The Pursuit of Lies (Book #4, Paradise Valley) (3 page)

Chapter 3

After turning in her report and video of the man pretending to be injured, Emily headed to the shooting range for a little practice. Though most of her work seemed to be following people and shooting them with a camera, documenting their wrongdoing for her clients, now and then she found herself working cases that are more dangerous. Keeping up on her shooting skills had saved her life on more than one occasion.

“Morning, Emily!”

Her head snapped around to see who was calling her name from the next booth over. “Ernie, what a nice surprise. Are you off today?” Ernie was a long-time police officer in Paradise Valley, an old friend of Colin’s father.

“I am, so I figured I’d come down here for a little practice.” He tugged his ball cap off and scratched his head. “So, how’d you do?”

She held up her paper target, which showed six holes in a close cropping in the center of the target’s chest.

“Nice job.” Ernie grinned widely.

Emily shrugged a shoulder. She was becoming a pretty good shot. “I heard you were having breakfast with Colin this morning.”

He shifted his weight to one foot and crossed his arms. “Yeah, I was, but he bailed on me.”

“Bailed on you? That doesn’t sound like him.” Emily holstered her gun.

“Said he’d been up half the night throwing up—must’ve caught a bug or something. Say, don’t you have your engagement party tonight?”

“We do. Oh, Ernie,” she laid her hand briefly on his forearm, “I hope he’s feeling better by then. I’m sure Camille and Isabel have gone to a lot of trouble to put it on.”

“I’m sure they have.”

“You and your wife are coming, aren’t you?” Emily reached for her jacket.

“That’s the plan.” Ernie nodded, scratching his head again before putting his ball cap back on. “I hope that boy is up for it.”

“Me too.” She wasn’t going to let a little bug ruin their special night. “I’ll give him a call. Hopefully it was just one of those crazy twenty-four-hour things.”

As Emily drove home she phoned Colin, but it went straight to voicemail. “Hey, Colin. Sorry I missed you. Call me back.”

She drove past his apartment, expecting to see his Jeep parked outside if he was home sick, but it was not. Maybe he was feeling better and went in to work.
She tried the station, but Stella, the receptionist, said she hadn’t seen him, explaining that he did call in sick a few hours ago.

He’s not at home or at work and he’s not picking up his phone. What’s going on?

Don’t jump to conclusions, Emily. It’s probably nothing.

Camille’s comments from the night before popped into her head. She’d claimed that she and Maggie saw someone that looked like Colin pulling into the parking lot of the Hilton Hotel with a blonde female passenger.

Emily shook her head, trying to erase the thoughts. It was ludicrous to think he was being unfaithful to her when he had just asked her to marry him. Colin was as honest and as stable as they come.

Her phone began to ring in her purse and she dug it out. “Hi, Isabel.”

“Good morning, Em. I had a quick question for you about the party tonight.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“Camille thought it would be fun to play your and Colin’s favorite song and have the two of you dance to it. Do you guys have a favorite song?”

“No.” Emily didn’t mean to answer so bluntly.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m just being silly. It’s nothing.”

“Doesn’t sound like nothing. What’s going on?”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I can’t find Colin. He was supposed to have breakfast with Ernie this morning, but I ran into Ernie at the shooting range. He told me Colin backed out, said he was sick, throwing up all night.”

“Eeew, that doesn’t sound good. Did you call him? See if he was okay?”

“Yes, but all I got was his voicemail. So I drove by his apartment, but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t at the police station, either.”

“He’s only been out of contact for a few hours, Em. Give the guy a break.”

“I know, I told you I was just being silly. But something doesn’t feel right, Is.”

“Don’t do this to yourself, hon. Colin is not Evan.”

“You’re right.”

Not long ago, Emily had discovered that her late husband, Evan, was not the man he had claimed to be. Perhaps these suspicious thoughts surrounding Colin’s whereabouts were rooted in Evan’s deceptive relationship with her. She expelled a long sigh. “I simply need to relax and wait for him to call me back.”

“Exactly. Now, about that song.”

