Repay No Evil Chapter 1

****Author's note - I've decided to change some things in this novel so what was true in the first one may not be in this one. Partly because I want Ashley's character to be a deeper character. I haven't decided yet whether or not this would become the first novel in the series or whether the previous one would. If it is this one then Nate and Ashley's relationship would start completely over. Just warning so no one is confused. Take this one as though the other one hadn't been written :) If you haven't read that one this will be easy!****


Ashley’s feet hit the pavement. One foot in front of the other. One more time around the neighborhood. Her legs were burning, the air was beginning to sting her lungs but she pushed harder. There was no one running against her. No one chasing her, at least not now, but still she ran. Her ponytail swished against her neck while sweat dripped down the side of her face. She wiped it away with the back of her hand. Music drummed in her ears through her IPod.
As she turned the corner onto her street, her house came into view. She should stop. Ashley had lost track of how long she’d been running but it didn’t matter. It could never be long enough.
“Ashley!” Even through her ear pieces she could hear her name. She stopped short and looked around. “Ashley!” With one hand Ashley pulled the headphones out of her ear.
Turning in a circle, Ashley searched the street but saw no one. Was it her imagination? Ashley stood still and waited.
“Ashley, over here!” Ashley followed the voice to her own driveway where her eyes finally landed on Ella Kingsbrook, her new good friend.
“What is it?” Ashley concentrated on slowing her breathing as she approached the front gate of her house.
“There’s been another murder.” Ella’s blue eyes were puffy and red. Black tear tracks ran down her face. Strands of wavy blonde hair fell in her face and she made no attempt to push them away. Something definitely was wrong.
“What? Where?” Ashley maintained eye contact with Ella while leaning forward to place her hands on her knees and catch her breath.
“I just heard it on the news. They found another girl. Another girl, Ashley. He’s killed again, I know it’s him.”
Ashley opened her front gate and made her way up the sidewalk to her front porch. She stopped short when she noticed two small kids sitting on her stairs. “Hi Drew, Paige.”
“Hi Miss Ashley.” Paige smiled at Ashley but Drew looked away. After six months of friendship with Ella, Drew had yet to say a word to her.
“Are you babysitting again?” Ashley bit her lip to keep the irritation out of her voice. Ella was an interior designer not a babysitter.
“You know I want to. It’s for Amy.”
“What about Wes?”
“He’s a friend too.”
“He’s going off the deep end, Ell.”
“His wife was murdered not even a year ago, what would you have me do?”
Ashley turned back to Ella and held her hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to fight you. I just want to know if Wes knows how good he has it.”
Ella forced a smile, “He’d have it better if his wife hadn’t been murdered by a crazed killer and I’m telling you Ashley he’s killed again. This is the fourth girl in not even a year. What are the police doing?”
“Come on in, Ell, let’s talk about it while the kids play a game or watch a video.”
“Yea, yea, you’re right, I’m not thinking straight.” Finally Ella pushed the hair out of her face and wiped the tears with her fingers. “Come on Drew, Paige, lets get inside, Miss Ashley will let you watch a video.”
“Oh yea!” Paige jumped to her feet and ran up the remaining three stairs to the front porch. Drew slowly pushed himself up and followed his sister to the front door. Each time Ashley saw Drew she became more convinced that he had seen something. Whether he had seen his mother’s murderer was unclear and Ashley was having a hard time getting him to open up despite her best efforts.
When Drew and Paige were sitting on the couch watching Dora, Ashley poured Ella some iced tea and then poured herself some Gatorade to rehydrate her body. It was early June in Virginia, technically still spring, yet the temperature was already above 90. Ella and Ashley sat at Ashley’s round kitchen table. Ella had suggested the table for the morning room and Ashley had since enjoyed drinking her energy shakes and coffee at it and looking at the open land behind her house.
“It’s him, Ashley, I know it is.”
“You’ve said that. What makes you so sure?”
“I just heard they’ve found another body. It was another female in a suburban home. Her husband found her when he got home from his business trip.”
“But Ella, a lot of women die like that. It could have been anything.” Ashley took a sip of her Gatorade. She didn’t really like the taste of it but it was better for her then water after such a hard run.
“No, the police said they suspected foul play. One of the reporters asked if this could be the work of a serial killer. They asked if could be Solomon and I knew it was.”
“Did the police say it was?”
“No, they didn’t say anything. Didn’t say if there was a note or not.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t get too worked up over it. Maybe it’s unrelated. The press likes to make a story out of anything and they could have been blowing things out of proportion.”
