Chapter Thirty-Six
Asher
Our time at headquarters came to an end with love and smiles on every face. Echo kept giving Phillip a knowing look, and I guessed she knew something about the master of the universe that everyone else didn’t.
Once we got home, I did something I hadn’t before, when it came to her. I made love to my woman, giving it to her slow and full of the love we both confessed that night, until we were nothing but a sweaty mess in a maze of sheets.
A few days went by and she’d been busy with the police department, who were getting ready for the big Seahill New Year’s Eve party. New York had once been the hot spot for ringing in the New Year, but Seahill had quickly taken over the big day, even with the uproar of haters of people with gifts. Echo said they were still expecting the night to be a madhouse.
My bar was packed like it had been for the past few New Year’s Eves. I turned on the only TV in the room, changing it to the channel where the ball would drop from the Griffin Enterprises building, signaling the New Year.
I wished I could spend it with Echo, but after the bar closed and the people started to head out to celebrate in their homes, she would be back in my arms.
The booze was flowing, and the registers were ringing. This night was going to set my bar in a good place for months.
“Some water, please,” a feminine voice called out from my right. My head registered it as familiar and my head snapped up from the glasses I’d set out. Sarah Burke was sitting there, alone.
“Mrs. Burke.” I filled her a glass of water and set it in front of her gloved hands. Apparently she’d just gotten here.
“Thank you.” She took a sip and looked like she wanted to chat with me, but I was too busy for that.
My employees were rushing around helping people left and right. Tonight wasn’t the time for conversation.
“I can see you’re busy, but I came to warn you about Echo. I called the police to let them know what I’d heard, and they said they would have it covered, but I wasn’t convinced.” Her words were rushed, and urgent.
“What is going on?” I stopped everything I was doing, focusing on the energy around her and around the room, scanning for danger.
“A man came in and confessed to my husband that he had voices in his head and couldn’t stop thinking about killing all the people with powers tonight in the city square when the ball drops. I didn’t catch his name, and my husband wouldn’t tell me. He’s still keeping secrets, but I’ve felt the pain of losing someone close to you, and I couldn’t let someone else go through that. Innocent people will probably die tonight. You need to tell her; I know she will take me seriously.” Her face held the horror that was settling in my chest. My Echo was in danger, and everyone else in that square was, too.
“Is there anything else you can tell me about the man?”
“He’d been a part of our church before Robert took over as pastor, and I saw him a few times after he started coming back. But something about him told me to stay away. I remember his eyes leering on Amanda though. I meant to get his name, but I had more pressing matters going on.” Like her husband cheating on her, and Amanda’s passing.
“Is there anything else? What does he look like?” I was hanging on by a thread, the need to run to the square and shield Echo with my body burning through me like a wildfire.
Sarah nodded, and leaned over the bar slightly so I could hear better.
“He wears dress clothes, and black polished loafers like Robert’s. He has a bald head, and not in great shape. His mannerisms were methodical and have always seemed off to me. I’m sorry I don’t know his name. Robert usually kept me away from him, now that I think about it.”
Dread raced through my veins and a sinking feeling in my stomach settled like a stone in the water.
“Do you know if he is a doctor?” Please say no. Her head tilted to the side and then her eyes widened. I knew the answer before she even opened her mouth.
“You might be right. I think he is. Sometimes he’d wear a white jacket, and I vaguely remember Amanda murmuring about knowing him from work. Oh God, do you think he had something to do with Amanda’s murder?”
“I’ve got to go,” I told her and grabbed my jacket.
I told my employees I was leaving, and they knew how to handle the rest of the night. We had a backup bartender they would call in to help until closing.
Racing to my car, I opened her up and peeled out of the parking lot, calling Echo’s phone over and over but with no answer. The square was probably too loud for her to hear it.
Phillip answered on the first ring and told me he’d dispatched everyone to the square but didn’t know who he was looking for. I told him everything I knew about Dr. Bellmont, the ward doctor that had been Amanda’s boss and lover. My hands gripped the wheel tighter as another thought ran through my head. He wanted Echo. He tried to kill her and had sent her flowers.
Echo was his next target, and he was going to take out whomever necessary to get her.