Asher

by Piper Davenport

  Addison sighed. “Well, I guess we can make calls, right? I don’t know how much information they’ll give us over the phone, but we can try at least.”

  “I’ll make the calls. Klamath is still a pretty small town and I’ll get more traction as the daughter trying to track down my grandma’s missing necklace that my dad thinks he accidentally pawned than you will by pulling the PI card.”

  “Makes sense. But are you sure you’ve got this?”

  The underlying Are you okay? was unmistakable. I forced a smile. “We’re going after the bad guy. That’s what we do. I just...I knew he was a wreck, and I left him. Maybe if I’d stayed he wouldn’t—”

  “Be stealing from old people?” Addison asked. “You were a kid trying to get out of a bad situation, and I will not let you blame yourself for your father’s mistakes. You hear me?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I get it. But you might have to remind me a few times.”

  She giggled. “Don’t think I won’t. Now go make those phone calls and I’ll start a pretty little spreadsheet showing the dates and times your father went into the rooms.”

  I took my refilled glass of wine into my room, set it on the end table, and collapsed on my bed. I’d never put my dad on a pedestal or anything, but finding out he was a thief was pretty much wrecking me. If Addison and I were able to collect all the evidence, and the justice system actually worked, he’d most likely spend time behind bars. My family would never forgive me for putting him there.

  But could I forgive myself if I let him go? He stole from his own mother. Worse, he stole from my sweet kindergarten teacher. He had to pay for what he’d done.

  Desperate for an extra shot of courage, I took a big gulp of wine and pulled up my background photo on my phone. Asher’s sexy smile greeted me. It had only been a few days since I’d last seen him, but it felt like forever. He was back in my new life and I felt trapped in the old one. I almost called him and told him what was going on, but stopped myself. He was busy and didn’t need to be dragged into my stupid family drama.

  Determined to do the right thing, I put on my big girl panties and made the damn phone calls.

  Addison

  THE NEXT MORNING Dylan and I were stuck, as far as the case went, so we spent a few hours working with Bucky, grabbed takeout burgers at the Burger Queen (yes, Queen), then headed to the motel to eat. Sitting around the small table in my room, we discussed what we had so far.

  I took a drink of my shake and said, “Tell me again what you found out from the pawnshops.”

  Dylan swallowed her bite. “Two of them said they didn’t have anything that fit the stolen jewelry’s description. Trapper Dan’s Pawn and Loan said they had a necklace that could be my grandmother’s, but when they pulled out the paperwork, they wouldn’t tell me anything else. The clerk said nobody by the name of Chad James has ever pawned anything there.”

  “Do you think he could have had someone else get rid of the goods?” I asked.

  “That would be smart. Maybe some business associate from Klamath? Nobody here would make that connection, and I don’t know how much the pawnbroker will tell us. We can flash our PI badges at them, but that doesn’t mean they’ll cooperate.”

  Dylan seemed a little too willing to throw in the towel, and I can’t say I blamed her. I wasn’t close to my own dad by any stretch of the imagination, but I still wouldn’t want to see him get locked up. And I definitely wouldn’t want to be the one who put him behind bars. Still, we had a job to do, and I knew my bestie well enough to know she’d never forgive herself if she stood by and let little old ladies get robbed.

  “There has to be something we can do,” I said. “Maybe we should make the drive anyway. At least try.”

  Dylan nodded. “I’ll grab my purse.” She headed into her room.

  There was a knock on my door. Wondering who it could be, I stood and answered.

  “Hey, sis, you miss me?” Asher asked, grinning. He wore jeans, a T-shirt, a pair of cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat.

  “What the hell happened to you?” I asked, gaping.

  “The hat’s too much, huh?” he asked. “I tried to tell the salesman it was, but he said if I was coming to sweep my cowgirl off her feet, I had to dress the part.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “The hat actually works. You look great. Dylan will love it. Wait, how did you figure out which room we’re in?”

  He pointed at my car parked right in front of the door. “Well there’s that, and I also had a little help from a cop.”

  “Addie, you ready?” Dylan called.

