Blindfold

I threw a curious look over my shoulder.

“I have a hunch,” she said.

It took me a couple of minutes, but when I found it, I swore again. “He got out the same day Lily disappeared.”

Toni nodded grimly. “That's what I thought.”

We all turned to look at her.

“Share.” The word was terse, but I squeezed her hand to make sure she understood it wasn't because of her.

“I'm just guessing here,” she said. “But I think at some point, Trask told his family who he really was, and when Caitlin committed suicide, he convinced Lily that your family was somehow at fault. He used that to convince Lily to spy on you guys.”

My heart squeezed in my chest. I didn't want to believe what I was hearing, but on some level, it made sense.

“I think she ended up caring about you,” Toni continued. “And when Trask got out of jail, he wanted her to help him with something.” Her eyes slid to Isadora and then back to me. “Maybe a kidnapping.”

“Shit,” Isadora breathed.

“I think she refused, and that's why she left.” Toni let the statement sit for a few seconds before she added, “She wrote that letter and then she...vanished.”

Silence fell for nearly a full minute.

“You don't think she simply moved away, do you?” Colton asked the question I knew everyone was thinking.

I answered it, “Trask killed her for not doing what he wanted.”

“Fuck.” Isadora sank back against Colton.

“Yeah,” Toni agreed. “That about sums it up.”

I couldn't have agreed more.

“We don't have any proof,” Colton said. “But this is probably something Marcum might want to know.”

“I don't want to distract her.” I turned back to my computer. “Not until we know for sure that we have something.”

Eyes turned to me and it was Isadora who asked the question. “How do we do that?”

I pulled up two more browser windows and put searches into all three. Isadora and Toni each leaned in from either side, so I didn't have to explain. They saw it only a few seconds after I did.

An apartment registered to a Lily Trask.

Fuck me.

“I’m going over there,” I said abruptly as I stood.

I hadn't gotten more than two steps when Isadora was right there. “No!” She caught my arm and shook me. “You are not! Didn’t we decide we were going to be smarter than that?”

“We are.” I turned to face her, catching her hands and lifting them to my lips to kiss them gently. “I want you to stay here with Colton and Toni. The security system's been upgraded since they got in before. I have double the security and everyone is working in pairs.” I glanced up at Colton and he nodded at me, knowing what I was going to say next. “And I know Colton's not going to let either of you out of his sight. But I have to go over there.”

“And do what?” She stared at me, terror in her eyes. “You won’t find anything that can help you figure out what happened to Lily.”

“I’m not looking for Lily.” I hugged Isadora without looking at Toni. “You have to understand, sweetie. It’s not about her. It’s about you. It’s about Toni. These sons-of-bitches have done enough. But if they did hurt Lily too...” I didn't want to go there. “Look, I just want to know if they are there, okay? If I see anybody or anything, I’ll back off and call the cops.”

“I don’t want you going over there alone.” She pressed her face against my chest.

“He won’t.” Toni was already on her feet, and pulling on a battered jacket. “Let's go.”

“Wait...no.” I shook my head as Isadora took a step back. “You’re staying here.”

Toni shrugged. “I will if you will.”

“No.” I almost had to force the word out through gritted teeth.

“It's not up for debate.” She twisted her hair into some sort of quick knot, securing it with a band she pulled from her pocket, staring at me all the while.

“No. This could be dangerous.” When all she did was cock her head at me, I had to keep my jaw clenched and count to ten before I responded with one of my usual asshole comments. “It’s not all that likely, but what if they're there? Trask and whoever he's working with are smart. The cops never even found this place.”

“That you know of,” Toni pointed out. “And for all you know, this isn’t anything. But, on the off chance it is? You’re right. They are dangerous. That’s why you’re not going alone.”

“That’s why you’re not going at all!” I barely managed to keep myself from shouting it.

She gave me a sweet smile that I knew was anything but sweet. “Ash, I'm calling you out. You're being an ass. I've already told you that I can take care of myself. More, I've proven that. You've seen it.” She gave me a half-smile. “How does your nose feel, by the way?”

Red crept up the back of my neck. “This is different. This isn't about you getting in a free shot on someone who isn't expecting it.”

“No. You're right,” she agreed, to my surprise. “It's about you going after people who, for all you know could have murdered somebody. And I'm not going to let you go tearing off after them.” She looked up at me, her expression frank. “I know you. You're going to get hot under the collar if you see them. You're going to think about what they did to Isadora and you're going to lose your temper. If I'm there at least you'll stay in the car.”

“No,” I growled, my stomach twisting at the thought of Toni being anywhere near danger. “This isn't up for discussion.”

“Right again.” Her eyes narrowed and the look on her face hardened. “It's not. You and I both know that if you physically wanted to hold me back from going, you could do it. But make no mistake, if you leave here without me? I won't be here when you get back.”

The impact of her words hit me, and I took a step back. I drew in a slow breath and tried to keep from feeling the sudden stab of panic that went through me.

But she didn’t give me time to fully process her words before she continued, “I promise, if I leave, you will never see me again, and if you try to come after me, I will call the cops. I'm not joking, Ash. If you walk out that door without me, we're done. For good.”

***

To her credit, Toni didn't sit in the car with a smug smile on her face. She actually looked nervous as we started down the road, and it took everything I had not to offer to turn the car around and drive her back. She clutched her phone like a talisman, and I knew that, at the first sign of trouble, she'd be calling Agent Marcum.

I wasn’t expecting trouble. I wasn't expecting anything, really. Just because there was an apartment listed under the name Lily Trask didn't mean anything. It didn't mean that Daniel Trask was using his former step-daughter's name.

And it definitely didn't mean that we were wrong about Lily being dead, and that she was using her step-father's last name.

This entire thing was stupid. I knew it, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. I had to know the truth.

Please don't let Toni pay for me being stupid and stubborn. I don't know who that thought was directed to, but I felt helpless and just sending that simple thought out there felt like it was better than nothing.

“This isn’t too far from where I grew up,” Toni said as I swung a left.

We were only about a half mile from our destination. It was a residential area for the most part, the buildings a mix of older homes and those had been set up into multi-family apartment homes. I slanted a quick look at Toni as I came to a stop at a traffic light.

“My parents’ house is two blocks north,” she said, gesturing. She gave me a proud smile. “A genuine house. We keep telling them they should put it on the market for a cool million and move somewhere. Retire somewhere with a beach.”

Aside from wanting the distraction, I wanted to know more about her, so I went with it. “If they're interested, give them my number. I'm always looking for real estate.”