With frantic woofs, the cat ate the meal in six bites, as if he were afraid someone would steal it right out from under his nose. Jealous, guarded, fearful.
She stood at the window. Black clouds had rolled across the sky, obliterating the stars. At first, she thought they were part of her imagination, brought on by her dangerous mood, but then she heard the first drops hit the leaves of the big elm outside.
“I am so pissed at you.”
She could smell him over the scent of salmon cat food and ozone on the concrete. Peppermints and aftershave. Cameron. He always did that when he wanted to con her, wore some sexy aftershave designed to drive her crazy with lust.
“I won’t fall for it.”
“You already did fall for the biggest con in the book.” His voice came from the recesses of the room.
She rounded on him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I didn’t kill her, I loved her.” With the backdrop of the rain, his impersonation sounded eerily like Nick, though she was sure Nick had never used the “L” word. “You fell for it, Max. A true sucker.”
“He didn’t kill her. You’re just jealous.”
It was her only weapon against him, the only way she was sure she wouldn’t break down or beg him to take her in the oblivion of her dreams. She was afraid of what he’d punish her with this time. A few whips and chains. Or worse, Witt Long going down on her. No, she couldn’t handle that, she really couldn’t. Her nipples still ached from that brief contact on the roadway.
“You’re blinded by your overactive libido. You want Nick, therefore he has to be innocent.”
If only it was just about Nick Drake. “You don’t like the competition.”
“He tried to kill you.”
“You don’t know that, Cameron, unless, of course, your modus operandi has changed suddenly and you can wander all over the planet. It’s a helluva lot more likely that his wife tried to run me down.”
“You’re not even frightened of him, are you? He’ll strangle you, then slit your throat just to make sure you’re dead.”
“You don’t know he was driving that truck. You don’t even know if he killed Wendy.”
She felt sick to her stomach. Wendy’s emotions roiled in her. Wendy was the one who believed unconditionally in Nick’s innocence. Max was the one who knew he’d do just about anything to protect his family. Even commit murder.
“He should have thought of that before he screwed Wendy.”
“Get out of my head.” Her throat hurt as if she’d screamed.
“I can’t.”
“Wendy would remember if he was the one,” Max insisted.
“Wendy doesn’t know any more than I know. We believe what we want to believe, even in death, Max. We carry our dreams and illusions with us. None of us wants to know the ones we love are the very ones who would stab us in the back.”
Images of his death, his blood, and his killers twisted like a knife in her gut, and she cried out. The cat, sitting in the window, stopped licking his paw to look at her, only his faintly accusing yellow eyes visible in the dark trees.
“I’m sorry, Max,” Cameron’s sweet whisper at her nape. “But I want you to see that Wendy will tell you only what she wants you to believe. What she wants to believe. But her vision of the truth is warped.”
She wanted to crawl onto the bed and curl into a ball until she’d managed to shut out the world. Instead, she swallowed bitter tears. “You’re deflecting,” she accused. “You don’t want to talk about why you sent me to Divinity without warning me. You knew what she’d say to me.”
“You wouldn’t believe me when I told you about your power.”
“And you were there, egging her on.” She clenched her fists. If he’d been alive, she might have slapped him.
“I never said a word to her.”
“You let her see you.” Her voice shook. She pulled her anger over her shoulders like a blanket.
“Being able to see me is her gift.”
“I’ve never seen you.” And God, it hurt so.
His voice gentled. She thought she heard tears. “Not because I don’t want you to. Your gifts lie in far more important areas.”
“Don’t try to get around me with those fake tears.”
“Please forgive me. I never meant to hurt you, or to be false with you,” he whispered and his voice was everywhere, inside her, like the full feel of him when they had sex. A terrible intimacy, the loss of self. His words, steeped with hidden meanings, sucked the breath from her.
“I’ve only wanted you to accept the gifts God gave you.”
“And once I do, you’re out of here, right? Like that’s your purpose? Your good deed that gets you into heaven?”
“I’ll only leave when you don’t need me.” He paused, his love and his pain undulating in the air, sneaking into her bones. “Or until I can’t help you anymore.”