Page 46 of Ice Cold Liar (Ice Breaker Cold Case #14)

Chapter Twenty-Five

One month later.

“People like us don’t get happy endings. Pretty sure I warned you about that before.”

Eb lifted his brows as he stared across the table at the prisoner. Her dark hair slid across her cheeks when she shook her head, and the garish orange uniform washed out her once vibrant skin.

“No one really wants to spend forever with a monster,” Madeline continued in a musing tone.

“We’re fun in bed, at least at first. We have that dangerous edge.

But over time, the monster loses its appeal.

Ordinary people want safety. They want truth.

They want the picket fences and the growing old together routine. ”

“You killed Hudson.”

“Hudson was a traitor. To his country. To me.” A pause.

“To you. He only went after Naomi in the first place because he wanted to take something away from you. It took him a long time to woo her, but in the end—after he’d learned her secrets and used them against her in order to make Naomi believe he was her perfect match—he got her to marry him. ”

“And that pissed you off.”

She put her hands on top of the table. Her cuffed hands.

And leaned toward him. “Yes. It pissed me off. So I stabbed him in the heart. I told him not to go through with the ceremony. But he—like you—thought he could pull off a happy ending. But as soon as Hudson showed her his true colors, it was over.”

“He hurt her.”

“Hudson hurt a lot of people.”

“On your command. You’re the one who gave him the missions at the CIA. The executions.”

She shrugged one shoulder. The oversized uniform slid to the side, exposing more of her skin. “They were criminals. They had to be stopped.”

“You turned him into a killer, just like his father.”

“I’m pretty sure his father had already fucked with Hudson’s head plenty.

And maybe…well, I suppose that’s just the old nature versus nurture debate, isn’t it?

Was poor Hudson a helpless victim of circumstance in all of this?

Or was he always meant to be evil?” The cuffs clinked against the table. “I guess we’ll never know.”

“You got Brock to kill for you.”

“Um, yes. Already made this confession. I get bored when I repeat myself endlessly.” She turned toward the one-way mirror. “I cooperated, so I should have been rewarded.”

There would be no rewards for her.

A long-suffering sigh escaped Madeline. “Brock overheard Ivan and Hudson. He learned about their deals. He reported to me. Brock became a useful tool for me, and yes, I got him to eliminate Ivan. Ivan was a national security threat, after all.”

“Was he?”

She winked. A move that wouldn’t be picked up by anyone on the other side of the one-way glass because Madeline had angled her head back toward him.

“Clark Anderson was on your payroll.” A fact Eb already knew but he wanted her reaction.

“I don’t think I’d say payroll exactly. But he did help when needed.

And the man was buried up to his eyeballs in trouble because of his connections with Ivan and Hudson.

” Her nails began to tap on the top of the table.

Short, unpainted nails. “I don’t really get why you’re here today.

I mean, it’s a pleasure to see an old friend, don’t get me wrong.

But…I thought you’d left the CIA. You quit, remember? ”

“You’re being charged by the state of Louisiana and by the federal government.”

“Why are you here, Eb?” A ghost of a smile came and went on her lips. “Or could you just not stay away from me? Did you miss me?”

Not even a little. “What happened at the police station? What made you leave me and go after Naomi?”

“I planned to eliminate her all along. Couldn’t risk that perhaps Hudson had let something important about me slip in the heat of the moment to her.”

“Bullshit.”

Soft laughter. Mocking. “I did plan to eliminate her before we spoke at the police station. I had Brock’s old car ready and waiting behind the station.

My plans were perfect. Though…” Her hand rose and brushed along her left temple.

Brushed deliberately along the scar that raised her skin.

“I should have made sure the trunk was completely empty. My mistake. I’ll own up to that.

I didn’t think to look beneath the flooring of the trunk. ”

“Something happened. Something set you off while you and I were talking in the police station. Something made you act right then and there.”

She rubbed the scar. “I’ll say—yet again—people like us don’t get happy endings.”

He searched her gaze. “You didn’t want me to be with her.”

“I did so much for you, Eb. I helped to get vengeance for your sister?—”

“You got me in the prison, but I didn’t kill Sebastian Glass.”

“I helped you. I liked you. With Hudson gone, I thought…maybe you could be the match for me. But you—you fucking shot me, Eb.” Anger sharpened her words.

“Yeah. I did. Twice.”

“For her.”

He nodded. “For her.”

