Jacey felt slightly embarrassed from her assumption and outburst. “Oh, well, that’s a switch.”
“You know I never believed Asher killed anyone,” Monroe insisted.
“Well, let’s not go that far,” Professor muttered while sipping his drink.
Both sharply eyed Professor. He appeared surprised that they had actually heard the comment. Sheriff Monroe looked back at Jacey.
“Can you keep me up-to-date on gossip around that place?” Monroe questioned. “I know I can trust information from you. There’s bound to be some talk among the remaining three investors, and bosses tend to talk more freely around their secretaries. They forget they’re there.”
Before Jacey could respond, they heard a gruff voice from the game room doorway. “She’ll do nothing of the kind!”
All three looked at Asher within the game room doorway. He approached them while wearing a harsh expression on his nearly cold face as he glared at Sheriff Monroe.
“I won’t allow you to endanger Jacey,” Asher announced sternly. “She’s not a spy.”
“Konrad--” Monroe began.
“Don’t Konrad me,” Asher snarled while keeping his eyes locked on his friend. “Jacey and I were both nearly killed a few months ago because of police fuck-ups. That’s not happening again. I won’t allow it.”
Jacey was slightly surprised by his burst of rage, especially considering Brian had been murdered. She calmly stood and approached Asher, meeting him halfway across the room. Just by looking at him, she could tell he was agitated and more aggressive than she’d ever seen him.
“Brian’s dead, Asher,” she announced gently but with an agenda. “If I can help find his killer, I will.”
“I don’t want you getting involved,” Asher growled.
His comment set her back, startling her. “What’s wrong with you?” she suddenly demanded with disbelief. “Brian was a friend. You’re taking this protective act to an unhealthy level.” She felt her temper suddenly rising to meet his. “And where do you get off ordering me around?”
Asher appeared surprised by her tone, but not nearly as surprised as Professor and Sheriff Monroe. Asher’s disbelief was quickly replaced with hostility.
“I’m trying to keep you out of a casket,” Asher launched back. “Listen to me; you’ll live longer.”
“If I listen to you, you’d have me locked in a cabinet and only brought out on special occasions,” she launched back.
Both Monroe and Professor slowly turned toward the bar, huddled over it, and pretended they weren’t in the room. It was a verbal debate neither wanted to be drawn into.
Asher was visibly offended by the comment. “Then you do think I need to severe the apron strings,” he demanded.
Jacey was suddenly feeling cornered by the entire heated argument. She didn’t want to fight with Asher, but she knew something was wrong.
“That’s not what I’m saying, Asher,” she announced with annoyance while folding her arms across her chest. “Saving me won’t bring back Katie.”
Professor and Monroe looked across the room with their mouths hanging open to the comment. If they could have sank any lower in their seats, they would have. Asher stared at Jacey with a fixed glare. The comment had escalated his irritation and he wasn’t holding back.
“This has nothing to do with Katie, and stop trying to probe into my psyche,” Asher snapped back at her and suddenly lost his temper. “I’ve lost everything that ever mattered to me once, and I don’t intend to go through that again!”
Asher had never raised his voice to her in all the years she’d known him, so his shouting at her was slightly unnerving. Despite his aggressiveness, Jacey wasn’t about to back down.
“You already have me dead and buried,” she shouted back. “Stop it, Asher. Just stop it!” Jacey glared at him with annoyance. “This isn’t about me, or you, or Katie. It’s about Brian, and he’s dead. You can either help with Monroe’s investigation or stay out of the way, but I’m going to do whatever I can to help find his killer. I’d think you of all people would get that. It’s my decision to make, and you have no say in it!”
Asher and Jacey stared at each other in silence for a long uncomfortable moment. The exchange was almost frightening. Professor and Sheriff Monroe now stared at the two with concerned looks.
“Fine. I’ll stay out of your life,” Asher lashed out. “You’d be better off without me anyway.”
