Chapter 2 #2
Unless Damien was the one who’d taken the shots? Eliminating Bryn would be the perfect way to make her the bad guy.
He glanced at her, wondering if she still had feelings for Damien. She’d mentioned being the one to end things between them, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t cared for the guy.
Maybe even loved him.
The thought left a sour taste in his mouth. He tried to ignore it. Bryn’s personal life was none of his business. She could date whomever she wanted. Besides, he didn’t understand why she didn’t blame him for Tommy’s death.
It should have been him that day. Tommy had gone back to assist one of their teammates who’d lagged behind.
Instead of paying attention and going with Tommy, Micah had been distracted by the chants from the citizens around them who were all screaming at them to leave.
It was not the way their time in Afghanistan should have ended, but leaving the insurgents to run wild in their absence wasn’t his decision either.
By the time Micah had realized Tommy was gone, bullets had begun to fly.
What should have been a quick and painless withdrawal from Afghanistan was anything but.
And Tommy had paid the ultimate price.
“Maybe I’m wrong about Lori.” Bryn’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Damien isn’t the kind of guy to share his personal problems. We could be driving all this way for nothing.”
“It can’t hurt to talk to her.” Eyeing the clock, he realized it would be late when they arrived. Hopefully, Lori would answer the door. “Besides, she and Damien could have been closer than you realized.”
“Maybe.” She didn’t look convinced.
“What about Damien’s closest friends?”
“His closest friend was Richard.” She grimaced. “They were college roommates and built the business after they graduated. According to Damien, it went from being a small two-man operation to the twenty employees they have now.”
“And what do they do? PR and marketing?”
“Yes. Public relations campaigns and market branding. They managed to snag a few big accounts early on, and that helped grow their business.” She sighed. “They do very well. So much so that I don’t understand why Damien would need to embezzle funds. That doesn’t fit with his personality at all.”
Micah hated the guy without ever meeting him, but he knew it was important to keep an open mind. “We don’t know for sure he took the money. Hopefully, the police will get to the bottom of this very soon.”
“I should have called them about the gunfire.” She bit her lower lip. “When we get to Madison, we should stop in at the station so I can give a statement.”
“Sure.” Logically, he knew there was no reason to avoid the police.
Other than the fact that they treated her like a suspect.
That wasn’t unusual; everyone was pretty much considered a suspect until they were cleared.
Reporting the gunfire should help Bryn in that regard.
Unless there was other evidence stacked against her. “Do you have a lawyer?”
“What? No! Do I need one?” She stared at him in horror. “You don’t think I’m involved in this.”
“No, of course not, but it doesn’t hurt to make sure you have legal representation just in case.”
“Do you really think they’ll arrest me?” Fear underscored her voice. “I didn’t do anything, Micah. I don’t know about the missing money, and I have no idea where Damien is hiding out.”
“Try not to panic. You’re not in police custody, and I doubt they have probable cause for an arrest.” At least, he hoped not.
Yet the more he thought about it, the less he liked the idea of stopping in at the precinct.
It was his turn to be paranoid about what Bryn had inadvertently gotten involved in.
They rode for a while in silence. He didn’t notice anyone following them. Traffic was busy enough, though, that it wasn’t easy to identify a tail.
The warmer spring temperatures along with the time change sent more people out and about. After one of the snowiest winters on record, the warmer temps had pretty much melted most of the snow.
As they got closer to Madison, tension radiated off Bryn. He reached for her hand. “We don’t have to do this. We can find a place to stay for the night and wait until tomorrow. Maybe the police will have found Damien by then.”
“No, I think we should talk to Lori.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I need to understand why a gunman was waiting for me to get home. There’s no reason for Damien to shoot me, so it had to be someone else.”
Micah wanted to know that as well. “I can go see Lori on my own,” he offered. “No reason for you to ride along.”
“She won’t talk to you.” Bryn sighed. “I’m not even sure she’ll talk to me. We only met once when she showed up to see Damien without having an appointment. He was in a meeting, so I had to send her away. She wasn’t happy. It was shortly after that when Damien broke things off.”
“Okay, we’ll go together.” He figured the conversation wouldn’t take long.
He hadn’t planned on staying in the Madison area, but maybe that was for the best. The local news would have most likely mentioned Damien’s disappearance, providing updates on the case.
With no sign of foul play, he wasn’t convinced there would be national news coverage.
Adults could go missing any time they wanted.
It wasn’t a crime to leave town without telling anyone.
They found Lori Eastman’s house without too much difficulty.
He drove past without stopping so he could eyeball the place.
Encouraged by seeing a light on inside, he went around the block and searched for a place to park.
His gut told him to park out of sight, just in case things didn’t go well.
He pulled over to the curb and parked on the street that was behind Lori Eastman’s home.
“I’ll let you take the lead.” He killed the engine. “I think you’re probably right about her opening up to you more than me.”
“I hope so.” She drew her red quilted jacket closer. “Are we walking around the block?”
“No. Follow me.” Bryn looked surprised when he led her to the narrow opening between the two homes.
It was late enough, almost nine fifteen at night, that it was easy to avoid being seen.
Skirting the side of Lori’s home, he headed up to the front door.
The homes here were situated close together, similar to how the neighborhoods in the Chicago area.
He stayed right behind Bryn as she pressed the doorbell.
There wasn’t a ring doorbell or other security cameras from what he could see. The door opened, and a woman with red wavy hair looked at them suspiciously. Micah thought it was interesting both women had red hair. “Go away. It’s too late to be knocking on people’s doors.”
