Page 31 of Asher's Assignment

“Did you step into the flowerbed while you worked?”

“No. Why?” She moved closer.

“Someone’s been in here. There are footprints.” He pointed.

“What?” She walked to the edge of the porch and looked down. Sure enough, man-size footprints compacted the dirt.

The blood drained from her face. She leaned against the house. “How old are they? Could it have been the guy in the hoodie?”

Asher squatted to get a better look. “If it was, he came back. These look fresh. It’s rained since then. Heavily. They were probably made yesterday or this morning.”

Which meant whoever it was, came up to the house with Asher in it.

Esther glanced down the street and hugged herself against a sudden chill. That scared her even more than the guy staring at her on the sidewalk. If the person wasn’t afraid to get close with Asher around, what would they do if he wasn’t?

Eleven

Raindrops pelted Asher’s car windows as he waited in the parking lot outside Esther’s school. After their discovery yesterday afternoon, he’d decided to play it safe and take her to work. The original plan had been for her to drive herself, and then he would meet her at the Tylers’ after school and sit outside while she tutored Leah. Now, though, he was driving her. He would still wait outside, but he was her ride instead of just her shadow.

The scent of his stale coffee wrinkled his nose as he took a drink. It was hours old, but it still had its kick, which he needed. Last night, he’d tossed and turned, unable to get it out of his mind that someone had peeked in her windows with him in the house. He’d tried to convince himself that maybe the guy didn’t know it was a man staying with Esther. Maybe he thought she had an old friend in town, or a cousin. And he was sure the guy knew she had company. Part of the reason Asher parked in her driveway and not on the street was because he wanted their mystery man to know Esther wasn’t alone.

But that hadn’t mattered.

He didn’t understand how Dean and the others did this sort of thing. Asher had stress during their operations, but it was a different kind of stress. More, hurry up and get it done, and less, why won’t the bad guy cooperate? He just hoped the new doorbell camera and security lights would net them a lead. Asher needed more to go on than a man in a hoodie.

An electronic bell cut through the air, signaling the end of the school day. The side door opened, and a stream of children filed out on their way to the waiting buses. Esther said she had car rider duty, which meant she had to stick around for a little while after the bell rang.

It didn’t take long for the teachers to work through the line. Fifteen minutes after the bell rang, Esther exited the front doors of the school.

Asher pulled out of his parking spot and met her at the edge of the sidewalk. She slid into the passenger seat, setting a large tote bag between her feet.

“Hey.” She reached for her seat belt.

He smiled at her and pulled away. “Hey. How was your day?”

“Long. I think I’m going to have a bunch of snotty kindergartners in a day or two. A couple of them were sneezing a lot. That’s usually a precursor to a cold rampaging through my classroom.” She sighed. “How was your day? Did your interview go well?”

“It did. I expressed my desire to get to work as soon as possible, so she said she’d have her secretary input my information into the sub system today. Hopefully, I’ll get a call tomorrow and will be in the building with you.”

“You’re lucky our super is a woman. I bet you smiled and she agreed to anything you said.”

Asher pressed his lips together, holding back a smirk, and glanced in his side mirror. “Maybe.” He definitely wasn’t above using his looks to get what he wanted when it was important. That wasn’t to say he’d never used them for trivial things. He’d done some dumb stuff when he was younger. Now, though, he reserved the dimples for situations where it mattered.

Esther chuckled. “Just don’t ruin it for future subs by doing a terrible job.”

“I won’t. I like kids. It helps that I’m a big one myself.” He let his smile free and aimed it at her.

She rolled her eyes. “No argument there.”

They reached the traffic light at the main road. He’d input the Tylers’ address into his GPS earlier and it told him to turn now. Following its prompts, he was soon pulling up outside their house.

“This really is a rough neighborhood.” He leaned forward, looking through the windshield at the houses lining the street. Most of them needed a coat of paint or new siding. Rusted chain link surrounded some of the yards, which in many cases, were more bare patches of dirt and weeds than grass. Ancient, dented and rusting vehicles sat in front of a couple of the homes. One of them had its wheels missing.

The Tylers’ house was one of the nicer ones. Its dingy exterior definitely needed a refresh, but the paint wasn’t peeling—much—and the yard and landscaping were tidy. Only the crumbling concrete stoop really screamed “decay.” And while the older model sedan in the driveway looked like it had seen better days, it was clean and appeared to have decent tires. Someone in the house cared and was trying.

Esther pulled on the door handle and opened the door a crack, then reached for the handles on her tote. “Are you sure you want to sit out here for an hour? I’ll be fine in the house. You can come back and get me.”

“I’m sure. I’m going to people watch while you’re inside.” He wanted to take note of anyone who paid particular attention to the Tylers’ house.

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