Jacey appeared surprised by his remark. Asher turned and charged from the room like a raging bull. She was momentarily stunned by what had just happened and almost immediately regretted letting him leave angry. She attempted to go after him but Professor and Monroe cut off her path. It was unclear how they got in front of her so quickly.
“No, no, no,” Professor announced while gently placing his hands on her shoulders to keep her from following. “That’s not a good idea. Let him cool off.”
“I’ve seen that side of him before,” Monroe insisted. “He needs to sort this out on his own.”
“Good advice,” Professor announced.
“He’d never hurt me.”
“I thought the same thing after Kate’s death,” Monroe announced. “He didn’t talk to me for years. Let’s not risk his wrath, okay?”
Jacey relaxed slightly and felt Professor’s grip on her shoulders lighten.
“What’s gotten into him anyway?” Monroe asked while shaking his head. “I mean, he was always protective, but that was frightening.”
“I think he’s either feeling depressed about Katie, or he’s having a nervous breakdown,” she replied gently. “He hasn’t been himself for a few months.”
Professor suddenly appeared curious. “You mean, since you started dating Maxwell?”
Jacey looked at Professor with some surprise. “It has nothing to do with me dating Maxwell. Besides, if it had, he’d be back to his usual self by now. Maxwell is out of the picture.”
“Great,” Monroe muttered while scratching his head. “That’s all I need is for Asher to go psycho during a string of murders.” He groaned softly and shook his head. “People still aren’t convinced he wasn’t involved with his wife’s death. This is my fault. I never should have called him after your run-in with Jeannette’s killer. I should have known he’d go insane.”
Jacey was feeling the same way. She didn’t understand why Sheriff Monroe felt the need to call Asher about the incident, although, at the time, she was glad he did. Now she was wishing Asher had remained conveniently out-of-state and as far from the murders as possible.
“I’ll help him through it,” Jacey remarked gently. “Let me worry about Asher.”
“He’s all yours,” Monroe muttered. “Just keep him on his leash.”
Chapter Twenty-two
The Garden Room was nearly empty the following day for late morning tea. Within an hour, the lunch crowd would start to arrive. Rich old ladies sat dignified at their round, white tables while sipping tea and eating biscotti. Several groups of ladies stared at one table in particular and whispered to one another. Asher sat at the table not far from them with a half-empty pitcher of Mimosa before him as well as a plateful of miniature muffins. The women watched and gossiped as he tossed a mini-muffin in the air and caught it in his mouth. The women stared with repulsion. He downed an entire champagne flute of Mimosa before removing his cigar from his jacket and lighting it. The old women gasped with horror. The young male server approached his table.
“Sir, there’s no smoking allowed--”
Asher glared at the young man. He immediately fell silent and backed away from the intimidating man at the table. One of the older women huffed, stood from her table, and approached Asher where he sat.
“Excuse me,” the old woman abruptly announced and glared at the cigar in his hand. “Either you put out that cigar, or I’m calling security!”
Asher eyed the elderly woman.
†
Twenty minutes later. Asher sat at a table full of older w
omen with a grin on his face. The old women laughed uncontrollably while the two women closest to him clung to his arm on either side and nearly fell off their chairs. Asher poured the women another round of Mimosas. The waiter busily cleared away several empty pitchers. One of the old ladies on the opposite side of the table puffed on Asher’s cigar and appeared to be in her glory. It was obvious all the older women were drunk on Mimosas.
“Honestly, you’d think a prince would know better,” Asher informed the women as they continued to laugh. “So he gets back on his horse, determined to impress the ravishing princess, and gives the horse a swift kick, you know, to make it rear up or some manly shit.”
“He didn’t,” one older woman gasped and covered her mouth as she laughed.
“The horse reared up, and the prince toppled off the back,” Asher continued, “right into a pile of horse manure.”
The women squealed with delight and burst into another round of laughter.
“Nothing impresses a young lady more than a man wearing a white polo outfit covered in manure stains,” he announced cheerfully while holding back his chuckle.
“I want to hear the story about the sheik and the belly dancer again,” one of the women cried out in a drunken tone.