  “Ashey, what are you doing here?” I demanded, but he looked past me.

  “Ash?” The relief in Dylan’s voice broke my heart a little.

  It also spurred Asher to action. He pushed past me, keeping his eyes on Dylan. They met and he smashed his mouth down over hers as though he were dying of thirst and she was a canteen of water.

  “Addison.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut, the torturous pain that voice instilled in me washing over me. I turned and stared into the face of the only man I’d ever loved, but I wasn’t about to let him know that. Ohmigod, he looked edible. Dark jeans, a tight black T-shirt, and motorcycle boots made me want to forget my manners and drag him into my room. “Jake.”

  He gave me a tentative smile. “How are you?”

  Sad, angry, missing you horribly.

  “I’m well.” I crossed my arms. “How are you?”

  “Not so great, actually.”

  “Oh?” I bit my lip. “Well, that’s too bad. I’m sorry, but we need to go.” I glanced over my shoulder at my brother and best friend still trying to swallow one another, and I forced myself not to swear. “Dylan?”

  “Addison, can we talk?” Jake asked.

  I turned back to him. “No.”

  “Baby, please.”

  “Oh, hell no!” I snapped as I wagged a finger at him. “You do not get to ‘baby’ me.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. But if you’ll just hear me out—”

  Before he could finish whatever he was going to say, Wyatt drove up and climbed out of his truck, and I couldn’t help but smile. He looked gorgeous in his tight Wranglers and cowboy boots.

  “Excuse me, my ride’s here,” I lied.

  Jake grabbed my arm. “Addie, please. Let’s just talk.”

  “Addison?” Wyatt asked as he closed the distance between us. “You okay?”

  “She’s good, man,” Jake said.

  “I’m thinkin’ she’s gonna tell me whether or not that’s true,” Wyatt countered.

  “Hey Wyatt,” Dylan said, and I gave her a look of confusion. She shrugged. “What are you doing here?”

  “I had to work this morning, so I thought I’d stop by and see if you ladies wanted to head out and ride,” he replied.

  “That’d be great!” I said, as Dylan said, “Thanks, but we already rode this morning.”

  Wyatt looked from me to Dylan and Asher to Jake. “Is everything okay here?”

  Dylan stepped forward before I could answer. “Yes. Actually, it’s better than okay. Wyatt, this is my...my boyfriend Asher, and Addison’s uh...Jake.”

  “Ex,” I said. “The word you’re looking for is ex, Dylan. As in, over, done, caputzki.”

  She smiled a little too sweetly. “Regardless, it’s really good luck that a cop we can count on appeared right when we need to get some information on our case, right, Addie?”

  The case. Dylan was asking me to play nice with the guy who’d chewed up and spit out my heart for the sake of our case.

  “‘A cop we can count on...?’ Are you high?”

  “Yes,” she pressed.

  I glared at her. “Fine.” Then turning my own sugary-sweet smile onto Wyatt, I added, “Everything is fine. Thanks for asking. We do need to work on the case, though. Maybe we can go for a ride tomorrow?”

  He frowned and turned toward Dylan. “You sure you want to mess with this case? You know how the town is.
Maybe it’s best to sit this one out.”

  Dylan’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know something, Wyatt?”

  He shook his head. “No, just worried about you two. And I won’t have time to ride tomorrow. The bull riding is at five and I have to be there at two. You guys are coming to watch me, right?” he asked.

  “We wouldn’t miss it,” I replied.

  “Good.” His smile fixed on me. “With you cheering for me, I know I can’t lose.”

  I could almost feel the heated rage coming off Jake, and I’ll admit I basked in the glow a bit. He dumped me. He deserved it.

  Wyatt climbed back into his truck and headed out, while Dylan herded the rest of us into the motel room to talk.

  Jake sat down on the chair by the window and I put distance between us. “What’s this about needing a cop?” he asked. Dylan got out two bottles of water and offered them to the guys. “We’re trying to get information from a couple of pawn shops in Klamath and we’re running into roadblocks, mostly because we don’t have shiny badges to flash.”

