“I do,” he said, his gaze traveling over Emma quickly, but thoroughly, assuring himself she was okay without alerting anyone to the fact that he knew her intimately.
That she’d left his house dressed in the exact same clothes, but without her panties on, a little over an hour before.
He was sure she’d put them back on. And by the look on her face, she’d put their time on his lounger completely out of her immediate consciousness, as well.
“He was at home all night. Just as he should have been.”
“At home.” Chantel’s tone was skeptical. As if he’d said the man was on the moon rather than somewhere normal—like the place he lived.
“Yes.”
“And someone can verify that?”
“He lives alone, but yes, I’m certain I can get neighbors to verify that he was there. His phone moved from work to home at exactly the time it should have, and never left.”
“I’m sorry, Jay, but you and I both know that that means nothing. He could have left the phone at home,” Chantel returned.
“He never knows when I’m going to call. He knows if I do and he doesn’t pick up, he could be heading back to jail.”
“How often do you call him in the evening?”
“Once or twice a week.” He made a point of checking in randomly, unpredictably, for his clients’ own protection.
Jayden glanced at Emma. Her lips were white, her eyes wide and slightly shocked-looking. Like she couldn’t believe any of this was happening.
She’d been threatened.
He wanted one minute alone with whoever had done it.
“Bill watched the game tonight.” He named the team and the time. “He gave me a blow-by-blow of the game, not just highlights that were on the news.” He knew because he’d watched the highlights since he’d missed the game itself.
He’d been too busy having sex with Emma to even remember the game had been on.
“Whoever did this... We have a prosecutor in danger, and we can’t play around here,” he said, checking himself when he’d been about to make it a lot more personal. “I suggest you look at her other cases,” he continued. “Luke Lincoln comes immediately to mind. He’s also one of my clients. He refused the app, but we all know he’s out tonight...”
Pulling out his phone, silently castigating himself for not thinking straight enough soon enough, he dialed Lincoln, the offender no one had been able to reach on the phone since his arrest.
Luke didn’t answer. No surprise there. Officers hadn’t found him yet, and they’d been searching since dinnertime. At his sister’s house. His job. Talking to people in the area. Law enforcement in Northern California had been notified, as well.
“I’ll put out an APB,” Chantel said, leaving the room as she pulled out her phone. Leaving Jayden alone with Emma.
Her hair was mussed—from his lounger, he knew—but with the wild, curly look she normally wore, and with the fact that it was getting closer to midnight, a bit of disarray would look more ordinary than not.
“You okay?” he asked, trying not to make it personal but failing as her gaze met his.
She nodded. “You think it’s Luke?”
“Makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t know.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “He won in court today. What’s there for me to ‘leave alone’?”
“His parole hearing. He’s warning you not to show up at that hearing.” The facts were completely obvious to Jayden.
“I have nothing to do with that. I’m not the prosecutor on that case.”
“No, but you know as well as I do that the parole board will welcome any input you have to give them.”
She nodded but didn’t look convinced. “It makes more sense that it was Bill. You questioned him today. Maybe he figured out that he’s being looked at.”