Page 51 of Midnight

He got up, wrapped a towel around his waist, and headed for the kitchen to get a plastic bag and a roll of masking tape from the junk drawer, then hurried back down the hall.

Moments later, he had the bag taped around her wrist and the water running in the shower. She’d gathered all herlong hair into one thick twist and pulled it up to the top of her head, then handed Ash a big banana clip.

“I remember how this works,” he said, and deftly clipped her hair up off her neck. “The tub is slippery. Let me get in first, and then I’ll steady you, darlin’.”

With the two of them in the shower, it was like trying to bathe a big wiggly dog in a very small tub. They managed to sling soap and water on everything but the bathroom floor. The mirror was fogged. There was steam hovering on the ceiling above their heads like a rain cloud trying to form.

He’d washed every inch of her body twice, which led her to laughingly accuse him of feeling her up for the fun of it. And to his credit, he did not deny a thing. It was just the first of many good memories to come.

When they finally got out, he dried her off first, then removed the plastic bag from her hand.

“Clean and shiny,” he said.

She grinned. “Unlike the bathroom we just demolished.”

He gave her backside a little swat as she walked past, and while she got dressed, he stayed behind to dry himself.

A short while later, they were in the kitchen making coffee to go with their bowls of dry cereal, when they heard Gunner shout out in the hall.

“What the hell? There’s no hot water!”

They looked at each other, and then burst out laughing.

Chapter 9

Asher recognized the wisdom of Nora’s request. They had nothing in the way of evidence that pointed to anyone, or a reason for why it had happened. Time was not on their side, so it was with reluctance that he took her home.

He carried her bag into the house, then followed her down the hall to her bedroom.

“Just leave it on the bed, love. I’ll deal with it all later,” she said, then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him until he groaned.

“Will you promise to text me now and then just to reassure me that you are okay?” he asked.

“I promise. Go find the bad guys, and keep me in the loop with Jacob’s progress,” she said, then walked him to the door.

As soon as he walked out, she locked the door, then stood at the window, watching him drive away before she retrieved her laptop and settled down to work.

* * *

By the time Asher got home, Gunner was dressed and in the kitchen, working on his second bowl of cereal.

“Morning, bro,” Asher said.

“Take off your coat and sit,” Gunner said. “Dylan unloaded some interesting info this morning while you were draining the hot water tank.”

“About the case?” Asher asked.

“It’s about that bombshell comment Dad made regarding Pearl,” Gunner said. “It is not going to endear you any further to Brenda, but it’s an eye-opener as to her moral fiber.”

Asher frowned. “She already darkened her own memory for all of us, but enlighten me, anyway.”

“I’ll hit the high points. Brenda and Pearl were friends. Dad and Pearl were in a serious relationship. Brenda wanted Dad, so she told Pearl some horrific lie about him, and they broke up. Dad was crushed but never knew why she quit him. Then Brenda makes a play for him months later, and over time I guess Dad gives up on Pearl, and he and Brenda marry. When Asher is two, Brenda gets drunk on New Year’s Eve and blurts out the whole story. Dad is horrified, but like he told Dylan, it was too late…water under the bridge. He never said anything to Pearl, and to his knowledge, she never knew the truth.”

Asher shook his head in disgust. “What a bitch. And at the same time, she didn’t fall short on motherhood because I know she loved us… Just not enough to give up her wild ways.”

“She was the worm in the apple of my life, and FYI, the files I requested from the FBI regarding the armed car robbery arrived in my email. We’re going to be doing a whole lot of reading for a while.”

“Great,” Asher said. “Remind me… What was it you found out from the prison warden where Pete Brandt died?”