The Scent of Lies: A Paradise Valley Mystery (25 page)

Her eyes flew open and she flashed him a cold stare.
Looks like we’re back to square one
. Emily was not impressed with his condescending attitude.

“What’s that look for?” he asked with a frown, dropping back down on the couch.

“I can do this, Colin. I may not be as good at it as you, but I know I can do this job.”

“
Aarrrrgh!
You don’t get it. I’m not saying you can’t—I’m saying I don’t want to find you dead somewhere because some
perp
thought you were getting too close.” He looked down at his clenched fists. “I can’t go through that again.”

In that moment, Emily understood where his attitude was coming from—
Miranda.

She leaned forward and covered his fists with her hands. “Maybe you’re right, maybe I should start carrying a gun.” She realized that maybe she needed to be able to protect herself from now on. “If someone thought they could scare me off this case, they don’t know me very well.” She felt his hands relax under hers.

“Just say the word, and I’ll take you to the shooting range to brush up on your skills.” His face softened a bit at her agreement to carry a gun again.

“You know, Isabel told me the same thing the other day.” Sticking her pointer finger out, Emily mimicked Isabel. “She said, ‘You need to carry a gun for your own good,’ while wagging her finger at me.”

“I agree with her.” He chuckled at Emily’s impersonation. Then he regained his serious tone and took both her hands in his. “You’ve got to know how to stay safe.”

“Isabel’s always packing. Did you know that?” She looked into his eyes.

“I assumed as much, in her line of work.”

“Don’t I need to renew my concealed weapon permit to carry that thing?” she questioned.

“Yeah, but you need to know how to handle a gun well first. Like I said, I’d be happy to take you to the range.”

Emily rose and walked over to the window again, peering out at her shattered car window. She turned to him, grinning. “So, do you have any free time this afternoon?”

“Absolutely. Then I can call you the gun-totin’, smokin’ hot lady PI.” He laughed.

“Oh, brother,” she muttered and shook her head.

* * *

They stopped at Smoky Mountain Pizza for a quick lunch before heading to the shooting range. Emily argued for the patio, saying she refused to be intimidated and Colin argued for a back booth inside the restaurant because the lunatic that shot at her could be anywhere. She pointed out that that meant the person could be inside, too. So, they compromised by sitting outside, but in a corner behind a big umbrella and a large potted plant.

Still, they had a good view of Main Street which had been decked out for spring with baskets of colorful flowers hanging out in front of the shops. A block away bloomed a huge show of red and yellow tulips setting off the Welcome to Paradise Valley sign.

Colin spent a couple of hours shooting with Emily, showing her some of his techniques. With Evan having also taught her well, she quickly regained her skills.

“I think I’m ready to get my concealed weapons permit next week,” Emily proclaimed. “What do you think?”

“The sooner the better,” he replied, grinning from ear to ear.

After the shooting session, Colin dropped her off at home. “Let me get a car to sit watch out front, Emily. Just to be safe.”

“Nonsense. Besides, the Chief is not going to go for it. He didn’t even want to spring for your ticket to New York, remember? He’s not going to authorize resources on a whim.”

“Well, you do have a point there. What if we just stay in tonight? I can bring some takeout and a bottle of wine?”

“Are you trying to get out of taking me on our date?” she teased. “Because you promised me another night of dinner and dancing.”

“Fine,” he caved in, “I’ll pick you up at seven, but you have to promise me, for tonight at least, you will keep the blinds closed and stay away from the windows.”

She agreed and when seven o’clock rolled around, there was Colin, standing on her front porch, ringing her doorbell. She hurried to the door, checked to make sure, and seeing it was him with a bouquet of colorful mixed flowers in hand, she swung it wide open.

“Hello, Emily. You look lovely.” She was wearing a floral pastel summer dress, standing in her bare feet. “These are for you.” He held the flowers out to her.

“Thank you, they’re beautiful,” she gushed, taking them and moving aside to let him in.

“You’re very welcome.” He stepped past her. “I just thought, after the traumatic afternoon you had...”

“That’s sweet, but I’m all right, Colin. Really. The shooting lesson helped me feel more confident and empowered, but, I do appreciate the thought—and the flowers are pretty. Let me put them in some water and we can go.”

“I was surprised at how well you did.” He followed her back to the kitchen.

“I have had practice before, it’s just been awhile.”

He helped her reach a crystal vase stored in an upper cabinet and she filled it with water then placed the bouquet inside, fanning out the flowers. She set the vase on the table, smiling up at him. “There.”

“Beautiful,” he responded, slipping his arms around her waist. He leaned down and kissed her softly.

His kiss made her a little dizzy, and she rested her head against his chest. Her arms went around his torso and her hands slowly ran up his strong back, enjoying the sense of safety in his embrace.

“We should go, Emily. I made reservations.”

She kept her arms around him, not sure she was ready to let go of him just yet.

Colin took advantage of the continued closeness and kissed her temple. She lifted her head and he kissed her again, full on her mouth, this time with more depth and urgency.

Emily’s body was alive with sensations she hadn’t felt in a long time, not since Evan had touched her that way. The thought of her husband brought his face to her mind and she froze. A look of surprise swept over Colin’s eyes when she suddenly pulled away from his kiss.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I’m sorry. I think we need to slow it down—we’re moving a little too fast. That’s all.”

“Too fast? I guess I misread your cues.”

“No,” she ran a hand through her tousled hair, “you didn’t misread anything. It’s just that, well...I just have some things I’m going through that you don’t know about.”

“Help me understand, then.”

