I chat with her a bit and we head to my office.
Much later, she and I are sitting together at a table in the cafeteria, sipping coffee and going over the auction details, I use the time to do a little digging. “I can’t believe Benjamin could spare you.”
“He’s actually a really generous person. He’s arrogant and a bit of a show-off, but absolutely a good guy.”
“Your help is appreciated. Allison leaving so abruptly took everyone off guard and left me chasing a fast deadline. Well, except Benjamin. He told me it didn’t surprise him.”
“Really? What did he say?”
“Just that. He wasn’t surprised. He didn’t elaborate. Maybe they had a personal relationship.”
“I doubt it. He’s into blondes. And I usually know the flavor of the day. He does run through the women. I’ve found him to simply have a good read on people. Obviously, he believes you’re going to be staying around because I’m here, helping you. He didn’t have me help Allison.”
“Yes, well, she had a bit more time than me to plan this.”
Her brows knit. “It is curious that she left. She had a lot of buzz in the firm like she was climbing the ladder.” She snorts. “She probably left for a man, right? It’s always a man.” Katie chooses then to join us and the conversation is over, at least, on the topic of Allison.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
I order food for Dash for lunch, but I don’t call him for fear of breaking his concentration. I’m stuffing a salad in my face when he instead calls me. “Neil is meeting with Tyler today, right now actually,” he informs me. “Tyler is giving him the security footage from the house you and Allison stayed in.”
“That’s good news, right?”
“It’s something to work with,” he says, “though Tyler told him he’s been through it all, even the footage for the office.”
“So not much help,” I comment, feeling a bit defeated when it comes to the hunt for Allison. “What about Benjamin? Was he personally involved with Allison?”
“Outside of them sharing a few calls and text messages, still nothing significant.”
“He sent his assistant to help as promised. She sings his praises and says that if Benjamin knew what others did not about Allison, then he’s just a perceptive guy. I don’t buy it. To me, if he knew more about her than anyone else, then the communication, no matter how minor it might have seemed, might be significant, right?”
“Neil looked at the dates of the communications and they occurred weeks before she seems to have disappeared.”
“Oh. Well, that doesn’t seem to be leading where I was thinking it might. So now what?”
“Let Neil keep digging, baby, but this isn’t always a fast process. And Benjamin wasn’t the only person who knew Allison wasn’t going to stay at Hawk Legal. Tyler knew.”
“Right,” I say, but I resist going down that rabbit hole. “Is Benjamin close to Tyler? Could he have known something about Allison through Tyler?”
“No.”
When we hang up, I repeat two words in my mind: Tyler knew.
My gut twists in a tight knot.
***
That night I work late, stuck on the phone with more than one of the Hawk clients donating to the auction. When I finally leave, it’s at Dash’s prodding. He calls and I answer to hear, “I’m coming to get you and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
My lips curve and I say, “Well, if you’re not taking no for an answer—”
“Good. I’m already walking in that direction.”
“I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
We disconnect and I load my bag, slide it on my shoulder, and I’m ready to leave. Exiting my office, I walk through the dark hallways and hit the button for the elevator. It’s a bit spooky and I’m more than a little relieved to have the doors open fairly instantly. I step inside the empty car and it hangs, kind of like the ones in horror movies, when the girl is trying to escape the monster, but slowly begins to close.
It’s almost there when a male hand catches one side and it jerks back open.
I hold my breath, my heart racing as Tyler appears in the opening.
I’m both relieved and on edge.
He joins me, punching the lobby button I’ve already pushed, for good measure. We turn to face each other and tension pulses between us. I flash back to the night I ended up in a car with his father, and I decide that while, yes, this is awkward, it’s different. Tyler is someone I know. His father is someone I don’t know.
“You think something happened to her,” he says, his voice tight as a whip.
Obviously, his communication with Neil brought us to this conversation. “I told you I was worried. I asked you to worry with me.”
“What if she just doesn’t want to be found? She hates me. I told you that.”