Redemption (Colorado Crimes Book 4)

Chapter 9

Asher looked up and saw Tyler standing in the doorway with a puzzled look on his face. "Asher?"

"Hi."

Tyler narrowed his eyes and jerked his head to the side, silently asking Asher to come and talk to him on the front porch. Asher stood up, careful not to wake Adi. With great care, he handed the sleeping girl off to Summer. "I'll be right back." He whispered.

Summer nodded, clearly confused. She stood to go into Adi's room and put the girl to bed.

Asher joined Tyler on the front porch. "Did you need something?"

Tyler crossed his arms. "What were you doing?"

Asher leaned against the house, "Filling her in. Getting a list of possible suspects."

"Sure didn't seem like it, the way Adi was sleeping on you." Tyler glared at Asher. "I'm not blind you know."

Asher swallowed. He tried to sound innocent, "About what?"

Tyler jabbed him in the sternum with his index finger. "You know very well what. Like I haven't seen it recently. Staring at her wherever she goes. At her house for no reason in particular. Snuggling with Adi. Offering to make sure she stays up to date on things. She's my sister Asher. You have no right to be attracted to her."

"Actually, I do. I have every right to. She's an adult and can make her own choices." Asher refused to deny it. There was no getting out of it now. He liked Summer. A lot.

"You've known her for so long that you're practically her brother. It may have worked with Jack, Olivia, and Dominic, but I can see problems if you decide to become romantically involved with my sister." Tyler argued. "Just stay away from her."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. Ty, you don't boss me around. You don't boss Summer around. And wouldn't you rather it be me that she's involved with than some other random guy you don't know?"

Tyler's mouth worked but nothing came out. "I just don't want her to get hurt again."

Again? Asher would save that for another conversation. "She's hurting now. Her art is missing. I just want to help her."

"Is there something wrong?" Summer stood in the doorway, a thin blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"No." The men said in unison.

"Asher and I were just leaving, actually." Tyler said through gritted teeth. "I came to update you, but Asher beat me to it."

Asher smiled sadly at Summer. "See you later."

"Bye."

~~~~~

"Bye Mommy." Adi waved to Mommy as she hopped out of the car at school. Adi walked inside the school building and down the halls, soaking in the chatter of other students. The noises, the smells. To her, it sounded like happiness and smelled like cotton candy. But her friend Oscar said that it smelled a little bit more like old gym shoes. Nevertheless, Adi loved the place. She stopped at Ms. Bier's first grade classroom. Her classroom. Ms. Bier was her favorite teacher. She always smelled like strawberries and often gave the warmest of hugs. 

"Good morning Adi. How are you today?" Ms. Bier asked.

"Good morning Ms. Bier. I am doing good." Adi hung her backpack on her cubby hook and took out the supplies she would need for the day.

Inside the classroom, Adi meandered around until she got to her desk. Her friend Toby was sitting down at his desk already. "Hi Toby."

"Hi Adi. Guess what?"