Damn her.

And then she realized that wasn’t fair. She had no idea what had gone on between Eddie and Elaine. Eddie had freely admitted that he was responsible for the failure of their marriage. And maybe he was.

“Oh, Eddie. I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head. “She didn’t think it was a good idea. She was concerned it would lead to false expectations.”

She was right. It had.

They had both been hopeful.

Kate threw a glance at the vodka bottle. “You can’t just drown your sorrows.”

He crossed his arms. “Please don’t patronize me, Kate.”

“Eddie, please.” She gave him a helpless look. “Don’t do this to yourself.”

He shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. “Kate, you should go now.”

“Eddie, I’m your friend. I care about you—”

“Kate. You should go now.”

He herded her to the front door.

“Will you come with me?” Anything to get him away from the bottle. “I’m meeting Matt. The hacktivist.”

Eddie’s bushy salt-and-pepper brows lowered. “Tonight?”

“Yes. I’m on my way there.” Kate swallowed. “I don’t want to go by myself.” She didn’t need to elaborate why. Eddie knew about her history.

He exhaled. “All right. But I’m not willing to talk about Elaine. Or my drinking habits. Do you understand?”

Habits.

That implied his vodka bottle was not a one-off occurrence.

Oh, I understand. “Of course. But we have to hurry. We have to meet Matt in ten minutes.”

Eddie grabbed his house keys and his phone. Kate strode to her car, Eddie hurrying behind her. Three-quarters of a bottle of vodka hadn’t seemed to affect him much.

Kate wondered if that was his first bottle of the evening. Or if he’d had another ready in the fridge when he finished the first.

Her heart was leaden. Was her friend so fragile that one disappointment would cause him to topple off the wagon?

No.

There must be more going on that she didn’t know about.

Hillcroft had warned her to not tie her career to Eddie. She had brushed that advice aside.

And now she could see first-hand that Eddie was in trouble.

And she didn’t know how to help him.

Her hands trembled as she gripped the wheel and turned the car toward the downtown area. She had faced killers, stalkers, and Kenzie Sloane, her oldest nemesis. She had battled for her life more than once. Some would say she had won those battles. She would term it survival rather than victory. Regardless of the semantics, she had made it through those battles.

But her attempt to wrest her sister from the grip of addiction had cost Imogen her life.

Addiction was an entirely different stalker.

And one she had no idea how to beat.

Chapter 49

Chapter 49

2:19 a.m.

Had the police seen him?

Were they calling in other units to surround Point Pleasant Park?