Chapter Nine
The tingle at the back of Aeslyn’s neck was starting to put her on edge. Sebastian had been in the bathroom longer than she would have expected. As the feeling was intensifying to the point she was ready to go check on him she saw a commotion in the back hallway where the restrooms were.
She sprinted across the bar and pushed her way between the group of onlookers huddled around the door to the men’s room.
“I couldn’t get the door open at first, I was banging on it. This guy opened the door, shoved me against the wall and took off out the exit door. I went in and found the other guy laying on the floor bleeding.”
Aeslyn glanced at the witness before pushing in further and finding Sebastian on the ground with a washcloth being held to the back of his head. “I’m fine I swear, you can let me up.”
Guilt flooded Aeslyn when she had become a P.I. she had sworn an oath to herself to never let a client down. She was here to protect him and she hadn’t done her job. Gerri was going to kill her if she heard.
Her animal was fighting to break free, it wanted to take off and follow the man who did this. It pissed her off to smell the same scent as the woods by the spray park, that means it was the same guy and she had let him get away twice now.
Sebastian looked up and groaned, “This is not the way I wanted our date to go.” He stood up unsteadily, Aeslyn grabbed his arm to help steady him. “Do you mind if we grab your purse from the table and head home?”
“Are you sure you are okay; do you want me to take you to the hospital?” She lifted the cloth off his head to look at the wound. It wasn’t deep but it needs a stitch or two.”
“I’m fine, I must have slipped or something.” Aeslyn studied him curiously, did he really believe that or was he trying to play down what happened?
“I told you it was them.” Jackson and Connor had pushed their way through and got in the small bathroom with everyone else. “Everyone is talking about someone getting attacked, first you disappear then Aeslyn takes off and doesn’t come back. What the hell is going on?” Connor’s anger was seething just below the surface, Aeslyn could see him trying to control it. They were military and protective of each other, she understood that.
“Attacked? I don’t know what you are talking about.” Jackson, Connor, and Aeslyn shared glances with each other. Does she tell him the truth and worry him or let him brush it off as clumsiness?
Connor pulled the cloth away and inspected his head, “If you have a kit at your house I can clean this up and run a few stitches.”
Sebastian deflated a little, “I’m sorry Aeslyn, if you want to take off Connor, can take me home.”
“A little blood isn’t going to scare me away, if it’s okay I’d like to go too and make sure you are okay. I mean, Connor has been drinking, he could probably use some supervision.” She winked at Connor before turning back to Sebastian. She knew he didn’t even have a buzz.
He nodded and led the small group out of the cramped room. A man wearing a shirt with the bar’s logo on it was talking to the cops and the rest of their friends were standing there too giving information.
Elliana saw them and broke from the group, “We’ve got this covered if you want to get out of here. Cops said they’d swing by tomorrow to check on you. The bar owner said he has some security cameras, he’s pulling the tapes.”
“Guys, it’s fine, everyone is making a big deal out of an accident. If someone did knock me down, which I don’t remember happening, then I’m sure he took off because he was scared. That makes him a coward, not a killer.”
Aeslyn didn’t agree with his last point but she wasn’t going to argue either, it was quite possible he was interrupted from doing worse.
“Come on, big guy, let’s get you sewn up.” Connor led them around the crowd and to the parking lot. “I’ll follow you guys.”
Aeslyn nodded and got into her car with Sebastian. “I can definitely say this is one of the more memorable dates I’ve ever had.” She smiled at his grimace, she knew he was embarrassed and she was hoping to play it off. The more she thought about him not seeing anything the better she thought that was. If he didn’t know he was in trouble then he was less likely to go and do something stupid to try and catch the guy himself. Soldier or not he was still human and a lot more vulnerable than a shifter.