“Except it’s Wednesday.” Jack bumped AJ’s fist before hugging Meg to reassure her.
I put the team to work, knowing that together, we could save Ashley.
I hit speed dial. When I got Kroup’s voicemail, I left a brief message. “Perpura’s alive. He has Ashley. Meet us at SSI.”
Chapter 40
Ashley
I’d just finished wiping snot on my shirt when the door opened.
“You ever heard of knocking?”
Al laughed. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you called this my room.” The chain rattled on the floor when I brought my hands to my hips.
“You’re sexy when you’re mad. Has Nathan seen this side of you?”
The predatory look in his eyes as they roamed up and down my body made me shudder. Stepping back, I sat down on the cot andcrossed my legs. I held the chain in my free hand. I didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning a fight against him, but if he tried to touch me, I’d go down fighting.
The heavy chain could do some damage.
His eyes lingered on my hands. “Do you really think that’ll work?”
“What?” I asked, practically batting my eyelashes to seem innocent.
“Using the chain to attack me?”
“Do I look that dumb?”
He laughed. “You look that desperate.”
I was. “I’m not. It’s dragging on my wrist, and it hurts.” I held up the chain. “This helps.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself.”
When I didn’t respond, he continued. “Your boyfriend should be here soon.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I lied.
“Fine, your lover.”
“Never slept with him.” Sadly, that wasn’t a lie. And wouldn’t it just piss me off if I died before I could?
“Seriously? The way you look at each other, I figured you were fucking each other’s brains out.”
“How romantic.” I rolled my eyes. “How’d you connect me to Nathan?”
“That was easy. I followed him when he moved here. He’s spent half his time at your place. It doesn’t take a genius.”
“Why’d you wait so long?”
“In general, or since he moved to your podunk town?”
“Dealer’s choice.” I hated how high my voice sounded.
“It took me months to recover and rebuild. When I finally went looking for him, he was a fucking lump on his friend’s couch.” He chuckled. “There’s no fun in killing a man who looks like he’d greet Death like an old friend, so I watched and waited.”