~*~

Emily went home and took a long, hot bath, trying to take her mind off Colin until she heard back from him. She stepped out of the tub and wrapped her big fluffy towel around her chest as her phone began to jingle on the counter.

She snatched it up without checking to see who was calling. “Hello.”

“Hey, Babe. I got your message. What’s up?”

“I was worried about you. Are you all right?”

“Worried? Why?”

“I ran into Ernie and he said you cancelled breakfast with him because you were sick, and then Stella said you called in sick to work this morning.”

“Yeah, I had a bit of a bug last night—maybe it was something I ate—but I’m feeling much better.”

“Then you’re fine for the party tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Now she really did feel silly for making such a big deal over him being out of pocket for the morning. She thought it best not to mention she drove by his apartment when she couldn’t reach him by phone. That would only make her seem clingy and insecure. But still, where was he?

“I’m going in to work this afternoon for a little while,” he said, “but I’ll be by about a quarter to seven to pick you up.”

“I’ll be waiting, sweetheart.”

~*~

Decked out in the little black dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, Emily stood before her bathroom mirror. She sprayed a bit of her favorite perfume on her neck and applied her smoky-rose lipstick. “There.”

The doorbell rang.

After slipping into her black stilettos, she dashed to the front door. She opened it and Colin’s face lit up when he saw her.

“Wow! You look beautiful, Emily.” He stepped over the threshold, not taking his eyes off her.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, mister.” She closed the door behind him, smiling to herself, feeling his eyes still on her rear view. Music played softly in the background as she floated to him. He looked handsome in the same black suit and starched white shirt that he had proposed to her in a couple of weeks before.

She looked up into his sexy hazel eyes. Instinctively, as she came close, his arms slipped around her slender waist and her hands glided over his muscular shoulders. She began to sway with the music as their gaze locked onto each other’s.

In response, he swayed with her. She enjoyed the warmth of his body against hers.

“This is our song,” she said softly.

“It is?” he said in a low tone, continuing to move in unison.

“Isabel called me today and asked what our song was. I didn’t know we had one, but I had to give her something. The words to this song popped into my head.”

“Hmm, our song. Sounds like Frankie Valli’s ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You’.”

“That’s right,” she sighed, laying her head against his shoulder, quietly singing along.

Colin joined in, finishing the line.

“What do you think?” Emily lifted her head from his shoulder and gazed up at him.

“I think I love you.”

“No, silly, about the song.”

“I think it’s perfect.”

“That’s good, because they want us to dance to it at the party tonight.”

“What?” Colin stopped swaying and pulled back a little. “Why?”

“I guess the girls thought it would be romantic.”

“And what do you think?”

“I agree. Don’t you feel romantic dancing with me to those words?”

“Well, yeah, but we’re alone.” He leaned down and kissed her softly.

His moist, gentle lips were making her head spin. She willed herself to focus. “You know how the bride and groom have their first dance together at the wedding reception? Like that.”

“All right, all right. You’ve convinced me.” Colin drew her in closer and began to sway to the music once more, humming along with the song. He tenderly kissed her neck.

As much as she enjoyed the strength of his arms, the feel of his lips against her skin, and the warmth of his body next to hers, they had a party to get to. If they hadn’t been the guests of honor, she might have chosen to stay where she was a little longer. Or maybe a lot longer.

~*~

Colin and Emily stood on the brick porch of Isabel and Alex’s beautiful home, almost wishing they were somewhere else—namely still at Emily’s house. But knowing their friends went to a lot of trouble to throw them an engagement party, here they stood, ringing the doorbell, dreaming of the time they could go back home and be alone again.

Isabel answered the door and the sound of music, laughter, and conversation poured out of the house. “Trying to be fashionably late?” She paused for emphasis. “Come in, come in. Everyone’s excited to get the party started.”

“Sounds like the party has already begun,” Colin remarked as they stepped through the doorway.

“Well, almost everyone is here. Even Peter flew in from Seattle today to be here.”

“Peter came all that way?” Emily was surprised.

“Well, truth be told,” Isabel said, “I think he wanted an excuse to see Maggie again.”

