He was silent a long moment. When he spoke, his voice sounded far away and very sad. “I realized that later.”

“I should have told you. Maybe it would have helped.”

“No—no, sweetheart. You were a kid. You were living in hell and doing your best. You did just fine.”

“He was a monster,” I said. “I wanted him dead every single day.”

“I bet you did.”

“And then—and then someone killed him.”

“Yes, they did,” he said, and I knew—because I knew his voice, just like he knew me. My father had held my secret, too.

“Sloane?”

“Yes, Daddy?”

“It’s like I always say—justice wins out.”

“Did it, Daddy?”

“You bet it did, sweetheart.”

When I hung up, I realized I was crying, but I was smiling, too. And for the first time in a long time, I let the weight of my secret drop away.

I wanted Tyler, but he was off at meetings, and so I did the next best thing. I got dressed, got in my car, and headed to Destiny.

I would be early, but I didn’t care. I could mingle with the customers, maybe see if there were any more who knew Amy.

I frowned, realizing I hadn’t asked my dad about the run on her license. Then again, it hadn’t been that long, and I knew he’d call if and when he got something.

I did, however, want to give Candy an update to let her know I had even more confirmation that Amy had skipped to Vegas. I put the phone on speaker and dialed her number as I maneuvered onto the highway to head toward Destiny.

“I was going to call you today,” she said, right off the bat. “Guess who called me last night?”

“Amy,” I said.

“Yes! She sounded terrible, but she said she’s doing great—she did meet a guy, so we were right about that. She’d lost her phone. I almost just deleted the voicemail—I figured it was a wrong number—and she said not to worry about her.”

“How did she sound bad?”

“Just tired,” Candy said. “I tried to call back on the number, but it said it wasn’t working. Not sure what’s up with that. I wanted to tell her to chill. And to lay off the guy if he was wiping her out so much. Anyway, it’s good news, huh?”

“The best.”

“She said she’d be here for the baby. Well, she said next month, but I’m sure she meant next week. If not, I’ll chew her ass out for being late.”

“I bet you will.”

I hung up, smiling at the relief in Candy’s voice. I thought of Sapphire, and her frustration at not knowing what had happened to Emily, and her impression that the police weren’t doing enough.

I could hardly help on the investigation, but maybe I could help gather some facts. I scrolled through my contacts and put a call in to Detective Louis Carson, one of the Chicago homicide detectives I’d called to ask about Tyler and the guys when I’d first rolled into town.

“Hey Watson,” he said. “You still in our fair city?”

“I am,” I said. “And I have a favor.” I told him about Emily and about wanting to help Sapphire and asked him if there was anything more I could pass on to her.

“I know a bit about that case,” he said. “I can give you some info, but you need to keep it to yourself. Chief wanted a tight wrap on this case, and he hasn’t yet authorized release of the details. Should be soon, though, and you can tell your girl.”

“I’ll keep quiet until you say,” I promised, then listened as he told me about how she’d been found in an abandoned warehouse—that was public knowledge—and that she’d been the victim of torture.

“Not sexual, as far as we can tell. But starved and beaten. Some sick fuck did a number on her.”

“Shit.”

“I know. We’re hoping we don’t have a serial killer on our hands.”

“Anything useful from forensics?”

“Adhesive residue and POE oil,” he said, spelling out the last for me. “That’s the angle we’re working now, but both are pretty damn common.”

I thanked him and we chatted some more until I hit my exit, then I said goodbye and pulled into the Starbucks that was just a few doors down the street. I’d done the same the last two times I’d come, and when the barista knew I wanted a venti nonfat latte before I even asked, I realized I was feeling like a regular.

I bought a scone for later and took it and my coffee back to the car, then continued on to the club. I was about to pull behind the building to park when I saw the back door open and Tyler step out—and Michelle was with him.

I pulled over and watched as they got into Tyler’s Buick and pulled out onto the road. And then, though I felt prickles of guilt for doing it, I followed them.

Despite what I knew about Michelle, I wasn’t expecting them to lead me to a love nest. On the contrary, because of what I knew about Michelle—including Tyler’s comment that first day in his office that he wanted to use her for some project—I had a feeling I was about to see the kind of thing I really didn’t want to see—proof that Tyler Sharp wasn’t anywhere close to squeaky clean.

The thought almost made me turn back around.

But I couldn’t. I needed to keep going. I needed to see.

They pulled up at The Drake, and as I took a spot on the opposite side of the street, the valet opened the car for Michelle. She got out, looking classy in a red business suit with a straight skirt. I waited for Tyler to get out, but he continued on, pulling back into traffic.

I frowned, and was about to follow, when I noticed the white van two spots in front of me with a BAS sticker in the back window.

Okay, then.

Apparently I’d stumbled on a BAS Security operation. And I figured I might as well pop in and see what they were up to.

I was about to get out of the car to do just that when my phone rang, the caller ID showing that it was Kevin. I considered ignoring the call, but succumbed to curiosity and answered.

“I keep hoping to hear from you.”

“Kevin, I told you. You’re chasing rainbows. These are good guys. Trust me.”

“No,” Kevin said. “It’s there. Those three don’t operate clean. Everything they touch snakes back to dirty. Smuggling, forgery, extortion, you name it. Did you know they supposedly run a private security company? But I’ll be damned if that’s not just a front for them to gather intel.”

I glanced out my window at the BAS van and frowned. “Jesus, Kevin. Do you have even a shred of evidence that isn’t completely circumstantial?”

“I know what I know,” Kevin said.

“Yeah, well, I don’t.” I ended the call, too frustrated and distracted to let it linger.

Once again, I glanced over toward The Drake, and then to the van in front of me.

I thought of Tyler and hoped I hadn’t been a fool to let him shatter my walls and slide in through the cracks. But even as I hoped, I couldn’t forget what Kevin had said—everything they touch snakes back to dirty.

And I couldn’t help but think that Tyler had touched me.

I’d told Kevin the absolute truth—I had nothing on these men. But while that was true, it wasn’t the whole truth.