Finding Her Son(43)

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I know how to prevent a tail. I’m not taking a chance on our safe house being compromised.”

Mitch took detour after detour until finally Emily leaned her head against the seat. “Can we stop soon? Even I don’t know how to get to Noah’s house from here.”

“That’s too bad, because it’s right around the corner.”

“Thank goodness.”

Mitch parked and bit back a grin as Emily leaped out of the truck. Nothing serpentine about her sprint to the house. He followed her in after she’d unlocked the house and caught her coming out of the bathroom, a relieved look on her face. “Remind me never to go on a long trip with you,” she said.

“Some of us hack it, some of us don’t.”

“Some of us have abnormally strong kidneys.” She smiled and sat down at the large dining table.

Mitch tugged a chair to her side. He’d seen enough of Perry’s notes to know there were likely some leads, and to know they’d probably need help. Emily opened the tube and spread out the few sheets of paper the PI had stuffed into the hiding place.

Mitch turned the bottle over. “Pretty clever.”

“Have you changed your mind about him?”

“Maybe. I still think some of those leads of his were totally bogus.”

“Me, too.”

He leaned back in his chair and stared at her. “My God. Emily Wentworth admitting someone was less than who they appeared to be. I’m stunned.”

“I wanted to believe him. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt.” She glared at him. “But I can see now that a lot of his early leads weren’t…”

“Valid?” Mitch said. “I saw them. Missing children who were clearly custody disputes. He wasted valuable time.”

“So did the police department. They kept investigating Eric and me. We weren’t responsible.”

Mitch couldn’t fix the mistakes, but he could make a difference now. Only if she let him. He turned Emily’s chair to him and placed his hands on her thighs. “Do you trust me? Do you trust that I have your best interests at heart?”

“Of course.”

Mitch let out a slow, steady breath. He met and held her gaze. “Did you know your husband contacted Dane Tanner the day before the accident?”

“That’s impossible.” A slow dawning settled in her eyes. She sagged back in the chair. “Why didn’t someone tell me?”

“I probably shouldn’t have now, but I want you to think hard, Emily. Remember the weeks before the accident. Did Eric act strangely? Did he do or say anything odd?”

She gripped his hands in hers.

All he could do was be there for her. He couldn’t tell her what to remember, he could only try to pick apart the clues and uncover the truth. “I know it’s hard, but the more we know about what happened that night, the better chance we have of putting these pieces together. Right now, things don’t fit. An organized attack on you. Someone trying to frame you. Missing evidence.” He ticked through the list, the implications becoming clearer and clearer. “Then the murders of Vanessa, Perry and the wine-storage couple. It doesn’t track.”

Emily pulled her hand from his, and the loss of her touch tore at Mitch’s heart, but not nearly as much as the heartbroken look on her face.

“I’ve been thinking about Eric a lot the past few days,” she said. “He was a wonderful man, but he wasn’t perfect. He pulled away from me the last couple of months of my pregnancy. He wouldn’t talk to me. There were whispered conversations over the phone. At the time, I wondered if he was having an affair.” Emily wrapped her arms about herself. “I’ve never said those words aloud. Not to anyone.”

Mitch wouldn’t let her fold back into herself. He clasped her hands lightly in his, stroking the pulse point at her wrist with his thumb. “What do you believe now?”

She stared at the floor and finally raised her head, her expression haunted. “I think he knew we were in danger. I don’t know why or how, because money was tight, but I think he set up that account with money so we could run away if we had to. He just didn’t tell me. He wasn’t honest.” She squeezed his hands so hard her fingers turned white with the effort. “Can I forgive him for that?”

The despair in her eyes made him hurt for her, and he shivered in apprehension for the future he’d recognized he wanted with Emily. Every hour that passed made him doubt it would ever happen.

“Did he say anything after the accident?”

“Not that I remember, but the whole thing is still bits and pieces. Flashes of a red and green tattoo, the bloody blue blanket, a hooded man. It’s all mixed up in my head.”

“That’s why you wanted to see Ghost’s tattoo.” The request made sense now.

“I thought it might jog my memory. Perry agreed.”

“It’s all coming back to Perry,” Mitch mused as he aligned the papers side by side.

“He was a good man,” Emily said. “In spite of his mistakes.”

Mitch smiled at her. “That’s what I lo…like about you. No matter how much evidence you see, you still have faith.”

Had he almost said love? Oh, God. He couldn’t feel that way. Not with his deception still between them. He cleared his throat and leaned down to focus on the papers. “Besides the phone number, he has some notes. Too bad they’re so random.”