Chapter 26
One Week Later...
God, she was mean, Shayne thought as the small woman that was put on this earth to drive him crazy shook him, and when that didn’t work, she cleared her throat, shook him again, and whispered his name.
Still, Shayne refused to open his eyes or move so much as an inch, knowing that if he did, the small woman, who’d kept him up all night and dragged him all over the resort all day, would-
Make him sigh when she resorted to smothering him with a pillow.
“Why are ye like this, lass?” Shayne asked as he reached up and pulled the pillow off his head and tossed it aside so that he could glare at the small woman releasing a satisfied sigh at a job well done.
“Oh, good, you’re up,” Ashlyn said, making his eyes narrow dangerously on the woman that was going to be the death of him.
“Why?” Shayne managed to get out as he lay there, tempted to pass back out, but he knew the moment he did, she would go for the pillow again.
“I’m hungry,” Ashlyn said, getting to the point, which he appreciated at the moment.
Never taking his eyes off her, Shayne reached over and grabbed his phone off the nightstand and tossed it to her only to have her blink down at it when it landed on the bed. Deciding that he’d solved her problem, Shayne closed his eyes and-
“Room service is backed up by two hours tonight.”
-buried his face against his pillow in an attempt to smother himself, knowing how this was going to end.
But before he had a chance to go into the light, the little brat was yanking his pillow away and tossing it aside.
“I’m going to need you to get dressed and see to my needs,” Ashlyn said, drawing his attention to find her watching him expectantly, and when he didn’t move fast enough, or at all, she regally gestured for him to get on with it.
“I bought ye fifty dollars’ worth of junk food earlier, lass,” he reminded her.
Nodding, Ashlyn said, “You did, but unfortunately for both of us, fifty dollars at this resort only covered a candy bar, two waters, and a bag of chips, which I devoured an hour ago after you passed out, but not before you threatened to spank my ass if I woke you up.”
“Did ye try a delivery service?” Shayne asked, reaching over and grabbed one of her pillows that she liked to hoard and pulled it over his head.
“I did, which is why I am now presenting you with the honor of walking me to the nearest convenience store so that I may partake in a slice of overpriced frozen pizza,” Ashlyn explained when the pillow was yanked off his head.
When he only glared, she said, “They also have a two-hour wait.”
Knowing how this would end if he didn’t get her that pizza, Shanye forced himself to ignore just how good this bed felt and get up only to grunt when that wasn’t fast enough for the little bully when he found himself unceremoniously pushed off the bed.
“I’m spanking yer ass later,” Shayne said as he stumbled his way into the bathroom.
“Worth it,” Ashlyn said, making his lips twitch as he quickly used the bathroom.
By the time he washed his hands and grabbed his toothbrush, Ashlyn was walking into the bathroom and hopping up onto the bathroom sink to ensure that he moved his ass. He didn’t remember her being this bossy before, Shayne thought as he quickly brushed his teeth and-
“So, I have questions,” she began, repeating the same phrase that she’d been using all week before she interrogated him. She had a lot of questions and he couldn’t blame her.
“About?” Shayne asked, rinsing his mouth out with water before he grabbed the clothes she’d left on the counter for him and started getting dressed.
“Why haven’t I seen any ghosts yet?” Ashlyn asked as he pulled his pants up.
“Because my brothers are very efficient, lass,” Shayne said, only to chuckle when she released a disappointed sigh. “Did ye want ta see a ghost?”
“Maybe,” Ashlyn said as he pulled on his shirt.
“Would it make ye happy if my brothers allowed the next non-homicidal ghost ta get through?” Shayne asked, watching as she thought that over.
“I suppose that would be okay,” Ashlyn said with a sniffle and a pointed look at his shoes.
“So fucking bossy,” Shayne said with a teasing smile as he grabbed his shoes and pulled them on.
Once he finished getting dressed, he grabbed his phone and wallet off the counter only to feel his lips twitch when he heard the painfully familiar throat clearing that let him know that his soulmate was about to fuck him over for her own entertainment.
He looked up in time to watch Ashlyn gesture to herself with a murmured, “You may now carry me.”
“Ye really are high maintenance, lass,” Shayne said, making sure to sound put out as he turned around and presented her with his back.
Within seconds, Ashlyn was climbing onto his back, had her arms and legs wrapped around him and her little chin resting on his shoulder.
