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His hold tightened.
“You saved my life tonight.I guess, technically, you’ve saved me twice.You helped me at that rundown bar, and you stopped me from burning to death in my own house.I have to confess, I’m not quite sure how to handle a hero.”
“I’m not a hero.”Guilt twisted in him.He’d been lying to her.
“Fine.I’m not sure how to handle a cold-blooded bastard who occasionally does a good deed.Better?”
He wanted to keep touching her.No, he wanted to do far more than just touch.Take, take, take.“Did the story about Memphis have a point?”He let go of her wrist.
The dog remained close.Watchful.
“Memphis believed he was on the trail of a serial killer.”A little bubble of laughter came from her.Would have been a musical sound, if it didn’t hold the note of desperation.“Turns out that back when Hudson lived in New Orleans, a girl he dated went missing.”
Now Eb nodded.“I know.Mary Fontenot.”
Her lips parted.“He told you about her?”
“Mary was his high school sweetheart.It devastated him when she vanished.Said it changed his whole life.”Her disappearance had been the reason his partner wound up in the CIA.At first, Hudson had been bound for the FBI.He’d wanted to stop violent criminals, but then the CIA had recruited him.Stolen him right from under the FBI’s nose.
That tended to happen a lot.
“It devastated him, huh?Interesting.”She nodded.“According to Memphis, Hudson was a major suspect in Mary’s disappearance.”
Eb’s shoulders tensed.“Romantic partners are always suspects.”No big surprise.
Another laugh slipped from her.One tinged with more desperation.“Tell me about it.”
His lips thinned.
“Memphis thought Hudson was tied to other disappearances, as well.Twoother disappearances in New Orleans.Females who had a similar appearance to Mary.Victims who vanished while Hudson lived in the Big Easy.”
This was bullshit.It was?—
“Hudson began working with the CIA after those disappearances, and it became harder to track his movements.You know how you secret CIA guys are.Always slipping in and out of countries.New identities each time.But Memphis believed that he had managed to uncover a few concerning patterns.That Hudson might have been tied to the disappearance of a woman in the UK.Then another one in Spain.”
The pounding of Eb’s heartbeat seemed far too loud as it echoed in his ears.“Some guy—a total stranger—appears on your wedding day and spins a story about your groom being a serial killer and you…you what?Just buy it?”This was unreal.
“Memphis had no proof.No concrete proof.Just his suspicions, but he said he had to tell me.That he thought I deserved to know because he believed I could be in danger.”
“What did you say to Memphis?”Eb asked.He didn’t know Memphis personally, but the name had clicked for him.He was well aware of Memphis Camden’s reputation.A former bounty hunter, Memphis was rumored to be completely relentless.He had a real knack for tracking killers.According to the stories, his prey never escaped him.
“I told Memphis to screw off, of course.I wasn’t marrying a killer.Surely, I wouldn’t make the mistake of falling for a man who was a real monster?I mean…no way.”Her fingers lifted and curled around the wrist he’d held moments before.“Hudson was always kind to me.Incredibly caring.I’d never had anyone pay so much attention to me.He seemed to know me better than I knew myself.”
The fingers of his right hand tightened into a fist.
“He made sure I always had my favorite dessert when we went out to eat.Those amazing chocolate lava cakes.”A full smile came and went on her face.“He found this property for me because he somehow knew that my dream was to open my own business.My own bed and breakfast where I could make my guests feel at home.So very welcome.He knew about that dream before I even told him.Just like he knew where I had always hoped to vacation.He knew the movies I liked.He knew the jewelry I thought would be the prettiest.He knew me sometimes…” A faint click as she swallowed.“He knew me better than I knew myself.And he promised me that my life would never be the same once we married.That he could give me everything I wanted in this world.”An exhale.“So on my wedding day, when a stranger appeared and told me that the man who loved me, the man who had always shown me nothing but care—when a stranger appeared and told me that man could be a serial killer, I toldhimto get the hell out.I told Memphis Camden that he was wrong.And I walked down the aisle to marry Hudson.”
Eb had been right there.And he’d never seen any doubt on her face.No fear.“Is that why you killed him?”Eb questioned, wondering if he was about to get the confession he needed.“Because Memphis made you doubt him?You snapped that night, and you attacked?You should have told the cops the truth.You should have?—”
She surged toward him.Didn’t quite touch him.Almost.He could feel her warmth all around him.“I thought you believed I wasn’t the killer.Didn’t you say we were going to team up to find the real murderer?Haven’t we been over this?”
I lied, sweetheart.You understand that, don’t you?Because you’ve been lying, too.
“Hudson was a very good liar.He had to be, didn’t he?That whole CIA business means that he had to lie all the time.I didn’t even know he was CIA, not until after he proposed.”
You didn’t just go around announcing the truth of the job all the time.It was something that was definitely need-to-know.The local detective only knew because Hudson had been freaking murdered.The truth about his job had to come out for the investigation.But the higher ups at the agency had spun a tale about Hudson and Eb just being pencil pushers.Good old data crunchers.
Bullshit.