Page 44 of Ice Cold Liar (Ice Breaker Cold Case #14)

Chapter Twenty-Four

That bitch had threatened to shoot her dog.

No one— no one— threatened Henry.

The gunshot blast had missed Naomi. But before she could try to wrestle the gun from Madeline, the other woman had shoved the gun into Naomi’s side. So Naomi had been given two new options. Either she could take a bullet to the gut or she could get her ass in the trunk of the car.

She’d gotten her ass in the trunk of the car even as she yelled for Henry to run.

The trunk release lever had been disabled. Naomi had tried to pull it over and over during the car ride from hell, but the crafty agent had obviously planned ahead.

She planned to take me from the station. And she’s planning to kill me.

Didn’t take a genius to realize how this little trip would end. There was no way that Madeline was just going to let Naomi walk away when this was all over.

Naomi had kicked at the trunk. She’d punched at the lid. She’d searched the back of the car, and she’d actually made one major score. Because Madeline hadn’t been as thorough as she should have been.

After nearly dislocating her shoulder, Naomi had managed to pull up the flooring of the trunk. Beneath it, there had been a spare tire. And a heavy, wonderful torque wrench. Her fingers had fisted around the metal. Not quite as powerful as a bat, of course, but still better than nothing.

As soon as that trunk opened and she had the opportunity for a good hit, Naomi planned to swing for all she was worth.

The car was stopping. Naomi had no idea how long they’d been driving. But the tires ground slowly, and she knew they’d arrived at whatever the hell destination Madeline had picked.

A few more moments, and the car stopped completely. Naomi held her breath when she heard the driver’s side door slam.

She’ll still have the gun. You have to be ready.

When she strained, Naomi could make out the soft tread of Madeline’s steps. And then?—

The trunk opened. Sunlight fell into the car, momentarily blinding Naomi because it had been so dark in her little prison. Her eyes blinked quickly to adjust to the new light.

“Get out!”

She’d slid the torque wrench behind her body. Naomi didn’t move to get out. Instead, she asked, “Why? Are you trying to avoid blood stains in your trunk?”

“Not my car. It belongs to Brock Arison.”

Sure it did. Why not have a car tied to the gang member? The dead gang member?

“There are many ways this can end,” Madeline informed Naomi as she pointed her gun in Naomi’s direction and waved it in a little circle. “I can make this as painful as possible. I can shoot you in your legs. Your hands. Your face. Then eventually kill you. Or I can be merciful.”

“Wow. You are quite the CIA torturer, aren’t you?

How about you just hold that trigger finger and pause with the threats for a moment?

I’m getting out.” She was. She just needed to get out slowly and keep her weapon hidden until the optimum time to use it.

Carefully, knowing her halting movements made it look as if she was utterly terrified— spoiler alert, I am —Naomi angled her body out of the trunk.

Then…

“ This place?” Naomi exclaimed in shock. “You brought me back here?”

The guesthouse. They were right in front of the guesthouse.

Madeline smiled at her. “And who said you can’t go home again?”

Disgusted, Naomi shook her head. “You brought me all the way out here to kill me? Why?” She truly did not get it. “I didn’t kill Hudson.” How many times did she have to say it? Naomi kept the wrench tucked behind her right leg. “Didn’t Brock confess to the crime?”

“Brock was lying. He was saying anything and everything that he thought I wanted to hear. The fool believed that by taking the fall, I’d let him go.”

Naomi stiffened. “I didn’t kill Hudson.”

“I know.” Madeline smiled at her once again.

Naomi really, really hated that woman’s smile. Far too creepy. It never reached Madeline’s icy eyes.

“You didn’t kill him because I did,” Madeline confessed. “I saw you stumble outside of this place on your wedding night.”

Naomi’s gaze jerked to the guesthouse front door.

“Your dog was trying to pull you. You were falling. Crying. Your whole body was shaking. Seizures are a real bitch, aren’t they?”

Yes, they were. And so are you. Naomi pulled in a deep breath as she peered back at her kidnapper. “He attacked me. I was defending myself when I fought back.”

“Um. Yes. I’m sure you were.” Madeline leaned forward, the movement almost conspiratorial. “He wasn’t attacking me. I killed him because he deserved it.”

How was she supposed to respond to that? “Aren’t you like…supposed to be one of the good guys? You work for the CIA.”

“I am good.” Madeline straightened. “I’ve stopped more monsters than you can imagine. I’ve saved people from human trafficking. I’ve stopped arms deals. I’ve stopped wars. I’ve eliminated dictators. I’ve made the world better.”

