Save Your Breath (Morgan Dane #6)(62)

“Has she been reported as missing? Are the police involved?” Jake challenged.

“Yes.” Morgan nodded. “You can speak with Detective Stella Dane with the Scarlet Falls Police Department. Would you like the phone number?”

“Um. No.” He paused, as if he was searching for words. “That won’t be necessary.” He dropped his cigarette and ground the butt beneath his heel. “If the police want to talk to me, they can pay me a visit.” He shot them both dirty looks. “Not a lawyer and a PI.”

“You were seen knocking on Olivia’s door Thursday evening,” Morgan bluffed. Technically, the Nova had been seen. They couldn’t prove the blond man driving it had been Jake. Olivia’s neighbor hadn’t seen his face.

Jake froze. “I’m not admitting anything. But bonus time is coming up and having another big deal to take to the acquisitions committee would help.” He studied his shoes. “Money is tight. I’m running the bar and doing my own job. I don’t have time to discover the next great author.”

“So you went to her house?” Lance leaned closer. He wanted a damn confession.

“If she called me back, I wouldn’t have had to,” Jake snapped. He closed his mouth abruptly, as if realizing he had just admitted being at Olivia’s house. “Look, she didn’t answer her door, and I realized how stupid and inappropriate it was for me to be there. I turned around and drove home.”

“What time did you get back?” Morgan asked.

“Around midnight,” Jake said. “The bartender will vouch for me. I borrowed his car.”

Or he’ll lie for you.

“If you find her, tell her to return my calls. I have to go.” Jake turned and disappeared into the bar.

Morgan frowned at the closed door. “Do you think he’ll call Stella?”

“I doubt it.” Lance turned away from the bar. “He sounded surprised that the police were involved, but he didn’t think Olivia being out of touch for a couple of days was a big deal. He clearly thinks she skipped town to avoid her responsibilities.”

“And he’s angry at her for avoiding him. Now that we know about the Nova, maybe Stella will come and see him or get a local cop to talk to him.” Morgan slid her hand through Lance’s arm. “While you were playing the piano, I might have checked the back room and the apartment upstairs. There was no sign of Olivia anywhere.”

Lance looked down at her. “You broke the law?”

“Not really.” Her lips twisted. “The apartment was open, and he gave me permission to use the restroom. He didn’t specify which restroom.”

“That’s a load of bullshit.” He laughed. “You entered a personal residence without permission.” Lance wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her biceps. “That’s kind of hot.”

Morgan rolled her eyes. “You think everything is hot.”

He leaned close to her ear. “Only everything you do.”

Morgan shook her head. Then she paused midstep and inhaled. “I smell food.”

“It’s only eleven.”

She shoved her hands into her pockets. “I’m hungry. I need extra food to compensate for the lack of sleep.”

“If we get sandwiches to eat on the way home, we won’t have to stop.”

They walked to a bagel place down the block and ordered sandwiches to go. Morgan added cookies, coffee, and a dozen bagels to the order.

“Bagels?”

“For Grandpa.” Morgan collected the bag of bagels and her coffee from the counter. “He says bagels from anywhere other than New York City aren’t real bagels.”

Lance paid and accepted the sandwich bag from the clerk. They carried the white take-out bags back to the Jeep. By eleven thirty, Morgan and Lance buckled into the vehicle.

Lance unwrapped his sandwich on his lap. “What do you think of what we learned today?”

Morgan sipped her coffee. “Olivia kept her work close. No one knew what she was working on. Both her agent and her editor were pressuring her for her new book information.”

“Olivia’s lack of response is creating problems for her editor at the publishing company. And he’s already under an enormous strain with his father’s illness and financial situation.”

“Definitely.” Morgan wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Jake Riley needs money, he was at Olivia’s house the evening before she disappeared, and his stress level is through the roof.”

“But what would kidnapping Olivia accomplish?”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe he pressured her for the proposal and lost control,” Lance said. “He’s angry and desperate.”

Maybe he accidentally killed her.

“Maybe,” Morgan agreed. “According to Jake, Kim needs money, but again, it seems like she would need Olivia alive and well to bring in more income.”

“There could be something we’re not seeing.” Lance took a bite of his sandwich.

Morgan stuffed her used napkin inside the empty paper bag. “While you drive home, I’ll search tax records and see if I can find any other properties owned by either Jake or his father.”

Lance backed up the Jeep as far as he could without hitting the vehicle behind him. Then he pulled away from the curb and headed for the Brooklyn Bridge. Jake’s or Kim’s possible motivation might be unclear, but a desperate need for money had driven people to do some very bad things.