Chapter 15 #3
“Maybe. Maybe the business is just a front, a money-laundering operation.” Asher paced again. “And maybe he got a taste of easy money and started blackmailing more people.”
“How? You have to have solid information to pull something like that off.” But even as Cici asked the question, an answer came to her.
“What if…what if the tech thing is the answer. Alyssa said he was into programming. And cybersecurity. He must’ve been good to apply for a patent.
” She met Asher’s eyes. “What if he’s a hacker?
Asher froze and met her eyes. “Call Alyssa. See if she can—”
“On it.” Cici dialed her sister and relayed the question.
“Interesting theory. I saw nothing that backs it up, but then hackers are good at covering their tracks. On the other hand, hackers talk, so if Gagnon’s one of us…
them, I mean.” She chuckled. “Old habits. Anyway, if he’s a hacker, someone’s heard of him.
This’ll take longer, so be patient. I’ll see what I can learn. ”
Cici ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed, allowing a seed of hope to take root. And she’d come up with the idea. She’d helped. “I think we’re on to—”
“Your sister’s something else.”
Cici’s self-satisfaction deflated like a popped balloon. “Yeah, she is.”
“This is a great lead, Cici.” Maybe Asher read her disappointment. Probably, which was why he tried to encourage her. “If we can expose him as a blackmailer, then maybe we can send him on the run, not just from the authorities but from everyone he’s been blackmailing.”
“Maybe.” But reality took the rest of the air out of her balloon. “Except, assuming they know who he is, whatever he’s got has kept him safe all these years.”
“He’s careful.” Asher’s tone turned pensive.
“He thinks he’s untouchable. But the necklace could be his downfall, especially now that the Ballentines’ killers have been exposed.
He has no leverage. If it’s proved the necklace was in his possession, then he’s an accessory to murder. He goes to prison.”
The soft hiss of the gas fire mingled with the rain’s steady drum on the roof.
Cici rested against the pillows propped in front of the headboard, wishing she could close her eyes for just a moment.
“You can kind of understand it. The guy grew up with nothing. He got an opportunity to make some money, and he took it.”
Asher’s jaw clenched, his gaze fixed on the flames. “I get being broke, but selling your soul for cash? That’s a line I’d never cross.” His voice carried a raw edge.
Of course he wouldn’t. The firelight carved shadows across his face, highlighting the tension in his jaw. “You sound like you know that fight.” Her words were soft, probing gently.
His fingers twitched as if he wanted to reach for something, or maybe just a way out of the conversation.
Then he sat on the chair again. “Growing up, we had nothing.” His voice was low, almost swallowed by the rain.
“We lived in trailer parks, in rented trailers, and even those weren’t secure.
We faced evictions… Seemed we were always one step away from losing it all.
But my parents were determined to stay in Shadow Cove.
Said they had the best schools in the region.
Which meant we were always surrounded by rich kids and mansions—people who’d look at us like we were trash. ”
“I hope you know I never thought that. My family never thought that.”
He shrugged. “It’s possible I read into people’s looks and comments. I thought everyone knew how poor we were, but maybe…”
“I didn’t know.”
Asher acknowledged that with a nod. “My dad… He’s a good man in so many ways, but he took risks, stupid ones, always chasing the quick buck.
He gambled, he borrowed. He lost just about every penny he got his hands on.
Thank God Mom was a hard worker, but she had no education and two kids to raise. She could only do so much.”
Cici leaned forward, her hands clasped in her lap to keep from reaching for him. “That must’ve been so hard.”
His eyes flicked to hers, then away. “Knowing one mistake could unravel everything. And maybe I knew too much—much more than my little brother, who just took everything in stride. Not me. I wanted to help. I wanted to fix it. But I was a kid. What could I do?”
Her heart clenched with pity for the little boy Asher had been, pity he would scorn if she voiced it.
“I’d see those big houses on the coast, the kids with their new sneakers, and I just felt…invisible.”
“You weren’t invisible, Asher. Not to me. Not to the school. You were valedictorian.”
His smile held no humor. “Even as small as our class was, I bet half the kids didn’t know who I was until I stood on that podium at graduation and gave my speech.”
She’d argue, but was he right? How many people had known him? She had because they’d been in classes together. She’d always liked Asher. But he’d been quiet and kept to himself. He hadn’t played sports or been involved in clubs. She’d never thought to wonder why not.
Now, she guessed his family couldn’t afford the fees and couldn’t promise rides after meetings and events. Maybe they’d lived so close to the edge financially that even student council was beyond their means.
She swallowed, her throat tight. “What about now? Where are your parents?”
“They’ve got an apartment in Portland.”
“They’re doing okay?”
“They’re not going to lose it, if that’s what you mean.”
“You’ll make sure of that.”
He shrugged, telling her she’d guessed right.
“How about your brother?”
“Drew’s…still trying to figure out his life, but he supports himself.”
“I get it, why it’s so important to you to buy your own place, to own something of value.”
He didn’t meet her eyes. “It probably seems stupid to you. Stupid and small and…irrelevant, but it’s all I want. Just to be able to take care of myself and…and them, if they need me to. I just need to be…enough.”
He was so much more than enough. He was brave, loyal, fiercely protective, fully competent.
Yet he settled for so little, tethered to a past that kept him from soaring.
“You could aim higher, you know.” She kept her voice barely above a whisper.
“You’re…amazing, Asher. You’re far more than just ‘enough,’ and you deserve a condo, a house, and so much more. ”
His eyes locked on hers, raw and unguarded, and the air felt as charged as the storm outside.
For a moment, she thought he might move closer, might bridge the gap between them.
But then he looked away, clearing his throat.
“I need to check the weather.” He shoved his feet into his shoes, then dug in his duffel bag and pulled out a sweatshirt.
Cici swallowed the words she wanted to say, that she admired the way he’d risen above his childhood. That she admired the way he took responsibility for his parents and his little brother. That he could’ve gone the way of Wendall Gagnon, stealing to get ahead, but instead he’d become a great man.
But his walls were back up. So she kept her lips clamped tightly closed.
“Grab something warm to wear, if you’re cold.” He toed his bag. “Take whatever you want. We’ll be on the road again soon.” With that, he stepped outside onto the porch. To watch the weather, and to get away from her.
Outside, the rain still pounded, a relentless curtain hiding the world. But the storm would pass, and they’d continue their journey to Shadow Cove, and after that…
After that, he’d go back to his life and leave her in the past.