AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She looked at him like he was crazy.
“Hear me out,” he said. “We already know his big secret and we’ve filled out his precious NDA. What else does he have to lose?”
“I’m sure he has plenty more secrets he’s hiding in the house.”
“But if he wants her found, he’ll have to cooperate now.”
“He told us what he did to get us off his back,” she said. “We’ve gotten all the help from him he’s willing to give.”
“Unless he wants to prove that he’s genuine in his efforts to save his marriage.”
She frowned. “Going in there wouldn’t do any good. That would be the last place she would hide information about her boyfriend. Too risky. Boone could find it.”
“Sometimes hiding something in plain sight is the best way to keep it secret.”
Ariana tapped her head. “Knowing her, Rita probably kept it all in her mind.”
“Then what are we going to do? It seems we’re stuck unless we try getting into the house.”
She looked deep in thought.
“We should invite Lia and Charles over. They might’ve learned something since we talked to them last night.”
“It’s better than nothing.”
He gave her a quick kiss. “Let’s see if they want to meet for lunch. We haven’t eaten since the omelets this morning.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You might be, and just not realize it.”
She shrugged, a look of despair in her eyes.
It pained him to see her like that. “I’ll call Charles. Anywhere in particular you want to go?”
“No.” Ariana wandered from the room like a lost puppy.
Damon resisted the urge to comfort her. The only thing that would help would be finding Rita. And to do that, they needed to brainstorm ideas with their friends.
He called Charles, and they agreed to meet up at the bar and grill. Being in Rita’s favorite place might help jog some ideas. And might help was the only hope they had, now that Boone was off the table as a suspect.
Unless he was lying about the arson. It had to be a lesser crime than abduction, so it would make sense that he would choose that story. But there would be plenty of other ways to show his innocence in Rita’s disappearance.
This was all enough to make him wish he’d gone into law enforcement. If he was on the police force, he would be privy to everything they weren’t sharing. Even having a cop for a father-in-law didn’t help. If Alex didn’t have a valid reason for looking into the case, he couldn’t get the information either.
Ten minutes later, he and Ariana were leaving the house again.
She was even more down than before.
“Being at the restaurant might spark an idea,” he said, and remote-unlocked his car.
“I doubt it. It hasn’t helped any of the other times I’ve been there.”
“But you found her shoe not far away. Maybe we could all look around again. It might be good luck.”
“The police went through every inch of the block. If they didn’t find—” She stopped suddenly, her gaze fixed across the street.
Damon looked over, expecting to see Boone or his car.
