What If You

widened as he inhaled a sharp breath.
“How do you know that name? My father would never have told you that,” he spoke through gritted teeth.
“Exactly, Mr. Remington.”
He looked out the window as the silence grew between us.
“You need to go to the police and show them the journal. In fact, my cousin is a detective with the NYPD. Why don’t you come over tonight and speak with him? He’ll help you.”
His narrowed eye studied me for a moment.
“You live with your cousin?”
“I’m staying with him and Diana while I’m in town.”
“You’re not from here?”
“No. I live in Rhode Island. I’m just visiting for a while.”
“Fine. I guess I can do that. I need to get this taken care of quickly. What time?”
“Seven o’clock. He should be home by then.”
“Alright. You can just text me the address,” he said as he rose from his seat, grabbed his coffee and the bag with the banana nut bread in it. “I’ll see you later.”
I gave him a smile before he turned and walked out of the coffee shop. Damn, he was sexy as sin.
On my way home, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner.
“Hey.” Diana smiled when she walked through the door.
“Hi. How was work?”
“Stressful as always. What’s going on here? Are you cooking dinner?”
“I am.” I grinned as I stood over the sink peeling potatoes. “Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and roasted parmesan-garlic carrots.”
“Wow. Sounds delicious. I don’t think I’m ever going to let you go back to Rhode Island. Did Mr. Remington give you a call today?”
“He did, and we met at my office.”
She let out a laugh. “Your office?”
“Yeah.” I smiled. “The coffee shop where I had met one of my clients.”
I opened the drawer and took out a sharp knife to cut the potatoes.
“And how did that go?”
“A lot of ‘crazy’ tossed around again. He wanted to know how I knew his father.”
“Oh. So I take it he still doesn’t believe you.”
“We’ll find out because he’s coming for dinner.”
“What!” she exclaimed. “Here? To my apartment? My boss? Mr. Remington?”
“Yes. He’s handing his father’s journal over to Daniel. I told him he could help him.”
“Let me guess, this is his favorite meal?” Her brow raised at me as she grabbed the bottle of wine sitting on the island.
“Yep.” The corners of my mouth curved upward.
“You’re really trying to make him believe you.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if he does or doesn’t. After reading his father’s journal, he won’t go through with the merger, his lawyer and uncle will be locked up in prison, you’ll still have a job, Mr. Remington will no longer invade my dreams, and all will be right in the world.”
“Does he know you’re cooking for him?”
“No.” I grinned.
“I have to go change. I cannot believe you invited my boss over for dinner. That is just weird, Everly. Weird!” She pointed at me. “It’s bad enough I’m intimidated by him at work. Now I have to be intimidated by him in my own home.”
“Aw, come on. He’s not that bad.”
“And you’re a liar.” She laughed as she walked out of the kitchen.

9
Asher
Before I approached the door of 21C, it opened and Everly stood there smiling at me.
“Hi,” she spoke.
“How long have you been standing there waiting for me?”
“Since the second you stepped out of the elevator.”
I slowly shook my head as she invited me inside. The aroma of meatloaf and mashed potatoes filled the air.
“Hi, Mr. Remington. Welcome to our home.”
“Hi, Diana. Thank you.”
“This is my boyfriend, Detective Daniel Langley. Daniel, my boss, Mr. Remington.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Daniel.” I extended my hand.
“You too, Mr. Remington.”
“Please, call me Asher.”
“Everly told me you found your father’s journal.”
“I did.” I sighed as I pulled it from my pocket and handed it to him.
“You two can talk all about it after dinner,” Everly spoke. “It’s ready, so go sit down.”
“Thank you, but I’m good. I really can’t stay.”
“Not even for homemade meat loaf, mashed potatoes and roasted parmesan-garlic carrots?”
I stood there and as my eye steadily narrowed at her. “How did you know? Wait. Don’t answer that.”
I glanced over at Daniel and a smirk crossed his lips. I hadn’t had homemade meatloaf in years. My mother made it all the time because she knew it was my favorite. I took a seat at the table next to Everly while Daniel and Diana sat across from us.
“My father wrote in his journal that if something were to happen to him, you’d need to look at his brother, Roland, because he would most likely be responsible for his death,” I said to Daniel.
“I looked over the coroner’s report, Asher, and it clearly states your father died of a massive heart attack. There was no indication he was murdered.”
“He was, Daniel,” Everly spoke as she cut into her meatloaf. “You’ll find the vile in the top left drawer of Roland’s desk. He keeps it locked and the key is with him at all times.”
“What’s in the vile?” Daniel asked her.
“That I don’t know. But whatever it was, it caused Mr. Remington’s heart attack. What I do know is that it’s untraceable.”
“Okay. I’ll dive into the journal tonight and we’ll open an investigation in the morning. You are requesting an investigation, right?” he asked.
“Yes. I am. I can only hold off on the merger for another day before my uncle and lawyer get suspicious, Daniel.”
“I know. We’ll get moving. I promise.”
“I appreciate it. Thank you. This is really good, Everly.” I gave her a small smile.
“Thanks. I knew you’d like it.” She grinned.
Everything had happened so fast and I hadn’t had a chance to process it all. My life at the moment felt as if it was unraveling. I said my goodbyes to Daniel and Diana, and Everly walked me to the door.
“Thanks for dinner. It was delicious.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “I’m just happy everything’s going to work out. It’s all your father wanted.”
“Yeah. I’m sure he did.” I gave her a small smile as