Ashley’s POV

I woke extremely early the next morning. I hadn’t really gone to sleep early, but I woke early. It was before 7:00. IN THE MORNING. It was crazy. I decided to go ahead and get up since I was awake. I sat on my patio with a giant cup of coffee watching the world around me. I really did love my house. I love where I live. Sometimes the world just has to slow down long enough for me to enjoy it. I ran errands all morning. I restocked my fridge and vacuumed my entire house. It was 2:30 in the afternoon when Sean called me to tell me that Jared wanted to go back to the bar—the one where the hot blonde worked. I agreed and promised to meet them there.

I landed early in the morning. I was exhausted. Sure, I was dedicated to this case, but I decided to sleep first. I found the Hilton, but instead of checking up on Alexander Rivers, I got my own room and fell asleep there.

I went to the coffee shop around 3:00. I wasn’t sure why; I was simply craving my caramel coffee. I spent about an hour fighting off Matt’s attempts at seducing me and then I wandered over to the studio. I was almost hoping that Sean would be there. He had told me he wouldn’t, but I went anyway.

I didn’t wake up until one o’clock in the afternoon. I hadn’t slept that late in years, and I bolted out of bed and hurried into the shower. I needed to find this mystery woman soon. The sooner I got out of Los Angeles the better.

Feeling fresh and clean, I walked down to the front desk to see if there was an Alexander Rivers staying there. There was not. There was, however, a Herbert Rivers. I chuckled to myself as I asked for his room number.

“Do you know if he’s been in or out today?” I asked the concierge.

“He left early this morning,” he answered.

“Oh, great. I was hopping he would still be around. We have a meeting together this afternoon, and I was wanting to go over all of our notes. You know what I mean?”