stepbrother and a very unnecessary whoop from Chris.

“How’s the arm?” Asher asked Noah once Riley was sitting beside him, his arm wrapped around her waist.

“Not too bad. I’ll have to stay off the field until the stitches come out, but at least I blocked the knife with my left arm, so it won’t affect my ability to throw.”

“Can you imagine?” Chris asked. “Mr. Quarterback over here finally about to get some proper field time after being redshirted last season, and he gets stabbed by a psycho and can’t play.”

“Don’t even joke,” Noah said with a shake of his head. “I would have been furious.”

“And the cheek?” Asher asked Riley, his eyes narrowing on the bruise that had darkened overnight.

When he’d seen Brett appear beside Riley and send his fist into her face, he’d just about lost his mind. Asher had already been furious at the man who’d stolen weeks of his life, but when he’d seen Riley crumple to the floor, something in him had snapped.

He’d never been a violent person before, but Brett had crossed too many lines, done too many unforgivable things. Riley hadn’t been wrong when she’d teased him about being protective the night before. His instinct had been to end the person who’d hurt her.

He might have done just that if Brett’s ability hadn’t enabled him to disappear after Asher had only gotten a few punches in. At least he knew he’d given him two black eyes and perhaps a few loose teeth. But it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough.

“It’s fine. Nothing some makeup and a few days of healing won’t fix.”

Asher hadn’t seen Riley wear a stitch of makeup the entire time he’d known her, and knowing she’d have to slather it on to hide the darkening bruise only made him more angry.

“I’m so sorry,” Ella spoke up from her spot near the door. She met Asher’s gaze first before locking eyes with Riley, Noah, and, finally, Chris. “This is all my fault. None of you should have ever gotten hurt.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Riley retorted, but Ella shook her head.

“Brett never would have done any of this if it wasn’t for me.”

“Ella, that’s not true,” Riley insisted. “He’s responsible for his own actions. You never encouraged him to do any of this.”

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