Free DOMINIC (Dragon Security Book 3) by Glenna Sinclair

settled.
    “Great.”
    She looked out the windshield up at the apartment building we were parked beside.
    “What is this?”
    “Emily’s apartment.”
    She turned so quickly that it must have hurt the way she moved her neck.
    “Excuse me?”
    “This is Emily’s. We need to go up and see if we can find the information she had that these people were so threatened by.”
    “She lived here?”
    “Yes.”
    “How are we going to get in?”
    “Elizabeth will let us in.”
    I got out of the car and waited for her to follow. She was still staring up at the building, as if she was expecting for it to have a big sign that said, “Emily lives here!” It was actually a very ordinary looking building, three stories and painted a simple beige. It wasn’t unlike the apartment complex where Amy and I lived during college. That complex was still overflowing with college students, still near all the hottest nightclubs.
    “Amy?”
    She finally got out and followed me as I led the way up the stairs. Elizabeth and Emily were on the second floor. I grabbed her hand as I led the way down the narrow corridor to the right door.
    Elizabeth opened the door, her dark hair falling over her face to hide the red splotches from her tears.
    “Hey,” I said, pulling her into my chest with my free hand. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face against me. I felt a sob vibrate through her. I didn’t know what to say. What do you say to someone who’s just lost the love of her life?
    “I’m sorry,” she whispered, pulling back to wipe the tears from her face. She caught sight of Amy, and she froze, the color draining from her face.
    “Oh, my God!”
    “Lizzie, this is Amy.”
    Elizabeth stared at Amy another long second, then shivered, shaking herself back to reality.
    “I’m sorry. You just look so much like her.”
    Amy nodded, a soft smile touching her face. “We got that a lot.”
    Elizabeth eyed her a minute longer. “Hell, sorry,” she mumbled, stepping back. “Come inside.”
    “Thank you for this, Lizzie,” I said.
    “Of course. Anything you need.”
    It was weird walking into Emily’s apartment without Emily there. Every time I’d been there in the past, she was here, greeting me with a big hug and a kiss. Emily was a personality that couldn’t be held back. She was always talking, always laughing. She was a light that I thought couldn’t be snuffed out. And Elizabeth…this wasn’t the Elizabeth I knew. She was just a shadow.
    “Edgar mentioned that she might have been prepared to mail something to him. Do you think—?”
    “Anything she might have prepared to be mailed would be on her desk. Or in the bedroom next to her side of the bed.”
    I crossed the room to the small alcove that Emily had called her office. There was a desk, a computer, and a pile of paperwork from her job at the insurance company. I dug through the paperwork, feeling like a grim reaper. I could feel Elizabeth watching me, chewing her nails as she did. I glanced at her, and she tried a smile, but her chin was quivering.
    “I’m sorry,” I said, going to her. “Do you want us to come back?”
    “If this is going to help you find who did this, I want you to search as much as you need to.”
    I kissed her forehead lightly. “I’ll make them pay.”
    She looked up at me, her dark eyes intense as she stared into my eyes. “I know you will.”
    I turned back to the stack of papers, but there was nothing there. I checked the drawers, under the computer, but there was nothing. I sort of turned, looking around the room. There was nothing out of place, nothing that looked like what I wanted. Elizabeth gestured to the bedroom door.
    “Go on.”
    Amy was watching the whole thing, leaning back against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest as she took it all in. I touched her arm as I walked past her.
    Emily wasn’t the most organized person in the world. I could tell which side of the bed was hers compared to Elizabeth’s.