by Darby Kane
She swallowed the edge in her voice and tried one more time. “Has Lila checked in with you today, Ms. Torres?”
“She came in this morning.”
Ginny felt her patience slip. “And?”
“She said Aaron didn’t come home or go to work for a few days.” Christina leaned back in her oversize black leather chair. “I told her to take whatever time she needs.”
“To do what?” Pete asked.
Christina’s eyes narrowed as if she were trying to hide her exasperation and failing miserably. “Excuse me?”
Enough of this. Ginny put her body right in front of the desk. When Christina shifted to get a better look at the outer office, Ginny stepped sideways and blocked the view. The move said listen to me, which is exactly what Ginny intended. “Do you know Aaron?”
“He stops in sometimes when she’s working late. But generally, no. And before you ask, I haven’t seen him in a few weeks.”
Pete glanced at Ginny before turning back to Christina. “Your grip on the armrests and the tightness in your voice make it sound like you’re not a fan of his.”
Christina let go of the chair and flexed her fingers a few times. “Lila’s marriage is not my business.”
The woman didn’t care that a man was missing, and Ginny knew that meant something. Having to drag it out of Christina only added to the tension pounding through the room. “Pretend it is.”
Phones rang in the outer office. A man walked in and dumped his keys on a desk at the front. He picked up the phone, all without looking at the people standing at the back of the room.
With the interruption handled, Ginny stared at Christina again. “Well?”
Silence descended. No one said anything until Christina finally started talking. “Aaron doesn’t support her career.”
“Did she tell you that or did he?” Pete asked.
“I have eyes.” Christina rolled them as if for added impact.
Ginny wasn’t in the mood to play. “Elaborate on that.”
“I see him here, how he talks with her. It’s very different from how he acts out in public and on the field.” Christina glanced up from the pen she was holding. She must have seen the question on their faces, because she answered before they could ask. “Both of my daughters play field hockey. Aaron is the assistant coach.”
Information they knew. A fact they’d learned early from Brent and others at the school and filed away to assess later. “Different how?”
“He’s charming. People love him.” Christina picked up the pen again and spun it between her fingers. “But in here, talking to Lila, especially in the last few weeks I saw him, he was in a hurry to leave and to get her home.”
That might fit with Brent’s comments. Ginny had trouble imagining Lila ever was the touchy-feely type, but Aaron being inappropriate in public didn’t fit with anything they’d heard about him so far either. “And before the last few weeks?”
“Dismissive but much better at hiding it.”
“Do you think that he treats her poorly? Is he demanding, abusive—what are we talking about here?”
Christina made a face, as if she was mulling over Pete’s question and deciding how to answer. “Aaron is one of those guys. All shiny and charming on the outside. Probably, though this is a guess, a condescending asshole at home.”
Knowing that not saying anything was the best way to keep people talking, Ginny remained quiet. She used a small shake of her head to telegraph to Pete to do the same.
“So, I guess not abuse.” Christina sighed. “More like he had this sort of how dare my wife have a job and not need me? aura to him.”
Not abuse. Whenever Ginny heard that phrase she wanted to explain how the definition encompassed more than hitting.
Ginny stepped out of the office and put her hand on the chair at the nearby desk. “Does Lila sit here?”
“Usually. She mostly uses the conference room for signings, but she reviews listings there.”
Pete walked around to the far side of the desk. Using the end of a pen, he moved a file and uncovered a pile underneath . . . and one more important thing. “Is this laptop hers?”
“Wait a second.” Christina came out of her seat and followed them into the outer office. She motioned for the man in the office to step outside before continuing. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t dig around there. That computer belongs to the office.”
They were waiting on the phone records to come in. Ginny wanted to move on a search of Lila and Aaron’s home, including grabbing the computers for analysis. She didn’t want to miss one. “Is this the computer she works on while doing business?”
Christina shook her head. “It’s an office laptop. She uses it sometimes. As do other people.”
“Does she ever take it home with her?” Pete asked.
Christina didn’t break eye contact with Ginny. “She’s an independent contractor. I don’t watch every move she makes.”
Pete touched the closed computer. “Then we can take it with us.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Ms. Torres, it feels like you’re fighting us when all we’re trying to do is figure out if Aaron is missing or if he chose to leave.”
Christina opened her mouth then shut it again. She shifted her weight from one foot to another. Ginny could almost see the battle waging in her head. How much to say? What to disclose? She got it, but she needed help, and right now Christina was one of the people with easy access to Lila, and almost no one else enjoyed that.
After all the fidgeting, Christina shook her head. “I don’t want you to twist anything I say and use it against Lila.”
Friendship. Admiration. Maybe a mix of both. Whatever the feeling, it snuck in and got in the way. “What do you have to say?”
“Nothing.”
Each question took them further away from an answer. Christina could have a natural distrust of people asking questions, but Ginny couldn’t tell if that’s what was ticking off the alarm ringing in her head. “Let me try this again. Do you know where she went?”
“No.”
“Would you say if you did?” Pete asked.
Christina’s eyes narrowed and her body stilled as she clicked right back into defensive mode. “Are we done here?”