Her lips pulled down in disgust. “And where is she now? Still in your life? Still willing to trust the man who has committed such violence in front of her? Who lied to her? Who wanted to seduce her and lock her away?” Madeline pointed to the observation window.

“I don’t think she’s behind the glass. I don’t think she’s watching. You know what I do think?”

He waited.

“I think people like us don’t get normal lives.

” Laughter. “I think you lost her. I think she ran away from you. And I think you will always be broken and lonely because you can’t really feel.

You can’t really care. You don’t have empathy.

You don’t enjoy real emotions. You don’t know how to live like a normal man. ”

So many of those words were familiar. “You changed my psych profile, didn’t you?”

Her lashes fluttered. “Who, me?”

“You switched my profile with Hudson’s. You knew how dangerous he really was. You covered for him. You did it for years.”

“Hudson’s father twisted him. He got Hudson…

he got him to watch so long ago. To watch terrible things.

Hudson had to always be handled with care.

He could be charming, but, when he saw weakness, when he got too much control…

the beast inside came out. It was a hungry beast that liked giving pain too much. ”

“That’s why you wanted Naomi to have a seizure in front of him? So he’d enjoy her fucking weakness?” His own rage slipped the leash for a moment.

She shrugged.

His right fist slammed into the table. “Naomi isn’t weak. She will never be weak.”

Madeline licked her lips. “She’ll also never be yours, will she?”

His heart squeezed.

“Why are you really here, Eb?”

“I have a new job.”

What could have been fear flickered in her eyes.

“You left a big mess at the CIA,” he told her.

Total truth. “Someone has to clean it up. Lucky me, I get to be that someone. Oh, by the way, the psych reports have all been sorted out. No worries on that score. Declan Flynn helped fix that, uh, technical glitch, shall we say? The glitch you caused.”

Her lips pressed together.

“I got your old job. Well, with a few perks. Because I don’t come cheap, and you left one major clusterfuck in your wake. Every case you ever worked is compromised.”

“You worked with me.”

“Yeah, but I’m not the delusional psychopath. That would be you. I always vetted my cases on my own. I never believed you blindly.” Because I’m not Hudson.

“But you…you believed Naomi. When she said she was innocent?—”

“I believe Naomi. I don’t believe you. I’m here today to let you know that the higher-ups are very, very unhappy with you. Lateisha told me that you once threatened to put Brock in a prison so deep and dark that he would think he’d found his way into hell.”

She shook her head. “Eb…”

“You’ll be going to hell soon. Hope you enjoy the trip.” Now it was his turn to lean forward. “Told you…you’ll pay for hurting Naomi. I don’t make idle threats. I say what I mean. Always. And I get my payback. I’m a real vengeful bastard that way.”

“No. No!”

“Enjoy hell. Hope it’s worth the price you paid for admission.”

Vegas was…Vegas. Beautiful. Glittering. Full of magic and sin. And everything in between.

Naomi slowly walked across the rooftop bar.

Stars shone overhead, a band played soft jazz, and all of the richly dressed couples swayed and charmed and partied the night away.

She’d taken the job at the hotel three weeks ago.

After she’d fled from Baton Rouge. The fresh start she’d wanted down there?

Yeah, that was dead and buried.

Declan Flynn had pulled strings and gotten her the new gig in Vegas. Temporary, for now, while she tested things out. But, if she wanted, she could become the permanent manager of his new hotel.

Her head turned. Her gaze landed on the tall, broad-shouldered male who stood near the railing and stared out at the night. Thick hair. Dark, lustrous. A line of stubble on a powerful and stubborn jaw. A profile that was killer handsome.

A man she would know anywhere.

He wore a black tux that fit him like a second skin. She could see the edge of the crisp, white dress shirt he wore underneath it. She wore a strapless black dress. One that flared near her thighs so that if she were to spin, it would flutter in the air around her.

She hadn’t been spinning anywhere.

She’d been walking through the hotel like a ghost. Barely feeling. Her heart cold. Wishing that she could see him again.

Eb.

He’d gone dark on her. Been pulled back into the CIA’s web. He’d rushed to the rescue with Henry and the man had said he loved her. She knew he’d said those precious words because they replayed through her head on a taunting loop.

And then reality had exploded around them. Cops. Agents. Powerful people in the government who’d needed to control a major scandal that could have international implications.

Eb had held her. Too briefly. Promised her that he would come back to her as soon as he could.

And…

There he was. On the rooftop. Waiting.