Naomi’s left hand motioned to the gun pointed at her. “Not to be difficult or anything, but how will killing me make the world better?”

“Hudson should never have married you. I told him that you were a mistake. That you could never accept him—not who he really was. That the moment you saw the person he’d been hiding from you, the moment you saw the real him, you’d turn away in disgust.” A bob of her head.

“Only instead of turning away, I guess you decided to stab him first, huh?”

A lump rose in her throat, but Naomi swallowed it down.

She could feel a faint tremble in her fingers, and she was terrified that a seizure would hit.

Not now. Not now. She could not afford to be helpless.

Stress could bring on seizures, she knew that.

One of her doctors had told her that, ages ago, and, hell, yes, she currently felt stressed. Understatement of the century.

Not a seizure. Not a seizure. It’s just fear making me tremble.

“He didn’t belong with you,” Madeline snarled at her. “Not after all I’d done for Hudson. Not after all I’d done to make sure we could be together. He didn’t get to walk off with you. Didn’t get to have a life with you and shut me out. I wasn’t going to stay in the dark alone.”

Okay. Her heart slammed into her chest. “You were in love with him.”

“Since I was sixteen years old.”

Naomi blinked. “What?”

Madeline peered over at the guesthouse. “Let’s go inside.”

Her feet remained rooted to the spot. “Why? If I’m going to die, why don’t you just shoot me already?”

“Because I have plans.”

So do I. The first part of her plan involved Madeline lowering the gun so Naomi didn’t get shot when she attacked the other woman.

“You knew Hudson when you were a teenager?” Maybe talking more would distract Madeline.

“How? I thought back then he was hung up on Mary Fontenot. The girl who disappeared—” Naomi broke off.

Madeline’s expression had turned smug.

“It’s you,” Naomi breathed.

“Fake name. Fake life.” A shrug. “I’m not Madeline. I’m Mary. I’ve always been Mary. “

“Hudson’s father—I thought he killed you! There was a serial killer hunting back then. Memphis was sure you were one of the victims. You—Hudson never got over your death! He loved you!”

“ Loved .” Her eyes glinted with fury. “He loved me when we were teenagers. Loved me and mourned me when I vanished. And when I came back into his life, when I recruited him away from the FBI and got him to come and work for me, he swore that he still loved me. He went on all the missions I gave him, didn’t question me but…

he changed. Every trip he took away, Hudson changed.

And then he met you. He saw you. He wanted you.

He thought he could leave the life I’d made and take you instead. ”

The drumming of Naomi’s heartbeat was way too loud. “This is…about you not getting over your ex?” Seriously?

“He didn’t love you!” A shriek.

Naomi backed up. Her hip hit the side of the sedan.

“It was a game. You were a game at first. That’s all you were.

Nothing more. He wanted to take something away from Eb.

Arrogant, perfect Eb. Eb who got everything he ever wanted while Hudson and I had both been to hell and back in our lives before we were even eighteen years old.

” Madeline took a surging step forward. “Hudson’s father was a twisted bastard. ”

Twisted. Hadn’t Naomi once described Hudson the very same way?

“He hurt Hudson. He tried to hurt me. But I got away from him. I knew exactly what Hudson’s father was.

I fled because I knew if I didn’t vanish, I would be dead.

His father did kill those other girls. I got away.

I reinvented myself. I got the attention of the CIA.

I showed them what I could do. My IQ is fucking off the charts!

I survived. I thrived. I came back stronger, and when I told Hudson—when we found each other again, when I finally told him everything, we stopped his father together. ”

“Sounds like you two were a real killer couple. He should have married you.”

Madeline raised the gun higher. Pointed it at Naomi’s face.

“Yes, yes, he should have. He didn’t really love you.

At least, that’s what he said at the beginning.

All a game. But then…then he started to tell me that life with you could be normal.

That he could have a family. A new identity.

I’d gotten to start over, and he said he wanted that chance, too. ”

“His fresh start really wasn’t that stellar.” The gun could stop pointing at her face any moment. “He switched out my seizure pills and attacked me on our wedding night.”

“I took away the pills. Me. I replaced them with sugar pills. I wanted him to see just how weak you were. You were not a match for him. You never could be. Hudson didn’t belong with someone who was weak. He belonged with me.”

Had she just heard the growl of a motor, in the distance? Maybe Eb is coming after me. Surely someone had seen the abduction at the police station?

But…

I didn’t see anyone else behind the station.