Chapter 3
Three
A low buzzing drew Asher Horn’s attention away from his computer screen. He glanced toward the sound, which came from the security monitor to his left that showed his front door. Edie stood on the stoop.
He pushed away from his desk and got up to answer. His smile of greeting dimmed when he took in the slight frown that marred her forehead. “Hey.” He stepped back so she could come inside. “What’s up? Everything okay?”
“It’s okay enough, but—” She stopped and wrung her hands together. “Can you do a little digging into some people for me? I’m a little worried about my sister.”
Asher shut the door and his frown deepened at her words. “Esther? Why?” He couldn’t imagine what trouble the soft-spoken kindergartner teacher could get into. Edie, sure. But her younger sister? The two women were polar opposites. If they didn’t look so much alike, he’d question whether they were actually sisters.
“So, she took on an extra job as a home tutor for an immunocompromised child in her district. I guess the family lives in a rough area, and the dad’s a little creepy. I’m quoting there. I just want to know she’s not walking into some viper’s den or something. Could you run some background checks on the parents?”
“Sure. Come back to my lair. It shouldn’t take long to do a cursory check.” He motioned for her to follow, then led her through the house to the room he’d outfitted for his computers.
“Thanks, Ash. I appreciate it.”
“Not a problem.” He sank into his chair and spun another one out for her. “Have a seat.”
She dropped down next to him and looked at the wall of monitors.
“Okay, what are their names?” Asher focused on a screen and pulled up the database he normally used for background searches, ready to type, but silence answered his question. Frowning, he glanced at Edie. She had her lip between her teeth and an apologetic look in her eyes.
Asher sighed. “You don’t know, do you?”
She shook her head, a chagrined smile forming. “I know the kid’s name. Does that help?”
“Maybe. What is it?”
“Leah Tyler. She’s nine. And she had a heart transplant a couple of months ago.”
Asher let out a low whistle. “Poor kid.” Fingers flying, he pulled up a different database and typed in the child’s name. This one checked news stories. “What city does she live in?”
“Heron Ridge, Oregon. It’s near Coos Bay.”
He added that to his search. “Let’s see what we can find.” With all the information entered, he hit return. They were at the mercy of his internet connection now.
Thankfully, today it was fairly quick. Several results popped up within a few seconds. Asher clicked on the first one. “This is for the local elementary’s honor roll. Her name is on it.” He clicked away and picked the next one, which looked more promising. It was a quick write-up in the local paper for a fundraiser, benefitting the girl.
“There.” Edie pointed at the screen. “Rob and Connie Tyler.”
Asher pulled up the background screen and ran the dad first, using the wife and daughter’s names to narrow the possibilities. He found one result and clicked on it, wincing when a rap sheet for several burglaries and some drug use came up.
“I knew it!” Edie leaned closer, reading.
“These are years old, though. His last conviction was seven years ago.” Asher read through the list. “It looks like he was picked up for some meth use. Nothing after that.”
“Or he just got smarter about it.”
“Or”—he cast a quick glance at her from the side of his eyes—“he realized he needed to be there for his sick kid and kicked the habit.”
Edie pressed her lips together. “Perhaps. Run the mom now.” She pointed at the monitor.
Asher went back to the previous screen and put the mom’s name in. She came up clean.
“Well, that’s something, at least.”
He hummed, switching to a different monitor. The spidey sense that never steered him wrong had reared its head.
“What?” Edie tipped her head. “It’s never good when you make that noise. What are you thinking?”
“That it’s weird for a woman with absolutely no criminal history, not even a sealed juvie record, to marry a man with his past. Especially since he was still committing burglaries and using long after their daughter was born. She’d have been two when he was convicted the last time.”
“Can you access their marriage license?”
He moved the cursor back to the first monitor and clicked on the tab at the bottom that said, “Other records,” then on their marriage license.
“There you go.” He turned back to the other monitor.
“Huh,” she said after a moment.
Asher glanced over. “What did you find?”
“They’ve only been married five years.”
He rolled closer. That was an interesting coincidence. Rob Tyler’s last conviction gave him a two-year sentence. He’d have gotten out of jail around the same time he and Connie were married.
“Click on that.” She pointed at Leah’s birth certificate.
He did, and they both read over the document that appeared.
“It has both their names on it,” Edie said.