Sensing they’d need to get answers elsewhere, Ginny offered her card and the usual spiel about calling if Christina saw Lila. A quick goodbye and she retreated with Pete to the street.
She abandoned her planned lecture, the one where she questioned Pete’s bedside manner, when she saw his confused expression. “What is it?”
“I interviewed people at the school today and a few neighbors. Christina is the first person who seems to like Lila more than Aaron. The school people were pretty lukewarm on her. Everyone talked about how she dressed and how put together she was. Nothing personal.”
“I don’t think we can draw any conclusions from that. Could just be that they see him more.” Made sense to Ginny. “Christina and Lila have the connection. Aaron is the spouse of and probably not much more.”
“Possibly. I wonder if Christina knows what Lila’s real name is and why she changed it.” Pete glanced at the people going in and out of the downtown coffeehouse before looking at Ginny again.
“She’s not the right person to ask, but I agree that Lila’s behavior continues to be odd.” Ginny couldn’t use the word “suspicious” because Pete would leap on it.
“With her husband missing, you’d think she’d be on top of us. She’s not checking in or asking about Aaron.”
Ginny had an easy answer for that one. “She wouldn’t be waiting around and worried if she knew he wasn’t alive anymore.”
Pete shot her a wide grin. “Now who’s jumping to conclusions?”
“Just stating the obvious.”
Chapter Fifteen
LILA STARED AT THE NEW NOTE.
YOU’VE BEEN VERY NAUGHTY.
She found this one slipped under the wiper on her windshield this mornin
g. Almost missed it until she put the car in reverse and started moving down the driveway. The paper flapped in the breeze and she slammed on the brakes.
Same as last time, it was typed on a white unlined index card. Blank back and no other words or writing on it. Nothing to give away the identity of its creator but the kind of paper that could be found in a school supply closet. A full sentence with a period, like a teacher or principal might write.
The tone was taunting but in a weird, somewhat playful kind of way. Condescending, which reminded her of Aaron, but the rest didn’t sound like him. But since he should be dead, she had no idea what the sentence structure meant, if anything.
She sat in the driver’s seat now and stared at the black ink. Turned the thick piece of paper over in her hands and tried to figure out her next move. If Aaron drafted it, it was only a matter of time before he sprang a trap on her or broke into the house and attacked or had her arrested.
If her new stalker was someone else, she expected some sort of blackmail request. Some end to this game. But with her luck, the one person who knew her secret valued creating chaos over getting cash.
Her mind drifted back to those damn videos. It tried to inch back further, to their years in North Carolina. She’d spent an hour last night wondering why they’d really had to move during the school year. Wondering what games Aaron had played with his students there.
“These are ugly and really thick,” the pretty blonde said as she tugged on the bedroom curtain. “Weird since your wife always looks so nice.”
“Let’s not talk about her.”
The young girl smiled as she got up on her knees in the middle of the bed and started to undo the buttons on her shirt. “We can talk about the things I can do for you that she can’t.”
“Crawl over here and show me what you learned from watching that video link I sent you.”
Lila closed her eyes, but the image refused to vanish.
Aaron had used their house to have sex with students. The bastard filmed this girl stripping down and talking about how he liked to take her on her hands and knees.
He insisted the video was just a joke. As if she didn’t know his voice, her own bedroom, or how he liked to have sex.
Fucking asshole.
A horn sounded behind her, and she got pulled right back to the present. She also dropped the card.
“Shit.”
She looked in her rearview mirror and motioned for the car to pass her. With one hand balanced on the wheel and the other on the front seat cushion, she felt around under the seat and mat trying to locate the newest threat. The last thing she needed was someone seeing it.
She sat up and bit back a scream when a shadow moved outside the driver’s window. A body. Male. He caught her off guard. So did the tapping against the glass and his motion for her to lower it.
The jumpiness moved into her chest. She prided herself on being unshakable, on being able to crush any emotion and not let fear or pain show. Ever since Aaron’s stupid car unexpectedly disappeared, she’d lost that gift. Now her mind bounced from thought to thought, and the perpetual shakiness in her hands seemed like it could be permanent.
She crushed the card in her palm and felt the rigid corner dig into her skin as she smiled up at the man in uniform. “Yes, sir?”
He barely spared her a glance as he gestured with what looked like a flashlight to tell other cars to pass them. Then he looked down, scanning her face and the inside of the car in one swoop. “You can’t park here.”
Airport security.
She glanced up at the sign next to the curb. Saw a few people exit the double glass doors, loaded down with luggage. “I’ll only be a few—”
“Move or I’ll tow you.” The security guard issued his command and headed for the car behind her.
The vehicles sat with engines running, all lined up near the front doors of Ithaca Tompkins International Airport. She could fly direct to exactly four cities, and none of them was outside of the United States, so she didn’t get the “international” part. But right now she needed quick access, so the name didn’t much matter.
A missing husband. Threatening notes. A detective of some sort shadowing her.
She’d ignored Ginny’s calls and the not-so-subtle suggestion she be home when Ginny got there to question her this morning. Traffic didn’t matter. The weather didn’t matter. Even that damn note scraping the skin off her hand didn’t matter.
