The Betrayal of Lies

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Book: Read The Betrayal of Lies for Free Online
Authors: Debra Burroughs
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Romance, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Mystery, Retail
forearm.
    Emily jumped out and dashed around the front of the car.
    “Where’s Elise Murphy?” Colin demanded, breathing hard.
    “Who?” Jake asked, also sucking wind.
    Emily narrowed her eyes in scrutiny. Was he really surprised or just pretending?
    “Don’t play dumb with us,” Emily said. “We know about your secret relationship with Mrs. Murphy. Where is she? What have you done with her?”
    “What secret relationship? What are you talking about?”
    Colin pressed his arm down on Jake and gave a little thrust. “I think you know exactly what we’re talking about.”
    “Get off me!” Jake grunted under the pressure. “What’s this all about?”
    “Elise Murphy is missing.” Emily eyed him for some kind of tell that he knew more than he was letting on.
    “Elise is missing?”
    “Not just missing. Taken,” Colin growled.
    “Oh, man. And you think I had something to do with it?”
    “That’s right,” Emily replied.
    “Well, I didn’t.”
    “Then why’d you run?” Colin’s breathing was beginning to calm.
    “My ex-wife.”
    “What does she have to do with it?” Colin asked.
    “Come on,” Jake moaned. “Can you get off of me now?”
    Colin let go of Jake’s shirt and released his arm from the man’s chest, but he stayed close, staring him in the eyes. “What about your ex-wife?”
    “I owe back child support and she said she was going to sick the cops on me. I thought that was why you were here.”
    “Likely story,” Colin muttered.
    “It’s true. Check it out.”
    “Oh, we will,” Emily promised.
    “Elise is really missing?” Jake asked. “Since when?”
    He did seem genuinely surprised by the news. “Since sometime yesterday,” Emily said. It had to have been sometime after she had been with Elise that morning, planning the wedding.
    “When’s the last time you saw her?” Colin questioned.
    “Let’s see.” Jake lifted his gaze to the sky, as if he was giving it some thought. “Oh, I don’t know, a couple of days ago, I think. I did a workout with her at her house on Monday.”
    “Not since then?” Emily asked. “You’re sure?”
    “Oh, I almost forgot. I did stop by for a little while on Tuesday evening.”
    “You do know she’s married, don’t you?” Emily fixed her gaze on him.
    “Yeah, I know. But what we have, it’s not serious. She invited me over to talk, said her husband was out of town and she was lonely, asked if I could drop by.”
    “So you went by just to talk with her?” Colin looked skeptical.
    “Yeah. Her husband isn’t very attentive to her and she needed some masculine attention, if you know what I mean. So we talked for a while and one thing led to another. You know how it is.”
    Emily crossed her arms and glared at him.
    “Hey, what can I say? She’s a beautiful woman.”
    “She talked to you about her marriage?” Emily raised an eyebrow. The police tech had said Elise cried on Jake’s shoulder about her husband in her emails, but was there more to it?
    “Some,” Jake nodded. “She was pretty unhappy. I told her that if he didn’t appreciate her, she should leave him.”
    “What did she say to that?” Colin asked.
    “That she couldn’t—it wouldn’t be good for his business. She was afraid that if she left, he would track her down and drag her back. He has money, well connected, you know.”
    “Maybe he would go after her because he loves her.” Emily was thinking about how distraught Patrick Murphy had seemed. “Did you ever think of that?”
    “Could be, I guess, but it didn’t sound like Elise saw it that way.”
    Colin took a small step back from Jake. “So, where were you the rest of yesterday?”
    “After the yoga class, I went home. I wasn’t feeling well. I had Mandy try to find other trainers to cover my appointments.”
    “Hmm, pretty convenient,” Colin said.
    “Hey, I even stopped in at one of those Doc-in-the-Boxes to see if I’d caught anything,” Jake said.
    “We’ll check it out,” Colin

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