Page 32 of Killing Emma

“No,” Lydia blurts out, her face falling. “I’m sorry. I just… I was hoping to talk to you about… Um… I think my best friend is missing.”

I don’t flinch. “Okay… And you know you’re with a guy who can find just about anyone, right? Why call on me?”

“Because I don’t know if it’s the truth, and every little bit of digging I’ve done has come up empty. Jude’s looking into it now—and he’s coming up empty. He never comes up empty,” Henry adds, his tone difficult to read.

“Okay, so maybe there’s nothing to find?”

“If there was nothing to find, he’d find her,” Lydia says, folding her arms across her chest. “I know she’s missing. I’ve tried to call her so many times—and Kyle said he can’t reach her either.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to explain this better.”

“Kyle is my friend, and Emma Nightingale’s, divorce attorney. He’s been keeping a close eye on her with everything that’s been going on between her and Jared.”

I feel nauseous.

“Kyle reported her missing this morning,” Lydia continues, her pace quickening. “I’ve never been so worried. Emma hasn’t been in a great headspace since… Well, actually… I guess since she lost her mom—but then when she found out Jared was cheating…”

“So… You think she harmed herself?” I’m playing stupid, like the bile isn’t rising up the back of my throat. I knew they were connected. Manny came to that conclusion through some phone calls, but I thought it was distant at best. I’d never heard Lydia mention Emma's name.

“I don’t think she’d do that,” Lydia says, running her fingers through her blonde hair. “That’s not something that’s ever come up—but then again, I guess she never wanted to talk about herself. I knew it was a bad sign, but still… I just don’t think she’d do that.”

“Sounds like she—”

“Something bad happened to her. I know it,” Lydia cuts me off.

Yeah, I almost killed her this evening.

“I’ve got Jude digging into Jared, and he hasn’t been able to find anything. However, the guy had a lot of connections, and I don’t think he was clean based on what we’re finding.”

I nod, thinking back to the connection between the deadline I have and the time until Emma is divorced. It doesn’t take an idiot to put it together. However, I can’t give this information to them.

“She’s worth a lot of money,” Henry says. “But there was a prenup in place.”

“And her divorce will be finalized in thirtyish days,” Lydia adds. “I know that she saw that as her pending freedom.”

“You think her husband would have the balls?” I keep my tone cool, but I’m suddenly wishing I would’ve stayed the fuck home.

“I don’t think so,” Lydia says the words carefully. “He was really bothering her about getting back together.”

To cover the hit he put on her.

“And he’s linked up with his secretary.”

“Sounds like the kind of guy who might do something.” I fold my arms across my chest, thinking I might have to do something about him anyway.

Lydia sighs. “Well, there’s also her lawyer…”

This is news. “Why would he want anything to happen to her?”

“We found a connection,” Henry answers. “They have some kind of business deal going, and I’m not sure what it is. We’re looking into it. That’s all I’ve found for the last twenty-four hours of digging.”

“And what do you want me to do?”

Henry sighs. “If… If something happened to her, I want you to help me take care of it.”

Oh fuck. Now what am I supposed to do?

Chapter Fifteen

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