“Look. I’m so sorry, Molly. I’ve royally screwed up, and I know that you and Kim are really close.” He jumps up from the table and moves to put his arm around my shoulders, but I step away. “You won’t tell her, will you?” He grabs my arm. “I’ll make it right, okay? I’ll make it right. It’s just . . . you remember when Willow was born seven weeks early? What if Kim delivers the new baby early? Or what if the stress causes her to lose the baby altogether? I’d never forgive myself.”

God, what a mess.

His fingers are digging into my flesh, hurting.

“I’ll tell her. I promise. But I need time.”

“Whatever, Josh. Just break it off with Laken. You can at least do that for now.”

His bloodshot eyes meet mine. “Yeah. Right. It’s the right thing to do.”

Oh, how I despise this man. The fact that he and Jay were friends is beyond me. But then, Jay liked everybody, saw the best in everyone. “I’m tired, Josh. You should be on your way.”

I walk down the hall, Josh tagging behind me, and open the door to the dark night.

CHAPTER 29 - Rita

CHAPTER 29

Rita

A NOTHER COLD MORNING, AND NO ONE HAS ANYTHING NEW TO offer on the Bradley murder, except that a disgruntled patient bent on revenge hasn’t surfaced. And that’s okay now that the necklace has pointed us in a different direction. In the conference room, I catch the team up on our visit to Mountclair. But a certain pall lingers as everyone filters back to their desks. We need a break, something to breathe life into this investigation.

I settle in my office and place a call to Mrs. Bradley.

“Hello?”

“Detective Myers here. How are you this morning?” I flip through my notebook, phone clenched between my jaw and shoulder.

“Okay. Do you have anything new?”

She sounds pretty worn out, and I glance at the clock, wondering if I woke her. “Well, not exactly, but we would like your permission to search the house in Mountclair.”

Silence, but I can hear her ragged breath. “Mrs. Bradley?”

“Why? Do you really think that’s necessary?”

“Just routine. If we’re going to find your husband’s killer, we need to put all these pieces together.”

She clears her throat. “I don’t see what the necklace has to do with anything. My husband probably found it somewhere in Mountclair. Maybe he picked it up off the street.”

“Could be.”

“This woman is still missing?”

“Yes.”

“What was her name?”

“Annalise Robb. You know her?”

“ No.”

“Okay. Can you meet us up at the house? We’d like to take a look around.”

“I guess I could if you think it will help.”

“Tell me again about your husband’s last trip up there.”

“He went up to fix the window. But you said this woman disappeared last summer.”