The Pursuit of Lies (Book #4, Paradise Valley) (2 page)

The man had a report from a doctor in town stating he was truly injured, but from experience, she knew that just because something was in writing didn’t make it true. The patient in question could have found a doctor willing to split the sizable settlement in exchange for his testimony. That wasn’t completely farfetched.

It was time for Emily to see what Mr. Dillingham was up to. If he was truly injured, the insurance company was willing to compensate him, but he had filed a three-million-dollar lawsuit against the restaurant owners and they wanted to be certain he was telling the truth.

Her clients had provided her with a photo of the man and she spotted him as soon as she pulled into the apartment complex’s parking lot. He had a little pug on a leash and looked like he was attempting to take the pint-sized dog for a walk. His gait was slow and he used a cane.

The man couldn’t know he was being watched, yet he hobbled along as if he was in pain. Maybe he really was hurt.

Emily followed him at a safe distance as he walked the dog around his complex, then took the animal back to his place and left it there. She watched as he went to the parking lot and carefully slid behind the wheel of his small pickup. She tailed him for a few blocks until he turned into the parking lot of a grocery store. He appeared to be in pain as he slowly climbed out of the truck, grimacing with each deliberate movement.

She followed him into the store and kept an eye on him as he went up and down the aisles, putting only a few things into his cart with one hand. He checked out, lumbered back to his truck with a single plastic bag of items, and gingerly climbed back in.

Emily remained hidden between the cars with her small video camera ready, but there was nothing to capture.

At a respectable distance, Emily tailed Mr. Dillingham back to his apartment and observed as he struggled to work himself out of the small truck with the plastic bag hanging from his right arm. Either he was a very good actor, assuming he knew he was being watched, or he really was injured.

He plodded to his main-floor apartment. Emily waited for him to go in, hoping she could get a peek inside one of his windows. There was only one window on the main level, next to the front door, and the blinds were shut. She moved to the side of the window and tried to peek in through the small gap between the blinds and the window frame, but she couldn’t see anything.

She decided to try her luck again later. As she drove home, she thought of Colin’s meeting with ADA Allison Laraway and wondered how that was going. Even though he had always claimed that he hadn’t noticed Allison’s advances toward him when he’d first arrived in Paradise Valley, Emily believed he only said that for her benefit.

Allison Laraway was a strong and decisive woman—all about the win. It wasn’t like her to let anything, or anyone, stand in her way. Emily was sure Colin knew a confrontation between Allison and Emily would have become ugly.

Both women were beautiful and strong, but Colin had told Emily she possessed qualities Allison lacked. She remembered him saying that he was drawn to her because she was sweet and compassionate, which balanced out her strength and stubbornness. He said those were important qualities, and he loved that about her.

Raising her left hand from the steering wheel, Emily admired her diamond engagement ring as the sunlight filtering in the window danced off the facets, making it sparkle and shine. She was pleased with how things had turned out with Colin, and now she would soon be Mrs. Emily Andrews. She wondered what Miss Laraway would have to say about that.

~*~

Emily drove back to the apartments a few hours later and found a place to park with a clear view of Mr. Dillingham’s front door. After sitting in her vehicle and waiting for the next couple of hours, with no sign of the man coming or going, she gave up for the day. She had a plan to find the truth, though, which Maggie had agreed to help her play out the next day.

The sun was starting to sink over the western mountains as Emily pulled into her driveway along the side of her charming bungalow in the older part of Paradise Valley. Colin would be coming over soon, so she rushed to straighten up her place and get ready for him.

When the doorbell rang, Emily went running to answer it. Seeing it was Colin, through the small windows at the top of her Craftsman-style door, she flung it open wide.

“Hello, gorgeous.” Colin stepped inside and gathered her up in his arms. “I missed you today.”

“Missed you too.” She tilted her head back and smiled up at him, enjoying the warmth of his embrace.

He planted a quick kiss on her lips.

She pushed the door shut with her bare foot and snuggled back in his arms. “What shall we do for dinner?”

“I ordered delivery,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind. The pizza should be here soon.”

“I guess I should make a salad then.” She pulled away and took his hand, leading him back to the kitchen. “Can you get the big glass bowl down from the top shelf?”

