Harmony 03 After Glow Read Free Page A

lane.
    Emmett raised his brows. “Mind if I ask what you plan to tell the cops?”
    She winced. “I’m hoping they won’t ask too many questions.”
    “This is the second time in a month that you’ve reported a dead body. Got a hunch there are going to be a few questions.”
    Someone pounded on the door of the apartment.
    “I’ll go let them in,” Lydia said. She turned and went down the hall.
    When she opened the front door of the apartment she found two medics, a uniformed police officer, and an all-too-familiar face crowded together in the dark hall.
    “Hello, Miss Smith,” Detective Alice Martinez said. “You do turn up in some interesting places.” She switched her tough cop’s gaze to a point beyond Lydia’s left shoulder. “So do you, London. What is it? The two of you can’t think of anything more romantic to do on a date than find dead bodies?”
    One of the medics looked at Emmett. “Where’s the dead guy?”
    “Down that hallway,” Emmett said.
    The two medics and the officer headed for the study.
    Lydia did not like the dark cloud she sensed gathering over her head. “What are you doing here, Detective?” she asked warily. “This isn’t a homicide.”
    Alice did not take her attention off Emmett. “Actually, I was looking for you, Mr. London. I called Miss Smith’s office to see if she knew where you were and was told that both of you were probably at this address. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Miss Smith had just phoned in a report about a dead man.”
    “Detective.” Emmett inclined his head politely.
    Lydia got the impression he was not surprised to see Alice Martinez. The cloud overhead got darker and more ominous. There would be rain any minute.
    “Why do you want to talk to Emmett?” she asked sharply.
    “I need to ask him a few questions,” Alice said. “Just a formality.”
    “What?” Lydia was outraged. “You can’t be serious. Surely you don’t think that Emmett had anything to do with Professor Maltby’s death? I’m the one who found the body. Emmett is not involved in this. He just happened to be here when you arrived.”
    Alice and Emmett both looked at her. Lydia got a nasty feeling that she had overreacted. Not the smart thing to do around a cop, she told herself.
    “I hadn’t planned to talk to Mr. London about Maltby’s death,” Alice said calmly. “Although, I may have to revisit that decision. But we’ll let that go for now. The reason I tracked him down this morning was to ask him some questions concerning another problem that I’m handling at the moment.”
    “Problem?” Lydia glanced from Alice’s face to Emmett’s and then back again. A fresh wave of dread ruffled her nerve endings. “What problem? What is going on here?”
    “Someone tried to kill Mercer Wyatt early this morning,” Emmett said quietly.
    “Whoever it was nearly succeeded,” Alice added. “Wyatt is in intensive care at Cadence Memorial Hospital under an armed guard. The doctors finished operating a couple of hours ago. His condition is listed as critical.”
    Lydia relaxed slightly. “I see. Well, that’s unfortunate but I can’t say that I’m terribly surprised. Wyatt is a Guild boss, after all. No one rises to that position without making enemies. Guild politics are notoriously messy. At least they are here in Cadence.”
    “True,” Alice agreed in a very neutral tone of voice.
    Lydia frowned. “So, why do you want to question Emmett?”
    “Because the word on the street is that he’s the new acting head of the Cadence Guild.” Alice’s smile was ice cold. “The way I heard it, he will take over permanently if Wyatt doesn’t make it out of intensive care.”

2
    H E HAD KNOWN this would not be easy.
    Three hours later Emmett watched Lydia de-rez the lock on the front door of her apartment. She had not said a word during the drive home following the formalities at Detective Martinez’s office. The continuing silence was a bad sign. Lydia was