The Heart of Lies

chapter 6



On the drive home from the Hilton, Emily phoned Isabel, describing what she’d witnessed in the hotel bar and her concerns for Maggie.

“I’m definitely going to do a background check first thing tomorrow,” Isabel asserted. “Just something in my gut tells me this guy is not what he seems.”

“You might be right. Let me know what you dig up. Until then, not a peep to Maggie.”

“Better not mention it to Camille either,” Isabel warned. “That resort presentation tomorrow night will give us an opportunity to watch him and Fiona in action.”

“Hey, were you able to talk your husband into going?”

“Alex actually was happy to go—said some of the partners at his firm were excited about going. He even suggested maybe we should buy one of the condos for ourselves, as a nice weekend retreat.”

“It would be nice for you two to be able to get away from your work once in a while. Perhaps you could even loan it out to a friend now and then,” Emily hinted.

“As much as I don’t trust Lucas,” Isabel said, “the thought of a weekend retreat does sound enticing.”

“It does, doesn’t it? Skiing and snowboarding in the winter, sipping hot cocoa by the big stone fireplace in the Lodge. Golf, tennis, swimming and boating the rest of the year,” Emily suggested.

“And don’t forget the hiking, biking, and picnics. Oh, and the upscale restaurant they’re planning to build up there,” Isabel added.

“Listen to us! We sound like we’re making a commercial to promote this resort,” Emily chided.

“I can see why this project could be a huge hit around here. There are a lot of people with money in this town just burning a hole in their pockets. No doubt they’ll be lining up to plunk down their twenty-five percent for a piece of that mountain, just as fast as Lucas can rake it in.”

“We’ll see tomorrow night, won’t we?”

“Say, how did your stakeout go tonight?”

Emily giggled.

“What happened?”

Just then Emily noticed another call coming in on her cell phone. “Hey, Colin’s calling me. Can I get back to you later?”

“No fair, you can’t leave me hanging like that!”

~*~

“Hello, Colin,” Emily answered, the lilt in her voice giving away how happy she was to hear from him.

“Hello, my hot lady PI.”

Colin’s deep, sexy voice always made Emily sigh. “What happened to smokin’ hot?” she joked.

Colin’s police detective buddy in New York City had dubbed her the smokin’ hot lady PI when they had flown there to interrogate a suspect a few months before. Somehow the nickname stuck for a while, until Colin’s departure to San Francisco.

“Well, I didn’t want to go overboard, give you a big head or anything,” Colin replied.

“I’m hurt.”

“I bet you’re pouting, aren’t you?”

She giggled.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t still think of you as smokin’ hot, Emily.” He laughed, then his voice turned sensually serious. “If I was there with you, you couldn’t stop me from showing you how hot I think you are. I ache for you, woman.”

“Okay, okay. You’re making me blush.”

“Glad to know I can do that even from a long distance. All joking aside…I do ache for you, Emily. I’m hoping I’ll be able to come and visit before too long.”

“I would love that. This long-distance relationship is excruciating.”

“Agreed. I’ll let you know when I can work things out. But until then, tell me how your gig went tonight?”

“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

“Try me.”

She explained the case of the suspected philanderer and how she discovered the truth, including her disguise. Between laughs and giggles, she did her best to describe the man’s red negligee and slippers, as well as the advice she gave him to come clean with his wife.

Colin laughed deeply as she painted the visual image—the kind of thoroughly satisfying belly laugh that gave Emily pleasure just hearing it.

Then their conversation took a serious turn. Emily explained to Colin what she had observed in the hotel bar between Maggie’s new man and his assistant, and how it seemed suspicious to her, even though it might have been completely innocent.

“I have a bad feeling about it,” she said, pulling her car into her driveway. “Isabel is going to do a background check in the morning, see if we can dig anything up on him.”

“I hope for Maggie’s sake she doesn’t find anything,” Colin replied. “From what you’ve told me, she’s been waiting for a good man for a long time.”

