Page 9 of Ice Cold Liar (Ice Breaker Cold Case #14)
Chapter Four
Hudson was a straight-up bastard. Sadistic. Twisted. He made my life hell. I am glad he’s dead.
Eb peered up the staircase. The door to Naomi’s room had shut with a soft click of sound, but her words seemed to blare through his head on megaphone level, on a near endless loop.
Why would she call Hudson sadistic? Twisted? The guy had been an honored agent. He’d fought for his country. Sure, he’d had contacts that were more than slightly shady—case in point, the Russian—but in their business, all the agents had shady contacts. That was just a way of life.
The wind howled outside. In the distance, Eb thought he caught the roll of thunder. A storm was coming their way.
Sadistic. Twisted.
He’d made contact with his prey. He’d succeeded in getting close to her. He was in Naomi’s house. Would sleep in the room right next to her own.
I kissed her and meant it when I said I wanted to devour her.
Did he feel guilty for lusting after his partner’s wife? His dead partner’s wife?
Hell, yes.
Guilty and angry and so freaking horny. He wanted her. Had wanted her from the first moment he spotted her in the fountain. He’d damn well told Hudson…
I think I’m fucking in love. Mocking words. Because Eb had never been in love. He’d come close once…a long time ago, but that woman had wound up becoming his best friend. Not the love of his life.
And now she’s my sister-in-law. A different story.
He’d never looked at someone and instantly craved the way he did with Naomi.
Not love at first sight. Lust. The kind that will eat you up and consume you. The kind of lust that would make a man break every rule that he possessed.
Eb backed away from the staircase. He did a sweep of the house, making sure all of the windows and doors were locked.
The security was truly shit, and that annoyed the hell out of him.
Hudson had possessed plenty of money. His first priority should have been making certain Naomi was safe. The house should have been secured.
Sadistic. Twisted.
He pulled out his phone. Didn’t call anyone yet. Just listened intently to the sounds around him for a few moments first. The howl of the wind. The creaks of the old place settling.
After a time, he made his call. It rang once, twice and then…
“Are we having fun on our latest adventure?” Hunter McQueen asked him. That was the man’s greeting. No hello. Typical.
As for the response to Hunter’s question, Eb supposed that would depend on a person’s definition of fun. “I knocked out four gang members earlier.”
“Dammit, why didn’t you invite me?” Real envy flashed in Hunter’s voice.
“I told you, I’ve been bored as hell lately.
Do you know how dull my boss is now that he’s settled into wedded bliss with your sister?
” A long sigh. “Why do you get to enjoy all the excitement and I just sit around looking for trouble?”
“I may need help.” There was no may about it. Eb was calling because he needed a favor. The slightly illegal sort.
“Okay, now you are talking my language. I can be on a plane in two hours.”
“Don’t go packing your bags just yet.”
A disgruntled sigh was Hunter’s response. “You know I always have a go bag at the ready.”
True. They all did. It paid to be prepared. “Will you get Declan to work his tech magic for me?”
“Shit. If you want Declan’s help, then call your brother-in-law. Not me.” Definitely disgruntled. “And why the hell would you need his tech help? Don’t you have the CIA at your beck and call?”
Not exactly. “I want to know if there were ever any red flags with Hudson Wyatt. Things that the CIA might have kept from me.”
Silence. Then, “I thought this guy was your friend.”
“Friends can have secrets. And the CIA happens to be very, very good at keeping secrets. Even from its own agents.”
“Shit.” Hunter whistled. “The woman must be seriously pro-level skilled. You’re barely down there a day, and you’re already doubting your partner. She convincing you that he was evil so soon? What’s next, is she going to be justified in killing him?”
“Stop being an asshole.”
“Why? It’s who I am. Who you are, too.”
“ Get Declan to dig for me. ” Declan Flynn was a billionaire, Eb’s brother-in-law, and an absolute tech genius.
Most of the tech that the government used came from Declan.
So if there was a backdoor way to get access to confidential bits of data from the CIA, Declan would be the one holding the key to that treasure.
Declan was also Hunter’s boss and best friend.
“I need Declan’s help,” Eb said quietly. No getting around it.
“Then call him yourself. ”
“I can’t.” Thus, the late call to Hunter. “Marley told me I couldn’t call him again after midnight. One of her rules. So I’m calling you, and you can tell him for me.”
