Page 115 of Trusting Skulls

When I don’t, he gets up and moves to my other side. “You’re worried about testifying.”

I shrug. “It makes me wish I would’ve kept my mouth shut and not told the police anything. I’ll have to be in the same room with him.” I bite my bottom lip to keep it from trembling.

JD pulls me close and hugs me. “I’m going to take care of it. Don’t you waste one more second worrying about it.”

He squeezes me tight, and I want so hard to believe him, but I’ve already told the police everything. There is no way out of this.

“But how?”

“That’s for me to worry about.” He holds me at arm’s length and looks me in the eye. “Now, about this visit to Ash.” He wipes my eyes for me. “I want you to go straight to the warehouse. No detours. Call me when you get there, and I expect a call when you leave tomorrow.”

My gaze bounces over his face. There’s no sign of judgment whatsoever. “You think it’s okay that I go see him?”

“You’re an adult, Lexie. You and Ash have been apart long enough. I think your heart has been calling you to him for a long time now. I think it’s about time you listened to it.”

“What would I do without you?”

JD leans over and kisses my forehead. “You don’t have to worry about that either. I’ll always be here for you.”

My fingers tingle at the thought of surprising Ash as I drive. I drum them over the steering wheel, begging my heart to share some of the blood pumping through it with my extremities.

So far, Ash has always been the one chasing. I’ve never sought him out before.

When I get to the warehouse, I see there’s a party going on out back. Shit, I didn’t think about whether or not Ash would be busy. I don’t know if he’s even here. I pull up his location on my phone and see that he’s here somewhere.

I dart across the parking lot, hoping to go unnoticed. I’ll check his room first, and if he’s not there … well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

As I’m about to head up the stairs, someone whistles loudly, making me jump at least ten feet. I turn around to find Dirk sitting by himself at the bar with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

He chuckles darkly. “I’ve still got it.”

“Ha ha, very funny. It’s a good thing I don’t have heart problems.”

“Join me?” he asks, his crazy scary eyes letting me know it’s not really a question.

I glance up the stairs. So close yet so far.

Dirk pours two fingers of whiskey into his glass and then pushes it in front of me.

I politely decline. “I’m good.”

He nods, pleased that I passed his test. “Did you text JD to let him know you made it?” he asks.

“Oh shit!” I pull my phone out and quickly send him a message, telling him I arrived safely. “Thank you for reminding me.”

“You’ll eventually get used to having people look out for you.”

“Is Ash in his room?” I ask, hoping he’ll dismiss me soon.

He taps his glass on the bar before bringing it to his mouth. “Don’t know.”

It takes everything in me to keep my mouth shut. Laughter wafts in from outside.

“So, what are we doing?” I finally ask.

Dirk leans back in his chair, shrugging. “Just thought we could chat. I haven’t talked to you since you jumped off the side of that mountain.”

“I didn’t …”

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