“Do you have references?” her father asked in his usual businesslike way.
The question might have sounded reasonable, but she was done. She put Wren in this position, so it was time for her to do a little rescuing. “That’s not necessary. He works with me and I’m satisfied.”
“I’m afraid that’s not good enough.” Her father looked over her head at Wren. “I’m sure you understand.”
He shook his head. “I don’t.”
“My daughter is too close to this situation.”
“She also hates when men talk around her,” she pointed out. Not that her father ever noticed how she felt about anything.
Wren looked as if he were trying to hide a smile. “She strikes me as intelligent and practical. I’m comfortable with taking direction from her. I trust her instincts.”
Well, that was just about the sexiest thing. If this were the time to properly show her appreciation she’d touch him, but she banked it for later. “Thank you.”
“Let me be honest.” More man-to-man talk. Her father threw in some concerned hand-wringing as he talked this time. “You are not the right man for the job. Frankly, I’m not convinced this job is even needed. It’s clear what happened—”
“It is?” That was news to her.
“—but if Emery is going to pursue this, I at least want it done right. That way we can end the inquiries and move on.”
Enough. Emery stepped in front of Wren. Blocked her father’s view of him as much as she could with her smaller size. “It’s not your decision. Besides, you’ve never helped with anything relating to Tiffany. Why start now?”
Her father’s face flushed red with anger. “This proves my point. You’re too emotional.”
“I’m not,” Wren said. “And, so that we’re clear, I’d expect Emery to be passionate about finding answers about her cousin. She has me to provide the realism. What I need from her is her drive to solve this. Her dedication.”
“That doesn’t sound very professional.”
Her head wouldn’t stop spinning. She volleyed back and forth between loving everything Wren said and wanting to shake her father. It had always been that way with him. It was no surprise this time followed the same pattern. “It’s fine for me, so stop bothering Senator Dayton. Don’t call Caroline or any of my friends. Back out of this case. Now.”
“I wasn’t aware you still had friends,” her father said, stepping right into a subject they’d battled about for years. “I was under the impression you pushed them away, including Tyler. I hear he’s in town.”
The shot qualified as the one too many. Emery shut it all down. “We’re not arguing about this. We are absolutely done here.”
Her father looked at Wren. “Do you have a business card?”
“No.”
She stepped back, almost slipped her arm through Wren’s but stopped herself in time. “We’re leaving.”
“Emery, stop. We need to talk this through like adults.”
Wren started to leave then turned around and looked at her father again. “One question. Where were you the night Tiffany disappeared?”
Her father stilled. “Excuse me?”
Wren shrugged. “It’s a fair question.”
“In the house with Emery.”
“All night?” Wren asked.
Emery had never seen her father thrown off that fast. She felt a kick of guilt over how much she enjoyed his wide-eyed stammering.
Her father walked to the door and opened it, ushering them out. “You had your one question. I’ll leave the rest of my answers to the person who actually takes over the investigation.”
“A change in investigators is not going to happen.” That was one issue she would not budge on.
“Sorry.” Wren smiled. “She’s the boss.”
“We’ll discuss this later.” Rage vibrated in her father’s tone as he talked to her.
“No, we won’t.” And she vowed to make that true.
They hit the outside and the fresh air. Despite the start of evening the weather hadn’t turned. Heat still rolled off the driveway. Not that she felt much of anything anyway.
Her fingers were trembling so hard that she fumbled with the car door. She was about to give up when Wren’s arm reached around her. He opened it, and watched her climb inside before closing it again. She sat there, waiting for him and ignoring her father as he stood on the front porch scowling.
Wren didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Started the car and backed out onto the street. Half a block later he pulled over and put it in park. “That went well.”
“Right.” That’s all she could manage. The whole scene was frustrating and a bit embarrassing. She felt as if she regressed to a scared little girl every time she spent time with her father. She talked tough and held her own, but their relationship was so unhealthy. So skewed to him demanding and her ignoring.
Wren reached his arm over and balanced it on the side of her seat. “Are you okay?”
“He treats me like I’m still a kid.” And sometimes she let him because that was easier, but she had to fight that tendency. It only made things worse in the long run.