Ella ran her hands over her hair to smooth it into place. Wavy strands still managed to escape despite her best efforts. Ella’s face was more red then usual and it made her freckles stand out all the more. Ella was a small girl, at least six inches shorter then Ashley but she was just as thin. She wore rings on most of her fingers except for her ring finger on her left hand. She was not married and did not want to give the wrong impression. Ella had been searching for Mr. Right for a long time. Ashley wanted to tell her not to bother. The pain of losing a loved one was greater then not having them to love in the first place. There were many days Ashley wished she had never fallen in love with Donnie.
“I know you think that makes sense but I just know. Amy’s killer has struck again. He’s not going to stop. Why won’t the police get the FBI involved?”
“The FBI has to be invited into a case. And all of these murders have happened in different jurisdictions. The police can be slow moving at times. If this had been a child the FBI would have been there from day one but these are grown women and they’ve had good suspects.”
Ella grunted, “Wes shouldn’t be a suspect.”
“But he makes sense, Ell. He’s close to the first victim and serial killers like to start close to home. And the police always question the spouse.” Ashley paused and waited for Ella to reply. Instead Ella just sat quietly avoiding eye contact. “What has you more worried that Amy’s killer has killed again or that Wes is the one behind them all?”
Ella looked up at Ashley, “I don’t know. I can’t imagine Wes doing anything like that. He’s such a sweet guy. He’s good with the kids.”
“But he gets frustrated. He works long hours; he isn’t always there for them. Just like he wasn’t there for Amy.”
“He’s coping the best way he knows how.” Ella once again looked away from Ashley. She looked like she was working up the nerve for something though Ashley had no idea what. They had been friends for six months. Ella was the first person to introduce herself to Ashley when Ashley moved into the neighborhood. Even though Ella didn’t actually live in the neighborhood she was around all the time to help Wes with the kids. After her best friend’s murder, Ella had been looking for some female companionship. Apparently she felt that Ashley fit the bill. Ashley had not been looking for friends of any sort yet Ella continued to make herself available. After a while Ashley stopped fighting the invitations and found herself enjoying her time with Ella. But today was different. Today there was a strain that she couldn’t put her finger on.
“What is it Ella?”
“What if you talked to Drew again? He didn’t open up before but maybe he will now.”
“If Wes asks me too I can. You’re not his legal guardian.”
“Can’t you just talk to him casual like. He’s here now, maybe he’ll say something.”
“Ell, you know I’d love to get him to talk to me but this isn’t the place. If the court appointed me to look into his case then I would. If his father asks me as a friend I would but I can’t just interrogate a six-year old boy. He’s been through something extremely traumatic. He was only five at the time of his mother’s murder. Even if he saw something he may not remember.”
“But you’re trained to talk to kids.”
“I am but it doesn’t work like that. I can’t make him talk if he doesn’t want to.” Ashley gripped her Gatorade tighter and hoped that Ella would drop the subject. She liked to keep her job as a Forensic Psychologist separate from her personal life. She had already talked to Drew about the murder shortly after meeting Wes and Ella but Drew had not opened up about anything and Ashley was not going to push the issue with him. The boy needed counseling and that wasn’t Ashley’s job. The bulk of her work was spent interviewing children who had been abused by their parents and children involved with custody cases after which she would inform the courts what the best course of action would be for the child’s well-being. Very occasionally she was called in to talk to a child witness in a major case. She had been cleared to work with the FBI but had yet to be called as a consultant.
Ella sipped her ice tea and nodded at Ashley. “I know you can’t make him. I just want him to talk so badly. I swear he saw the man that did it and it’s locked in his brain of his. I just wish it would come out.”
Ashley placed her hand over Ella’s wrist. It was the friendly thing to do after all even if the physical contact made her cringe. “If he did see something then in time it will come out. I can promise you that.”
Ella nodded. The strange look of hesitancy remained on her face. Ashley said nothing. If Ella wanted to ask something she would. Sometimes the best way to get information was to say nothing at all. Finally, Ella opened her mouth to speak, “Can I ask you one more thing?”
“Sure Ell, what is it?” Ashley swallowed another sip of Gatorade hoping her face didn’t show that she meant the opposite.
“Would you call Nate? Would you ask him to get involved?”
Ashley almost spit out her Gatorade. In a moment of weakness Ashley had shared about Nate Zimmerman. Now Ashley regretted that moment even more. But Ella was right. If Solomon had indeed struck again then the FBI would need to get involved. And then Nate would once again be involved in her life. Ashley was pretty sure that thought scared her more then a serial killer on the loose who liked to prey on women in their homes.