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CHAPTER

FORTY-SIX

Maddie looked from Bree to Detective Kalani to Adrienne then Brody.

Then she glanced back at Kalani. He was the only one who could answer her questions. “What are you talking about? People think Fowler walked off on his own? Why would he do that?”

Silence stretched through the air. Not just any silence.

Awkward silence.

“I wanted to talk to you before I talked to your fiancé,” Detective Kalani started.

Maddie touched her empty ring finger, but this didn’t seem like the right time to bring up the fact they’d broken up.

“I’m still unclear why you want to talk to me,” she said instead. “Or Josh.”

“Because a couple of hours ago, we examined Fowler’s laptop.”

“Because you think he left on his own and that there could be evidence in his files?” Maddie clarified, still not sure she was following.

“Perhaps,” Kalani said. “But we found something far different.”

Maddie didn’t like where this was going. Didn’t like the fact she’d been pulled into it either. “Okay . . .”

“We found hidden emails.” Kalani shifted in front of the patio doors, his perceptive gaze still on her. “Emails that indicated Fowler was trying to sell company secrets to the highest bidder.”

Maddie’s lips parted.

Fowler? He was the corporate spy?

No . . .

Her gaze snapped back to the detective. “I know the company suspected someone might be trying to sell plans involving their technology.”

“And now we have evidence that it may have been Fowler,” Kalani finished.

“So you think Fowler saw our hiking trip as an opportunity to disappear before anyone found out what he did?” Maddie clarified. “That he just walked away? Still, he couldn’t just disappear. He’s out there somewhere.”

“If one of his new colleagues was in on this with him, then Fowler could have had someone meet him in the woods and help him disappear.”

“The thought is just ridiculous.” Bree adamantly shook her head. “He would never do something like this.”

“Then how do you explain the emails?” Kalani stared at her.

“I don’t know, okay? I’ve tried not to ask him about his work too much. But he’s not the type to do something like this. I know him.” Bree’s chin trembled.

“He does, however, have quite a bit of gambling debt.” Kalani said the words slowly, carefully. “That might be a good reason for him to want a nice-sized payout.”

“He would never want Blue to succeed!” Bree practically shouted.

The detective paused, tilting his head as he observed Bree. “I never said anything about Blue . . .”

Tension clutched Maddie’s chest.

Everything was unraveling.

Everything.

Fowler could have been the corporate spy? He could have sold Benchmark out for a paycheck?

And Bree may have been in on it?

A million thoughts rushed through Maddie’s head at the same time as she tried to figure everything out.

“I only said Blue because that’s the company that makes the most sense.” Bree’s voice wavered defensively, and a burst of life ignited in her gaze. “They’re Benchmark’s top competitor. That doesn’t mean I had anything to do with this—not that I think that there is a this .” She did air quotes around the word.

“That’s what we’re still looking into,” Kalani continued. “But if you know anything else, now is the time to share. Corporate spying is a criminal offense.”

“I don’t know anything because there’s nothing to know!” Bree’s hand sliced through the air. “Fowler wouldn’t have done this. Now that you think he’s a traitor, does this mean that you’re going to stop looking for him? What if he didn’t disappear by his own volition?”

“We still have crews out looking for him in the helicopters. But it’s getting dark, so we’ll have to resume the search in the morning.”

“But what if he’s hurt?” Bree’s voice cracked. She was clearly distraught—as anyone in her shoes would be.

“I assure you that we’re doing everything we can.” Then Detective Kalani looked at Maddie again.

Why had he called her? She didn’t have anything to do with this conversation.

But he’d wanted her here for a reason.

“We’re going to need to talk to your fiancé,” Kalani explained. “We haven’t been able to locate him. I was hoping you’d know where to find him.”

Maddie swallowed hard and held up her empty ring finger. “We actually just broke up a few hours ago. I don’t know where he went. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.”

The detective observed her another moment, long enough to make Maddie cringe.

What was he thinking right now? Probably about something that made her look bad.

“May I ask why you two split?” Kalani finally asked.

“Because we weren’t right for each other.” That was all that detective needed to know. He didn’t need to know that Josh had cheated on her. That he was a jerk. That all he cared about was his career and how people perceived him.

Those things had nothing to do with this investigation.

“I heard there was an incident with his balcony last night,” Kalani finally said.

Maddie swallowed hard. “That’s right. Thankfully, Josh and Brody were able to keep me from falling. It could have been really ugly.”

The detective let out a thoughtful grunt—almost as if he didn’t buy that explanation—before nodding.

“I’m going to go see if I can track Josh down.” He glanced at Bree again. “I’ll be in touch with any updates. Aloha.”