Page 39 of Sentinel's Kiss
Sentinel laughed. “He’s a retired cop.”
“Really?” she said. “Wow, that shows me. Guess you can’t tell a book by its cover. Sorry, I’m being as snobby as Tasha.”
He shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s not like we look in the mirror and think we look like investment bankers.”
“Thanks for breakfast,” she said.
“Figured I owed you chocolate for being an asshole again.”
“I’m beginning to think that’s your default reaction, so don’t worry about it. Otherwise you’ll be spending a lot of dough on chocolate.”
“Is that why you left last night?”
“I didn’t want to overstay my welcome.”
“Sweetheart, we hadn’t even gotten started.”
“It’s awkward. I’ve never had a booty call before. Maybe I’m a little behind on the etiquette. I just don’t like being told to go away, you know. I’d rather it be my idea.”
“I wouldn’t have kicked you out of bed.”
“Well of course not,” she scoffed. “I wasn’t eating crackers.”
She made him smile. He really liked that about her. Reaching over, he grabbed her hand and kissed it. “I still wouldn’t have kicked you out of bed. You can stay as long as you want.”
“Won’t that get a little messy?”
“Baby, I hope so.”
It was her turn to smile. “I mean, what if I start bringing over a change of clothes?”
“It’s probably a good idea. Especially since I really like ripping yours off you.”
She shivered a bit and he saw the curve of a nipple poke through her staid, button-down blouse. Keeping an eye on the road, he let go of her hand to trace the outline of her nipple. Ashley gasped and bit her lip.
“You really make me crazy.”
“Where did you go after you left last night?” Sentinel asked it casually, as if it wouldn’t eat him up inside if she said she went home to change and then hit the bars.
“Home. I had to get ready for today and catch up on some work. I’ve got a real helpful anonymous source. He sent me over the police reports of all the other victims, as well as the membership list of the Poconos Hunting Club.”
“He did?” Sentinel had a feeling her anonymous source was Ryder.
“Yeah, so I’ve been trying to find any more connections between the victims. One similarity I was hoping wasn’t the same turned out to be a commonality between them all. And I can’t mention it on the news because it could help the police solve the case.” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “Can you keep a secret?”
He nodded. “You can count on me.” He put both hands on the wheel. When this was all over, he wanted to spend a whole weekend of just the two of them screwing each other’s brains out.
“All the victims were pregnant. Like Sarah.”
Sentinel had already known that, but hearing it aloud was a kick in the gut.
“Sorry,” she said.
“Do you recognize any of the names on the membership lists aside from the significant others” He hadn’t when he’d looked at it. Ryder had her computers working on cross-referencing them all, but maybe Ashley knew something they didn’t and that was why Ryder gave her the list.
Ashley shook her head. “I have this feeling, though, that the wife or girlfriend of one of the men on that membership list is going to be the next victim. I had a theory that the victims were connected to the men who gave Stan his alibi, but they weren’t. I asked my source if there was a way he could get me a list of the significant others of people on the membership list and see if any of them are pregnant.”
A cold flash went over him. “You’re right. That could possibly narrow down the next victim.”