insensitive, I just meant having one thing on top of another makes succeeding at either a lot more difficult.”
“From what my sister tells me, you’re up to it.”
“What do you mean?” Emily glanced at him with a smirk.
“Camille talks about you like you’re Wonder Woman.”
“Believe me, I’m no Wonder Woman.” Emily rolled her eyes. “I’d say your sister’s a bit prone to exaggeration, Peter.”
“And Maggie? What’s her story?”
“You mean to tell me Camille hasn’t given you every detail of Maggie’s life yet?”
“Not every detail.”
“Why so interested?”
“I like her. She’s beautiful and sweet and smart. I feel something stir when I’m near her.”
“Geez, Peter, I can’t imagine why.” Though Emily’s comment was a bit sarcastic, she was glad to hear he liked her friend, but the timing could be a deal breaker.
“Is she seeing anyone?”
“No. It hasn’t been that long since her last relationship ended—very badly. I’m not sure you should start making advances toward her when you’re leaving town soon.”
“Seattle’s not that far away—an hour and half by plane.”
“So you’d be up for a long-distance relationship?”
“I would if Maggie and I hit it off. Do you think she would?”
“Don’t know. You’d have to ask her.” Emily was pretty sure Maggie would be open to it, eventually. Peter was a great catch, but she wasn’t about to speak for her.
“I think I should ask her out to dinner first, though,” Peter joked.
“Good idea.”
~*~
When Emily and Peter arrived, Colin was ushering Jonathan and Camille into the conference room, balancing his laptop in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He set the laptop down on the table and motioned through the glass for the two to join them.
Emily sat on one side of Camille, taking her hand, and Jonathan on the other. Across the table sat Colin and his computer. Peter pulled a chair out next to him and deposited himself.
Jonathan gave Colin the initial information, full name, address, and so on, but when it came to physical description, Camille stepped in.
“Five foot five, a hundred and twenty pounds, long red hair, green eyes. She has a light sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks.” Camille’s fingers fluttered across her own face as she described them.
“Any birthmarks or tattoos?” Colin asked.
“A small birthmark on her right shoulder—looks like a kidney bean,” Camille replied, pointing to the area.
“Tattoos?”
“No,” Jonathan answered.
Camille shook her head.
“Well,” Emily interrupted sheepishly, “she does have a small butterfly on her right hip.”
Molly’s parents both craned their necks and looked at Emily with surprise.
“She does?” Camille asked. She looked over at her husband and shrugged. “I didn’t know.”
“She got it this past summer,” Emily explained. “I’m sorry, Molly didn’t want me to tell you. She showed me the other night when we went shopping. We were trying on clothes, and well, you know.”
“What else did she not want you to tell us?” Jonathan asked, his eyes widening with irritation.
“Oh, Em, was Molly doing things behind our backs?” Camille questioned.
“Not that I know of,” Emily replied with a slight shake of her head. She looked into her friend’s searching eyes. “But you know teenagers. Didn’t you do things you never told your parents?”
“Yeah. There are plenty of things I did that my folks still don’t know anything about,” Peter remarked, “and I plan to keep it that way.”
Colin stifled a chuckle.
Camille shot her brother a quizzical stare. “Like what?”
“You all can sort that out later, let’s get back to the report,” Colin said. “Emily told me Molly’s car is still at the house.”
“Yes,” Camille replied, moving her gaze from Peter to Colin. “She must have gone off on her bike because it’s missing from the garage.”
“Can you describe it?” Colin asked.
“It’s one of those Fat Tire cruiser bikes, bright red with yellow fenders. She loved going on long rides along the green belt,” Camille described, her eyes welling up as she talked about her daughter.
Emily’s thoughts flew to the back end of the bicycle she saw in the garage of the suspicious Asians’ home. She started to open her mouth, almost blurting out that fact, but she bit her lip to keep quiet about it awhile longer.
“Was there something you wanted to add, Emily?” Colin asked, noticing she was about to speak.
“No.” Emily noticed how he was getting good at reading her, picking up on the slightest facial expression, seeing the gears moving in her mind. She hoped he’d let it drop until she was ready to share what she was thinking.