Page 34 of Little Did You Know

My lips quirked. "Actually, yes." I rolled a piece of gravel between my fingers. "We're friends now. She shows up occasionally."

Olivia drew her knees closer to her chest. "Did she ever try to get you back?"

"Yes, about a month after the divorce and about a week after my picture was on the cover of Forbes magazine. We talked, but I wasn't interested in being her bank account." I stood and extended my hand to help her up. "We should head back to the house. I have some business to attend to this morning, and you should try to get some sleep." I brushed a strand of hair, which had fallen out of her loose ponytail, behind her ear. "You look exhausted."

"Come with me?" Her voice was small, fragile.

My pulse hammered against my ribs. Every inch of skin remembered how she'd felt curled against me during the nightmare. Heat crawled up my neck.

"I can't." The words scraped out of my throat.

She pushed herself to her feet, wrapping her arms around her middle. A quick nod, eyes fixed on the ground. Understanding what I couldn't say.

Chapter Sixteen

The Florida sun blazed overhead, the air thick enough to chew. After a shower and fruitless hours of research on Emmett, I reached for my phone.

"This is Walker." The same no-nonsense tone I remembered from when we were younger.

"Hey, Walk." My voice caught slightly on our old nickname for him.

"Nicholas." A pause heavy with unspoken years. "Been too long."

I drummed my fingers on the desk. "How's the family?"

Walker's breath caught for a moment. "Good. You know, man, I never had the chance to thank you for the money you sent."

"No need. How is Lucas?" My hand tightened on the phone, remembering the call about his three-year-old's diagnosis.

A long pause filled the line. "He's better, not out of the woods yet, but we still have hope. Amy and I appreciate your help. I don't know that we can ever repay you."

I moved to the window, watching heat waves shimmer off the pavement. "That's not necessary. I hope it was enough."

"It was more than enough, man." His voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "We are forever grateful to you." The sound of a chair creaking came through the line. "Anyway, what's up with you?"

I paced the length of the room, my bare feet silent on the tile. "I was calling for a favor. Are you still in the P.I. business?"

A short, humorless laugh came through the speaker. "You know it. There's always another cheating bastard waiting for me to catch them."

I stopped at the edge of the desk, drumming my fingers against the polished wood. "Well, I don't have a cheating spouse, but I do have something I need some P.I. work on."

The sound of ice clinking against glass filtered through the line. "Sure, man, what's up?"

"You remember Emmett Ryan, right?" I held my breath without realizing it.

"Yeah, of course." Walker's tone sharpened with interest. I knew he would remember—we'd all gone to high school together, our lockers just doors apart.

"Something's up with him, and I need your help to figure out what." I went on to tell him about Olivia coming to live with me, the fire, the money, the lack thereof, and Emmett's disappearance, then asked him to dig up anything and everything he could on anything involving Emmett, Olivia, and Mr. and Mrs. Ryan.

"You think you're being scammed?" The detective in his voice replaced the old friend—sharper, more focused.

"Truthfully..." I rubbed the back of my neck, remembering my conversations with Olivia. "I don't think Olivia could hurt a fly. She's got this way of looking at the world like it hasn't disappointed her yet. But then again, I've been fooled by beautiful lies before."

I gave him my contact numbers and my email to send anything he found along with a bill for his services.

"This one is on the house, man." The professional edge in Walker's voice softened, replaced by something warmer, more familiar.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, exhaling slowly. "I appreciate that, but I prefer to pay for your services. You don't owe me anything."

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