“I’m having a little problem with trust issues at the moment is all.”

“You don’t trust me?” He looked confused.

“It’s not you, Colin. I’m just having an issue trusting men in general right now.” She dropped her hold and stepped back out of his. “I haven’t been with a man since my husband died.”

“I’ll take it slowly,” he said.

“And there are things I haven’t told you.”

“I don’t—”

“Emily!” A frantic shout came from the front of the house, interrupting their private moment. “Where are you, Em?”

Camille and Maggie ran into the kitchen. “Oh, my gosh, Emily! We just heard. Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” she answered, stunned by their unexpected visit.

Camille and Maggie each hugged her effusively. “We just heard about the shooting. We were so afraid for you. Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yes, girls, I’m fine. How did you know?” Emily asked.

“Isabel phoned each of us and then we called each other. She said Alex told her,” Camille explained.

“Oh, girl, you know nothin’ stays a secret ‘round here,” Maggie added.

“Tell us what happened,” Camille fervently requested, her eyes wide with anticipation, obviously wanting every juicy detail.

“Someone shot at me in the driveway.”

Camille and Maggie collectively gasped.

“It broke out the window in my car, but I wasn’t hit.”

“Oh my gosh, Emily,” Maggie exclaimed.

“I’m okay, really.”

“We’re glad to see Colin is here, aren’t we, Maggie?”

“Oh, yes.” Maggie eyed the handsome detective.

“Do you think it had anything to do with the case you’re working on?” Camille asked, focusing on Emily.

Emily glanced at Colin then looked back at Camille and Maggie. “It may have.”

Her friends let out another simultaneous gasp.

“Or... maybe it had somethin’ to do with Evan’s murder,” Maggie suggested, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Maggie!” Emily reprimanded.

“Why would you think that?” Colin asked, with a quizzical look on his face.

“Oh, did I speak out o’ turn again?” Maggie asked apologetically.

“You mean he doesn’t know?” Camille whispered to Emily.

“Doesn’t know what?” he pressed.

“Well, we’re glad you’re okay, Emily.” Camille grabbed Maggie by the arm. “I think we should get out of here and leave you two alone.” Emily’s friends beat a hasty retreat.

Colin stood silently, staring at Emily, waiting for answers.

“We should go,” Emily tried. “Didn’t you say you made reservations?”

“I did say that, but I’m thinking maybe we should order in tonight after all—and talk.”

Chapter 24

Colin cancelled their dinner reservations while Emily phoned her favorite Chinese place for takeout. She hadn’t planned to tell Colin just yet about her suspicions regarding Evan’s past life and what he may have been involved in that got him killed—they hadn’t even discussed Evan much at all—but the opportunity dramatically presented itself and now she was on the hot seat.

“The food should be here in about twenty minutes,” Emily announced, grabbing a couple of plates out of the cupboard.

“Okay, then. Why don’t we sit down at the table and you can fill me in on what your friends obviously thought you already told me?” Colin’s tone was serious as he pulled a couple of chairs away from the table and motioned for her to take one.

She set the plates on the table and sank down into the seat.

“What was Maggie talking about?”

She squirmed in the chair, trying to decide how much to tell him. She looked at the new man in her life and then her gaze moved to the drawer where she had stuffed the photo of the last man in her life.

“Emily?”

“I’m not sure where to start,” she replied.

“The beginning is always a good place.”

She began with the night Evan was shot, explaining what she was told by the detective at the time. She described how his predecessor, Joe Tolliver, had no real experience with murder, so when he couldn’t easily identify the killer and why he or she did it, he closed the file as unsolved. Emily always felt it was the man’s pride that kept him from asking for help from the nearby Boise Police Department. He would get downright angry with her when she suggested it.

So, she said, she let it go and tried to get on with her life without Evan. It wasn’t easy, though, because they loved each other deeply and were committed to each other for life—‘til death do us part. Only recently had she begun to have suspicions that maybe Evan wasn’t who he said he was.

Colin sat quietly, listening to her story.

“First, I noticed my grandmother’s diamond ring was missing. Then I found a key to a safe deposit box and the bank it belonged to,” she said. “I went there, hoping Evan had moved the ring to a safer place. He thought it was silly that I kept it in one of those plastic vegetable safes in the bin in my refrigerator.”

“Was it there?”

“No.”

“What was in the box?” Colin asked with rapt attention.

“A photo and some cash,” she replied, wondering if she should divulge the rest of the contents.

“A photo of what?”

“Of Evan and a young woman. It looked to me like it must have been taken about ten years ago.”

“Are you talking about the photo that was laying here on the table? Remember, I asked you about it, but you snatched it up and wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“Yes, that one,” she replied, her eyes flashed toward the front room wondering when the Chinese food would be there. She was uncomfortable with where this conversation was going.

“You don’t know who she was?”

“No idea.” She shook her head.

“Was there anything else in the box?” he asked.

“What makes you ask that?” she questioned, feeling somewhat exposed. She thought about keeping the rest of the contents to herself, hoping Isabel could figure out the mystery of what Evan was into and no one else would have to know.

“Look at you—you’re squirming in your chair. It seems to me that it would take more than just a photo and some cash to get you so upset.”

She looked blankly toward the kitchen window, trying to decide what to say. She hadn’t expected him to read her so well.
Maybe Colin can help me where Joe Tolliver failed.
That thought gave her the motivation to disclose it all
.

“Yes, there was more,” she admitted, dashing to the cabinet and grabbing a couple of glasses. She found it hard to sit still while she laid all her suspicions and fears out for Colin to see.