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The two of them—Rachel and Josh—working together to drive her to the edge. The idea was horrifying but real. The two of them trying to minimize her, make her concerns sound irrelevant.
Elisa’s mind buzzed with what she now knew and had her jumping to conclusions. Rachel had been on the scene when Josh was still with Abby. Abby might have been in the way. He could have just broken off the engagement, but Elisa had seen enough true crime specials to know a certain type of man handled these situations in a very different way. A deadly one.
Rachel’s voice broke the silence. “I know she’s been poking around in your life—”
“Our lives,” Josh corrected in a firm voice.
“Yes, ours. But I do feel bad about messing with her. She’s been through a lot.”
“Look, I love her, so I know.” He spoke louder as a rattling that could be cubes dropping from the icemaker filled the room. “The goal here is to get her to admit she needs help. Harris has to step up. This thing where she kicks around the house, hiding and refusing to take part in life, must stop. She can’t go on like that.”
Elisa strained to listen to the conversation without moving. Concentrating on that let her forget the problem of how to get out of here without being seen.
“What you really want is for her to stop coming after you,” Rachel said.
He laughed. “That, too.”
“You’re not worried that this scheme will backfire on you? Harris might not forgive you for messing with her.”
Josh scoffed. “Between me and her, who do you think he’ll believe?”
That was the harsh truth Elisa didn’t want to face. In her worst moments over the last few days, her mind wandered to Harris... to how much he knew. To how much he might be willing to forgive when it came to Josh.
Harris had glossed over Lauren’s shocking death. Agreed with Josh not to talk about her. Worked with a detective to bury the information when Josh’s second wife also died in an “accident.” And now his lame talk about wanting her to be okay. She feared that really meant he wanted her to be quiet.
Silverware clanked. “What’s this Meredith thing?”
Elisa pushed out all the negative thoughts and silently thanked Rachel for asking the right question.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Elisa needs help. She’s not dwelling in reality.”
Rachel made a humming sound. “Right.”
Deflated.That’s the word that rushed through Elisa’s mind. That’s how she felt. Josh deflected and Rachel let him do it. All of Rachel’s allegiance and loyalty stayed with him, a man she had to realize at this point likely was a killer. The only question for Elisa was if Rachel was also an accomplice.
“How much time do you have before you need to be back at work?” The tone in Josh’s voice changed. No more anger. No amusement.
“Lucky for you, my big presentation isn’t until tomorrowafternoon. I was thinking of hanging around the house until I have to be there after lunch.”
“That gives us plenty of time. Let’s go upstairs,” Josh said.
Yeah, go. Elisa saw her chance to sneak out. What she could or would do with the information she overheard she didn’t know. But she now understood Rachel couldn’t be trusted. Whatever Josh’s plan was, Rachel was a willing participant in it.
Elisa heard footsteps and whispering. The noise grew quieter until, for the first time since she heard them come in, she could relax. Not the whole way but enough to drag in a few rough breaths and try to bring her heartbeat back under control.
She let out one last shaky breath and opened the door, half expecting Rachel to be standing there. Luckily, no.
Elisa went to the back door and stopped before turning the knob. Josh’s bedroom was on the back side of the house. If he looked out the window... yeah, leave by the front door. She’d be extra careful and so quiet.
She tiptoed through the first floor. She could hear footsteps and the soft mumble of voices. She kept moving. She almost got there when she saw that damn closet. One last look. She might have missed something last time because seeing the duffel bag in there a few days ago and her brain had run off on a tangent. She hadn’t searched around for more.
She cringed as the closet door made a creaking sound.One minute. She started the countdown as a voice in her head screamed for her to go. She aimed the light on her phone into the dark space.
A few boxes lined the wall. The vacuum set off to the side.Everything was neat and organized. Nothing was thrown in there or tucked behind anything. The space looked totally different from how she remembered it.
“What the hell?” She whispered the question as she fought to put together what the cleaned-out space meant.
She backed out of the closet and shut the door. When she turned around, Rachel stood there. Right on the bottom step.