Reaching the kitchen, he pulled her into his arms again. “I love you, Emily. I’ve wanted to say it all day.”

“You can say that any time you want. I will never tire of hearing it.”

He gazed longingly into her face, his smoldering hazel eyes seeming to study her eyes and lips. He traced a finger delicately along her jaw line. She closed her eyes as he kissed her, long and slow. The heat that spread through her body was so intense she could hardly stand on her own. Her hands clung to his muscular back and she felt his embrace tighten around her.

“The door,” she gasped, coming up for air.

“What?”

“The doorbell just rang.” She drew in a breath. “I think our pizza is here.”

“Oh, right. Pizza.” Colin released her and rushed to the front door.

Chapter 2

The next afternoon, Maggie showed up at Emily’s house as planned. Decked out in a low-cut sweater, a short, tight skirt, and four-inch heels, Maggie was dressed for the set-up, as Emily had requested.

They drove to Mr. Dillingham’s housing complex in Maggie’s small, silver SUV, parking in its lot with a good view of his apartment.

Emily handed Maggie a small purse and a short stack of twenty-dollar bills folded in half, held together with a large paperclip. “You know what to do with that.”

She nodded as she took the cash and stuffed it into the little handbag.

They sat and watched as Dillingham left the apartment and took his little pug for another walk. Both of the women quietly slipped out of the vehicle and waited until they saw him returning.

“I’ll call you to come back for me when I’m finished,” Emily said.

Maggie nodded again, then made her way toward him while Emily got in position to videotape the encounter. As Dillingham was returning to his apartment, Maggie walked up to him and engaged him in conversation.

Even from a distance, Emily saw the man’s face light up at the sight of this seductively dressed beauty.

Playing the helpless female, Maggie told him she was looking for a certain address—one that Emily had made up. She pulled a slip of paper out of her handbag, with the fake address written on it.

When the man couldn’t help her, she stuck the paper back in her purse. As she spun away, she pulled her hand out of her purse. Pretending to accidentally drop the wad of bills from her handbag, she purposely hurried away.

Being certain that the man would watch Maggie as she sashayed away, Emily kept her camera zeroed in on his next actions.

As predicted, his gaze remained focused for a few moments on Maggie’s backside, giving her time to walk away. When he finally broke his stare, he appeared to notice the money on the sidewalk. “Miss!”

Maggie acted as if she did not hear him.

“You dropped something! Miss!”

Maggie kept walking.

“Miss!”

Maggie got in her vehicle and drove off.

Through the camera, Emily watched as the man looked around. He attempted to bend down and pick up the money with the back brace on, which made her wonder if maybe he really was injured. The brace prevented him from bending low enough to retrieve it.

Emily continued to record.

Dillingham glanced around again, more surreptitiously this time. Apparently believing no one was watching, he quickly unfastened the brace and slipped it off. He crouched down, scooped up the cash, and pushed it down in his pocket. Hooking the cane over an arm, he held the brace in one hand and the leash in the other, and dashed with his little dog to his nearby apartment.

Gotcha.

~*~

The last couple of weeks had seemed to race by, with Emily taking on more cases and Colin working a rash of break-ins in some of the most expensive homes in Paradise Valley.

The week before Colin had proposed, the Paradise Valley Chief of Police had offered to hire Emily as a consultant on a case-by-case basis whenever needed. She had given it some consideration and decided to accept his offer.

She looked forward to cases where she and Colin could work side by side. Sure, they had already worked a few cases together, but more because she had elbowed her way into them. As a consultant, they would be working almost as equals.

As much as she would like Paradise Valley to remain a quiet, sleepy little town, there was also part of her that hoped for cases with more meat on them—something more substantial than chasing an insurance fraud or following unfaithful spouses.

As another Thursday night rolled around, it was again time for the girls-only potluck dinner, and it was Emily’s turn to host it. The theme this week was Chinese. Camille had claimed she was dying to try her hand at Kung Pao chicken and sweet and sour pork. Because of Emily’s lack of talent in the kitchen, she agreed to make the white rice and pick up some fortune cookies for dessert.

