What If You by Sandi Lynn (epub ebook reader txt) 📗

life out of a woman. Red hair, tall, red dress, tattoo on her shoulder. She fought like hell until her body went limp. Looking at the clock on the nightstand, it read: 8:15 pm.

I sat up as I held my throat and gasped for air. Asher quickly sat up and grabbed my arm.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?”

I sat there for a moment as my breathing rate returned to normal.

“I have to call Daniel.”

“Everly, it’s two a.m.”

Climbing out of bed, I went downstairs, and all the lights had come back on. Grabbing my phone from the island, I dialed Daniel.

“This better be important, Everly,” he sleepily answered.

“Did you find another woman in a hotel room tonight around eight fifteen?”

“No. Why?”

“Okay. I’m sorry for waking you. I’m coming down to the station in the morning. I’ll see you then.”

“Alright.”

“What the hell is going on?” Asher asked as he stood behind me.

“There’s going to be another murder. Another woman in a hotel room. But he did it different this time. Instead of strangling her on the bed, he did it while standing behind her. When I looked at the clock it was eight fifteen p.m.”

“Jesus, Everly. Please tell me it’s not going to happen at The Remington again.”

“No. It’s a different hotel. The only thing I know is it’s room 502.”

“Come back to bed,” he spoke as he grabbed my hand.

We both climbed in bed and he held out his arm.

“What?” I looked at him.

“What do you mean ‘what?’ Come over here.” He gestured.

His arm securely wrapped around me as I snuggled into him and laid my head on his chest. I was confused and a little shocked, because—well, he was Asher Remington, and he didn’t do things like this. After a dream like that, I always felt rattled for a while. But now, at this moment, I felt calm and safe in his arms.

21

Everly

I awoke when I heard his alarm go off at six a.m. Wrapping my arm around him, I told him good morning. He reached over and shut the alarm off, climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. It was awkward to say the least. Not a word came from him. He probably regretted last night and thought it was best if he didn’t say anything. I heard the shower turn on, so I climbed out of the comfy bed, dressed myself in last night’s clothes and left. I needed to get home anyway. With any luck, Daniel would still be there.

Stepping inside the apartment, I saw Diana in the kitchen.

“Good morning.” Her brows furrowed at me. “I’m surprised you’re back this early.”

“Asher was in the shower, so I left. Is Daniel still here?” I asked as I took a seat at the island.

“He just left five minutes ago. Hey, are you okay?” she asked as she handed me a cup of coffee.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” I gave her a small smile.

“Okay. I need to finish getting ready for work,” she said as she grabbed her coffee and went to her bedroom.

It bothered me that Asher didn’t say a word to me this morning. Even if he did regret last night, a simple good morning would have been enough. It hurt and I was pissed off at myself for letting it. After I showered and got dressed, I headed to the precinct where I found Daniel and his partner sitting at their desks.

“There you are,” Daniel spoke as he got up from his seat. “What’s going on?”

I looked at James and then back at Daniel.

“It’s okay. I may have told him a thing or two about you.”

I gave James a small smile while the usure look on his face told me he thought either Daniel was crazy, or I was.

“I had a dream last night. I was in a hotel. Room 502. The time was eight fifteen p.m. So, I’m assuming it’s going to happen tonight.”

“Do you know which hotel?” Daniel asked.

“No.”

“Did you perhaps see the guy?” James asked.

“Only the back of him. He was about six feet tall, blond hair, buzz cut.”

“And the woman?” Daniel asked.

“Five foot eight with her heels on, long red hair and she had a tattoo on her shoulder. It was of a half-moon with stars around it. It was different this time, Daniel. He didn’t drug her first. He came up from behind her and strangled her, while she was fully conscious. Maybe she refused the wine. I don’t know.”

“Thanks for coming down and telling us.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more information.”

“It’s okay.” Daniel placed his hand on my shoulder. “If you think of anything else, call me.”

Asher

When I got out of the shower, she was gone. Probably because of the way I got out of bed without saying a word to her. I couldn’t. I didn’t want the good mornings and the smiles. I was an asshole. I knew it. But I had my reasons and somehow, I knew Everly knew what those reasons were.

I was in the middle of work when there was knock on my office door.

“Come in.”

When the door opened, I looked up and saw Noah standing there.

“Hey.” I smiled. “I was going to call you later and see if you wanted to grab some dinner tonight.”

“Hey, bro. I was just down the street at a job interview and thought I’d stop by and see what you were up to.”

“I’m busy right now. How about we meet at Bill’s Burger and Bar at six-thirty? It’s always been our favorite spot.”

“Sounds excellent. I’ll meet you there, and I’ll let you get back to work.” He smiled as he left my office.

After one of my many meetings of the day, I decided to step out of the office and head to Bonobos on Fifth Avenue to get fitted for a couple new suits. I didn’t have a lot of time since I had another meeting scheduled in an hour. But it was just enough to get some fresh air and