  “We could just go there and show them our PI badges, Dylan,” I countered.

  “They probably won’t give you confidential customer records though,” Jake said. “Assuming that’s what you’re looking for.”

  “They might,” I countered.

  “Ba—” I glared at him, cutting off his endearment, and he dragged a hand through his hair. “Sorry. Addison. They’ll be more responsive to my badge, so it would be a good idea for me to go in person.” He turned to Asher. “Up for a longer road trip?”

  Asher shook his head, pulling Dylan back to him. “You’re on your own on this one, bud. I just got my girl back in my arms. I’m not letting go for a while.”

  “Addison, you should go,” Dylan said.

  “I am not spending hours in a car alone with him,” I snapped. Turning toward Jake, I asked, “What are you even doing here? I thought you were trying to find the Spiders who want us dead and couldn’t bear to be around me now that I have a job.”

  “We’re working on some leads, and I have some buddies who are coming at it from a different way.”

  “Well, bully for you, sunshine. Maybe your buddies can help you find the missing jewelry. Or a clue.”

  “But you know what the jewelry looks like,” Dylan argued, glancing at her phone. “It’s already almost four. If you go now, you’ll get there by six. This place says it’s open until eight. I wouldn’t recommend driving back tonight, though. The road between here and Klamath is pretty curvy, with limited visibility and lots of deer. You can stay at the Running Y. It’s much nicer than this place. Come back first thing in the morning with the information to solve this case, and we’ll hit the rodeo in the evening to watch Wyatt ride. Then our event’s on Sunday, so we can head home on Monday. We can solve the case, win the race, and get the hell out of here.”

  “You think you got this all figured out, do ya?” I ground out. It was difficult to be too mad, watching the way Dylan was snuggled against Asher, though. My bestie was going through a lot and I knew she needed the type of therapy alone time with Asher would give her. I decided to turn my irritation on Jake instead. “You planned this, didn’t you?”

  He shook his head, but I didn’t miss his slight smile. “Since I know you know I’m not clairvoyant, I won’t answer that. But I do think it’s a good idea.”

  “Ash, will you and Jake give us a minute, please?” Dylan asked, peeling herself off my brother and pulling me into her room.

  “What?” I ground out after she closed the door behind us.

  “You and I can go if you really can’t stand the idea of being with Jake,” Dylan offered, and I frowned. She would totally give up her alone time with Asher if I asked her to, but I knew she missed him and their relationship needed some tender loving care. “Your call, Addie.”

  I sighed. “No. You two need time. But I’m going on record that you owe me. I’m totally taking one for the team.”

  Dylan hugged me with a huge grin. “Thank you. I love you.”

  I jabbed a finger toward her. “You better have a broken hymen when I get back.”

  Dylan gasped, turning instantly red. “Ohmigod, you are so ridiculous!”

  Feeling a small sense of smug satisfaction that Asher would have to work a little harder now, I stepped back into my room and grabbed my keys. “If we’re going to go, we should go now.”

  Jake stood, holding his hand out. “I’ll drive.”

  “I’ll drive,” I countered.

  “Bab—”

  “No,” I interrupted. “Absolutely fucking not.”

  He sighed. “Addison,” he corrected. “I need you to fill me in on everything you know, and it would help me a great deal if you could do that while I drive.”

  “It’s my car.”

  “I can speed.”

  I crossed my arms. “Legally, you can’t speed.”

  “But if I happen to speed, I can get out of it,” he said, a smug smile on his face.

  He had a point. Damn it! I wrinkled my nose and slammed my keys into his palm. “Fine,” I snapped and gathered the file I had with copies of the missing jewelry.

  “I’ll book your rooms, Addie,” Dylan offered.

  “Thanks, bud.” After shoving my phone into my purse, I followed Jake out of the room and into the car. I couldn’t believe I was going to be stuck in an enclosed space with him for the next hour or so. Gah!

  * * *

  We’d been on the road for about twenty minutes when Jake asked, “Are you hungry?”

  “Nope.”

