Emily's Choice (19 page)

“Let’s go,
before they drink all the beer.” Gina stood at the door, keys jangling in her
hand.

“Like that’ll
ever happen.” Emily laughed, grabbing her purse and joining Gina by the door.

“If it does,
it’ll be today—the day we need it most,” Phoebe said, opening the screen door
and walking out onto the porch.

They climbed
into Gina’s SUV and Emily immediately rolled the window down. The fresh air
felt good on her face, and she couldn’t remember the last time she breathed in
clean air. It felt good to fill her lungs with air that didn’t have car smoke
and pollution tainting it.

“The service
was nice,” Phoebe said softly.

Emily
nodded.

“Why isn’t
Hope joining us tonight?”

“Derek has
to fly out tomorrow. Something happened with one of his clients and it’s an
emergency, I guess. So she went to Santa Fe with him.”

“What’s he
do?”

Emily shook
her head. “I have no idea. I thought he was in insurance, but Dad said it has
something to do with finances. And Tyler said something about buying and
selling companies.” She blew out a breath. “I have no idea, but he’s successful
at whatever it is he does.”

“
Hm
,” Phoebe said.

“Sadie and
Jason seem to be thick as thieves,” Gina observed.

“That they
are,” Emily admitted.

Phoebe
clapped her hands. “Yes!”

“And?” Gina
asked.

Shaking her
head, Emily sighed and looked out the window. “And what?”

“And are you
moving home?”

“
Nooo
,” Emily drawled. “Not going to happen, guys. You know
that.”

“Why not?”
Gina and Phoebe demanded.

“Because,”
Emily said, splaying her hands in front of her, “we have a life in Boston. It’s
the only life Sadie knows. But mostly,” covering her face with her hands, she
dropped her head, chin tucked against her chest, “because I still love him,”
she whispered.

“What was
that?” Gina asked.

“Did you say
what I think you said?” Phoebe shrieked.

Emily nodded
and looked up through the windshield. “I do. I knew it as soon as I laid eyes
on him at the hospital and I confirmed it this afternoon when he pulled me in
for a hug.”

“What?” Gina
squealed. “When did this happen?”

“What are
you talking about?” Phoebe demanded. “We want all the
deets
.
I can’t believe you’ve waited this long to tell us!”

“There’s
nothing to tell. I was upset and he must have read the signals wrong.”

“You know he
loves you, too,” Gina said.

“It takes
more than love. It takes trust, too. And I’ll never be able to trust him again.”

“But —”

“How about
we talk about something else?” Emily asked again. “For now, let’s assume Jason
and moving back here are off limits. We can talk about anything else.”

“You really
know how to dampen the mood,” Gina said dryly. “But we shall abide by your
wishes.”

Phoebe
patted Emily’s shoulder. “Have you ever had Love Potion?”

Emily
sighed. “Is this your way of abiding by my wishes?”

Phoebe
laughed and shook her head. “It’s a drink, silly. It’s Malibu, Peach Schnapps,
and cranberry juice.”

“Sounds
delicious.” Emily smiled. “Do they have it at The Dustbowl?”

Phoebe
nodded. “Ben keeps the ingredients on hand for me. It’s my favorite.”

“I can’t
wait to try it.” She turned to Gina. “What does Ben keep for you?”

“Just beer,”
she answered, turning into the back parking lot.

They
gathered their purses and stepped out of the SUV. Linking arms, they sauntered
around the building to the front door. When they stepped into the bar, Emily
released a sigh of contentment. The inside of the bar was dark, the music loud,
and the chance for anonymity high. She wanted to disappear, drink away her
blues, and be with her girls . . . and this place seemed to be the answer.

They chose a
table in the back corner, away from the TVs and pool table. Even the restrooms
were at the front of the bar, so they were well and truly isolated. Phoebe went
up and bought the first round, leaving Gina and Emily at the table.

“Looks like
we got here at the right time, this table is usually the first to go,” Gina
said.

“I’m glad. I
plan to keep my back to the crowd tonight and get my drink on.”

