I See You

CHAPTER 13 - A Recipe for Disaster

It was getting a lot harder to maintain the lines around friendship and love as Wyatt continued to find things they could do together both inside and outside of the house. Emma had stepped out of her office a couple days ago to find a full picnic spread on the floor of the den with popcorn, candy, pizza, her favorite flavored seltzer water, and a whole evening filled with period romance films from Anna Karenina to her personal favorite Far from the Madding Crowd. Just last night, Wyatt had taken her to see the high school's winter play, Wizard of Oz, which was performed every year in the park. And this morning, he had woken her up with a strategically placed neck massager.

Emma had told Wyatt she had a meeting about her settlement this afternoon, which was technically true, but she felt guilty letting him believe it was with the bank. Growing closer only made her want to find out who hurt him even more, and though he had told her to leave it alone, she couldn't. Emma had never had feelings like this before, not for Momma or even Todd. The only word she had for all the chaos in her emotions was love, but she wasn't quite ready to admit to that. So she tackled the one she recognized, righteous anger. Someone hurt the man who meant more to her than anyone ever had before, and they deserved to be punished. That started with digging deeper into the three people who all had something to gain from his death.

She arrived fifteen minutes early for her meeting with Taylor and couldn't believe her luck when his secretary escorted her into his empty office to wait. If she were a little bit braver, she would snoop around his desk and files, but she wasn't. So Emma settled for raising the blinds and looking out the window. It was more of a confirmation than a surprise when she saw his office butted right up to the same forest that connected to the marina.

"I knew it," she murmured. "Note to self, beware of what lurks in those woods."

Emma slid the window open and saw the screen had a screw in all four corners, but as she ran her fingers down the sides, she could feel where it had been bent in the middle. She reached up and found the top two screws tight and secure, but the bottom left gave easily under her fingers. Before she could check the other corner, a voice made her jump half out of her skin.

"What exactly are you doing, Ms. Porter?" Taylor asked, entering his office.

"I-I get claustrophobic," she lied. "Just wanted a little air."

"I'm sure. Have a seat," he ordered with an edge to his voice that made her nervous.

"I was hoping to speak with you..." Emma started as she took one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Me first," he interrupted. "When I saw your name on my calendar, I almost thought I might need to apologize for that awkward night, but then the strangest thing happened. I watched you break into my boathouse on New Year's Eve."

Emma froze, her eyes huge and her hands trembling. "I-I didn't break in."

"Oh, that's right. You were on a date with my brother. My dead brother. The one you can't see, hear, touch."

"That's all true," she said, looking down at her lap.

"And yet, I clearly heard you talking to him. It was quite a surprise when I also heard him use a tablet to communicate with you."

"You never asked me about that."

"Lies by omission are still lies, little bird," he sneered.

Emma hated hearing her nickname on his lips. What all had they said in the boathouse? And how the hell could she get out of this?

"If you're a cop or my momma, but I didn't owe you details," she snapped, looking back up at him. She needed to remember why she was here. "I can't see him. But I can see the clothes he wears. I can't touch him, but he can touch inanimate objects, as you know. I can't hear him, but he can hear me and has started to use the tablet to speak his mind. And before you ask, no, he doesn't know who killed him, but he feels pretty certain it was Mike Landers."