Page 10 of Calling All Angels
Emma staggered back a step and leaned against a wall, something niggling at her memory.
“What?What…exactly do you mean, an encounter?” Aubrey asked as her boyfriend, Jacob, moved beside her, putting an arm around her shoulder.
“We’re trying to connect some debris found on the road with your aunt’s car accident. Also the piece of debris found on the scene.”
“What kind of debris?” Jacob asked.
“Some parts of another car’s bumper. Pieces of a headlight. Some impact paint scrapes on the rear fender of your aunt’s vehicle. It could have been a simple hit-and-run or something more intentional.”
Aghast, Aubrey said, “You think that someone hit her on purpose?”
Emma turned a stunned look back at Connor, watching the scene from the doorway to her room. He looked quickly away. His indolent lean against the hallway door held no answers and did nothing to distract her from the kick of unwelcome attraction she felt toward him. There was no denying his beauty. Aristocratic yet raw. Honestly, his mouth alone was enough to cause her to break out in a sweat, with that full lower lip always bent in a sexy scowl. A disapproving, sexy scowl. Why was it that she was always attracted to men who judged her? He certainly made no secret of it even as he attempted to seem unconcerned with her plight. He seemed anxious for her to get on with it. Whatever “it” was.
But there was something else. Something in his gaze when she caught him studying her. Something she couldn’t quite identify, yet vaguely familiar. Or perhaps it was just the feeling that she found familiar.
Men.
Even male angels confounded her. And that she’d even justthoughtthe wordangelswas enough to make her feel like she was losing it. Where was Gran when she needed her?
“Is there any reason you know of that someone might want to harm your aunt?” the officer asked Aubrey, opening his small flip notebook.
“No. Why would they? Everyone loves her.”
Her words sent a warm feeling rushing through her. Her friends, the women who worked for her, were her family. Her only family outside of Aubrey.
“Husbands? Ex-husbands? Boyfriends?” the officer asked. Emma’s thoughts raced in a new direction. “Disgruntled employees? Ms. James owns a successful real-estate company, is that right?”
“Yes, she owns it. She built it from the ground up. All of her employees are friends. Women, mostly. Women who needed jobs. Even I’m interning there this summer. And no, she’s not married. She’s never been married. She was—is—pretty much married to her job.”
Heat rose to Emma’s face.Married to my job? Is that what she thinks?
“There was a guy she was dating,” Aubrey continued, “sort of half seriously for a year or so. But he’s out of the picture now.”
“Happen to know his name?”
“Drake. Drake Lasserman.”
Drake would never—
“He’s a lawyer,” Aubrey went on. “Works at the law firm Billford, Bradley, and Cutler. But,” she said, “it couldn’t be him.”
The cop narrowed a dubious look at her. “You sound pretty certain.”
“It was over. He knew that. She made that clear.”
“I never liked that guy,” Jacob muttered.
“Why’s that?” the officer asked.
Jacob made a face. “Some guys you just know. They’d sucker punch you when they got the chance or step on you on their way up. That’s Drake Lasserman in a nutshell. I’ve seen him in action in the courtroom.” He shook his head.
Sadly, Emma had to agree. Drake was a jerk. Why had she even dated him? What was wrong with her that she always picked the wrong men?
“You a lawyer, too?” the officer asked Jacob.
“Yeah,” he said, extending his hand to the officer. “Jacob Warner.”
Jacob had never voiced his opinion about Drake to her, but she knew that Aubrey hadn’t ever liked Drake. She’d made that pretty clear early on. Despite her youth, Aubrey had seen coming what Emma hadn’t much sooner. But Drake wanted control. Emma wasn’t about to let anyone control her.