“Now that sounds more like Peter.” Emily chuckled. Colin helped her as she shrugged out of her coat and folded it over her arm.

“Em, you look lovely,” Isabel said, admiring her black dress, before directing her attention to Colin. “Your friend Ernie and his wife aren’t here yet, but as far as I can tell, everyone else is.”

“Colin!” Alex called out as he came barreling down the hallway toward them. He stuck out his hand and Colin shook it. “Good to see you, man. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Colin replied. “We appreciate your having this party for us.”

Isabel took Emily’s coat from her and handed it to her husband. “Alex, why don’t you take Emily’s coat and hang it up for her?” Isabel grabbed Emily by the hand. “I’ll take these guys back to the party.”

Most of the guests were congregated in the open great room area where the kitchen was divided from the living area by the massive granite-topped center island. Emily and Colin made their rounds and greeted each friend with a handshake or a hug, accepting their congratulations and well wishes.

Camille had put out her usual spread of delicious and decadent finger foods and the guests filled their plates. The happy sounds of eating and mingling with good friends filled the house.

“Colin,” Peter greeted as he shook Colin’s hand. “Congrats, buddy.”

Maggie snuggled up to Peter, with her hand threaded through the crook of his left arm. “I told him he didn’t have to fly down here all the way from Seattle for this party, but he insisted.”

“Yes, I’m sure he did,” Emily said, tilting her head and grinning at Peter. “We appreciate your coming.”

Camille and Isabel set out several bottles of chilled champagne and fluted glasses on the center island, for the upcoming toast. At the sound of metal lightly clinking against fine crystal, the crowd hushed and all heads turned toward the noise.

Alex had drawn everyone’s attention to himself to announce the toast. “If each one of you could grab a glass of champagne from the kitchen, I would like to offer a toast for our good friends, Colin and Emily. After the toast, we’ll have them begin the dancing by them starting off with a dance to their favorite song.”

The chatting resumed as people streamed to the kitchen, while Camille and her husband, Jonathan, filled the flutes with champagne. Colin looked at Emily and she thought she heard a slight groan escape him.

“It’ll be fine,” she whispered. “Just close your eyes and pretend we’re back at my house.”

After all the guests had their bubbly in hand, the conversations died down to let Alex make the toast. In that quiet pause, the doorbell rang.

“That must be Ernie and his wife. I’d hate to have them miss this part.” Isabel rushed to the door.

She was right, it was Ernie, but he was alone and not dressed for the party. Isabel walked him back to the great room.

“Colin, I need to talk to you right away—in private.”

His face was as serious as Emily had ever seen it, almost ashen.

“Okay.” Colin handed Emily his champagne as he turned to Alex. “Mind if we use your office?” It was located right off the entry and would provide privacy from the guests.

“No problem,” Alex replied.

Before Ernie and Colin made it to the office, the doorbell rang again, followed by a loud knock.

“Who could that be?” Isabel asked, eyeing her husband before she sprinted down the hallway to answer the door again.

She looked through the peephole before opening the door. “What the heck?” She swung the door open. Standing on her porch were four uniformed officers flanking a man in a suit.

“I’m Detective Roberts, ma’am, of the Boise Police Department, and these are State Police. We’re looking for Colin Andrews.”

Emily rushed to the entry to see what was going on.

Colin stepped up to the doorway. “I’m Colin Andrews. Detective Colin Andrews of the Paradise Valley Police Department.”

“Yes, we know that. We need you to come with us.”

“What’s this about?” Colin glanced over at Ernie, then back to Detective Roberts.

Emily moved to Colin’s side.

“We need to ask you some questions regarding a murder. Can you step outside?”

The rest of the guests had filled the hallway from the great room to the front door. A collective gasp could be heard after Roberts’ announcement that a murder had happened.

“Whose murder?” Colin asked.

“We’d rather not talk about it here,” Detective Roberts said, looking past Colin to the crowd gathering behind him.

Colin glanced at Emily before stepping over the threshold and onto the porch. “Who’s dead?”

Roberts leaned forward and spoke in a low tone. “ADA Allison Laraway.”