Page 105 of Asher's Assignment

They all shook their heads. Asher knew they probably would later, but for now, it was enough to know she’d survived.

“All right.” Dr. Kerns rose. “If you think of something or have concerns, please let a nurse know and they’ll get a hold of me.”

“We will, thank you.” Asher stood and shook the man’s hand.

“You’re welcome.” With a polite smile, the doctor left.

Asher scrubbed his hands over his face. Weariness pressed down on his shoulders as the adrenaline he’d been running on ebbed with the knowledge that Esther would likely survive. His emotions were all over the place. He wanted to both cry and laugh.

Edie, though, had picked one. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed into her mother’s shoulder. Faye cried right along with her.

Conner caught Asher’s gaze, moisture gathering in his eyes too. But an anger simmered underneath. For a moment, Asher worried it was directed at him. He wouldn’t be surprised. Esther wouldn’t be in the state she was if he hadn’t let himself get clubbed over the head.

But Conner’s words allayed his fears.

“You find that son of a bitch who did this to my baby. I don’t care what you have to do. Make him pay.”

The riot of emotion swirling in Asher’s mind calmed as determination took hold. It would be his pleasure.

Forty-Three

Asilence, cloaked in a heaviness like a summer rain on a humid night, enveloped Asher as the door to Esther’s ICU cubicle snicked shut behind him. The hum of the machines on her IV pole and the hiss of oxygen coming through the mask on her face were the only sounds penetrating the stillness.

He stared at her, taking in her altered appearance. It had been a couple of hours since her surgery, but she was still pale, though no longer gray. Deep circles sat under her eyes, casting shadows on her pretty face. Her crowning glory, her beautiful coppery hair, had a dullness to it. As though it, too, knew her body’s resources were needed elsewhere and had sent all of its reserves to heal her organs and replace the blood she lost.

Of their own volition, his feet carried him across the room to her bedside. He touched her fingers with one of his, expecting them to be cold to match the icy tone of her skin. But they weren’t. Warmth seeped into his fingertip.

Asher perched a hip on the edge of her bed and picked up her hand. He brought it up and kissed the backs of her fingers. “Oh, Essy. I’m so relieved you’re alive.” Moisture gathered in his eyes, and he glanced away briefly, blinking to keep the tears at bay. “You shouldn’t be here.” His voice broke. “Shouldn’t be in this bed, hooked up to all these machines.” He sniffed. “Why did you have to jump in front of me? You have to know I’d rather take the bullet than have you hurt.”

He skimmed her knuckles with his thumb. “God, baby.” A lone tear trickled down his face, and he dashed it away. “This is such a mess. Lennox got away. Not scot-free. Audra and the others tracked down some doorbell camera footage of his car. I got a partial plate from it. I wish I could get more, but the camera was just too far from the road. Your detective friend, Stroud, has it now. I could have run it myself, but I needed a break.” He squeezed her fingers. “Needed to see you.”

Another tear fell, then another. Asher couldn’t stop them now.

They just kept flowing. He slid off the bed and into the chair beside it, then pressed his forehead to the mattress next to her arm. The warmth of her skin anchored him and kept him from completely spinning out of control. She was alive, and the connection reminded him of that.

It took several minutes for his tears to ebb, but eventually, his mind broke through the sorrow over what happened and that earlier determination reared its head again.

He squeezed Esther’s hand. “I doubt you can hear me, but just in case, I’m going to get him, Essy. I won’t let him get away with anything he’s done. So when you wake up, if I’m not here, just know I’m out keeping my word.”

Asher rose to hover over her and press a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, Esther. I need you to get better so I can say that to you while you’re awake.” He kissed her forehead again, then squeezed her fingers and stepped back. “Get better, Essy. I’ll be back.”

Spinning on his heel, he marched out of the room, knowing what he had to do.

Forty-Four

The chilly October breeze ruffled Asher’s hair as he left the hospital. The streetlights cast shadows over the parked cars beyond the portico where he stood. He’d hired an Uber using Edie’s laptop to take him to a store and was waiting for the driver to arrive. It was late—after one a.m.—but he needed a phone.

“What are you doing?”

He glanced back at the voice, frowning as he glimpsed the owner. “Go back inside, Edie.”

She ignored him and walked closer, huddling into an oversized fleece jacket. “It’s chilly out here. Why are we outside?”

“I’m waiting on a ride. I don’t know what you’re doing.”

She snorted. “Really? I would think it was obvious.”

“Well, it’s not.” He had his suspicions, but he’d rather not think she believed he was about to go cuckoo. Or on a murderous rampage to put Lennox six feet under. She might join him on the latter, though.

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