Page 112 of The Murder Club

“Don’t laugh,” Eric snapped, striding toward her as his face flushed with anger.

Bailey leaned back, belatedly reminding herself that this wasn’t the harmless, goofy Eric she’d assumed him to be. This man had stolen from the residents who trusted him. He’d stalked her, terrorizing her with his texts. And now he’d kidnapped her. She wanted him distracted, not homicidal.

“Eric,” she breathed.

“I have proof.” He reached into the pocket of his jacket and a sharp fear pierced Bailey’s heart. Thankfully, he didn’t pull out anything more threatening than a phone. His brow furrowed as he scrolled until he found what he wanted, then, holding it out, he tilted the screen toward her. “See?”

Bailey warily leaned forward, making sure he couldn’t see her hands. Then she grudgingly glanced at the phone.

It looked like a news article, although the print was too small to see in the dim light. All she could make out was the headline.

DOM LUCIER

CONNECTED TO MISSING WOMAN

Bailey frowned. Not because she believed this was a genuine news article. Not even for a second. But because Eric seemed to believe it was.

“Where did you get that from?”

Eric straightened and dropped the phone back into the pocket of his jacket. “From our mutual friend.”

Bailey blinked in confusion. They had a mutual friend? That seemed unlikely.

“Who?”

“PJ.”

Bailey was still confused. “I don’t know anyone named PJ.”

“You know. From the Murder Club.”

“Oh.”

Bailey hadn’t really paid attention to the names that the players used. They were all fake anyway. She’d remembered them by their specialty. Law enforcement, botanist, accountant . . .

She shook her head. “How would someone from the club even know about Dom?”

“We were discussing the fact that he was in town.”

“Why?”

Eric glanced away, obviously trying to hide something. “Because we both suspected he’d come to Pike to take advantage of you.”

Bailey studied Eric’s tense profile. He was hiding something from her. She was sure of it. But what? Was it possible he’d made up PJ along with the news story hoping to fool Bailey into thinking Dom was some sort of psycho? After all, the threatening texts he’d been sending hadn’t terrified her to run in his direction. Was this another crazed scheme to get her to turn to him for protection?

“Well?” He abruptly glanced back at her, as if bothered by the silence. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

She sucked in a deep breath, trying to think clearly. Something that would have been a lot easier if she wasn’t cuffed and trapped in a soundproofed bathroom.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” she finally conceded. “I certainly don’t believe that fake story about Dom.”

“It’s not fake,” Eric snapped.

“Do you honestly believe that Kaden—not to mention Lia—would be friends with a man who was suspected of murder?”

“I trust PJ,” Eric insisted.

“A random stranger you met on the Internet?”