“Yes, tell that one again,” another woman announced and took a large swallow of Mimosa. “I want to hear about the dance of the seven veils.”
One of the older women stood and hummed loudly while seductively stripping off her jacket then slung it around her body. The other women roared with laughter. Asher chuckled and shook his head.
“I’m beginning to wonder if I’m a bad influence on young ladies,” he remarked.
“He called us young ladies,” another woman cried out while laughing. “He’s such a doll!”
†
Jacey glanced into the smoking lounge while looking for Asher. The lounge wouldn’t be open for another hour, and as she suspected, the room was empty. She cursed softly and headed along the hallway toward the Garden Room. Loud laughter was heard, which didn’t sound anything like the typical morning for snob central. Jacey entered the Garden Room and looked around. There were at least four tables of drunken, elderly women laughing and having a better time than they’d probably had in their entire, boring lives. Jacey didn’t see any sign of Asher, but she had to watch the women a moment longer. One of them puffed on a cigar. She had to wonder what had gotten into the old women. She finally turned and left the Garden Room.
†
Asher stood under the spray of hot water within the spa shower room. Although there were private shower stalls toward the back, he took advantage of the closer, semi-private ones. He kept his eyes closed as the water ran over his head, along his face, and down his naked body. It was possible he was hungover, but still being drunk seemed more likely. He finally shut off the shower, crossed the shower area to the neatly stacked pink towels on the towel rack, and began drying his hair and face. He groaned softly, finally opening his eyes, and looked across the shower room at three middle-aged women clutching pink towels around their naked bodies while staring at him panic-stricken and whispering to one another. He glanced at the pink towel in his hand, again looked at the three women huddled together in the corner, and then shrugged. He wrapped the towel around his waist, stumbled toward the shower room door, and offered the women a charming smile as he passed them.
“Ladies--”
†
Jacey walked along the hallway not far from the spa area. She stopped at the front desk and the young man, who appeared bored while sitting behind it.
“Good afternoon,” Jacey announced. “I’m looking for my friend. Early forties. Brown hair with a little gray on the sides.”
The young man shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am, we haven’t had any men use the spa today.”
She frowned and leaned on the desk, running her fingers through her hair. In the distance behind her, Asher, with his pink towel wrapped around his waist, left the women’s locker room and stumbled down the hall in his bare feet. Neither saw him leave. Jacey straightened and smiled at the man.
“Thank you for your time.”
Chapter Twenty-three
It was a little after seven o’clock that evening. Asher, changed back into his clothing from the night before, sat at the bar in the smoking lounge. He played with his nearly empty glass of brandy while Angel seductively leaned on the bar across from him and proudly displayed her cleavage, attempting to catch his attention. He didn’t seem to be playing her game or perhaps he was too drunk to notice.
“Another drink, hon?”
Asher drained the remaining contents of his glass and pushed it toward her without comment. She refilled the glass and once again leaned on the bar.
“You look like a man who needs an understanding friend,” Angel announced warmly while glancing over him in a seductive manner.
“I’m beyond help,” he muttered without even looking at her and sipped his drink.
Angel leaned closer to Asher from across the bar and smiled lustfully while caressing his hand that rested on the bar. “You’re not beyond my kind of help.”
Asher glanced at her with a slightly surprised look. It was evident he was drunk despite his attempt to maintain a sober appearance. He seemed at a loss for a response to Angel’s verbal advance. Jacey appeared in the smoking room doorway and scanned the room for signs of her missing friend. Lea approached her and attempted to remain pleasant.
“Who are you looking for, Jacey?” Lea asked in her typical snobby tone.
Jacey saw Asher at the bar with Angel, who was now turning up the charm while caressing his hand. Despite being relieved to have located her missing friend, she didn’t like Angel putting the moves on Asher, especially if he was drunk, which she was almost positive he was. Jacey brushed past Lea without regards to the rules and approached the bar. Nathan jumped up from his corner table and met Jacey halfway, stopping her from reaching the bar and her drunken friend.