“She has. Maggs raised Josh alone and now he’s off to the Navy. Even though she’s late for just about everything and she doesn’t know how to keep a secret, she is one of the sweetest, kindest people I know. She’d do absolutely anything for a friend.” Emily turned the engine off, set her Bluetooth in the console, and raised the phone to her ear.

“She’s lucky to have you, Emily.”

Emily climbed out of her car. “Not just me, Isabel and Camille, too.”

With the wide front porch illuminated by the lamplights on either side of the front door, Emily stuck her key in the lock and went inside her bungalow.

“They were all there for me when Evan died, and we’ll all be there for Maggie—however this thing turns out.” She flipped on the inside foyer light and kicked her shoes off as she went to the kitchen.

“If there’s anything I can do to help, just ask,” Colin offered.

Emily turned on the kitchen light and pulled the wig and glasses off with her free hand. As she laid them on the breakfast bar, she noticed the back door was unlocked and partly open. Her heart began to beat hard at the realization.

“Colin, I think someone’s been in my house.” She closed and locked the door, then pulled her gun out of the back of her waistband.

“What makes you think that?”

“The back door was ajar. I’m sure I locked it before I left. I always lock it. I’m going to set the phone down and check the house. Stay on the line.”

“Wait!” She heard Colin holler into the phone, but she had already set it on the counter.

Emily drew her gun and crept from room to room, peeking around corners, behind shower curtains, and into closets. After a thorough search, she felt confident whoever had been there was gone.

She picked up the phone. “All’s clear.”

“Emily! You should have stepped outside and called the police to come and search the house. The perp could still have been in the house and you’d be dead.”

“You forget, Colin, I’m not just any helpless woman. Please don’t treat me like I am.” Emily knew Colin was just being protective, but she didn’t appreciate it.

Even though he had lost a fiancée to gunshot wounds, and she had lost her husband to a bullet, Colin needed to remember that she was a gun-carrying private investigator who’d decided a long time ago not to shrink from danger.

Emily had read his over-the-top protectiveness early on in their relationship as a lack of respect. She had suggested to him that maybe they should both date other people—people with safe, boring jobs.

His response was to grab her and kiss her so deeply that her body melted against him and he had to support her as her knees went weak.

Even though they had both been in dangerous situations since that pivotal kiss, with him as a police detective and her as a private eye, they had never discussed fears about each other’s safety again—until now. Perhaps it was the distance that made Colin feel so out of control, of no help to her at all.

Emily padded to the living room and sunk down the sofa. She laid her gun down on the coffee table before drawing her feet up under her.

“I know you’re not just any woman—you’re lovely and sweet and kind—but you’re also stubborn and pigheaded and ugh! I care for you, Emily. I—”

“Hold that thought.”

The photo of Evan and the mystery woman was missing from the coffee table. She glanced around the floor. Had it fallen? No.

She remembered clearing the food and drinks after her guests left. The photo was the only thing she purposely had not cleared away.

“It’s gone!”

“What’s gone?”

“The photo.”

~*~

Distraught over the missing photo, Emily phoned Isabel once she’d hung up with Colin. Apologizing for the lateness of the hour, she told her friend about the break-in and the stolen photo.

“Oh, Emily! Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“Did you call the police?”

“Yes. I called Colin’s friend, Ernie, after I checked to see if anything else was missing. Seems like the photo was all they took. I told Ernie just to file a report, no need to come over.”

“I wonder why someone would want that old photo.”

“Do you know if anyone besides Jethro knows about it?”

“Maybe he made a few calls or sent some emails about it already, trying to find something out for you,” Isabel guessed.

“Yeah, maybe. Can you check with him? Because if that’s the case, then someone he told didn’t want me to have it.”

“Perhaps they don’t want you snooping around, uncovering their real identities. Do you want to spend the night here?” Isabel offered.

“No. I think they already got what they came for.”