"That's it," I said, heading for the door. "I'm going over there."
"Dion, wait," Gideon called, but I was already moving.
"She needs me," I said without stopping. "I don't give a damn what she said earlier. She needs me, and I'm not leaving her alone."
Walker stepped into my path, his expression sympathetic but firm. "She'll see the recording as another violation of her trust."
"Then I'll deal with the consequences," I replied, trying to move around him. "But I'm not standing around with my thumb up my ass while she needs—”
"What she needs," Eric said without looking up from his computers, "is for you to stop wallowing and start thinking strategically. Because we've got a problem."
"What kind of problem?" I demanded, moving to look over Eric's shoulder.
“Her mother made a call to her husband at work as soon as she left Emily’s. I can’t find out what was said, but as soon as that was finished, Emily’s father made a call to an unknown number. Moments after that, we caught a call Richard Kline made to someone whose number traces back to Oak Developments."
My heart stopped. "Emily. It has to be about Emily."
"They could be getting ready to disappear her," Gideon agreed. "Make it look like she had a breakdown and ran off. With her mother already planting seeds about her being unstable, it would be believable."
I was already moving toward the door. "I'm going to get her."
"I'm coming with you," Walker said.
Twenty minutes later, I stood outside Emily's apartment door, Walker beside me, my heart hammering against my ribs. I could hear movement inside—the faint sound of the TV. We knew she was still there because of our surveillance but I didn't have any idea if I was welcome.
I raised my hand to knock, then hesitated. What if she refused to see me? What if she told me to leave and never come back?
Walker seemed to sense my hesitation. "She needs to know," he said, and I knocked. I barely breathed and I lifted my hand to knock again just as the door opened, and I took in her ravaged face.
"I shouldn't have gone through your files without permission," I blurted out. "That was very wrong of me. It was a huge violation of trust."
Emily stared at me, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy, but seeming unsurprised to find me at her door. I hoped that meant she’d looked through the peep hole before she opened her door.
"Dion," she whispered. "What are you doing here?"
"There's more," I continued, needing to get everything out before she could shut the door in my face. “But we need to come in.”
Thankfully, she must have heard the urgency in my voice, so she stepped back, and we went inside, closing the door. "We—I—had Walker plant a microphone in your living room after he left with the lockbox."
Her eyes widened, shock flashing across her face. "Youwhat?"
“No, he didn’t,” Walker said immediately. “That was all me this time. It was just audio and only the main room. Dion only found out when I told him thirty minutes ago.”
Emily gaped at both of us. “You’re as bad as each other.”
"We heard your mother," I admitted. "What she said." I wanted to add more but not until we were alone.
Emily looked like I'd slapped her, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "That's... that's an incredible invasion of privacy."
"I know," I said, not trying to justify it. "And I'm sorry. But Emily, we have reason to believe you're in immediate danger."
She blinked, confusion momentarily overriding her anger. "What do you mean?"
Walker stepped forward. "Your mother called your father after leaving here. We're pretty sure your father then called Richard Kline, who immediately contacted someone at Oak Developments."
"Oh My God," Emily whispered, the color draining from her face, and she bent and picked up Barnaby.
I nodded grimly. "We think they're planning to make you disappear."
