“You really should call,” she urged. “Friends are important, Em.”
Emily just wanted out the door before she did something rash, like ask her mother what she and her father had to do with Fairgate. “I stopped by the school today.”
The words just sort of popped out. Definitely a good choice, though. The idea that Emily had gone to the school seemed to relieve some of the tension in her mother’sseriously concernedexpression.
“Principal Call showed me the plaque in the senior hall,” Emily went on. “And I talked to Ms. Mallory. I watched the squad perform a couple of routines.”
Relief, sheer gratitude, and more glittered in her mother’s eyes. “That’s wonderful.”
“I should get my purse.” Emily gestured vaguely toward her car. She really wanted to go. The idea that something so simple as stopping by the school could give her mother such joy spoke volumes about just how worried Emily’s parents were. “Maybe I’ll try to catch the girls for dinner.” Lie. Lie. Lie.
“I left Violet’s number by the phone,” Carol offered. “You cheered on the same squad for all those years, Em, it would be a shame not to get together.”
“Don’t worry; we will,” Emily promised ... just not today.
She’d actually started to close the door when her mother added, “Just so you know, I mentioned that you’re having some difficulty with Clint Austin’s release.”
Emily counted to ten.Don’t react on impulse. Be calm. Be cool.Her mother was only trying to help.
With far more poise than Emily would have imagined she could muster, she smiled. “I appreciate that. I’m sure they’re as upset by the news as I am.”
Her mother nodded, regret registering along with the concern. “We all understand that it’s far harder for you, Em. I think sharing your feelings with your friends would help.”
“You’re probably right.” Whatever she wanted to hear. “See you later.”
Emily closed the door behind her. She stood really still, tried to breathe away the ache in her chest.
Megan, Cathy, Violet, Heather, and Emily. The rising seniors on the squad that summer. Emily and Heather had been selected as team captains, a decision that didn’t sit so well with Violet and Cathy. Both had suffered with jealousy issues. Megan pretty much went with the flow, but not the others, especially Violet. Everything had to be about her.
Emily pushed the past away and headed for her car.
She now had a more immediate issue. Were her parents in financial trouble? Why else would they have dealings with a loan shark? They would never forgive her for eavesdropping if she mentioned it.
That left only one way to find out what was going on.
3:55 p.m.
Emily steeled herself as she rolled up to the gate of the property on 612 Red Bird Lane. She’d had to ask the clerk at the Sack & Go for Fairgate’s address, which would no doubt prompt more rumors. After pressing the buzzer on the speaker box, Emily waited.
Not for long. “What do you want?”
“Hello.” She cleared her throat. “My name is Emily Wallace and I’d like to speak to Mr. Fairgate.”
Several seconds passed with no response.
“Hello?” she repeated.
The scrape of metal dragged her attention to the gate in front of her. When it had jerked and scooted out of the way, she drove through.
Her heart climbed into her throat and stuck there in one shuddering lump as she parked in front of the massive house. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but it wasn’t this. She could honestly say that she’d grown up in Pine Bluff and not once had she ever seen this place. Reminded her of Graceland. Big columns. No lions, though. Ah, but he did have dogs. Two fierce-looking Dobermans alternately marched and sniffed their way around her SUV before marking each wheel.
Thankfully a mountain of a man lumbered from the front entrance and summoned the animals. Gifting him with a grateful smile, she opened her door, glanced around just to make sure there was nothing else to worry about before getting out. A long white limousine sat in the bend of the circular drive.
Tugging at her blouse, she closed her door and summoned the nerve to head for the entrance. The towering door opened and another massive man gestured for her to enter. Emily walked past him and paused just inside the grand entry hall.
“Are you armed?”
She scowled at the man. “What? No.”
