She tuned back into Faith’s voice. “When Jake was a Senior, Providence won the 1A football championship. Jake played defensive end.”
It didn’t surprise Emily that Jake had played football. It appeared he could do everything and do it well.
“And this was right after he won a high school rodeo championship. It went straight to his head. He thought he was hot stuff that year.”
“Mom.” Jake came out of his office and hurried around the couch. “Emily doesn’t need to see anymore.”
Despite Jake’s tan, a blush colored his cheeks clear to the tips of his ears.
Emily bit back a laugh.
“It’s fine, Jake.” Faith tried to push his hands away as he reached for the scrapbook. “She’s enjoying herself, and besides, those pictures were a long time ago. There’s no point in being embarrassed over them now.”
Jake’s eyes met hers and Emily smiled. “I promise not to hold anything against you.”
“That’s nice to know,” he said through tight lips. “But I’m taking this anyway.” Tugging the large scrapbook out of Faith’s hands, he walked over to the shelf where the book belonged, then changed his mind and took it into his office.
“Well bummer,” Faith said, shoulders slumping. “We were just getting to the good stuff.”
A few moments later, Jake crossed through the room, carrying a checkbook. He made the motion of tipping his hat as he reached the back door but didn’t meet their eyes.
Faith smiled. “Actually, there weren’t many more pictures of Jake except his winning a blue ribbon in 4H and graduating with honors.”
Yep, Jake did everything well. He was good-looking and smart.
“You wouldn’t believe the amount of food those boys put away as teenagers, especially when they went through their bodybuilding stage.” Faith giggled. “I bet those were the pictures Jake didn’t want you to see. They thought they were so buff, even when they were still skinny shrimps. They wrestled each other constantly, trying to prove who was strongest.” Faith laughed again. “As soon as one of them won, my husband took the winner down and pinned him. Just to keep them humble.”
A truck door slammed, drawing their attention to the window. Robert walked through the front door a few moments later, carrying a file folder.
“Hi Mom. Emily, how are you doing?”
“As well as can be expected. Faith is taking good care of me.”
“Mom’s the best, isn’t she?”
Before Emily had the chance to answer, Jake came through the back door again, a sheen of perspiration on his neck.
He looked at Robert. “Is everything okay?”
“I found out a little more information about Emily and thought I’d come tell her. Can I borrow your laptop, Jake?”
Jake grabbed his laptop from his office and sat on the couch near Robert.
Emily couldn’t help but admire the brothers. They were both broad shouldered and fit.If they wrestled now, who would win?Emily put her money on Jake.
He looked like he had fifteen pounds on his brother. Though his long sleeve shirt didn’t hug his shoulders like the t-shirt he wore to the hospital last night, she suspected it was fifteen pounds of pure muscle.
“I apologize, Emily, for taking so long to find this information. I’ve been focusing most of my attention on the driver and the car. I’ve been checking property holdings near the lake, which is where we believe he was taking you. Unfortunately, I’ve come up empty-handed in that regard. There are no properties registered to Brian Barnes. And it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to get anything useful from his cell phone. It was too badly damaged.” Robert typed something into the laptop then slid to the edge of the couch. “But Uncle James was right. You’re a doctor.”
Emily’s brow wrinkled. Thankfully, the motion didn’t hurt as bad today as it did yesterday. “I am?”
Shouldn’t that sound or feel right?
“Emily Anderson, Doctor of Psychology. You work for Alpine Family Therapists in Spokane.” Robert turned the laptop toward her, and an image stared back at her that looked like her, minus the black eyes and bandage.
The woman in the photo wore more makeup than Emily thought she usually wore, and her hair hung in long loose curls. Emily doubted she normally spent that kind of time on her hair.
Was the photo simply a glamour shot for the website? Taking a deep breath, she fought the panic tightening her chest.
