Asher: Heartless Devils MC by Kathryn Thomas Page B

Asher asked, as Porsche’s engine whined to life.
     
    “Not for the last couple of years. I always had other plans. Now it would be weird to take it up again. He seemed happy, so it’s probably better this way.”
     
    Asher glanced at her doubtfully before backing out of the guest parking and pulling out into the nearly deserted street.
     
    “I want to go to my place, okay? I need to get a few things,” she said.
     
    “What?”
     
    “For one thing, you have almost no seasonings or spices other than salt, pepper, and ketchup. And I want my apron. You’ve seen me cook. I get stuff everywhere. And beer for Christmas dinner isn’t going to cut it. I have a bottle of wine that will be perfect.”
     
    Asher rolled his eyes. He didn’t even like wine but having a beer with turkey did seem a little strange. “You know, Denny’s is open. They have turkey and dressing, the works, and you don’t have to cook it. That’s where I normally go.”
     
    “I would rather eat my shoes.”
     
    He snorted out a laugh. “Okay. Fine.”
     
    “Why don’t you go fill the car up and pick me up back here?” she said as he stopped the car in her parking place.
     
    “I think I should come up with you.”
     
    “Oh for pity's sake. It’s a secured building. Nothing is going to happen to me. Just go fill the car up, and I will be right here waiting on you when you get back. We need to hurry or dinner is going to be late.”
     
    He thought about it and relented. She was right. They were already in the secured garage, and nobody had made a play for her other than that dumb ass at the bar… and she had started that by being where she shouldn’t have been. “Okay. I won’t be but a few minutes.”
     
    As Jenny headed up to her apartment, her mind once again returned to April. Why had she decided to leave? They certainly seemed happy in the photos, and she could vouch that it wouldn’t have been a problem in the bedroom department. How could any girl walk away from that?
     
    She strolled past the empty security desk, but she didn’t give it much thought. There was supposed to be a guard there 24/7, but they had to use the bathroom sometime, and she had seen the desk empty before. She rode the elevator up to her floor, mentally checking off the spices she would need. She swiped her key card and pushed her door open, stepping into the room. She had just stepped inside when she realized it hadn’t beeped at her as it normally did. She was turning back to the door in puzzlement when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Before she could turn, she felt a piercing pain in the back of her head, followed by blackness.
     
    ***
     
    Asher drummed his fingers on the wheel of her car. “I’ll just be a minute, she says. I’ll be waiting when you get back. Just wait here. I won’t be long, she says,” he muttered under his breath. He glanced at the clock in the car. It had been more than fifteen minutes now. Swearing slightly, he got out of the car and headed up to the apartment to see if she needed a hand and what was taking her so long. As he walked down the hall towards her door, he began speeding up in mild alarm. The door was ajar, which was very un-Jenny like. He pulled his weapon and moved inside where he saw the floor lamp that lived beside the door had been knocked to the ground and smashed.
     
    “Jenny? Jenny!” He moved quickly to the bedroom and then the bath beyond, but there was no sign of her. Other than the lamp having fallen over, there was no sign of anything happening at all. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, as he raced out of her apartment and down the stairs, not bothering with the elevator, desperately trying to catch up to people who had taken her. People he didn’t know, taking her to places unknown.
     
    ***
     
    When Jenny returned to consciousness a few minutes later, she was in a cargo van with several turns of duct tape around her wrists and ankles and another piece across her