Page 79 of Obsession (Temptation 4)

Lachlan

I slung my duffel bag over my shoulder, hating the idea of going to the ballpark for the game when Imogene was still missing. At the very least, I would have felt better if Julia were home. It didn’t matter how many times she assured me she was perfectly safe. I couldn’t shake the feeling in my gut that something was off. It had been there all morning and into the afternoon, despite receiving text messages saying she was okay.

As much as I wanted her here, I didn’t know what it was like to carry a child, then watch the baby fight for life. If this was what gave her purpose, what took her mind off Imogene, I wasn’t going to deny her that.

“You’ll go get Julia when she needs a ride home?” I asked Nikko, confirming what he’d repeatedly promised me.

He glanced up from his laptop where he was having another look at the photos from Piper’s paddle-out.

“You know I will,” he assured me. “You just focus on the game. I’ll take care of things around here.”

“Thanks, cousin.”

“You bet, Pohili.”

I was about to head to the door when a chiming cut through.

I peeked at Nikko’s cell on the kitchen island, seeing Agent Curran’s name on the screen.

I dropped my duffel bag and waited, not caring if staying made me late for pre-game warmups.

Nikko answered the call, placing it on speaker.

“Hey, John. I—”

“It was Ethan!” Agent Curran shouted, his voice frantic.

“What are you talking about?” Nikko asked calmly.

“The copycat! I’m still trying to piece it all together, and it’s a much longer story than I have time for right now, but we uncovered a lead about who this guy’s next target could be. So we went to her apartment and found Ethan fucking Shore there, about to slice her wrists!”

With every word he spoke, my rage increased, frustration forming in my throat over the idea it was Ethan. The guy was a goddamn vegetarian who startled during thunderstorms, for crying out loud. I was supposed to believe geeky Ethan Shore could have been behind it all?

Plus, we never would have gotten this far in determining what happened to Claire if it weren’t for him. Hell, we would have probably still been trying to figure out who Lucretia was from the cryptic voicemail she left me. I didn’t want to believe it.

Couldn’tbelieve it.

“Please tell me you’ve spoken with Julia.” Agent Curran’s question forced me out of my thoughts.

“Why?” I asked nervously, heat washing over my face.

“Have you?”

“She’s texted me off and on all day. The last one I received was about a half-hour ago.”

“But have spoken to her? Heard her voice?”

“Why?”

The more questions he asked, the more uneasy I became, a knot forming in my stomach.

“Because Ethan said something that leads me to believe that, well… That Nick has her.”

“What did he say?” I asked, muscles trembling, throat aching.

Agent Curran blew out a long breath, sounding resigned. “That he reunited her with her family.”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pushed her contact information, pacing as I listened to it ring.