The Betrayal of Lies (4 page)

She had phoned Elise’s daughter on the way home the previous night, only getting her voicemail. Not wanting to leave such a disturbing message, she simply asked Kaitlyn to call her back as soon as possible.

So far this morning, Emily hadn’t heard back from the girl. She tried again, but just got voicemail, so she went on and phoned Elise’s sister, Janet, who lived in Boston. Shocked by the news, Janet told Emily that she did know that Elise was unhappy in her marriage and she was thinking of leaving Patrick.

That comment didn’t line up with what Patrick Murphy had told them when he’d said that they had occasional arguments, but in general they got along fine. Nor did it line up with his actions. His concern for Elise’s welfare seemed genuine, as well as his offer to do anything, pay anything, necessary to bring her home. Was the husband lying? Could he manufacture tears on demand? Or was he simply unaware of how unhappy his wife truly was?

“Do you think your brother-in-law knew about Elise’s plans to divorce him?” Emily asked out of earshot of everyone else.

“I doubt it,” Janet replied. “Patrick’s not around much. According to my sister, he’s either at work or traveling on business most of the time.”

“Sounds like a lonely life.” A twinge of sadness pricked Emily’s heart, but she pressed on. “Did Elise ever mention any friends she might be having trouble with?”

“Not really. Oh, there were other women where she volunteered, but from the way she spoke about them, they seemed more like acquaintances than friends. As far as anyone she might have problems with, she never told me about anyone.”

After hanging up, Emily spoke to several of the women Elise had worked on charities with, those whose names and numbers Patrick had provided. Nothing new came from any of those conversations. Janet was right—the women sounded more like acquaintances than friends.

No wonder Elise wanted the job as a wedding planner—to fill her time and her life with happy people, not to mention that she and Camille seemed to be forming a close friendship. Perhaps Camille could tell her more about Elise.

Emily stopped by Camille’s shop for a chat.

“Oh, Emily, I can’t believe Elise is missing,” Camille gasped. “Let’s sit down.” She dragged out a chair for herself at the conference table and sank down onto it. “We were all sitting around this table talking about your wedding just yesterday.”

“I know. “Emily took a seat beside her. “I was starting to like the woman.” She paused, watching Camille stare blankly across the room, presumably thinking about Elise. “What can you tell me about her?”

Emily waited for a moment with no reply. “Camille?”

The redhead’s attention snapped back to Emily. “Tell you about her? Like what?”

“For instance, did she ever mention anyone she was having a problem with? Someone who might want to harm her?”

“Elise?” A puzzled looked swept across Camille’s face. “Oh, my gosh, who would want to harm Elise? She was a good person—I mean she
is
a good person. She always has a smile on her face, she volunteers her time at a number of charities, she’s warm and kindhearted. I can’t imagine anyone would want to hurt a hair on her head. Now her husband on the other hand…”

“What do you mean?” Emily’s interest piqued.

“Well, you know…he’s rich and powerful. I’m sure that man has trampled over a few people as he climbed to the top.”

“Did Elise ever mention any of them?”

“No, never.”

“What about her husband? Did she ever talk to you about him?”

“Just that he had provided her with everything she ever needed—except himself.” Camille sat back and crossed her arms. “I can relate. My Jonathan travels a lot for work, too.”

“But you and Jonathan seem to have a great marriage.” At least that’s how it looked from the outside, Emily surmised.

“We have our share of conflicts, like anybody else, but we’re committed to each other—for better or worse. Thankfully, it’s been mostly for the better.”

“Did Elise ever mention leaving her husband?”

“No, not to me, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”

“What do you mean?”

Camille looked at Emily with a wistful grin. “There’s only so much loneliness a woman can stand before something’s got to give.”

Emily hadn’t considered how lonely Camille might be when her husband travelled on business so often. Maybe it was easier for Camille than Elise because her work kept her pretty busy and she had a close group of friends she saw often. Elise, on the other hand, hadn’t had that, not until she met Camille.

However, with Molly going off to college in the fall, Camille would be all alone in the house when Jonathan was travelling, except for the company of Chester, their golden retriever. Emily decided the girls would have to make sure they checked in with Camille a little more often during those times he was away.

