“Both of you can get bent.”
“Jesus, you people are loud,” Miko said. “I thought all of you were spies at one time?”
“I was not a spy. Ever,” Jenner said, his voice filled with irritation.
“As nice and growly as your voice is, it wasn’t the loud one. It was the two partners we have here.”
“I guess I’m the only good spy, then,” El said.
“No. You just stopped speaking,” Miko said with a huff. “Where’s Lila?”
“In the shower.”
She nodded. “Good, because I’m having an issue with her parents’ investigation, and I wanted to talk to you first before we talk to her. How does she feel about her father?”
“This is important to your profile on our perpetrator?”
She sighed. “No. On Lila.”
He opened his mouth to defend her, and he noticed that Eden did also. Miko stopped them by raising her hand.
“I do not suspect her of anything. Well, I’m sure she’s bruised a law or two to keep herself safe, but I don’t really give a damn about that.”
“Aren’t you with the FBI?” Jenner asked, sarcasm filling his tone.”
“It might have escaped your attention, but I am no longer with them.” She never took her gaze away from Ian. “So, her father? Has she said anything?”
“Not really. She has mentioned that her mother was promoted above him and that created some tension. She was sure a divorce was imminent.”
The front door beeped before he could answer.
“That’s Emily,” Eden said.
“Oh, good you’re all here. I came because Miko touched on something and I thought it would be better if I were here so we could run down this insane theory.”
Miko sniffed and straightened her spin. “It is not insane.”
“I think it is, but I like insanity, so that’s okay.” Emily set her laptop down on the table. “We are going to need a lot of coffee.”
After giving that order, she plopped down into a chair and powered up her laptop.
“I think we are going to need a little more information,” Ian said, as Jenner sighed and rose to make the coffee.
“It is a theory that started to take hold about an hour or so ago. I might be too tired, or I don’t know,” Miko said. He studied the former profiler. She had dark circles beneath her eyes, and while there wasn’t a wrinkle in any of her clothes, her shirt wasn’t as starched as it had been before.
“Girlfriend, I told you that it was a good theory. Especially after I started to look into the man they were trying to pin this all on,” Emily said as she tapped on her keys. “So, Miko called me with her idea. That maybe Lance Hiller hadn’t been the culprit. That maybe he had been a victim too.”
Ian blinked, looking from Emily to Miko, then back to Emily. “Wait, what?”
She sighed. “Hiller hasn’t been seen around, but there are problems with the theory The Company came up with for this crime.”
“That Hiller was obsessed with Eloise?” Ian asked.
“Yes. He wasn’t obsessed with her on a personal level. There were no signs of it at all,” Miko said. “You would think that he would maybe stalk her or show at least a little bit of an obsession with her. There was nothing.”
“Still, some people are good at hiding that, right?” Eden asked.
The former profiler nodded. “True, but I don’t think he was.”
