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Rick’s face just closed up. No other way to describe it.
“I just serve drinks, man. I don’t follow people’s personal lives.”
Emma stepped up. “I appreciate you want to protect people’s privacy. But we’re worried. I’m worried. I worked with him and he has disappeared. We don’t mean any harm to Toby, swear to God. We just want to know if he’s ok. If you’ve seen Toby lately, or if you know who this Colin is, we’d really appreciate you helping.”
Raul remained silent. Emma was doing a better job of it than he was. She radiated worry and honesty. He’d had a lot of training in interrogation. He had a pretty good grasp on when people were telling the truth and when they weren’t. What most people didn’t grasp is that truth-telling is very powerful. Subconscious signals are sent when people told the truth that relaxed, gave a little dopamine hit. Rick definitely got a dopamine hit.
He searched Emma’s face, then Raul’s, gave a small satisfied nod. “Okay, Toby used to come in a lot but I haven’t seen him in a few days. I have seen a very unhappy guy he was always with. Don’t know his name, but they seemed happy together.
“Is he here now?”
Rick paused, straightened, scanned the room. “Yeah.” He pointed. “See that pillar over there, looks like ice? On the light blue couch next to the pillar. Tall, black hair, blue eyes, silver shirt, lilac tie. That’s who your guy was with. Been here every night this week.” He brought his gaze back to Raul and Emma. “I hope this is for real. I hope you’re not going to disturb a good customer for some lover’s spat.”
“No,” Emma said softly. “It’s a serious matter. Thanks for your help.”
She started making a bee line for the guy Rick had pointed out. Raul stayed behind for a second. He held out his hand and when Rick took it, the original twenty and four more Jacksons exchanged hands. Rick looked surprised at the feel of several banknotes.
“I have a mom I love, too,” Raul said and turned to follow Emma.
* * *
He was rightwhere Rick said he’d be. Close up, Colin was a good-looking man, very lean, with dark hair and deep blue eyes. He was speaking with another man and looked up when they approached.
Emma wondered if eyes that red hurt.
“Colin?” Raul asked.
He nodded, wary. “And you are?”
Raul looked at her then back at Colin. “We’re friends of Toby. Can we talk to you for a moment?”
At Toby’s name, Colin’s face froze. No, his features froze but his red eyes flashed temper. “Go away.”
“It’s important. We wouldn’t bother you if it weren’t important.” Raul’s voice was quiet but firm. The club now was noisy, with hundreds more people, house dance music throbbing. But Raul’s voice carried, without being loud.
Colin turned his head away. “I have nothing to say to you.”
The man he’d been speaking to twitched in his seat, uncomfortable. “Hey, I should leave you guys –”
Colin shot out a hand and gripped his wrist. “Stay. I have nothing to say to these people.”
Emma touched Raul’s elbow, moved past him and sat down next to Colin. “Colin. It’s Colin, right? I feel like I know you, Toby’s talked about you so much.”
Colin frowned and focused on her out of those blood-shot eyes. “You – you’re Emma? Emma Holland? Toby’s work partner?”
She smiled. “Yeah. I work with Toby. Worked with Toby. I haven’t seen him in days. It’s just not like him to disappear. I’m really worried about him.” Emma leaned forward and addressed the man on the other side of Colin. “Do you think we could have a private conversation? We won’t be long.”
The other man nodded, shot to his feet and made a beeline for the bar. Colin watched resentfully as he left.
“So.” Emma tried to keep her voice low, like Raul had, but she was almost drowned out by the music and the raucous laughs of a party two tables down. But she desperately wanted to keep this confidential. She looked around. “We really need to talk. Is there somewhere we can go to have a little privacy?”
Colin’s mouth set and he was going to refuse. She touched his forearm. His arm was tight with tension under her hand. “Please, Colin?”
He blew out an alcohol-laden breath, picked up his Negroni and stood up. “Come with me, but then you leave me the hell alone.”
Emma exchanged glances with Raul. His face was sober, serious. He indicated with his hand that she should go first. In this exchange, he wasn’t looking for a friend of his brother. She was looking for a missing colleague and friend and she would be taking the lead.
This wasn’t in Emma’s wheelhouse at all. As they followed Colin’s rigid, angry back, she whispered, “Let me know if I’m making a mistake.”
