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“Glad to hear it.”
“But what is surprising is Julia hasthreecell phones. One personal, one business, and one other. And on that third, she’s been receiving someverypersonal texts.”
“Right. She has a lover. She cheated on her husband with him,” Jo said.
Lopez paused for a beat. “You already knew she was having an affair?”
“She told us earlier when she confessed to stealing the money,” Jo said.
“Not cool keeping that from me, Jo,” Lopez chastised. “Not cool at all.”
“You’re just annoyed she cut the legs out from under your surprise revelation,” Arnett said.
“Harumph,” Lopez said. “Luckily, I have a backup bombshell hiding out in my pocket. You saidlover, right? Not lovers, plural? ’Cause there’s two of them. Sounds like she left that out.”
A prickling cold shot down Jo’s neck to her arms. “She sure did leave that out. Do you know who they are?”
“I do not. There are two numbers, both from burners whose origins I can’t trace. And she’s very careful not to mention either one by name.”
“So how do you know there are two? Just because there are two numbers?” Arnett asked.
“No. The texts overlap, and the tones are different—they’re not the same person. One she’s very lovey-dovey with, and the other she’s standoffish. It sounds like up until a few days ago she hadn’t heard from him in a while, and she’s been putting him off.”
Jo’s face screwed up in concentration. That made no sense, unless—
Lopez continued, interrupting her thoughts. “Lucky for you, I may be able to get more info on that for you shortly. Both numbers texted her today, both within the last few hours. That makes me think they’re still active, and if so, I should be able to get some location pings for you shortly.”
“You’re brilliant and amazing,” Jo said, and ended the call, then pulled up Julia’s contact. “But in the meantime, I’ve had enough of Julia’s BS.”
CHAPTERFIFTY-THREE
Julia bolted up out of her sleep, disoriented—who the hell could be pounding at her door? She grabbed her phone, afraid she’d missed something important. But no, she’d been home for less than forty minutes, asleep for maybe ten, and who would come looking for her here anyway? None of her clients knew she’d—
More pounding.
She jumped up and winced at the pain in her head, then pulled open the door without looking to see who was outside.
Chris strode in without waiting to be invited. He closed the door behind him, then glanced around the room. “Smaller than I expected. But homey. Nice.”
She rubbed her eyes and shook her head, trying to make sense of what was happening. But everything was fuzzy except for the sense of danger screaming at her to be careful. “Chris? What are you doing here?”
“I needed to see you.”
“I told you I’d call you when I could.”
He crossed to the window and closed the interior drapes. “The last few days have been hell, and I love you and couldn’t wait anymore.” He crossed back to her, took her into his arms, and kissed her.
She pressed on his chest, still too groggy to fully understand what was happening. They’d ended their affair mutually,bothagreed it was for the best. His ego had been bruised, yes, but they hadn’t been in love—
But for some people, ego and love were one and the same. They certainly had been for Pete.
Her phone buzzed softly, still in her purse where she’d dropped her things by the door. She mentally pushed away the sound like a gnat circling her head.
As his lips pressed against hers, the situation came into focus, and her brain started to fire. She pulled gently away and forced a weak smile onto her face. “I’m sorry, I have a migraine. You woke me.” She dropped into her armchair and pressed her hand to her forehead. “Could you get me a glass of water and some Excedrin Migraine, please?”
As he fumbled around the new kitchen locating glasses and medicine, she tried desperately to pull herself together. When he returned she swallowed the pills with the water, then spoke. “You have to go, Chris. You can’t be here. Pete has someone watching me and I don’t know where or when. But Pete knows your car.”
He took the water from her and set it on the coffee table, then sat on the closest edge of the sofa. He grabbed her hand and stared into her eyes with a dangerous intensity. “We’ve just had a death in the family. There are a thousand legitimate reasons for me to be here. If he sees us, I’ll just tell him I wanted to ask you about funeral details.”