Emily rose. “If there’s nothing else, I need to get going. You’ll give me a call if you think of anything, won’t you?”

“I will.” Camille stood and hugged Emily tightly. “I hope you find her.”

~*~

On the drive back to the Murphy apartment, Emily made another attempt at calling Elise’s daughter, but again had no luck. She left another vague voicemail, wondering if she should be more specific in the message, more urgent, but she didn’t want Kaitlyn to find out about her mother that way. She’d try her again later.

Next Emily phoned Colin and brought him up to speed on her conversations with Camille and Elise’s sister. “Sounds like things weren’t as rosy in the Murphy house as the mister led us to believe.”

“I’m not surprised,” he said. “Most people don’t want to admit when they’re having marital problems, especially not to complete strangers.”

“Particularly when it might make him look as if he might have had something to do with her disappearance.”

“Happily married or not, someone did take his wife. He has an alibi—he was out of town on business. I had Ernie verify his meetings and travel plans.”

“Okay, so maybe the husband wasn’t involved,” Emily conceded. “Any word from any potential kidnappers?”

“Not yet, but we’re ready for their call when it comes,” Colin said. “By the way, Isabel is here.”

“Isabel? Why?” Emily was confused. This hadn’t become a federal case yet. Why would the FBI be interested in this situation?

“She said her office heard about the possibility of a kidnapping and that the FBI just wants to be kept in the loop. I guess Patrick Murphy is a big deal. Apparently, he called his friend the Governor early this morning, who must have called someone he knows in the FBI.”

“Sounds like he doesn’t trust us small-town detectives,” Emily said with an edge of sarcasm.

“Yeah, don’t take it personally. The guy wants his wife back,” Colin reasoned. “If you were missing, Babe, I’d call in the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA to do a full-court press to find you.”

His words made her smile. “I’m pulling up now. See you in a minute.”

~*~

Colin was standing in the far corner of the dining area speaking to Isabel when he noticed Emily and he waved her over.

Emily stepped inside the spacious and stylish apartment and turned toward the buzz of conversation coming from the dining area to the right of the foyer, appearing to have seen Colin’s gesture. A number of men were in the room, some in suits and others in uniforms, a few seated at the table in front of a bank of electronic equipment, others milling around, talking.

Isabel, dressed in her usual dark blue business suit and tailored white blouse, with her long dark curls pulled up into a twist, looking very FBI, smiled as Emily approached.

Emily carefully squeezed between the men that filled the room until she reached Colin and Isabel. “Full house, I see.”

“Hey, Em.” Isabel grasped her hand. “I was just saying the same thing to Colin.”

“Where’s Patrick Murphy?” Emily asked, glancing around.

Colin tilted his head and lifted his chin in the direction of the formal living room on the other side of the expansive foyer. “Sitting in there with the Chief,” he said, referring to the Paradise Valley Chief of Police. “Seems they’ve known each other for a while.”

“Right,” Emily said. “Full-court press.”

“You got it.” Colin winked. He had meant it when he’d said that there was nothing that he wouldn’t do to rescue her in a similar situation.

“Did you guys canvass the neighborhood yet?” Isabel asked. “Talk to the neighbors?”

“We did last night.” Colin gave a slight nod. “My people came up with nothing. These homes are so far apart, no one saw or heard anything.”

“What about Mr. Murphy’s enemies?” Isabel glanced around and lowered her voice. “Anyone have it out for him?”

“I asked him the same thing,” Emily said.

Isabel lifted her eyebrows at them both. “And?”

“He’s supposed to be getting me a list today,” Colin said. “We’re on top of it.”

“And did you check out the husband’s alibi?”

“Of course, Isabel.” Colin felt himself becoming a bit defensive. “This isn’t my first rodeo, you know.”

“Okay then.” Isabel pinched her lips together for a moment. “I think I’m just in the way here, so I think I’ll be going.”

Colin knew Isabel wasn’t purposely trying to be condescending, although it still prickled him. From what Emily had shared about Isabel, he knew it was her years of being in the CIA and then the FBI that fashioned her unbridled penchant for details and thoroughness.