“Lori, I’m Bryn Sinclair. You know, Damien’s assistant?” Bryn pasted a smile on her face. “I’m sorry to bother you so late, but have you seen Damien recently?”
“No, why would I see him? We haven’t been together in six months.” Lori crossed her arms over her chest. “Last I heard, you were dating him.”
“We went our separate ways a few months ago,” Bryn said. “I’m only here because the police think something bad has happened to him.”
“Who’s he?” Lori eyed him with a mixture of suspicion and interest. “Your new boyfriend?”
“Yes, I’m Micah Newton,” he said, before Bryn could correct her. “Look, it’s really important that we speak to you. I know it’s late, but can we please come in to talk about this? Damien has been missing for more than twenty-four hours now. Anything you can tell us would be helpful.”
“Are you a cop?” Lori asked.
“Not exactly. I work as a private investigator.” He could tell the news surprised Bryn, but he kept his gaze focused on Lori Eastman. “Please. This won’t take too long.”
Damien’s former girlfriend hesitated for so long he figured she was about to close the door in their face. But then she surprised him by taking a step back. “Fine. But I don’t know anything about Damien going missing.”
Bryn entered the house first. He quickly followed, closing the door behind him. Lori’s home was neat and comfortable. She crossed into the living room and picked up the remote to silence the television, but she didn’t sit. Or invite them to take a seat.
“When was the last time you saw Damien?” Bryn asked.
“When he told me he wasn’t interested in seeing me anymore.” Lori shot Bryn a dark look. “He told me he was interested in someone else. I guess that was you.”
“Not me,” Bryn protested. “We didn’t go out together until several weeks after your breakup.”
“Whatever.” Lori waved an impatient hand. “You asked when I saw him last, and that was September of last year. Is that all? Because I have to work in the morning.”
“Do you know anything about Damien’s financial status?” Bryn asked. “Any reason to believe he embezzled money from the company?”
“What? Why would he do that? He gets half the profits anyway.” Lori stared at Bryn. “You would know more about his personal finances than I do.”
“I don’t. He doesn’t share that with me.
The company has an outside firm that does the payroll.
I’m not privy to anyone’s salaries.” Bryn shrugged, glancing briefly at him before turning her attention to Lori.
“I always got the impression Damien was very well off. His condo is large and pricey from what I can tell.”
Lori nodded, her gaze bouncing between him and Bryn. “Who says he embezzled money?”
“Richard,” Bryn answered. “Even worse, he accused me of helping Damien escape with the money.”
Lori abruptly looked away, as if remembering something that might explain Damien’s or Richard’s actions.
But then she shrugged and shook her head.
“Sorry, I don’t know anything about Damien or missing money.
I must admit, I don’t see a reason for Damien to do that.
The company has been doing well from what I know. ”
“That’s what I thought too,” Bryn said. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“What about gambling or drugs?” Micah asked, when the two women fell silent. “Maybe there was a reason Damien had to steal the money and then disappear to avoid being caught.”
“He never did drugs with me,” Lori said firmly. “I never saw him gamble either.”
“Maybe he hid his gambling or drug use,” Micah pressed. “The fact that you both think this is out of character for him means something happened that caused him to take the money and run.”
“I think I’d have noticed drug use during our time together,” Lori drawled. “He spent a lot of nights here.”
Bryn’s cheeks flushed pink. “I—our relationship didn’t get to that point. But I still think I’d have noticed if Damien acted weird at the office.”
Lori looked a bit surprised, then glanced pointedly at the clock. “If that’s all, I need to ask you to leave. Like I said, I start work early tomorrow.”
“You still work at the hospital, right?” Bryn asked.
“Yes. I’m a nurse, and it’s my weekend.” Lori walked toward the front door. “I hope you find Damien.”
“Thanks for taking the time to meet with us.” Lori turned to follow her.
“You may get a visit from the Madison police,” Micah added.
He wanted to ask more questions but sensed Lori had run out of patience.
Besides, if she really hadn’t seen the guy since last September, he doubted she was helping him out.
“They’re taking Richard’s claim that Damien embezzled money very seriously. ”
“I don’t know anything,” Lori said with an exaggerated eye roll. “Talk about a waste of the taxpayers’ money.”
Micah bit back a sarcastic reply; there was no reason to point out the importance of covering all bases during an investigation. Lori opened the front door and stood off to the side to give him and Bryn room to get out.
Bryn was about to step forward but turned back to Lori as if remembering one more question. A crack of gunfire sent them all to the floor.
“Get back!” Micah reached out to drag Bryn out of harm’s way. Then he reached for Lori. “Hurry!”
Another sharp report of gunfire rang out, and the pretty redhead abruptly slumped to the floor. He stared down in horror as blood oozed from her chest. Hooking his arms beneath her armpits, he dragged her away from the door. Bryn shut and locked it.
“Call 911,” he said, lowering Lori to the floor.
Listening as Bryn made the call, he examined Lori’s wound gunshot wound.
The bullet had entered her chest, a half inch to the right of her sternum.
Near her heart. The amount of blood pooling on the floor was far from reassuring.
For a moment, Tommy’s face flashed in his mind, but he thrust the image away.
Pressing his fingertips to Lori’s carotid artery, he searched for a pulse.
And found nothing.
He rocked back on his heels, glancing around the living room. The cops would swarm the place at any moment. And Micah had no intention of being there when they arrived.