  It had only taken about five minutes to brief him on the case, and I’d been quiet ever since, getting my message across loud and clear with a choice-of-song battle. He’d find something he liked and I’d change it. He’d let my choice play, then look for something else. I’d change it again. Even if I liked the song, I’d push skip track on the MP3 player, just because I could.

  Jake flipped through again, but when I reached to change it he grabbed my hand. I pulled away, his touch like a shock to me, but he held firm.

  “I know what you’re doing,” he said.

  “Good for you.” I tugged on my hand again. “Can I have my hand back, please?”

  “No. I like holding your hand, baby. And we need to talk.”

  “Goddammit, Jake, stop calling me baby,” I ground out and tried to yank my hand away again. “And let go of my hand. You don’t need to touch me to talk.”

  “I miss you, Addie.”

  “Sucks for you.”

  “Can we get to the part where you forgive me?”

  I glared at him, trying to pull away again. “You haven’t even apologized!”

  He sighed and released my hand, pulling my car off the highway and onto a gravel side road. “What are you doing?”

  “We are going to talk.” Parking the car, he faced me, reaching out to take my hand again.

  I crossed my arms before he could take hold, however. “The pawn shops better not be closed by the time you’re done talking.”

  He smiled, my stomach flipped, and I felt my breath become shallow. “I love you, Addison. I wish I could go back and change the fact I was an asshole, but I can’t. All I can ask is that you forgive me, and promise I’ll never allow my fear of you being hurt cloud my judgment again...at least in the sense of ending what we have.”

  “We don’t have anything to end,” I pointed out.

  “You moved on with that Wyatt guy?” he asked, his expression guarded.

  “Ohmigod, Jake, it’s been less than a week. No, I have not moved on with Wyatt. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to start back up with you.” This was a lie. I wanted him back so bad, my spleen felt like it might explode.

  “That’s fair,” he said.

  “It also doesn’t mean I don’t want to move on with Wyatt.” His expression darkened, and I felt an evil amount of satisfaction. Total lie, of course, but I wanted Jake to suffer a bit.

  After a few minutes o
f electric silence, Jake sighed. “I love you, Addie. Not sure that means a whole lot right now, but I’d really like the chance to make it up to you.”

  “I don’t know if you can.”

  “Well if that’s the case, I misjudged you.”

  “You don’t get to put this on me, Jake. That’s totally a dick move.”

  “I’m not trying to put anything on you, baby. I’m just saying that the woman I fell in love with has a big heart and I’m confident that she also has a great capacity to forgive those she loves even when they’re idiots.” He shrugged. “But maybe I’m wrong.”

  I felt my nose burn as the tears formed. “You’re not playing fair.”

  “I’m not playing at all, Addison.”

  “You broke my heart,” I whispered.

  “I know, honey.” He pried my arms from my body and lifted my hands to his mouth, kissing each palm. “I was a dick. You’re right. I have no excuse other than allowing my fears to take over my common sense.” He closed his eyes for a second. “But when I got notice you were on the Spiders’ radar...” He shook his head. “I lost my mind for a minute.”

  I took a deep breath and bit my lip. “You’re a cop, Jake. You don’t think I worry about you getting hurt too?”

  “Addie, it’s my job.”

  I pulled my hands from his. “As is this!”

  “I’d argue you could do your job in a way that wouldn’t get you shot at—”

  “Ohmigod!” I shoved my door open and climbed out of the car and onto the gravel road. At some point in time we’d gone from the desert to the forest and we were surrounded by enormous trees. I had nowhere to go and no way to get away from him. So I did the most rational thing I could think of and started walking down the gravel road.

  This was not at all how I thought this would go. Stupid me, of course, for believing he’d finally pulled his head out of his ass. I’d let down my guard enough to cry in front of him. I got about a hundred feet before my heel caught on gravel and made my ankle wobble. This probably wasn’t the best idea I’d ever had, but I needed a little space. I checked my phone. No service, and we had less than three hours to get to Klamath and hunt down the jewelry, so I stopped and headed back to the car. My feelings were going to have to take a backseat to the job at hand.