“You better think twice the next time you lay your hands on a woman who doesn’t belong to you.” I spit on him before walking out of the bathroom.
I raced back to the table and grabbed my purse.
“We need to leave, now, Asher.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m not feeling well, and I need to go lie down.”
“Sure. Okay. Jack just went to the bathroom. Can you wait a minute?”
“No. I cannot wait. It was nice to meet you, Margot.”
“Give my apologies to Jack,” Asher said.
I high tailed it out of the restaurant while Asher followed behind me.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked as we climbed into the limo. “I’m sorry, Everly, but that was rude.”
“RUDE?” I shot him a look. “I’ll explain everything once we get back to the hotel.”
“What did you see?”
“Asher, please. I’ll explain in private.”
He sighed as he turned his head and looked out the window. When the limo pulled up to the resort, I climbed out and took off my heels. Asher didn’t say a word to me until we stepped inside the hotel room.
“Do you know that this just probably cost me the property?” he said as he walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink.
“Oh I know it cost you the property. When I was in the bathroom, Jack came in. He grabbed me from behind and told me that he wanted to have sex with me and if I turned him down, you would lose the deal.”
“WHAT!” he shouted. “Are you okay?” He walked over to me and pulled me into an embrace. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“I’m fine. I elbowed him, kicked him in the balls and then spit on him.”
“My God, Everly. I’m sorry.”
I broke our embrace and stared into his eyes. “Listen, Asher. That man is a sick fuck. When he took my hand, I saw things. He’s into child pornography. His computer is loaded with it. He has a room at a place called the Roadside Motel. It’s about ten miles from here. He lures these young girls there he meets on the internet and has sex with them. Then he pays them to keep their mouth shut. He has a hidden camera in the room, and he videotapes them.”
“Jesus Christ, Everly.” He turned away and rubbed the back of his neck.
“I need to call Daniel. I swear one time he said he worked with a detective from here on a drug ring case.” I pulled my phone from my purse, told Daniel everything and got the name and number of Detective Ron Lowry.
“Are you going to call Detective Lowry now?” Asher asked.
“No. I’ll call him in the morning. I’m sorry, Asher.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. None of this is your fault. I’m the one who’s sorry. I wasn’t there to protect you.” He wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Don’t you dare apologize.” I hugged him tight. “You couldn’t have known. I’m going to take a hot bath if that’s okay.”
“Of course it is.” He kissed my forehead.
This. This was exactly what I meant when I asked myself if we could ever have a normal relationship. I was shaken. I wouldn’t lie and say I was fine. But I knew how to take care of myself. I’d taken more than my fair share of defense classes over the years. After my bath, I slipped on my robe and found Asher sitting out on the balcony at the table.
“Hey.” I opened the sliding door. “What are you doing out here?”
“Enjoying the night air and the sound of the ocean. Since I will no longer be meeting with Jack tomorrow, we can do anything you want. Just name it and I’ll make it happen.”
“I want to take walks on the beach, go swimming in that amazing pool, maybe try some scuba diving and do some shopping.”
“Do you scuba dive?” he asked.
“No. But I’ve always wanted to.” I smiled.
“Okay. We’ll go scuba diving while we’re here.”
“I’m going to head to bed,” I said.
“Okay. Go get some rest.” He softly kissed my lips. “Good night, Everly.”
“Good night, Asher.”
I awoke at two a.m. as my heart raced out of my chest. I wasn’t sure why it was doing that, but I really didn’t want to be alone. Especially when I knew Asher was in the next room. Climbing out of bed, I walked into his room, pulled back the covers and climbed in. Instantly, I felt his arms around me.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a sleepy voice.
“I just don’t want to be alone.”
“You don’t ever have to be. I’m here.” I felt his lips press against the back of my head.
35
Everly
“Miss King, I’m Detective Lowry. Thanks for coming in. Now you said over the phone you were attacked last night?”
“Yes.”
“Where at?”
“The ladies’ room at Prime Steakhouse.”
“Do you know the name of your attacker?”
“His name is Jack Klein,” Asher interrupted.
“The Jack Klein?”
“Yes, detective. The Jack Klein. But that’s not why I’m here. He didn’t hurt me. Actually, I hurt him, but that’s beside the point. Mr. Jack Klein is a pedophile. He has a bunch of child pornography on his computer and he has sex with underage girls at the Roadside Motel where he videotapes them. He keeps the videotapes locked in his safe in his home office.”
“Do you have proof of this, Miss King.”
“If you go talk to the manager at the Roadside Motel, he knows all about it because Mr. Klein pays him well to overlook it. He uses the same room. Room 12. In that room you’ll find a hidden video camera in the smoke detector on the ceiling.”
“I’m sorry, but how do you know all this?”
“I see things, Mr. Lowry. And I saw it last night when I met him for the first time.”
“So you’re a psychic?”
“Yes.”
“Miss King. I’m sorry, but—”
“You listen to me, detective. Jack Klein assaulted her in the bathroom last
