Pretty Little Wife(7)

She focused on the exact spot where she’d parked his SUV hours ago. Lights off, drifting over divots and bumpy grass at less than five miles per hour. Well before sunrise. Maneuvering around security cameras.

She’d planned it all, and somehow it still failed.

Leave it to Aaron to piss her off even in death.

Bells rang inside the building. A second later, the chaotic burst of talking and laughter seeped through the school walls and floated out to them. Lila focused on the faded white lines and the number twenty-seven printed in the parking spot. Aaron’s number.

“Lila?”

Brent’s voice broke through the clanging silence in her head. Cassie had volunteered to stay behind to watch in case Aaron wandered home. Brent mentioned the police and questions. Lila heard the words, but they bounced off her, refusing to settle in.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

No. Absolutely not. “Where’s his car?” The question flipped over in her head until it slipped out.

“He’s probably out on a ride somewhere, clearing his head or laughing at us for not trusting he’d be fine. Just enjoying the day, and then he’ll come back and apologize.”

Wrong answer. Brent didn’t know how wrong that was. He couldn’t know, but she did. If Aaron showed up—if that bastard was alive—his anger would destroy everything in its path, especially her.

She took out her cell and hit the app Aaron had set up in case she lost her phone. She’d added his on there, and she tried to locate it now.

Nothing.

“Does an unexplained joyride fit with his personality?” The voice followed the slam of a car door.

Lila’s attention shifted, but then that was clearly the goal. A woman. Average height and weight. Curvy. A round, striking face with big dark eyes. Short black hair and a brisk walk. Lila didn’t recognize her at all. “Excuse me?”

“Ginny Davis.” She held out her card. “Senior investigator.”

Lila turned the card over in her hand, too on edge to see anything but a smudge of black lettering. “For what?”

“C.I.D.”

Lila looked at the woman but didn’t say anything.

The woman explained anyway. “The Criminal Investigation Division of the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office.”

Law enforcement . . . already? Lila tried to take a deep breath. Everything was moving too fast and in the wrong direction. “How did you get here so quickly?”

“I called her.” Brent grumbled something under his breath. “Well, my secretary did. And your neighbor called someone.”

The investigator nodded. “My office. We’ve received three calls this morning about a missing teacher. I was wrapping up another matter and agreed to swing by and see what exactly the issue was.”

She’d stepped in too fast. Hell, they didn’t even have a body. And Lila had trouble thinking about anything else.

“So you believe Aaron really is in trouble?” Brent asked.

The investigator shrugged. “I have no way of knowing right now.”

That sounded like the right answer to Lila. Smart and effective. It didn’t overpromise. It also matched the woman standing in front of Lila in a navy pantsuit. Not cheap but not expensive. The kind that mostly fit except for the slightly too long pants and a waistband that required a belt.

She didn’t make any attempt to hide her visual once-over of the area, or of Brent and Lila. “Are you Mrs. Payne?”

The name ripped across Lila’s senses, blocking out everything else. “Lila Ridgefield.”

“Aaron’s wife.” Brent said the words in a rush, as if the women needed his guidance through the conversation.

Ginny, because that’s how Lila already started to think of her rather than as some faceless, nameless investigator, didn’t even blink. “Several people seem concerned about your husband and his whereabouts. We likely don’t have anything to worry about. Most people show up within a day or two and have an explanation.”

Yeah, that better not happen. “Your response really didn’t answer my question. Why are you here now?”

“I’m doing a courtesy check only. Right now there’s nothing to investigate.” Ginny focused on Brent. “Mr. Little?”

“Yes.” After a quick handshake, Brent returned to his position slightly behind Lila. “Aren’t you supposed to wait forty-eight hours before you start investigating?”

“That’s a bit of a Hollywood myth based on the idea that grown-ups sometimes wander but usually come back. We don’t want to waste resources, but we don’t want to lose precious search time either.” Ginny’s eyebrow lifted as she looked from Brent to Lila. “Unless you want us to hold off for some reason.”

“No.” Brent shuffled his feet and stammered for a solid minute before kicking out an answer. “No, of course not.”

“If someone truly is missing, we’d rather know immediately and start working.” Ginny’s gaze switched to Lila. “Before the trail goes cold.”

“Right.” Brent nodded as he regained his composure. “When Aaron didn’t show up today, I went over to their house and broke the news to Lila.”

Ginny frowned again. “What news?”

“That my husband isn’t where he should be.”