“Oh, sure. Because it’s cool for you to call me after midnight. Not like you’re disturbing my beauty sleep. Here’s a fun idea…why don’t you just call during daytime hours? Did you consider that option?”
Yes, he’d considered the option and discarded it. “I’m spending the night with Naomi, and while she’s sleeping, I’m using the time to call so she won’t know what the hell I’m doing.”
“Whoa, whoa! Stop and back up. Are you staying with your prey? Like, in the same house? Damn, same bed? On night one? Shit. Okay, you get that she’s trying to trick you, right? Trick you, use you, fuck with your head and your body?”
His grip nearly shattered the phone.
“You called her a cold-blooded murderer yesterday,” Hunter continued.
“I saw her pics. I get that she’s hot. But don’t let your dick lead you straight to death.
She’ll fuck you and stab you. Hey, did you ever see Basic Instinct?
An oldie but a goodie with Sharon Stone.
She fucked the guy and killed him right during the big orgasm moment, and you don’t want that shit to happen to?—”
“Shut the hell up,” he groused. “This is not Basic Instinct. I’m also pretty sure the killer used an ice pick in that movie and not a knife.”
“Ah, so you are familiar with the classic. My bad. Ice pick. Check.”
He glanced over his shoulder. The staircase was dark. Silent. When Naomi had climbed the stairs, he’d noticed that step four and step nine both creaked. Good to know for future reference. “I need you and Declan to dig into the CIA’s files.”
“Sorry. Repeat that. Pretty sure you just asked me to commit a felony for you.”
“I have to make sure they aren’t covering up anything about Hudson.”
“And you would think they are because…?”
“Naomi called him sadistic. Twisted.”
“Now you want to rip his life apart. Check. The dead man. The victim. You want to rip his world apart because the suspected killer said he was sadistic. Uh, huh. So, personal question. Ahem. Are you thinking with your dick or your brain?”
His dick was certainly still up because of that kiss with Naomi.
“You didn’t see her when she said it, okay?
There was real emotion in her voice and on her face.
” So much for thinking she was cold as ice.
First, she’d been crying over her dog. Then that hard mask of hers had cracked when she’d spoken of Hudson.
He’d swear she’d even been afraid in that instant.
“Real emotion. Uh, sure, unless—and I’m just throwing out ideas here—unless the woman is just a really good liar.
Then it was fake emotion. Because people can do that.
Fake emotions. But, yeah, fine, I’ll dig for you.
I’ll commit a felony. In case you missed it before, I am bored.
But, hey, while I’m ripping into the victim’s life, should I be taking a harder look at your new girlfriend, too? ”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Eb kept his voice low.
“Tell me you don’t want her to be. Tell me you are being one hundred percent professional with this whole vendetta investigation you have going on in Baton Rouge.”
How about I tell you that I was kissing her ten minutes ago?
Nah. He should not reveal that info to Hunter.
“Her juvie files were sealed, but I got data that told me she’d gone for some joy rides back in the day.
Nothing major.” He sucked in the side of his cheek.
“Dig into her life,” he said and ignored the way guilt suddenly twisted in him.
It felt as if he was betraying her. He wasn’t.
He was looking for the truth. And betraying her, dammit.
“See if there is more in Naomi’s past.” More than the bits he’d gotten courtesy of the CIA.
“The more you know, the better trap you can set,” Hunter told him, but the man’s voice wasn’t mocking any longer. “You need backup on scene? Or is that twin of yours already lurking around someplace?”
His twin was not lurking anywhere close by.
“He’s at home with Wren.” His twin brother Jake had finally gotten the woman of his dreams. A long-term obsession had become reality for Jake, and the last thing Eb wanted to do was tear his brother away from his current moment of happiness.
Jake hadn’t known a lot of happiness. Darkness clung too tightly to him.
And to me.
But Eb was good at acting like he fit in with everyone else. He could wear the mask and pretend to be normal.
Jake? Not so much.
“If your twin isn’t there, then you need backup on the ground. I can take Declan’s private jet and be there before the sun rises.”
“No, not yet, I don’t need backup. I need intel. Deliver it for me, will you?”
“You could always ask the CIA directly.”