All She Ever Wanted - Barbara Freethy [101]
"Going through his closet."
"Now hang on, Madison," Josh said. "I can't let you go through Dylan's closet."
"Try and stop me." She pointed to a closed door on the far side of the room. "Have you ever been in there?"
Cole followed her gaze, wondering what she knew that he didn't. It didn't take long to find out.
"Dylan has set up a shrine to Emily," Madison continued. "I saw it yesterday. We just need the key." She glanced at Josh. "Do you have it?"
"I might," Josh said slowly. "But I also respect my brother's privacy. Borrowing his television and mooching a beer is one thing; looking through his closets is another."
"We have to look," Cole said. "Give me the keys."
Josh hesitated, then walked over to the table and picked up the keys. He tossed them to Cole. "It must be one of those."
Cole had been in this loft dozens of times and never even noticed the closet. Now it looked somewhat ominous. He had the terrible feeling he didn't want to open the door. But something drove him across the room. After fumbling with each key, he found the right one. It slid in easily. He turned the knob.
Natalie, Madison, and Josh came up behind him as the door swung open. "There's a light," Madison said, reaching past him to pull a long, dangling chain.
The light came on, and Cole's jaw dropped as Emily's face stared out at him in a hundred different ways. Photos of her were plastered all over the small room.
"Shit!" Josh said. "What the hell is this?"
"A nightmare," Cole murmured, turning away. He thought he was going to be sick.
Natalie put a hand on his arm. "Are you all right?"
"No."
"Where are you going? We need to look for Emily's journal."
Cole shook his head. "I can't. I've got to get out of here."
* * *
Laura felt self-conscious and nervous as she walked toward Drew's office, located at the far end of a floor filled with cubicles. His secretary, Pamela Fryer, sat at her post outside his door, her gaze focused on the computer, her fingers flying across the keyboard. Like most of the women in the law firm that had been founded by Laura's father, Pamela was young, attractive, and well dressed. She'd been Drew's secretary for the past six months and Laura had barely exchanged more than a few words with her. That was about to change.
"Mrs. McKinney," Pamela said in surprise, as she approached. "Can I help you? Drew's not here."
"I know that," Laura said, trying to remember the story she'd concocted. After her unsatisfying conversation with Drew the night before, it had become clear to her that if she wanted answers, she'd have to get them herself. If Drew was up to something, he wouldn't leave evidence of it at home. He'd keep it at work, because she never came to work—until today. "Drew accidentally brought my daughter's permission slip to work, and she needs it. He said it's in his desk. It got mixed up in his papers last week. I'm just going to get it."
"Do you want me to help you look for it?" Pamela asked, as she stood up.
"No, I can do it."
"Mr. McKinney really doesn't like anyone to go through his desk," Pamela said hesitantly.
"Believe me, I know exactly what Mr. McKinney does and doesn't like," Laura replied, deciding it was time to show a little backbone. "I am his wife."
"Of course you are. I didn't mean ..."
The phone on Pamela's desk rang as if by divine intervention. Laura escaped into Drew's office while Pamela took the call. Knowing she had only a few minutes, she riffled through his desk drawers as quickly as she could. Nothing, nothing, nothing. She took a quick look through the blinds in Drew's office and saw that Pamela was still on the phone. She had a few more minutes, so she turned to his filing cabinets. As she did so, Drew's computer caught her eye. He loved to do everything online.
Turning on the computer, she tapped her fingers impatiently on the desk as it booted up, keeping one eye on Pamela, the other on the screen. It would be hard to explain why she needed to look at Drew's computer when she'd come for a simple permission slip.
Finally, it was up.