Chapter 11 #2
“Fuck it. I’m gonna free the bastard,” Aidan said right before he disappeared.
“That depends,” Shayne said, watching as Aidan appeared in front of Robert, startling him.
When Aidan reached over to press his hand against Robert’s chest, Robert slapped his hand away, stumbled, and then made a run for it, forcing Aidan to chase after him.
He watched Robert race across the yard only to disappear when he reached the stone wall and reappear back where he started, forcing Aidan to turn back around and go after him.
Every time Aidan caught up with Robert, he either disappeared, ducked out of his reach, or slapped his hands away until Aidan gave up with a glare and disappeared.
“Ungrateful bastard,” Aidan mumbled as he reappeared back in front of the window so that he could glare down at Robert a moment later.
“Depends on what?” Ashlyn asked, drawing his attention to find her looking at the menu.
“On whether or not ye try ta trick me again, lass,” Shayne said, only to add, “Ye tried ta bluff last time,” when her expression turned confused.
“I have my methods,” Ashlyn murmured innocently as she focused back on her menu, making him chuckle.
“Good afternoon. My name is Catherine and I’ll be your server today,” a young blonde woman with a warm smile said as she set two water glasses on the table. “Can I start you off with a drink?”
“I’ll have a cup of coffee and he’ll have whatever’s on tap, please,” Ashlyn said as the waitress pulled a leather-bound notepad out of her pocket along with a pen and made a quick note. “Perfect. Can I start you with any appetizers?”
“Actually, I’m ready to order,” Ashlyn said, placing her menu at the end of the table.
“Perfect,” Catherine said as Shayne placed his menu on top of hers.
“Can I get the tavern burger with extra bacon, mayonnaise on the side and extra fries instead of coleslaw, please?” Ashlyn asked as Catherine quickly added it to their order.
“Of course,” Catherine said as her gaze shifted to him. “And what can I get for you, sir?”
“I’ll have the same,” Shayne said, never taking his eyes off Ashlyn.
“I’ll put that order in right away,” Catherine said, closing her notepad and slid it back into her pocket with a warm smile as she grabbed their menus and walked away.
“Thank ye,” Shayne said as he considered the small woman sitting across from him. “Hoping ta get me drunk, lass, so that I’ll talk?”
“It couldn’t hurt,” Ashlyn said, making him chuckle. “This would probably be a good time to tell you that I know something that you don’t know,” Ashlyn said, looking adorably smug as she took a sip of her water.
“And what would that be?” Shayne asked as he watched the way that her eyes lit up as she gave a casual shrug that he wasn’t buying.
“I’m willing to tell you if you tell me everything you know,” she said, moving to take another sip only to go still at his next words.
“Patrick wasn’t a hitchhiker. He worked for the previous McClellan,” Shayne said, watching as she slowly narrowed her eyes on him before she reached for her bag. He watched as she tore through it, checking everything from her wallet to her pen, before patting down her bag and-
“She thinks ye bugged her,” Aidan said, chuckling as they watched her put everything back in her bag and dropped it before searching her pockets.
“I didn’t bug ye, lass,” Shayne said, watching as she went still only to slowly nod.
“I’m not playing this game with you. You either tell me something or you’re going to be walking home,” Ashlyn said as she leveled a look on him that told him that she was thinking about leaving his ass here anyway.
“Fair enough,” Shayne said, taking a sip of water as he considered her. “I can tell ye that this case has nothing ta do with the missing girls.”
“How do you know that?” she asked as a waitress paused by their table and placed a cup of coffee and a glass of beer on the table before quickly walking away to deliver drinks to another table.
“Because it doesn’t meet the criteria,” Shayne said, picking up his beer and took a sip only to wince when the taste of weak ale hit his tongue.
God, he missed real ale.
“And what criteria would that be?” Ashlyn asked, reaching for the small sugar bowl at the end of the table.
“And what would ye do if I told ye?” Shayne asked, watching as she dumped two packets of sugar into her coffee before reaching for a spoon.
“Make up an excuse to use the bathroom, go straight out the front door, get in my car and drive away, all while doing my best evil cackle,” she said, blinking at him.
Nodding, Shayne leaned back in his chair as he said, “And that’s why I can’t tell ye, lass.”
“You can tell me something,” Ashlyn said, taking a sip of coffee while he sat there, considering her for a moment.
“I tell ye what, lass, I’ll make a deal with ye. For everything that ye tell me that I don’t already know, I’ll tell ye something about the case,” Shayne said, watching as Ashlyn debated her next move.
“I’d rather find out something about you,” she said, taking him by surprise.
“Why’s that?” Shayne asked.
“Because I want to know what kind of man I’m dealing with.”
“And what type of man do ye think I am?” Shayne asked, taking another sip of his beer.
“A mentally unstable one,” Ashlyn said, making his brothers laugh their asses off. When he glared at her, she said, “I met you in an emergency room, where you were buck naked, wondering how I could see you.”
“Tell her that it was a drug interaction,” Aidan said, gesturing for him to get on with it.
“It was a drug interaction,” Shayne said, repeating the lie.
“And what drugs would those be?” Ashlyn asked, absently drumming her fingernails against the table while she waited for his next line of bullshit.
“Dramamine and Oxycodone for the back injury that would explain yer early retirement,” Aidan said as he leaned back against the window.
“Dramamine and Oxycodone for my back injury,” Shayne said, only to add, “I don’t handle motion sickness well, lass. My back started acting up on the plane, I took the pills too close together on the way ta see my brother and had a bad reaction. I don’t remember much before ye found me in the ER.”
“You really expect me to believe that?” Ashlyn asked, never taking her eyes off him as she reached over and helped herself to another sugar packet.
“Believe what ye want, lass,” Shayne said, shrugging it off as he watched her think it over for a minute.
“Is Tristan really your brother?” Ashlyn asked, ripping the sugar packet open and slowly poured it in her coffee, all while she watched him, looking for any sign that he was lying to her.
“Aye, and I have the DNA test ta prove it,” Shayne said, still wondering how they’d managed to pull that off. He-
“We didn’t swap out the results,” Aidan said, taking him by surprise.
“I’m not crazy, lass, and I’m not here ta cause ye problems. I’m trying ta help my brother on a case that doesn’t make sense, but one that I know ye shouldn’t be anywhere near alone,” Shayne explained as their food was placed in front of them.
“Then, tell me what you know so that we can figure it out together,” Ashlyn said with a murmured, “Thank you,” to the waitress.
“I tell ye what, lass, we’ll take a look into this other case tomorrow, and if I’m still no closer ta figuring out who’s behind it, I’ll tell ye everything I know,” Shayne said, knowing that he’d find another way to protect her from the curse.
“Even if it means that I’m no longer forced to work with you?”
“Even if, lass,” he said, watching her slowly nod and-
“Then, we have a deal.”