This was where she needed to be, waiting for the one person she trusted to help her.
Chapter Sixteen
FOURTH MORNING WITHOUT AN AARON SIGHTING. TODAY they’d hit Aaron’s disappearance head-on. Interviews. Document dumps. Search warrants. Lila might be ignoring her phone, but Aaron’s brother and best friend Brent checked in nonstop about the status of the case. Brent kept dropping hints about Aaron not being very happy in his marriage.
Pete looked up from the mountain of paperwork on Ginny’s desk. “Do we need to put out a—”
“Wait . . .” Ginny’s answer changed just that second, as two people appeared in her doorway. “You’re here.”
Pete spun around. “Who?”
“Your message suggested I get here or you’d send half of New York’s law enforcement officers after me.” Lila delivered her explanation from her side of the doorway.
“Not half.” Ginny got up and held out her hand to the man with Lila. “I’m Ginny Davis.”
He wore a navy-blue suit on his lean frame. Tall with a bright smile. Very much in charge and holding a suitcase. Looked like he was made for desk work and not for outside labor, or any labor. The kind of guy who oozed charm but probably couldn’t rewire a ceiling fan.
A lawyer. Had to be.
“The investigator. Right. I’ve heard.” He took a few steps forward, leaving Lila at the door, and extended his hand. “Tobias Maddow.”
He had one of those voices. Low and soothing. She’d bet he could sell anything to anyone with the combination of that pretty face and the inviting tone. “And you are who, Mr. Maddow?”
“Tobias. Please,” he said in that smooth we can be friends voice. “I’m Lila’s lawyer.”
Yep, lawyer. Ginny could spot them a mile away. The slovenly type. The put-together type. Didn’t matter. They all had a look that, to her, said, I’m going to bullshit you now.
She waited until Pete and Tobias exchanged greetings then glanced over Tobias’s shoulder toward Lila. “You hired a lawyer? That was fast.”
Tobias shifted. The move was so subtle Ginny almost missed it. The perfect lean, just enough to block her view of Lila. To cut off the chance to read Lila’s gaze.
“I’m her former law partner and her current lawyer, if that’s actually needed. I’m hopeful Aaron will walk in the door soon and the rest of this nonsense can be forgotten.” Tobias glanced at Lila without losing one spark from his high-wattage smile. “Does she know about your past life in the law?”
Lila nodded. “I’m sure she’s been studying up on me for the last few days.”
Very true, but still. “My main concern is your husband.”
Tobias finally dropped his hand and took a step back. “Ours, too.”
“Really?” Pete asked.
The two men could play whatever testosterone-laden games they wished. This was her case, and she was not about to let anyone interview Lila but her. “We went to your office to speak with you.”
“For the record, I mostly work from home.”
Tobias shot Lila a quick side glance before smiling at Ginny again. “She likely was at the airport, picking me up.”
Lila held up both hands. “See? No big conspiracy to avoid you, though I can see why people might.”
Ginny ignored the glass walls and the audience both inside and outside of the small tension-filled room and kept her focus on Lila. Keeping with her usual people skills, Lila didn’t attempt to put on a show or make a good impression. There was nothing warm and fuzzy about her, and that intrigued Ginny. A lawyer, so
meone trained who had worked in criminal law, should know how to play this game better. The fact Lila didn’t even try felt purposeful. Like a challenge.
“No, you were busy out there, finding a lawyer. And one from out of state. Interesting choice.”
Once again Tobias responded for Lila. “I’m licensed to practice in New York as well as North Carolina. Call me an overachiever.”
Lila never broke eye contact with Ginny, and that continued as she spoke. “You had questions for me?”
“I’m excited to hear your answers.”
Tobias nodded. “Let’s get this over with so Lila can get back to finding her husband.”
They filed into the small interrogation room down the hall from her office. She and Pete sat on one side of the desk. Lila and Tobias were on the other.
This would be informal. Not too daunting.
Before Ginny could lay any groundwork, Lila broke into the silence. “What have you been doing to find Aaron?”
An attempt to throw her off, maybe? If so, she failed. Ginny had been playing this game long enough to not let the potential suspect take over. “I’m assuming he’s still not home.”
“He’s not anywhere.”
“We expect the news to catch on to Aaron’s absence today. I’ve been to the school, and the kids and teachers are talking.” Pete shifted in his seat, causing it to creak and moan beneath him. “Brent says he can’t keep anyone’s focus on class, including his own.”
The words just sat there for a few seconds. No one said anything until Lila finally shrugged. “Okay.”
Stone-cold. If someone asked Ginny to describe Lila, that would be the first thing she’d say. But there was more to her. A heat that simmered beneath the surface. She didn’t fidget or panic. In so many ways she seemed dead inside, but Ginny didn’t miss the other pieces. The intelligence in Lila’s eyes. The pain that sometimes flashed across her face before she spoke. The way she would stare as if she were looking deep inside you.
Still, she didn’t get how Lila ignored the load of scrutiny headed straight for her. “You’re not concerned?”
Lila’s eyes narrowed. “Should I be?”