Isabel put her arm around Emily’s shoulders and gave a little squeeze. “I’m headed back to my office. Call me if—”

Before Isabel could finish her thought, Patrick Murphy’s cell phone began to ring. He grabbed it and bolted to the dining room.

“Everybody quiet!” Colin shouted as he stepped up beside the husband. The rooms fell silent. He leaned in to Patrick. “Remember, speak slowly and keep them on the line as long as you can.”

The tech on the tracing equipment pointed to Patrick to answer.

On the third ring, Patrick clicked the button. “Hello, this is Patrick Murphy.” He listened to the caller. “You want how much?” His gaze shifted to Colin.

Colin rubbed his hands together in expectation.

“Two million dollars? In small unmarked bills.” Patrick spoke slowly, still eyeing Colin. Then he paused and listened again before replying. “It’s going to take some time to get that much money together. I don’t have that kind of cash just sitting around in a bank account. I’ll have to liquidate some assets, you know.”

Colin leaned his ear near the phone. He overheard the voice on the phone yell at Patrick to shut up. It sounded as if the caller was using some kind of electronic device to distort his voice.

“I want to talk to my wife, make sure she’s—” Patrick’s shoulders slumped and he drew in a shaky breath, staring at the phone in his hand. “He hung up.”

“You did good.” Colin patted him on the back before shifting his attention to the technician. “Was it long enough?”

“Not quite.”

He turned back to Patrick Murphy. “Can you get that much cash together quickly?”

Patrick shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I’ll do my best.”

~*~

Within the hour, Patrick Murphy’s phone beeped that he had a text. Holding it out so Colin and Emily could see it, he clicked on the text, which had a video attached. He opened the file.

The video showed Elise, bound to a chair in a rustic room. Her auburn hair was messy and an expression of fear moistened her eyes. Her voice was shaky as she pleaded with her husband to get the money or they would kill her.

“Someone will call you with instructions,” a scratchy, altered voice said from off camera before the video clip ended.

“That’s it?” Patrick snapped the phone shut.

“At least we know she’s alive,” Emily said.

“Can you forward that text to my phone?” Colin asked. “I’ll get the county lab techs to see if they can identify where she might be.”

“Looked like an abandoned house, or a cabin or something,” Emily suggested.

“Or a warehouse maybe,” Colin said. “It’s hard to say.”

“Maybe there was some background noise the lab can detect,” Isabel added. “The FBI has the most sophisticated equipment. Let me forward it to our lab tech.”

“Rather than arguing over who has the best lab equipment,” the husband growled, “why don’t you guys get out there and find my wife!”

“The whole law enforcement community is already at work on this. As we speak, Mr. Murphy,” Emily said, “the police techs are combing through your wife’s emails and phone logs hunting for anything that could help us, and the lab techs are processing everything from the crime scene last night, looking for clues.”

“And they’re tracking your wife’s credit cards and watching for a GPS signal from her cell phone if it is turned on,” Colin added.

“We’ve got the what and the why,” Isabel interjected, “but until there is anything pointing to her location, we don’t have the where to begin searching.”

Patrick slumped down onto a dining chair and ran a hand through his graying hair. “You’re right. I just feel so helpless, so out of control. That’s not something I’m used to.”

“Were you able to get the list of Elise’s jewelry?” Emily asked.

“Yeah, I got it from my insurance agent a little while ago,” Patrick replied. “I’ll need to go through it. She kept the really expensive stuff in a safe deposit box down at the bank.”

Chief Nelson strode up behind Colin and Emily. Tall and dark, he stood high above them. “Patrick, trust my detectives. They’ll get Elise back.”

Patrick nodded sadly.

“I’ve got to get going,” the Chief said. “I’ll be in touch.” He dipped his head toward Isabel, “Agent Martínez,” then headed out the door.

Colin’s phone beeped a text tone. It was from the police tech working on Elise’s emails and phone records. He wrote that he had found something they needed to see.

Chapter 4

After spending a couple of hours researching the list Patrick had provided with his potential enemies, Colin had come up with nothing, so he and Emily headed over to see the police tech who had texted him.

“Hey, Troy, what do you have for us?” Colin asked the tech as he and Emily walked into his workspace.