Southern Secrets (Southern 7)

"She went to lie down," Kallie says softly.

"I won't be long," I say, and she looks down at her hands and then looks up again.

"Asher," she says my name, and I look over to where Amelia's bedroom is. "She isn’t good with people helping her."

"Yeah, I got that pretty loud and clear," I say and she smiles and a lone tear escapes.

"She’s worth it," she says and then walks toward Amelia’s room. I want to tell her that I know she’s worth it. I want to tell her that I’m the one who isn’t worth it. All the support that this family has given me and I’m not worthy of any of it.

I grab my keys and walk out to the truck, the phone ringing in my hand. I see it’s Ethan. "Morning," I say, getting into the truck and starting it.

"We are at the clubhouse," he says.

"Be there in ten," I say and disconnect. When I get there, I see more cars than are usually there. I walk in, and the door is buzzed open right away. I look around and see that some of the guys are here.

Ethan sits at a desk with a cup of coffee in his hand, leaning back in the chair. Jacob stands with Casey beside him. "Morning," I say, walking toward them.

"Just in time," Casey says to me. "We were just going over the camera feed."

I sit on one of the desks while the screens fill with the back of the bar. "Nothing is out of sorts," Casey says, and then I see the door open and the light comes out from inside, showing Amelia walking out carrying the garbage bag.

She walks with her head down but something in the corner makes me sit up. "Stop it,” I snap out. "Go back a couple of seconds and look at the side corner." I point and Casey goes back and starts it again. You see a dark figure, but if you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn't have seen it. What caught my eye was the orange dot. "That’s a cigarette," I say and we all watch as the man steps out of his corner, flicking his cigarette. He moves behind her and lifts his hand, hitting her over the head. My hands go into fists when I see her fall. The figure stands over her, not moving. He turns and just walks away from her, his head down with a hoodie blocking his face. "We can’t see anything." I shake my head. "But.” I look up. "He left his DNA."

"I’m going to go out there and see if I can find it," Ethan says.

"He wasn’t there for ten minutes," I say. "He was camping out there, so chances are there are more than a couple to choose from."

I look back at Jacob, who shares a look with Casey as Ethan walks out of the room. "You were right," Casey says, shaking his head. "You lost me a thousand dollars." He walks over to me and slaps my shoulder. "Glad I lost this one."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, and he smiles. "I’ll let Jacob talk to you. I’m going to go and help my father."

I watch Casey walk out of the room and then turn to Jacob. "What am I missing?"

He stands there tapping his finger on the middle of table. "Have you ever thought about what you want to do in life?" I just look at him.

"To be honest, I don’t even know if I’m staying," I say, admitting it finally, and he just looks at me. "My whole life I went from place to place. I figured if I was supposed to be in one place, the universe would let me know." I fold my arms over my chest. "The fire burning everything I have was a sign I should be moving along."

"Or it could be a sign that you were wasting away at working on a farm when you should be following what you’re good at."

"And what is that?" I ask.

"Seeing you at the fire and then again last night. And here this morning proves to me what I’ve thought all along. You were made for this," he says. "Let's just look at what we just saw. Hell, I didn’t even see the guy in the corner."

"That doesn’t mean anything," I say. "I’m observant."

"You are more than that. You have good instincts," he says. "You had the scene of the crime closed off even before I got there last night. You are protective, you have problem-solving skills, and you have the heart for it. That’s not something that you learn. That’s something instilled in you."

"I never had anyone in my whole life care about what I did," I say, and I know I should stop. "Never had a father figure guide me toward the right path. Never had anyone give a shit at what I was good at. It’s a lot to take in and think about."