Page 88 of Sentinel's Kiss
“Where to now?” she asked, stuffing the groceries into the saddlebag on his bike.
“I was going to drive you back to my place and have my way with you.”
“It’s a long drive and you look ready to fall asleep. Why don’t we go back to my apartment in the East Village?”
“Because it’s probably tiny and your roommate will get annoyed when I make you scream all night.”
“Yeah, there’s that.” Ashley grinned. “Are you sure you’re up for the drive back out to Long Island?”
“Just put your arms around me, baby, and I can do anything.”
She kissed him again because she just couldn’t help herself. It was pure bliss to ride back home with him. Holding him close, she was glad he had saved her from a night of sleeping in a bare room while her Manhattan roommate, Shelly, binge-watched television shows all night long. Or worse, a grueling train ride in the summer heat and then stumbling home all sweaty and gross only to walk in on her Long Island roommate, Tasha, and her boyfriend, Chad, dry-humping on the couch.
“How was your day?” she asked, through the helmet’s two-way radio.
“Better now. I didn’t get a lot of sleep.”
She hugged him tighter. “I’m sorry. My day was pretty busy too.”
“How did your meeting with Stan go?”
“He’s a whackadoo. He thinks you tried to kill him this morning.”
“What?” Josh sounded confused.
“I know. He said your sniper rifle was gleaming in the morning sun or something dramatic like that.”
Josh snorted. “He never would have seen me coming. If I was there this morning with a sniper rifle, he’d be missing a head.”
She shuddered. “Ugh. No wonder he thinks you’re out to get him.”
“What else did the paranoid bastard say?”
“Not much. He had a horrendous childhood. He thinks the serial killer who killed Sarah and the other women is doing it to get revenge on the hunting club. He suggested I talk to Dina or the other nurses. I’ve been trying to track them down, but I haven’t had any luck.”
“Have they released the names of the people who died in the fire?” Josh asked.
“Not yet. I’m waiting for the Pennsylvania reporter to get back to me.”
Ashley tried to remember everything Stan said. “You were with me that whole night, weren’t you?”
He stiffened for a fraction of a second, before relaxing. If she hadn’t been holding him so tightly, she wouldn’t have noticed. “I went out for coffee.”
“You didn’t see anything strange?”
“Nope.”
“Is there any chance you might reconcile with Stan?”
He tensed, and this time stayed that way. “No.”
“I offered to go with him to the Blue Line or some other neutral territory with a camera crew to see if you guys could put aside your differences.”
“All right. You set it up and I’ll be there.”
“Really? That’s great.”
“I mean it. I’ll pull over and you can call him. We can set up something for tomorrow.”