“There’s no way I’m waking everyone up at the main house to get a spare at this hour,” he hissed.
Thunder cracked again. He looked at me for half a second longer before nodding toward the path.
“Come to my cabin,” he stated matter-of-factly. It’s not like I had a million other choices, and he wasn’t the type of guy to just leave me out here. He caught my hesitation.
“You’re freezing.”
That wasn’t a question. He reached down and pulled me gently to my feet. His hand was warm. By the time we stepped inside his cabin, I was shaking harder.
He grabbed a towel first, then a thick blanket, wrapping it around my shoulders without hesitation.
“Sit,” he said.
I did. He crouched in front of me, searching my face.
“What happened?” he asked gently. The concern in his voice cracked something in me.
“Nico—” My throat tightened. “He admitted they took her.”
Asher went completely still.
“Took?” he repeated quietly.
“He said they didn’t want to. That his boss had a soft spot for Sophie’s mom. Said he needed to help her escape a bad man.”
The storm rattled the windows. Asher’s jaw flexed.
“What else?” he asked.
“He told me to stop looking,” I whispered. “He raised his voice. He scared me. I know it sounds stupid. He took me into a backroom. He remembered me being there that night. It wasn’t Nico that hurt Sophie. I’m almost certain.”
“He’s a criminal. They can be good liars,” Asher’s hands curled into fists at his sides. “You should’ve never gone alone,” he said, but there was no anger in it. His voice was tight with worry.
I looked down at my trembling fingers. “I thought I could handle it.”
He moved closer without thinking, adjusting the blanket tighter around me.
“You don’t have to handle everything alone,” he said quietly.
The storm thundered outside. But inside his cabin, under the warmth of the blanket and the weight of his steady presence, I finally felt safe enough to breathe.
My teeth began chattering. “I know but in the past everyone who I tried to talk to about this case refused to listen. Even my prof was sure I’d hit a dead end. Only tonight taught me something new.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“My gut tells me that Nico isn’t all bad. He isn’t the one who killed her but I think he knows who did.”
Asher clearly didn’t like that. “You need to let it go. For your safety and your sanity.”
“I can’t,” I whispered.
“I had a feeling you’d say that,” he retorted dryly. “For now you need a warm shower. Let me give you some dry clothes. You can sleep here tonight and take the bed. I’ll take the floor.”
“I can’t sleep in your bed.” I shot up to my feet.
“Why not?” he asked like he was insulted. “I’m not going to leave you outside in the storm. Unless you want to call Soleil. Although her and Elise sometimes have friends stay over.”
“You’re going to catch a cold if you stay in those clothes. I’d offer to leave the cabin, but I’m not going outside in that mess,” he laughed.