Page 87 of Sentinel's Kiss
“I told him I’d beat the hell out of him, tie him up in Stan’s trunk, and drive it into a lake while he was still alive. I’d make sure Stan got blamed for it.”
“And the other was to eat his gun?”
“And I promised him I would kill Stan and track down the rest of the rapists and put an end to them.”
“If he had a gun, why didn’t Lewis shoot his rapists? Why go after the wives?”
“He wanted Stan to take the fall, so he copied how Sarah was murdered. It was a twofer. He hurt his rapists and was setting up Stan.”
Ryder wrapped her arms around herself. “That’s a lot of hate. And a lot of innocent people hurt for revenge.”
“That’s why he died. If he was popping his rapists, I would have let him continue. I’m not a fucking hypocrite. I got to hand it to him. He’s the real reason Stan hid. Not us.”
“I’m sorry I let Stan get away. You know I’ll find him,” she said.
“I know. He’s our top priority. We’ll get him.” Sentinel slipped on his socks and tugged on his boots.
“I’ve got Evil and Lucy watching Jules. Just in case. I don’t think Stan has the cojones to come after one of us.”
“Who’s watching you?” Sentinel said.
“Warden and I will be each other’s backup once you’re with Ashley. Do you know what Stan talked to her about?”
“No, I haven’t spoken to her today.”
“Keep your phone charged and handy,” Ryder said, tossing him his keys. “And return my fucking phone calls.”
“I want to be the one to kill him,” Sentinel said. “If you find him, you let me know first.”
She nodded. “I will.”
—
Ashley kept checking her phone, but Josh didn’t text or call all day. Sure, she hadn’t texted him either. But she was busy running around, doing small features stories and man-on-the-street interviews. His bar didn’t even get going until after dinner. Maybe he was sleeping. Feeling dejected, she left the studio, not looking forward to the train ride back to Long Island. Her father wouldn’t know if she stayed one night in her Manhattan apartment.
As she was about to hail a cab, Josh pulled up on his Harley. “Going my way?”
“Depends.” She cocked her hip. “Are we going out for Chinese food?”
“Get on.”
“I’d rather get off,” she said, kissing him.
“That’s later.”
She held on tight as Josh took them on a long bike ride. They wound up in Flushing, Queens, at the Golden Shopping Mall.
“Here,” he said, reaching into his jacket to pull out a menu in both English and Chinese. “This will make ordering easier.”
They milled through the crowds, stopping at several vendors and filling up their tray with noodles, dumplings, seafood, and some green milk tea.
“I think this is our first date,” Ashley said, thrilled to be eating dumplings after a nice summer motorcycle ride. She felt the tension of the day slip away as they finally got a seat in the crowded food court.
“It’s not the Shun Lee Palace, but it’s pretty tasty.”
“I love it,” she said.
It was pretty noisy and she was famished, so they didn’t do a lot of talking. But afterward they walked around the mall for a bit and she bought a big bag of almond cookies and some other goodies for later.