“This is
Jason’s table. Anytime I’m in here, he’s at this one.”

“
Hm
,” she replied.

“Someone
will recognize you at some point tonight.”

“I know, but
I’m going to try my best to stay hidden for as long as possible.”

“No one has
seen you in years, you can’t expect them not to greet you home.”

Emily
nodded. “I know. But tonight I just want to disappear.”

Phoebe
returned with their drinks. They touched glasses before taking their first
sips.

“Oh my!”
Emily gushed. “This goes down extremely easy,
Phoebs
.”

“Told
ya
!”

“This will
be a good night!” Emily said with a broad grin. She upended her glass and
swiftly drank the entire glass down. She set the glass on the table with a firm
clunk and wiped the back of her hand across her lips. “It’s on, girls. Keep up!”

Gina and
Phoebe followed suit, and Gina took herself off to the bar for the second
round.

“Ben wants
you to come up and say hi to him before it gets too busy in here,” Gina said on
her return.

“I can do
that,” Emily agreed. “I’ll buy the next round and say hi to him while I’m up
there.”

The next two
hours followed the same routine with Gina and Phoebe running to the bar for
rounds and talking above the music as best they could. They had years to catch
up on and nothing loosened the tongue like drinks and absence.

“I have to
use the restroom,” Emily announced. “I’m going to brave the crowds.”

“Better put
on your hat and sunglasses,” Gina giggled.

“Good call!”
She dug her sunglasses out of her purse, putting them on her face before
stepping away from the table. She wound her way through the crowd and was quite
pleased with herself when she made it to the restroom without being accosted by
a well-meaning neighbor. Finished emptying her bladder and washing her hands,
she snuck out the front door to get some fresh air. She breathed deeply, again
realizing how much she missed the clean, fresh air of the desert. If only she
could bottle it and bring it with her back to Boston.

When she got
to the end of the building, she paused, staring out at the last rays of the
setting sun. The sky was mostly black, a faint glow of red and gold tinged the
horizon.

“Excuse me?”
a man asked close to her ear.

She barely
suppressed a shriek, turning her head to find the voice in the dark. The big
city had changed her. She knew everyone in this town, and her moment of fear
was a casualty of her time in Boston. “Hello,” she said with a smile.

“Are you
Emily Camacho?”

Emily
nodded, the smile dimming slightly. There was something familiar and faintly
menacing about that voice.

“I thought
so,” he said, wrapping his arms around her torso and putting a hand against her
mouth. He dragged her, kicking and squirming, around the building and threw her
into the trunk of his waiting car.

Emily kicked
and screamed against the trunk and frantically searched for the handle to pop
the trunk. She felt her pockets for her phone and cursed when she realized it
was sitting on the table with her purse. She briefly wondered how long it would
take Gina and Phoebe to notice she was missing and then pushed the thought
right out. She had to find a way out of this trunk. Where was the handle? Or
was that a TV myth? Wasn’t there an episode of CSI where they talked about cars
manufactured after a certain date had to have the handles for situations such
as this?

Why was she
even wasting her time thinking about that? She needed to find a tool or
something . . . some way out of this trunk. Where were they going? Why had he
taken her?

Her thoughts
swirled in her mind and she felt herself losing control. Panic was starting to
take over and she knew she had to get herself under control if she was to find
a way out of this. Breathing deeply, she relaxed and focused on making a plan.

After what
felt like hours, the car came to a stop. Emily situated herself so she was
ready when he opened the truck.

As soon as
he had the trunk open, he reached down and Emily kicked him in the face. He
fell out of sight, and she wasted no time in scrambling out of the trunk. She
didn’t check to see if he was knocked out; tunnel-vision had her running for
her life. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and this man as
possible.

She only
made it about ten steps before he body-slammed her to the ground. She fell
hard, the air forced from her lungs. He rolled her over and punched her in the
face. The last thing she saw before her world went black was his rage-filled
eyes and the cold smile on his lips.

