Page 91 of Asher's Assignment

“I think so, but we still shouldn’t stick around to find out.”

A thud hit the door. “Esther!” Landon bellowed from the other side. “Let me out of here!” He let out a frustrated growl. “Why do you do this to me? I thought we were friends.”

“Sorry! It’s important.” Touching Connie’s arm, Esther backed away. “Let’s go.” Together, they turned and ran for the stairs. Banging from inside the bedroom followed them down.

“Where are your keys?” Esther asked as they reached the first floor.

“In my purse.” Connie ran around her to the table along the wall by the stairs and grabbed her bag. “Let’s go.” She headed for the front door and flung it open.

Esther caught it, right on her heels. Together, they ran down the front steps to the car in the driveway. “Do you know where Sorrell Lane is?”

“Yes.” She shoved the key in the lock on the driver’s side and yanked the door open. “Get in.”

The lock on the passenger side popped up when she pressed a button. Esther opened the door and fell into the seat. She buckled up as Connie backed down the driveway and onto the road. “Follow the traffic laws. We don’t want to get pulled over.”

The car slowed a bit, and Connie nodded. At a more normal pace, she maneuvered the car out of town. Sorrell Lane was a country road. Within minutes, they were surrounded by fields, trees, and old farmhouses.

They passed 1516 Sorrell Lane, and Esther leaned forward. “Slow down. We’re close.”

Half a mile later, she saw the mailbox. “There.”

Connie slowed and turned onto the gravel drive. A once white two-story house sat fifty yards away. Overgrown bushes hid the front porch, and it looked like one of them might have grown through the window.

“I know you said they probably wouldn’t be here, but this seems like the perfect place to hide when you don’t want to be found, doesn’t it?” Connie brought the car to a halt in front of the garage, leaving enough room for her to turn around.

“Yeah. But I still think they’re elsewhere.”

“So, what do we do now?”

Esther stared out over the property, hoping her sister and their friends were on their way. She didn’t know what Lennox wanted with them, and she didn’t want to leave this property without someone following behind. “We wait.”

Thirty-Six

Ineed a ball.

Asher shifted, his restless energy seeking a way out. It didn’t matter that his muscles were on fire from the taser or that the drumline was back in his head. His brain worked just fine and it wanted desperately to come up with an escape plan.

At home, he ran. Sometimes he bounced a tennis ball off the wall in his lair while he puzzled out smaller problems.

This was a big problem, but running wasn’t an option.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to force his mind onto other things.

Esther’s face popped into his head. An ache formed in his chest. He missed her so damn much. She’d invaded his dreams a lot over the last few days. He’d run the gamut of emotions; from joy at seeing her bright smile and the laugh lines that formed at the corners of her beautiful blue eyes, to a passion so intense he ached with it. He missed her laugh. Missed seeing her roll her eyes at him when he said something ridiculous. He even missed her soft snore when she was deep asleep.

He missed her. Full stop.

After the third or fourth dream, where he’d awakened happy, only to have his heart ripped out of his chest when he realized he was still in this dank hole in the ground, the true reason hit him like an axe to the skull.

He loved her.

That thought had rattled around in his head for several minutes, continuing to flummox him, until it finally settled. The warmth from the feeling banished everything else, and he’d clung to it since. He would get out of here so he could tell her how he felt. Dying without her knowing wasn’t an option.

He also hoped he’d get to do more than tell her. He wanted what his friends had. The happy marriages; the babies on the way. It didn’t take much to envision that life with Esther. Asher would be damned if he’d let some psycho take that away from him.

A high-pitched beeping permeated the floorboards over his head. He glanced up, wincing as his sore muscles protested the movement.

“What’s that noise?” Leah sat up next to him.

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