The Hidden

She reminded herself again that she was the one who had chosen to leave. She’d left because it had seemed clear to her that his work had come first and always would, but in hindsight she could see that so much of what had gone wrong had been her fault. She’d wanted to respect his work. She’d never wanted to become the little wife sitting at home, worried and always asking for reassurance or more of his time. She had told him that she was fine, and she’d really thought it was true.

But in reality she hadn’t been fine at all. In trying not to be weak she’d tried too hard to be strong and lost what mattered most: the trust and emotional intimacy of a loving marriage. She’d never told him when something was really important. She’d waited for the right moment to tell him about the baby, when she realized now that the right moment would have been anytime she’d excitedly blurted out her news.

But after losing the baby, she had simply been too hurt to see clearly and to know what to do. Escape—from both Miami and her marriage—had seemed the only way to erase the pain.

But he was here now, and she was glad of his reassuring presence, because frankly, she was flat-out scared.

Of a mannequin?

Or of a murderer?

“Curious,” he said when they were outside.

“What’s that?”

“Ben Kendall not wearing his hearing aids and watching some shoot-’em-up cop show at the time of the murders. And really, Gwen couldn’t hear anything but Charles?”

“Do you really think someone at the house could be involved? Maybe the killer just used a silencer,” Scarlet suggested.

“No silencer, that much I’m sure of,” he said, deep in thought. “So a number of people checked out after it happened, right?”

She nodded. “I’m sure you can get a list of their names from Trisha.”

“Good. Brett and the others can interview them. I doubt they were involved, and I don’t blame them for leaving, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be investigated anyway. But, for now, let’s go see this museum of yours.”

Scarlet unlocked the door and they went on in. She turned on the lights and stood by the door, watching as Diego walked from one end of the room to the other, stopping to study the different figures and look in the display cases.

“Quite a collection of guns,” he said.

“It is,” she agreed.

“We’ll get a locksmith in here this afternoon,” he said.

“Pardon?”

“A locksmith,” he told her. “I don’t know if a mannequin can move on its own or not, but no matter what, I think it will be a good idea to change the locks.”

“Okay. But we’ll have to tell Ben. Or ask him, really. He does own the place,” Scarlet reminded him.

“Of course,” he said.

He had just about finished his walk-through when there was a knock at the door. She turned around to open it, but Diego was at her side before she had a chance to.

“You don’t just do that,” he said, his tone harsh.

“It’s broad daylight,” she protested.

“What? You think people can only be killed in the dark?” he asked, stepping past her and opening the door himself.

She almost laughed when Brett and the other two agents entered.

Diego had always been careful, though. Maybe that was part of what had driven the wedge between them. She tended to look for the good in people, while Diego often seemed to expect the worst. It came from what he did, of course, what he saw day in and day out. And when it had come to really thinking about a family...

Right now she didn’t want to think about that. She didn’t want to hurt. She needed help, and she was very grateful that Diego was here to provide it.

She’d never doubted that he would, of course, and that said something right there.

“Anything?” Diego asked the new arrivals.

“Nothing new,” Brett said.

“But Adam is coming in tonight,” Meg said, “and he said that by tomorrow morning we’ll be on the job officially. Adam always knows someone who knows someone else. He’s an amazing man.”

“Wow. Is that really how it works?” Scarlet asked.

“Sometimes,” Meg told her. “You’ll love Adam. Everyone does. In fact, that goes a long way toward explaining how he gets things done and why this unit is so successful.”

Matt looked at Diego. “Have you explained to her who we are?”