Page 71 of A Step You Shouldn't Take

A sigh. “I get that. But can’t we try to work together to find Emma? If she really is in trouble, we both need all the help we can get.”

Kim squeezed my hand. “He’s right, Reed. We’ve got so little to go on.”

“You’re probably wondering why I care so much, huh?” I said to her. “Emma must sound like a nightmare to you. But she wasn’t always difficult. Most of the time, she was sweet and kind and smart. But sometimes, life just got the better of her.”

“She had some problems growing up,” Wyatt said.

“Kim knows.”

“What? About the…?”

“Yeah. About that.”

He raised an eyebrow, and I couldn’t blame him because usually, I wasn’t big on dredging up my family history. But Kim was different. That was the moment I realised she was more than just a client. She was a friend. And one day, if I ever got my life sorted out, I hoped she’d be more.

Go figure. I’d fallen in… Lust? Like?Love? with a woman about as far from my usual type as it was possible to get. I normally went for a girl who was easy-going, compliant, not at all clingy, and I’d ended up with an uptight, stubborn princess who’d invited herself along to fucking Ohio. Worse, she liked flowery, sparkly, fluffy shit.

But if we hadn’t been in the middle of investigating my sister’s disappearance, I’d have been doing everything I could to fuck that stick out of her pert little ass. Boy, that was some revelation.

And Wyatt was still staring at me.

“Can I see the tape?” I asked. “It could be a starting point.”

“Yeah, but don’t get your hopes up. I know the crowd of people she was hanging out with that night. They said she walked outside for a smoke in the early hours, and when she didn’t reappear, they figured she met someone else and…and went back to their place.”

I knew what he was thinking, but Emma never slept around. After our father ruined her, it took her years to hook up with Wyatt, and even though I wanted to kill him when I first found out he was screwing my little sister, I also knew she wouldn’t find anyone better. Or at least, I’d thought so at the time.

“I doubt she’d have done that.”

“Well, she walked outside, disappeared out of camera shot, and never came back.”

“Can I see the video?” Kim asked, and I knew what she was thinking too. If we found out where Emma was last seen, could we find an other-worldly witness? Much as I hated to admit it, that could be our best prospect.

“Wyatt?”

“I’ll get it.”

With Banks out of the room, I turned my attention to Kimberly.

“How’s your face? Do you need more ice?”

“A bit sore, but I think it was the shock more than anything else. Nobody’s ever hit me before. Well, apart from a drunk bride trying to do the funky chicken, but I don’t think that counts.”

And nobody would hurt her again if I had anything to do with it.

“Do you want a drink? Coffee? Water?”

She shook her head and put the ice pack on the side table. “I’m not thirsty. Is this good or bad? I guess it’s good that you’re speaking to Wyatt again, but Emma…”

“I’ll try to work on your case too. We still need to find Tim, but—”

“Of course you have to look for Emma right now. She’s your sister. Tim seems to take a break in between his crimes, and even though he failed with me, as you pointed out, I’d hope we’ve got a little leeway.”

“He might have waited three months after Jacqueline, but he’s escalating. Georgette disappeared years ago, and the intervals are getting smaller unless there are other victims we don’t know about.”

Kim’s gasp said she hadn’t considered that possibility. “You really think there might be? Georgette didn’t mention any other girls.”

“He could have used a different vehicle.”

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