Page 94 of Hiding for the Holidays
Grant is quiet for a minute before he finally answers. “Scott. He’s never going to be a problem for you again.”
“Was he arrested?” I ask as I cling to him.
Again he’s slow with his response, as if weighing his words. “Grant? Please don’t lie to me.”
“I won’t. I’m just worried you’re going to be upset with us.”
“Why?” I pull back to look at him in confusion. “Why would I be mad? Asher is okay, right?”
“Yes. It’s just…” he trails off, his eyes meeting Leo’s in the rearview mirror before he sighs, looking back at me as he cups the side of my face.
“He wasn’t arrested.” I tense up, my fingers digging into his bare skin in fear.
The car pulls to a stop and Grant gets out, still holding me as we quickly move into our house. He takes off his shoes as I ask, “He got away?”
“No,” they both say in unison.
“Then…” I trail off as my mind flutters around several scenarios. Asher saidit’s done.
“If he wasn’t arrested, but he’s not a threat, does that mean he’s…”
“Dead.” My head shoots around to see Asher standing in the front doorway. His dark brown eyes bore into mine as he pushes the door shut behind him and locks it.
He kicks off his shoes and slowly prowls towards me, his eyes never blinking until he’s standing right next to me.
“I killed him, does that scare you?” he asks bluntly.
My eyes widen, but not in fear, in amazement. I probably should be afraid of him, knowing he can kill someone so easily. I never thought there would be a scenario where I’d be okay with murder, but Scott had thrown me into that frozen pond to drown me.He tried to kill me.
Sure, the guys could have called the cops and had him arrested. That was probably the smart thing to do. But I’d told them about his connection with the police. Even if he wascharged, he’d probably get a small sentence and be out in no time.
I’d never feel safe if that happened, always looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to come find me again.
What Asher did… It completely eliminates the threat to me, and at a great cost to him. He now has Scott’s death on his hands, not only that, but he could go to jail if he’s caught.
I lick my lips as I whisper, “You killed him? For me?”
His face softens as his hand cups my cheek. “I’d do anything for you.”
“But…” I trail off, my hand holding his against me as I ask with worry, “Won’t you get in trouble?”
Grant’s the one to answer. “No, we will file a report about what happened tonight, but tell them Asher chased him away.”
“They won’t find?—”
Asher shakes his head. “No, there’s nothing left to find.” My eyes widen in surprise. I have no idea what that means and I’m not going to think about it anymore.
“Okay,” I say, releasing a long breath as I start to really take in the fact that Scott is finally gone.
“Okay?” Leo asks, stepping up beside Asher to look at me.
“Yeah, can I go to bed now?”
“Of course,” Grant says, hoisting me up on him as he starts for the stairs.
Looking over his shoulder, I see Leo and Asher still standing where we left them, and I reach for them as I cry out, “Wait!”
“What’s wrong?” Grant asks with worry.