*****

She’d been
gone too long. Jason saw her use the restroom and had resisted the urge to
follow her outside. He kicked himself now. He checked his watch. Ten minutes.
Too long. He got up from his table and slipped outside. He walked the length of
the building and turned the corner that led to the parking lot. He recognized
Gina’s SUV right away and walked over.

As he got
closer, he knew she wasn’t in there. His gut told him something was wrong.
Emily wasn’t overly fond of the dark, and he knew her well enough to know that
she wouldn’t just wander off without a good reason.

He checked
the vehicle to make sure, even though he knew she wasn’t in there. He called
out her name, hoping she was just in a shadow and he’d missed her. She didn’t
respond so he hurried back inside, praying he’d somehow passed her and she was
safe inside with her friends.

No such
luck. He bumped into Gina as he entered the bar.

“Is Emily in
here with you?”

“No,” Gina
replied, shaking her head. “I was just on my way outside to find her.”

“She’s not
out there.”

“Well, where
is she?”

“Don’t know,
but I have a bad feeling.” He went on to tell her about the mystery man from
earlier in the day.

“She left
her phone and purse on the table. She was just going to the restroom.”

“I think she
went outside for some air and I think that creep took her.”

“I’ll call
Fred. He’ll know what to do,” she said and ran back to the table. She snatched
up her phone and speed-dialed her husband.

“What’s
going on?” Phoebe asked, slow on the uptake thanks to two and a half pitchers
of Love Potion. “Where’s Emily? Oh, hi, Jason,” she purred.

“Fred? Emily’s
missing. She went outside for some air and now she’s gone. Jason thinks some
creep stole her!” She went on with the details Jason had given her, turning her
back when Phoebe’s concern rose to epic levels.

Jason put
his arm around her shoulders and shushed her. “We’ll find her,
Phoebs
. Did she say anything to you about leaving?”

“No,” she
replied, scrunching up her face. “All she said was she had to pee. I guess it
has been a while since she left. Wow, time sure does fly when you’re drinking.”

He rolled
his eyes. He loved the girl dearly, but she was a ditz of the highest order
when she’d been drinking. He checked his watch. Another fifteen minutes had
passed and he was itching to be gone. He needed to be out looking, searching
for Emily.

“Who else
saw this Edward at the house today?” Gina asked Jason, holding the cell phone
away from her face.

“I don’t
know,” he replied.

“No, she
wouldn’t just disappear. That’s not her style,” Gina said angrily into the
phone. “She didn’t disappear, she left with her sister. She left a note for her
parents. She sent me and Phoebe a text. And anyway, that was a totally
different situation.”

Jason
snatched the phone out of Gina’s grasp. “We don’t have time for this,” he
barked into the phone. “I’ve been watching her at the bar, keeping an eye on
her because the guy was a creep. I was worried for her. He now has a good
half-hour lead and who knows where he’s taking her.”

“I
understand what you’re saying, Jason. But we’re talking about a situation you
want me to use manpower on. We’re not sure she’s actually missing. No one knows
who this mystery man is. She’s disappeared in the past . . .”

“She didn’t
disappear,” he said slowly. “Gina just told you that.”

“Fine, she
has a history of running. Perhaps her stepmother’s death was more than she
could handle right now and she needed to get away.”

“She wouldn’t
leave Sadie behind. And she wouldn’t leave without telling someone.”

“You don’t
know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Jason, be
reasonable. None of you have seen her in two years. She lives in the big city
now. She’s changed.”

“Not that
much. Are you going to do something or not?”

“I can send
someone over to take statements and see if anyone saw anything. Other than
that, my hands are tied until she’s been missing for twenty-four hours.”

“Are you
serious? She could be dead by then!”

“It’s policy
. . .”

“I don’t
give a rat’s ass about your policy,” he interrupted. He tossed the phone in
Gina’s direction. “Way to marry a cop. What the hell good is he if he won’t
help his wife find her best friend?”

Jason
stormed out of the bar and jumped into his truck. He needed to calm down and
think. Who was this guy, where could he have taken Emily, and why had he taken
her? Who had a grudge against Emily? The only person he could think of was
Lila. But would she do something this crazy? What would she hope to gain by
doing it?