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He exhaled. “I just wish I knew why someone would come in and not take anything. Then do it again. How and why are they doing it?”
Josh. That was the only answer Elisa could find. This, every strange occurrence and annoying detail, all related to him and his relentless drive to push her over the edge. She’d hinted at this answer before and Harris didn’t take it well. Fine, she’d collect the evidence, pay Shelby—do whatever she had to do. But Josh’s days of being a sick twist were almost over... and if Rachel was his accomplice and not a new victim, she’d go down, too.
Chapter Forty-Two
Elisa barely got Harris and the alarm system sales guy out of the house in time.
She had a doctor’s appointment later that morning. She usually mentioned that sort of thing to Harris, but this time she kept the visit quiet. One of many secrets after a marriage of sharing everything with him.
With all the nausea and dizziness, she needed a checkup. Needed someone to tell her that her body was working fine. Her control might be faltering and her mind in free fall, but some part of her had to be on target.
Figuring she had plenty of time, she drove Nathan to school and came back thinking she could fit in a quick coffee run before her appointment, but the alarm company truck still took up most of the driveway. It was another twenty minutes of listening to talk of codes and motion detectors before the technician and Harris left. Now she’d have to settle for doctor’s office waiting room coffee, one of the least appealing coffee options.
She grabbed the security company’s literature and stuffedit in her bag. Five minutes ofwhere the hell are my keysfloundering followed, then she was ready to go with a few minutes to spare. Possibly coffee-takeout minutes. It was the first bit of luck she’d experienced in days.
She stepped outside and... Rachel. Her car sat in the driveway and she was walking up to the door.
So much for the theory about luck.
They met on the path. Elisa didn’t say anything because this was Rachel’s show. She’d once again dropped in without calling. The way she could break away from work and drive around fascinated Elisa . . . and made her even more doubtful about Rachel’s supposed work life.
“Sorry for the quick visit,” Rachel said.
“I’m on my way out.” Which Elisa thought would be obvious from the direction she was walking.
“Do you have a few minutes?”
“Nope.” Elisa walked right past Rachel and headed for her car. “Not really.”
“I’m sorry.”
The blurted words had Elisa turning around to face Rachel. “For what?”
Elisa braced for the answer. Parts of her life had ruptured and unraveled. She blamed Josh, but the woman dating him stood in front of her. The same woman who she caught rummaging through Harris’s vet bag. Elisa tried to write the incident in the office off as mere curiosity and couldn’t.
Her life had been plunged into a never-ending series of strange happenings, scary events, and weird inconsistencies. She didn’t trust anything or most people right now.
“The way you walked in and saw me in Harris’s home office.” Rachel stopped on the path. Usually steeped in self-control, she shifted her weight from one high heel to another.
Elisa noticed for the first time that Rachel wore a skirt. Part of a suit, in her usual monochromatic palate, but with a dressier look than what she tended to wear. The smooth hair, and cosmetics with that natural, makeup-free look, suggested she needed to be somewhere.
“Are you supposed to be at work right now?” Elisa asked.
Rachel waved a hand in front of her face. “I have a presentation on safety regulations in the workplace in an hour, but I couldn’t let any more time pass without apologizing.”
“I don’t understand.” Elisa wasn’t really used to apologies being sent her way. She also hated that the mention of a work presentation made her waver about going to this very necessary doctor’s appointment. She could follow Rachel one more time, maybe do a better job because Rachel’s attention would be on the presentation and not on Elisa sneaking around, looking for business information.
“Josh.”
Hearing his name set off anughreaction inside Elisa. She had to fight not to sneer. “What about him?”
“I didn’t realize until later but...” Rachel watched a car drive by.
“Rachel? I need to go soon.” Mostly, Elisa wanted to move this along. Whatever was coming, she just wanted to hear it.
“He told me I should check out Harris’s office, that it was a cool part of the house. He mentioned a space behind the bookcase.”
The hidden room. Small and intriguing to Harris when they bought the place. A nightmare to Elisa because she feared Nathan would get trapped in there, so they kept the bookcase closed and latched and hadn’t told Nathan about the space. That allowed her to hide Christmas gifts in there. Once he was older, they’d tell him and teach him how to get in and out without trouble and everything would be fine, but not now.