He hummed again, the date of her birth pinging something in his brain. Moving down the screen, he went back to the bottom tab, then looked up their address history.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking dates.” He scrolled down the list of addresses for Rob until he found the year Leah was born.
“Okay, that’s weird,” Edie said. “He didn’t live anywhere near her when Leah was born. Or the year before.”
Asher nodded. “No, he didn’t. And actually”—he switched screens again to Rob’s rap sheet, checking another date—“he was in jail when Leah would have been conceived.”
Edie’s eyes grew round. “What does that mean? Other than they lied about Leah’s father. Why would they?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Leah’s real dad isn’t a good man?”
“Worse than that?” Edie gestured at the screen, eyebrows winging upward.
“There are a lot of worse crimes than those, Edie.”
She huffed. “I know that. But why would she pick Rob? Instead of someone with a clean record? When she has a clean one herself? It just doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t. But people do a lot of strange things when they’re desperate. If she thought she and her baby were in danger, she might have turned to the first person she could for support. We don’t know what her life was like at that time. Or whether she had any family to turn to.”
“But he was in jail. How is that support?”
Asher’s jaw worked, and he looked at the screen, thinking. She had a point. “I’m not sure. Look, I’ll keep digging, okay? I don’t think Esther is in any immediate danger. He either got suddenly really smart about his drug use, or he really did quit. I’ll see what I can find out about Connie before she married Rob. I’m not sure I’ll be able to find Leah’s biological father, though. Not without talking to people Connie knew back then.”
“That’s okay. I just want to be sure Esther is safe. If Leah’s bio dad hasn’t interfered in the nine years the girl’s been alive, he probably won’t now. And I don’t want to stir up trouble and possibly make it an issue for her. Whatever you can find online and through official records is fine.”
He nodded once. “I’ll see what I can do.” He tipped his head, studying her. She seemed extra worried. Anxious. “Is everything okay?”
She glanced at him with a frown. “What do you mean?”
“You just seem more anxious than usual. I mean, I know you love your sister, but I’ve never seen you like this.”
She sighed and looked heavenward. “Jordan’s going to kill me for telling everyone, but apparently, I can’t hide it.” She turned her bright blue eyes on him. “I’m a little hormonal at the moment.” Shoulders squaring, she sucked in a breath through her nose. “I’m pregnant.”
Asher’s eyes widened. “Holy crap.” He looked away for a second, trying to wrap his head around that. Edie was the last person he expected to say that. Especially so soon after getting married. But then again, it didn’t completely surprise him. She’d done a lot of growing up in the last few months. Gone was the woman who’d run from her feelings. Now she embraced them. And change. She opened her arms to that too. “That’s—that’s great.”
“You don’t sound like it’s great.”
“No, it is. You just took me by surprise.” A genuine smile formed on his face, crinkling his eyes. “I’m happy for you.”
She returned his smile. “Thank you. We’re excited. Nervous. Very nervous. But excited. It’s a whole new world now.”
That was no lie. So much had changed for their little group in the last year. Ford was married now. So were Audra and Sam. Dean’s wedding was in just a couple of months. Max was the only other single one. Though Asher wouldn’t call him unattached. The moment Margot and her twin tornadoes arrived, Max had given his heart away. Now that Margot’s divorce was final, and she was living in Costa Rica full time, he expected Max to make a move soon. It was a lot, and Asher would be lying if he said he wasn’t reeling a little from it all. He was happy for his friends, but it was also a tad lonely now.
“You’ll do great, Edie.” He laid a hand on her shoulder briefly.
She gave him a tremulous smile. “I know we’ll do our best.” She puffed out her cheeks as she blew out a breath, then pushed away from the desk. “I’ll let you do your thing. Thank you for checking into this. It helps put my mind at ease to know you’re on it.”
“You’re welcome. If there’s anything else I can do, let me know.” He started to rise to show her out, but she waved him down.
“Stay. I know how to find the door.”
He sank back into his seat.
“See you later.” With a smile, she left.
Asher spun around to stare at his screens, pushing his personal thoughts and feelings aside so he could focus on Esther’s problem. His eyes raked over the information he and Edie had uncovered in their brief search, and his brain catalogued it, filing it into neat sections. Something about the couple had his radar up and working. He didn’t know what it was, but he was missing something.