As Emily was laying out the plates and glasses on the table, her phone began to jingle on the breakfast bar. She hurried to pick it up, seeing it was Colin.

“Hello, darling,” she answered.

“Hey, Babe. I know the girls are coming over, but I wanted to hear your voice. Does that sound cheesy?”

“A little, but I love it.” She hoped he could hear the smile in her voice. “So what do you have planned for tonight?”

“Nothing. Maybe do some reading, watch some TV—you know, just relax. I’ll probably go to bed early ‘cause I’m meeting Ernie for breakfast at the crack of dawn.”

“Don’t forget the engagement party is tomorrow night.”

“How could I forget? I’ll pick you up before seven.”

“Emily!” a female voice called out from the front of the house.

“Sounds like Isabel’s here. I’d better go.”

“Okay. I’ll call you in the morning. I love you, Emily Parker.”

“I love you, too,” she replied as her friend walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, girl,” Isabel greeted, giving Emily a hug as she clicked off her phone. “Was that Colin?”

“Yes. What gave it away?” Emily grinned, laying her phone on the counter.

Isabel set her foil-covered pan on the stovetop and ignored Emily’s question. “I made spring rolls for the first time. I hope they’re good.”

The women had all met, six years ago at a cooking class that Camille had taught when she’d first opened her catering and event-planning business, all four becoming fast friends. Over time, Isabel and Maggie had improved their culinary skills with Camille’s help, but Emily couldn’t seem to get the hang of the more complicated recipes.

“Any interesting cases you’re working on?” Isabel asked.

“Well, nothing all that interesting.”

“You had mentioned awhile back you’d been hired to run surveillance on a man to see if he was faking an injury. Whatever happened with that?”

“I’m surprised Maggie didn’t tell you.”

“Why would Maggie tell me?” Isabel poked around in Emily’s utensil drawer.

“She played a big part in proving the guy was lying.”

“She never mentioned it. She’s been so busy Skyping with Peter McKenzie every free minute those two have. I’m surprised she gets any work done.” Isabel pulled a pair of tongs out of the drawer.

“I thought once he moved to Seattle that would cool off.” Emily moved to the stove and turned the burner off under the pot of rice. “I’m glad to know they’re staying in touch.”

Peter McKenzie was Camille’s brother and a news reporter for a television station in Seattle. A few months ago, he had stayed with Camille and her family before starting the new job and he had become smitten with Maggie.

“Yeah, Peter’s a great guy, and we all know Maggie needs a great guy in her life, after all the losers she’s had.” Isabel looked down at her watch. “I wonder what’s keeping her and Camille.”

“Yoo-hoo! We’re here!” Camille exclaimed as she and Maggie waltzed through the entrance to the kitchen. Camille had a pan of food in each hand, while Maggie had a bottle of Sake in hers.

“Here’s my contribution, girls.” Maggie set the bottle on the counter. “Sake.”

“I think Sake is Japanese, Maggs,” Emily pointed out.

“Oh, sorry. Busy day today, so I had no time to cook. Japanese, Chinese, whatever.”

After setting her pans on the counter and uncovering them, Camille rifled through Emily’s utensil drawer for a few serving spoons. “Emily, we were kind of wondering if you’d be here when we showed up.”

“Why on earth would you think that?” Emily asked, a bit puzzled by the statement.

“It’s just that we thought we saw you and Colin turning into the parking lot of the Hilton Hotel. Obviously not.”

“You must be seeing things, Cam. Emily was on the phone with Colin when I got here.” Isabel pulled the foil off her dish of spring rolls.

“Maggie and I both saw them. Didn’t we, Maggie?”

“We did. Maybe y’all have twins.”

“That’s funny, Maggs. What exactly did you see?” Emily asked more out of curiosity than real interest.

“A red Jeep Wrangler like Colin’s, with a dark-haired man and a blonde woman in it.” Maggie removed the top from the bottle of Sake. “We weren’t close or anythin’, a couple of blocks away maybe.”

“Weird,” Isabel remarked. “Well, I know one thing for certain.”

“What’s that?” Maggie asked.

“I’m hungry. Let’s eat before the food gets cold.”