Page 34 of A Touch of Heaven

I texted Jax on the way back to the beach house. I don’t know what to do about Asher’s hands, and he’s refusing to go to the hospital to get them looked at. They must hurt, but Asher just shook his head when I asked.

My head is spiraling, and I have a pit in my stomach that won’t go away. I don’t know what I’m more shocked about.

What happened to his sister or the fact he just admitted he killed a guy in cold blood and plans to kill everyone involved?

Would I do that?

Could I kill someone if they hurt the people I loved?

Yeah, I think I could.

That thought leaves me reeling a little as I realize what we’re all capable of for the ones we love. I pull up to the beach house just as the sun rises, but I find it hard to appreciate its beauty. All I can think about is Ellie never seeing another one. I feel tears threatening to spill, and I blink them back. I can’t do this in front of Asher.

Right now, I need to be the strong one like he told me I had to be earlier.

As I pull up to the house, I see Jax on the front porch, waiting for us. “How long have you been out here?” I ask as I get out of the car, slamming the door shut to get to Asher as quickly as possible.

“About a minute. I hacked the GPS on his car and saw it pulling up.”

I blink. “How…I mean, you can do that?”

He chuckles at me. “Brooke, I can do a lot more than that.” He wiggles his eyebrows and smirks at me, but I don’t even know what to do with that information and decide to put it away for later.

He pulls Asher out of the car and leads him inside. I stay outside, leaning against the Camaro, not wanting to intrude. My legs feel like jelly right now, and I can barely stand up. I don’t trust myself to walk into the house. Instead, I slide down the car to sit on the cool sand.

I try to process everything from the last few days. What I can’t figure out is how it connects to Chase.

Asher said Chase needed me to be strong, but why?

How does Asher’s past connect with that?

Oh god, Asher. Every time I replay that story, my heart breaks a little more for him. There’s no way Harper can know this. He’s too protective of her. The pieces fall into place on why he tries to keep her at a distance, although every so often he can’t, pulling her in to give him a little comfort. I don’t know how long I sit on the sand. I feel like time has lost meaning tonight…or this morning. I don’t even know anymore.

A hand touches my shoulder, and I jump, my heart beating right out of my chest.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Jax lowers himself into the sand next to me.

“Is he…his hands?” I ask, and he nods.

“All sorted. It’s not the first time, and probably won’t be the last time they have been in that state.”

I’m not surprised by that comment. Asher’s pain and rage need to be directed somewhere, so all I do is simply nod back, staring out into the ocean.

I used to love the water. It made me feel free like anything is possible. Now, it just feels cold and empty, and all I can see is the red tint of blood that isn’t even there.

“So, he told you? About Ellie?” he asks a little tentatively.

“Yeah. I’m just trying to wrap my brain around it, but my heart hurts too much. I don’t know what to say or do. Nothing will ever make that right.”

“Maybe not, but we can try.”

I look at him, and he seems harder, like Asher did. There’s a mask that goes up on these guys. I never noticed it before, but now I do. It’s like they shut everything off to deal with this. It can’t be healthy for any of them.

“We? You said we can try. You know what he did…what he plans to do?”

He laughs a little darkly.

“Do you honestly think Asher could do that on his own? I was the one that found him. The guy we killed. He was the weak link. There had been reports of him doing that to other girls on his own, but nothing came of it, and now we have names for the rest of them. I’ll find them soon.”

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