“Jacey, you know the rules,” Nathan announced firmly in a soft, low tone as if it were some sort of secret. “Women are not allowed in the Men’s Smoking Lounge.”
She gave him a glaring, sweeping glance that would frighten most men. “I’m not interested in a stupid, chauvinistic rule right now, Nathan,” Jacey scoffed lowly. “I need to speak to Asher. Just stay out of my way.”
Nathan appeared stunned by her tone and comment. Jacey pushed past him, in no mood to await his response, approached Asher at the bar, and sat on the chair alongside him. Angel gave her an odd look, pulled her hand back from Asher’s hand, and slowly straightened. Jacey studied him where he sat slouched over the bar with his drink.
“Asher, I’ve been looking for you since you left the museum last night,” Jacey announced with concern for his disappearance. “Where have you been?”
“Drunk.” Asher glanced at her, frowned while playing with his drink, and then looked away. “I really screwed up this time, didn’t I?” he muttered softly.
She stared at his profile a moment and struggled for a response. She drew a deep, shaken breath and exhaled softly. “I think we both said a few harsh things last night,” she gently informed him and placed her hand on his lower arm, causing him to look at her. “We’re both under a lot of stress right now, but you have to be on your best behavior after what’s happened.” Jacey hesitated and gave him a knowing look. “You know how this town can be.”
“Best behavior has never been my strong point, but I’ll make the effort,” he replied gently then stared into her eyes with regret. “I didn’t mean to be a prick last night, darling. I can’t always help myself.”
“You’re not a prick,” she insisted gently.
“You’re being polite,” he replied then straightened. “In my defense, I did stop by your office earlier to apologize, but Davis said you’d called off.”
“Yes, because I couldn’t find you anywhere, and I was worried something had happened,” she remarked then inhaled deeply and t
ugged on his arm. “Come on, I’ll drive you home while you can still walk.”
Angel approached them from the other side of the bar. She had a look of disappointment on her face then smiled seductively at Asher.
“I could give you a ride home, honey, if you’d like to stay longer,” Angel announced sweetly.
Jacey suddenly felt the need to claw out Angel’s eyes. Is this what awaited men in the restricted smoking lounge? A slutty opportunist willing to jump on drunken men with thick pocketbooks? Before Jacey could lash out at the woman, Asher chuckled softly, breaking the silence.
“Honestly, Angel,” he announced while grinning, “I’m not that drunk.”
Angel appeared disappointed and possibly offended by the comment. She tended to other members, leaving Jacey alone with Asher. Nathan approached the bar with Nick trailing behind, giving the appearance of a guard dog. Asher was about to stand when he saw them approach. He returned to his seat and casually sipped his drink, no longer in a hurry to leave.
“Here comes that prick boss of yours,” Asher remarked to Jacey without looking at her.
Jacey glanced across the room, groaned softly, and looked back at him. “Let me handle this, Asher.”
“Be my guest,” he muttered into his brandy glass.
Nathan stopped before Jacey with a stern look on his face. “If you want to keep your job, Jacey, I suggest you leave the smoking lounge immediately. You know the rules.”
Jacey stood from her chair and faced Nathan. She had to hold her temper to keep from telling him what she was really thinking.
“I’m off the clock,” she announced firmly. “And we were just leaving.”
“You can wait for Asher outside,” Nathan informed her then proudly straightened. “He and I need to have a little talk. He’ll be along shortly.”
His words were like that of a father scolding his child. He was attempting to send her away as if she had no rights in their man’s world. She’d had enough.
“I most certainly will not wait outside,” she snapped with a look on her face that instilled fear. “Asher’s in no condition to discuss anything with you right now. Anything you need to say to him, you can say it tomorrow.” She turned to Asher, who casually sipped his drink and pretended he wasn’t listening. The tiny smirk on his face indicated he had been listening and enjoyed her small tirade. “Come on, Asher. Let’s get you home.”
The Deadliest Institution Collection Page 35
