Page 17 of The Replacement Wife

“That was by accident, I assure you.” Elisa thought back to how excited Josh was when he took the financial analyst job a few years ago. “Assessing power line projects and the feasibility of—”

Rachel let out a fake snore. “I just can’t.”

Talking about Josh didn’t appeal to Elisa at all. She’d much rather talk about Rachel, who seemed charming and funny... and should have the chance to live a nice, long life. “It’s a stable job and he seems to like it.”

“I asked about it when we first met and his bottom line was ‘it keeps the lights on’ and I appreciated the practical nature of that.” Rachel crossed one leg over the other and tipped her head back, inhaling.

She seemed relaxed, so Elisa used the moment to segue into something more interesting—a subject only tangentially related to her potentially homicidal brother-in-law. “Where did you two meet?”

Rachel’s head dropped back down and she looked at Elisa again. “Dueling work conferences. He was at one and I was at another in the same hotel.”

Elisa realized Rachel never answered the job question. “What did you say you did for a living?”

“I didn’t.”

“Okay.” That was odd. Elisa couldn’t think of a reason to hide the information.

“Human resources.” Rachel treated Elisa to an I-know-you’re-fishing-for-information-about-me glance. “I give seminars and workshops.”

Elisa used to work in a hospital finance office, putting her accounting degree to work. Not all of her human resources dealings had been positive. She found the process hit-or-miss, depending on who you talked to, and everyone tried to talk with the one person who managed to get things done. “Workshops on what exactly?”

“Consulting on everything from hiring practices to workplace safety issues. I basically go into companies, assess problem areas, and set up plans for improvement.”

That sounded vague but Elisa figured most of Rachel’swork came with a confidentiality agreement. “Knowing what I know about the business world that sounds like a full-time job.”

“It requires more tact than I can muster most days.” Rachel shook her head. “The travel is the exhausting part. I end up living out of hotel rooms.”

A dizziness hit Elisa out of nowhere. She leaned back harder into the bench to keep the spinning sensation to a minimum. “That’s my nightmare.”

Rachel took a long sip of coffee before responding. “You don’t like traveling?”

Round and round. “I don’t leave a twenty-mile radius.”

Rachel laughed but when Elisa didn’t join in, Rachel slowly lowered her coffee mug to her lap. “Wait, really?”

“Don’t ask.” Not something Elisa intended to talk about today or with anyone but Harris. Trauma found ways of sneaking in, pushing past her defenses; she didn’t need to make things worse by throwing open the door and inviting it in.

“Well, the point is I met Josh, we talked, started hanging out.” As Rachel spoke her hand sliced through the air. Fingers moving. “Now we’re dating.”

Elisa concentrated on the words. She watched Rachel’s hand flip around. Didn’t let her mind wander any further than right there. “That’s a lot to happen in a few months, especially with you being in and out on trips.”

Rachel shrugged. “Well, we actually met a year ago.”

The spinning stopped. Elisa thought her breathing might have hiccupped a bit, too. “What?”

Rachel kept on talking with her hands as she looked aroundthe yard and spilled the details Josh had held back. “We were friends, then more . . .” She glanced over at Elisa and her smile disappeared. “Are you okay?”

No. Not at all. Elisa tried to stay focused while questions and timelines pinged in her head. “You know about Abby, right? His missing fiancée.”

“Of course.” But Rachel’s frown only deepened.

“Then you can see why I’m confused about the timing, about when you started as Josh’s girlfriend and when Abby ended.” Though Elisa now suspected Josh dated both women at the same time, which introduced a whole new reason why Josh might want to be rid of Abby.

“I... uh...” Rachel set her mug on the bench between them. “I never met Abby.”

“That wasn’t my point.” Elisa assumed that was obvious. Josh hid the timing and potential overlap. He knew cheating provided a potential motive. Rachel had to know. The police should care about this.

Elisa heard the footsteps first then Josh’s voice broke into the conversation. “Everything okay over here?”

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