“Mm-hm.”
“You go save those kids.”
“Yeah, yeah. I do actually need to go. But before I hang up—has Dad said anything about high cholesterol?”
I frown. “No. Why?”
“I don’t know. Linda messaged me asking about some results Dad got on a physical. I’m probably going to call her.”
Alicia comes into view through the kitchen windows.
She’s got a bottle of water in one hand, and from the look of her, she gave herself a brutal workout. Her hair is pulled back in a high ponytail. Lycra skims every long, toned line of her body. She raises the bottle in a silent hello as she passes, and light catches on the sheen of sweat at her throat.
Then she turns toward the stairs, her hips moving with easy, unthinking rhythm.
My body reacts before my brain gets involved.
“I’ve got nothing for you on Dad. Keep in touch. And tell Phoenix I said hi.”
I end the call with every intention of following Alicia upstairs and putting that shower to much better use. But before I even make it off the patio, my phone vibrates again.
Hudson.
With a quiet curse, I drop back into the chair and answer.
“Morning,” I say in greeting.
“We received an update on the police investigation.”
It takes me a second to switch gears. “The Delacroix murder investigation?”
“Yes. One of the reasons Alicia’s a person of interest?—”
“You mean other than her being the one who was with him when he died? Who found him?”
“Right. There’s a witness who claims she was seen talking to him earlier—drinking coffee—and she followed him to the back.”
I sit straighter.
That doesn’t match what Alicia told me. Then again, witness accounts get messy all the time. People misremember. Fill in blanks. See what they expect to see.
“Okay,” I say slowly, dragging a hand over my face while I absorb it.
Hudson doesn’t pause long.
“The witness is missing.”
The words hit like ice water down my spine. “What?”
“That’s what our source says. There’s information in the portal. Can you take some time tomorrow—see what you can find? I’m sure the police are searching—but I don’t know how much they care at this juncture as they’ve got the witness statement on record. I’d love to find this witness though and learn if someone put them up to it.”
“You think it ties back to the Crawford case.”
“Worth checking.”
“I’m on it,” I say.
The call ends, but I stay where I am, phone still in my hand.