“This should be enough to entice him into coming out of hiding,” Ashlyn said, following that up with another heartfelt sigh as she pulled one hand away just long enough to gesture towards the door.
“How do ye figure that, lass?” Shayne asked, ignoring Quinn’s amused expression as he walked past him and headed for the door.
“Because it should prove that you’re madly in love with me, therefore, leaving the killer with no choice but to come after me, thus allowing us to take him down before he does something else to piss me off,” Ashlyn explained as he somehow managed to navigate his way out of their room without the door hitting her.
“And ye think a piggyback ride is gonna be the thing that breaks him?” Shayne asked, chuckling as he carried her to the elevator.
“It couldn’t hurt,” Ashlyn said, reaching over to press the call button when he shifted to the side.
“And those activities ye dragged me ta this past week ta entice him?” Shane asked as he thought about everything she’d dragged him to this week from brunch to paddleboat rides, wine tasting events, and even trivia night, all while hoping that it would be enough to lure out their killer.
“The paddleboat should have worked,” Ashlyn grumbled as he waited for the elevator doors to slide open before he stepped into the elevator just as Quinn suddenly appeared.
“It probably would have if the big baby hadn’t pouted the entire time,” Quinn said, making a show of inspecting his nails while Shayne stood there, seething.
“I waited fifteen extra minutes for the black duck and they gave it ta the little bastard instead,” Shayne bit out, and Christ, he could feel Ashlyn roll her eyes as she reached over and hit the button for the ground floor.
“He was six,” she pointed out.
“He knew what he was doing,” Shayne bit out, still pissed that they’d been given the pink duck.
“I’m going to continue with my interrogation now unless you want to hunt him down so that you can glare at him again,” Ashlyn said dryly before he felt her shift so that she could focus on Quinn.
“Why do you both have a scar running across your palms, but Tristan doesn’t?” Ashlyn asked, taking them both by surprise.
“Tristan wasn’t in this body when we were first alive, lass,” Shayne pointed out.
“So, he had the same scar?” Ashlyn asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“No, we refused ta give him one,” Quinn said, turning his hand over so that Ashlyn could get a better look. “Our father did it ta make sure that we weren’t afraid of getting cut.”
“How old were you?” Ashlyn asked as she reached over and ran her fingertip over his brother’s scar.
“Four winters,” Quinn said, shrugging it off before he dropped his hand away.
“You were four years old when he cut your hand open?” Ashlyn asked, making them chuckle.
“It was best ta get it over with early, lass,” Quinn said with a teasing smile, disappearing when they reached their floor.
“Why didn’t he do it for Tristan?” Ashlyn asked as he carried her off the elevator.
“Because he’d died before the lad was born. When it came time ta train him, none of us had the heart ta do it ta him. He was too damn kind for his own good,” Shayne said as he carried her towards the back exit so that they could take the walkway along the lake, knowing how much she liked it.
When she didn’t say anything else after a few minutes, Shayne turned his head to find her looking lost in thought. “Something troubling ye, lass?”
“Do ghosts ever search for their loved ones?” Ashlyn asked after a moment.
“Aye, some of them do,” Shayne said as he carried her towards the lake. “Is this about yer mom, lass?”
“Would I have known if she came looking for me?” came the softly spoken question that damn near broke his heart for her.
“She would have stayed by yer side until yer time was over,” Shayne said as he watched her think it over.
“I’m ready to walk now,” Ashlyn said, looking lost in thought as he stopped so that she could climb off his back. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she was taking his hand and-
“You would have seen her,” Ashlyn said quietly.
“Aye,” Shayne said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze as they took their time walking towards the path that would take them through the woods. “What happened ta yer ma, lass?”
“We were driving home late one night and it started to snow. At least, that’s all I remember.
The police report said that she’d lost control of her car and slammed into a tree.
They thought she became disoriented after the crash, so they sent out a search party for her.
They never found her,” Ashlyn said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal, but he felt the slight tremor in her hand as she spoke about her mother.
“And that’s why ye became a private investigator?” Shayne guessed, only to be taken by surprise when she shook her head.
“I like solving puzzles,” Ashlyn murmured absently as she stared at the lake as they walked. “I don’t like taking cases that could end with breaking someone’s heart. I don’t want to end up being the one to tell someone that they were never going to see their loved one again.”
“Why did ye take this case, lass?”