Page 84 of To Have and to Hold

Knox and I stood outside, latex gloves off and boots on the ground. We argued from the basement to the door, and we continued our match well into the front lawn.

“Ed’s dead, Knox, and the one other option we have is Abrams,” I said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever, in my entire life, used the word ‘cockamamie’ but at this point you’re forcing me to,” Knox replied. “We can’t afford any mistakes, and so far, linking Abrams to Ed is fucking ludicrous. Emme is still missing—”

“That’s the whole point!” I shouted.

“I know you don’t want to hear it but we need to go back to the precinct, go through her case file, and start at square one. Levi’s already at his desk doing just that.”

I resisted the urge to go nose to nose. “You are swinging so far out into left field.”

“This is my job, Spence. And I’m pretty sure, as someone close to Emme, you’d appreciate the amount of dedication I’m putting in.”

“I’m not pissing on your career,” I nearly roared, but controlled myself just in time. “You said it—this is someone I care about. She has precious seconds. For all we know, this well-timed bomb that hid a well-placed body was a warning system for the kidnapper, and now that it’s been triggered, he needs to start the next phase. This”—I pointed to the building—“could be the go ahead to kill her so he can wipe his hands clean of a crime that’s gone completely out of control. Maybe you discovered Ed’s body too soon. Maybe the bomb was meant to kill you and get you off his ass, but instead you came out unscathed. Or it was me that was meant to step through that door and not you.”

“Spence—”

“If I were the kidnapper, I’d be in a rage. And you know who I’d take it out on?”

Knox slammed a hand onto my jaw and kept it there. “Get under control. You’re spouting off on a conspiracy theory.”

I clamped a hand on his wrist and said through my teeth, “I feel like I’m the only one with a legitimate theory.”

“You’re trying to tell me that the kidnapper—sorry, Abrams—knew you’d take the mental leap from Ed Carver to himself, and therefore buffeted any advance you could have by killing our top suspect and blowing up a house, hoping you’d be the one to step through the front door and I’d be picking up your body parts.”

Knox released my jaw and stalked away.

“Patronize me some more, Knox. That’ll get us closer to Emme.”

Knox rounded. “What’s the common denominator? Tell me that and I’ll humor you some, but until then I am not knocking on a district attorney’s door and accusing him of kidnapping and murder and arson!”

“You think I don’t know what this could do if I’m wrong? I wouldn’t be asking you to look into Abrams if I didn’t think I was right.”

Knox lost his steam. “Look, if what Jack’s saying is true, Abrams has some serious shit to hide.”

“There’s your fucking link.”

“And Ed?” Knox said, unfazed. “Where’s the connection there?”

“Ed Carver was an intellectually slow, socially awkward dude with a penchant for women’s underwear and a documented history with Emme. It wouldn’t take much to consider her past and see the greatest scapegoat that ever lived.” I bared my teeth. “This is the perfect crime. Reputation protected. I mean, look at you. You think I’m fucking insane for even mentioning the possibility.”

“So why not go to the source and avoid all the white noise? Why not kill Jack?”

I replied with the wryest smile in my arsenal. “Ironically, discovering the common denominator would be too easy. Jack and Abrams are directly connected. Sure, Jack was the one who confessed it all to me, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t buried in his history somewhere. Jack could’ve wrote a note, he did confess to his wife, which Abrams knew. So, then what, he’d have to kill them both? Okay, sure, he could’ve thought up something that would cause simultaneous death, like a house fire or a car accident. And maybe he was, until a few months ago when he met Jack’s daughter.”

Knox stilled, silent lights of the remaining fire engines drifting across his body. “What?”

“I spoke to Dave Hamid,” I admitted. “To see if Emme had ever come across Abrams or had any idea of her father’s past with him. She doesn’t have knowledge about what her father did, but Dave mentioned they’d met Abrams recently, at one of Emme’s events. It was approximately the same time Jack confessed the crime to his wife and probably told Abrams.”

If Knox was pissed at my interceding into the investigation, he didn’t mention it. “That was months ago, as you said. Meaning Abrams took a huge bet that Jack wouldn’t go to the authorities right away.”

“Or convinced him to wait.”

“Did Jack tell you that Abrams talked him into giving more time?”

“No, but it’s not a giant leap. And verifying the truth is only a phone call away. But think about it, if you want to give your former friend a heads-up that you were confessing to a crime they were both a part of, and your friend begged you for some time to get things in order, wouldn’t you do it? This is a district attorney for God’s sakes, a man who’s primed for the senate and less than a decade away from running for president. Yes, twenty years ago he murdered a girl, but people change, right? Or at least, you’d hope they would, considering he was once your best friend.”

“I’ve always been blown away by how easily you can get into criminal’s heads,” Knox said. “But I think this takes the cake. Every fucking tier of it.”

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