Page 6 of Chasing the Past

And yet she couldn’t let go of the feeling that there was more to Omar’s reason for helping her. So much more.

Omar would be furious if he caught her disobeying his “request” to stay home, but she had to speak with Eli.

She’d go have a word with him and then she could put this all behind her. Asal wove her way through the residential area until she was near the main street. She’d been there earlier. Omar had business to handle and so he’d dropped her off at one of the shops along the main thoroughfare.

Once she reached the street, Asal glanced up at the business addresses and realized Hope Island Securities would be farther down near the boardwalk. She started walking while pulling the hood of her coat up to hide her face.

Sashi. Eli had called her Sashi. Why did that name sound so familiar coming from him?

She reached the front of the business and glanced through the window. A woman worked at a desk near the front. She could see several doors that probably led to offices.

Had she made a terrible mistake by coming here? What had she hoped to accomplish?

While she debated returning to the house and forgetting all about the encounter, a man stepped up to the woman’s desk. She froze in place. It was Eli. Tall and athletically built. Dark hair that was cut short. She closed her eyes. A memory so fleeting it was impossible to capture had her wishing she could pull it out clearly.

She opened her eyes and realized Eli had turned toward the window. His dark blue eyes fixed on her face, and something sparked to life inside her.

She knew him. Somehow, she knew him.

Chapter Three

The way she backed away as he approached ripped his heart to shreds.

“I’m glad you came,” he managed while searching her face. Everything about her reminded him of Sashi and the love they shared and yet the woman looking back at him had no knowledge of that love. She didn’t trust him. That hurt the most.

“I’m not sure why I’m here. I shouldn’t have come.” She was ready to leave. He couldn’t let her. He had to know the truth.

“Wait—please, don’t go.”

She stopped from turning away.

“Why don’t you come inside? We can talk.”

Her troubled eyes found him. “I don’t have much time. He’ll be back soon and if I’m gone it will be bad for me.”

He stepped closer and she put space between them.

“Asal, you came here for a reason. You have doubts about him. About what he’s told you.”

She looked around frantically as if expecting the man she called her fiancé to show up at any moment.

“He’s dangerous,” he said quietly, capturing her attention.

“Why would you say such a thing?” But he could see she knew something.

“He was the one who killed Sashi.”

Her eyes grew large. “How do you know that?”

“Because I was there. He pushed her inside a building that exploded moments later. He’d been following her.”

She held up her hand. “Alright. I will come inside but only for a moment.”

Eli blew out a breath. It would have to do. Somehow, he’d find a way to convince her the man who claimed to love her was a killer.

He opened the door and she reluctantly went inside.

Rachel, JT’s wife and the business’s office manager rose from her desk. Eli had told his team everything about Sashi and about running into the woman who so resembled her.

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