Page 66

He let the gun go.
She shoved it back into her holster.Looked disgruntled.
What the hell ever.He was more than a bit disgruntled, too.“Thatbangbullshit was ridiculous.”
“I was trying to refocus you two.The fact that a hit was placed is the big deal, don’t you think?Not the BS between you two?”
The BS between him and Naomi was important.To him.I need to get Naomi alone.I have to explain.
Except, explain what?That he had planned to trick her?Maybe even seduce her if it got him what he wanted?
“Ivan had become problematic,” Madeline suddenly announced.“With Hudson’s death, he stopped cooperating with the Agency.Started being far too secretive.I suspected something big might be in the works with some of his old partners—Bratva still in Russia.So I had some tech guys piggybacking on his communications.When I received word about the hit on Naomi, I stepped in.The Agency was the one responding to Ivan, not the jerk he was actually trying to reach.Then I assembled a team, hauled butt down here to make certain Naomi kept breathing—you’re welcome for that, by the way, Naomi.Only what did I discover?You two, standing over the dead man.And her initials on the bloody baseball bat.”
“FYI, it’s a softball bat, not a baseball bat.”Naomi cleared her throat.“And we weren’t standing over him.We were outside his bar.And the bat was stolen.So, there’s all that.”
Madeline huffed out a breath.“Iwatchedyou enter the bar from my vantage point in the woods.My team was in the process of approaching the perimeter when you two sashayed up.”
His shoulders tensed.“I damn well did not sashay.”He’d approached carefully and cautiously.
Madeline rolled her eyes.“Please.You took adogto a crime scene.Hello, amateur hour.And to think, I once called you the best of the best.Now this.How the mighty have fallen.Just so you know, your performance reflects poorly on me.”
Did he give a flying flip?“Didn’t know it was a crime scene at the time,” he pointed out grimly.But, yeah, Henry had been watching his six.So what?The dog was damn good at sensing threats.
“You went in, and you found the body.”
“Right.”From Naomi.He could practically feel her simmering.With anger.With pain?“We found the body,” Naomi confirmed.“As in, we didn’t kill Ivan.You know that.We know that.Inform Detective Anderson, then everyone will know.And I can leave.Get to this promised safe house and figure out a life plan for myself.”
He reached back and curled his fingers around her wrist because he didn’t want her rushing away.Can’t let her get away from me.I have to explain?—
What?The truth?He had to explain the truth to her?
Unfortunately, the truth was a whole lot more complicated than him just lying to her.
“I can’t tell Detective Anderson that you’re innocent.I don’t know one hundred percent that you are.Could be that you are just a really fine actress,” Madeline mused.“Maybe you snuck away from Eb and you went to the bar and you swung that bat—one that happens to have your initials engraved on it, by the way?—”
“Well aware,” Naomi muttered.“Why does everyone keep harping on that fact?Can’t we focus on the part where I said it was astolenbat?”
“You swung the bat, and you killed the man who’d taken your dog.”Madeline’s head cocked as she peered down at Henry.“He’s quite a beautiful dog, by the way.”
Henry winked at her.
Deliberate?Random?
Madeline smiled at the dog.
Eb locked his jaw.“Naomi didn’t sneak away.She had a seizure after the fire.”
Madeline’s gaze remained on the dog.“Service dog.”A nod.“You’re worth your weight in gold, aren’t you, boy?”
“She was wiped out after the seizure,” he continued through clenched teeth.“Naomi slept when she got back to the guesthouse.She didn’t go out and beat a Russian criminal to death.”
“She slept for every moment?”Madeline seemed doubting as her gaze slowly rose to crash with Eb’s.“I think it’s possible that—with her in one room and you in the other—she could have crept away without you realizing what she’d done.You need to give her more credit.Since Hudson’s death and the DA’s absolute refusal to prosecute, I have been doing a deeper dive into her past.”
“I’m right here,” Naomi snapped.“Stop talking over me.”
Madeline fired him a sharp smile.“If you try hard enough and you happen to know just the right people, you can unseal all sorts of old documents.You can also get people to share details that were supposed to remain quiet when you flash official-looking government ID.”She put her hands on her hips.Ah, the favorite pose again.Madeline stepped to the right.The better to see Naomi.“There is more to you than meets the eye, isn’t there, Naomi?Just how old were you the first time you killed a man?”
What in the hell kind of question was that?“She didn’t creep away.I was in the same bed with her the entire time.I would have noticed her absence.Naomi didn’t kill Ivan.”