Page 111 of Kiss of Deceit

I bit my tongue, my pulse thudding unevenly. “Those are all the masks sold in this town.”

“So?”

“So, I’m trying to figure out which mask the killer bought.”

She scoffed. “Please.”

“And the knives?” I glanced at the blades on the desk. “Same exact kind that were stolen from the butcher shop.”

She pursed her lips, disbelief sprawled on her face. I sighed, pacing the small room. This just got a lot more complicated.

“When did Natalie tell you about Winterlake?” I asked. She didn’t utter a word just like I expected. “Let’s do this a different way. A question for a question. You give me an answer, and I’ll give you one.”

“I don’t believe a word you say anymore,” she tossed back bitterly.

“You won’t have to believe my words.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Stop talking in riddles.”

“Answer my question, and I’ll show you.”

She let the tense silence drag for more than a minute before she spoke up. “The night she died, she gave me her computer password. Told me to look at her files.” She paused, scowling at me. “And she warned me not to trust anyone here.”

Realization dawned on me. “The night I took you to the police station.” I shook my head. “I should have realized it when I saw you at Natalie’s computer. That’s when your attitude completely changed.”

“I answered. My turn,” she clipped out. My eyes drifted to her bound arms as she shifted slightly. “What is this room?”

After some hesitation, I reached for the laptop. Her burning stare remained on me as I typed in my password. As the screen loaded, I set it back on the desk where she could see. I clicked on a file, needing to type in another password.

“I stopped you from running to Susan because she can’t know about this,” I said quietly as I got to the page I wanted. When I moved out of the way, a gasp escaped Dani when she saw the screen. I continued to scroll slowly, letting her see the faces on the screen.

When Harry’s picture appeared, I stopped, giving her a chance to read his charges. He had a life sentence for a multitude of drug trafficking and selling. While he seemed like an old country man, he used his land for illegal activities, and it finally caught up with him.

“How do you have all this?” she asked, her eyes glued to the laptop.

“Because the town therapist isn’t the only one making sure this experiment stays on track.”

Her lips parted in shock. I crossed my arms, trying not to think how royally fucked we’d both be if the team found out.

“What is this?” she muttered. “You’re telling me that you aren’t an inmate?”

“I am.”

My words shot her walls right back up. My heartrate escalated when I realized I was going to spill it all. I’d played this double life for five years and had been completely content. Until I met Dani.

“Capital murder. Who did you kill?” Her question was barely above a whisper as if she almost didn’t want to know the answer.

“I didn’t get arrested for capital murder. But for the job, I needed to play the part.”

“Job?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “You’re working here, like Natalie and Susan?”

“Natalie thought I was just another inmate, just like Susan does. She’s a therapist. But the people here? They don’t trust. They needed someone the locals would see as their own.”

“What are you, a cop?”

I chuckled. “Far from it.”

She moved in the chair, clearly frustrated that my belt was still holding. “Tell me.”