AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And the lettering looks basically identical to what’s on the note the cops showed me, printing rather than any handwriting I might be able to recognize.”
Emma clasps her head in both hands. This is all so bizarre. It’s also incredibly distressing to think Taylor had not only secretly disliked her but had also wanted to break up her marriage.
“Have you told the police about the notes I got?”
“No, I didn’t want to open a can of worms until I spoke to you. I’ll call my attorney later and we’ll figure out the best way to circle back to them.”
A terrifying thought suddenly blooms in Emma’s mind.
“The police don’t suspectyoukilled her, do they?”
“Thank god, it doesn’t seem that way at the moment, and there’ll be nothing in her emails or texts to suggest I reciprocated in any way. Plus, it seems like she was murdered right after dark, and my cell-phone records will show that I was on the phone around then with the forensic accountant we’ve been working with on the embezzlement.”
“Good—and thank god I was on the train or they might suspectme.”
Emma flops back on the bed, staring up at the creamy white ceiling. She wishes her mind was like it, a total blank instead of a crazy chaotic jumble of thoughts and emotions.Taylor had been bold enough to leave the last note in the studio door when Emma was working inside. Would she have eventually escalated things, found other ways to mess with her head?
A second later Emma propels herself back into a sitting position.
“Wait,” she says, looking at Tom. “It wasTaylorwho first told me that we were both at the Miami dinner.”
Tom cocks his head, his expression perplexed. “Right?”
“I wonder if it was more than a casual reference. Maybe she wanted to stir something up.”
“Gee, I hadn’t even thought of that.”
“And—” Emma’s thoughts begin to crystallize. “Did you tell Taylor I was a David Yurman fan and that’s why you bought me the bracelet?”
“What?” Tom says, clearly taken aback. “No. It... it was actually Taylor who first showed me the ad after I’d told her I was trying to find a gift for you. She said you’d mentioned the designer to her and directed me where to find the bracelet in town.”
Emma shakes her head, shocked. “I never told her anything of the kind, but she must have remembered seeing me wear one of the bracelets in Miami. And when you gave me the gift, it was one of the reasons I worried you’d been paying attention to me longer than you’d let on.”
“Ugh. It sounds like she was doing little things to make you suspicious and drive a huge wedge between us.”
And that’s exactly what had happened. For days Emma has mistrusted and even feared Tom, been convinced that he’d been fixated on her, might have killed Derrick or hiredsomeone to, and all along Taylor had been the catalyst, stirring doubts and then flaming them in subtle ways.
She can’t believe that she let Taylor put her marriage in jeopardy, and that she allowed herself to think the worst of Tom.
“I betshe’sthe one who stuck the Harvard Club program in the file,” Emma says. “She might have been cooking up a plan to get me to find the file and look through it.”
He shrugs. “There’s probably a lot we don’t know at this point—and might never know.”
On the other hand, there’s much Emma does know now. Last night she’d been running through all the unanswered questions, worried there were still so many, and yet Taylor had been behind most of her lingering doubts.
Slowly, Tom gets to his feet. “I’d better head back to the office, but I’ll call the lawyer from the car and ask how we should inform the police about the notes.”
As she follows him out of the bedroom, Emma’s eyes drift down the corridor. She notices something she hadn’t when they’d rushed upstairs: the door to Brittany’s bedroom is wide open.
“What is it?” Tom asks, sensing her alertness.
“Brittany always shuts the door when she leaves. Is she home now?”
“I don’t think so.... Brittany?” Tom calls out.
There’s no response, and in unison they make their way to the guest bedroom and peer inside. Emma’s mouth drops open. The dresser drawers are yanked out as far as they go and empty now, and piled on the unmade bed is a tangle of clothes hangers.
“My god, has sheleft?” Tom exclaims.
