Wendy Hyde. He should have killed her when he had the chance.
“She was involved with Paul. Feeding him all sorts of information. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but Wendy is claiming that love made her foolish.”
“I…love you.”
“No, you don’t. You love the idea that there is someone out there who can match the darkness in you.” Her smile was sad. “That’s not me.”
Anger beat at him. “If…I go down…I’ll tell every—everyone about y-you…”
She looked over at the cop. Smiled. Then leaned in a little closer to Morgan. “What will you tell? That Reese isn’t really my brother? I know you and Paul thought his fingerprints would be taken, and his real identity would turn up in the system. Yet another reason why you drugged Reese and left him in Lucia’s bed.” She shook her head. “Silly Morgan. I fixed that years ago.”
“Y-you killed…”
“I killed my brother? How could I have done that?” Now her voice was louder as she leaned back. “Reese is alive and well here with me in New Orleans.”
He grabbed for her. The IV burned in his arm, and the cuffs yanked him back.
“Settle down,” the cop barked.
“He’ll settle when I leave,” Chloe promised. Her gaze drifted over Morgan’s face. “You won’t get out.”
“The hell I won’t. I am the best damn criminal defense attorney—”
“I’m going hunting soon. Joel and I are taking a trip to your hometown. I figure we’ll see what shakes loose up there. This might surprise you to know, but I am actually pretty good at discovering where bodies have been buried.”
The machines around him were humming and beeping faster and louder.
“Like I said, you won’t get out.” Chloe’s gaze swept over him once more. Then she turned away. She took two steps forward. “Oh…by the way…” Chloe looked back. “While you do not know my greatest fear, I know yours.”
“Chloe…”
“You wanted the easy way out. You liked the big houses. The fancy cars. The power you got in the courtroom—and the power you took when you played God with people’s lives.”
“I love you.”
“In your way, maybe, but if love involves locking me in a tomb, that’s the kind of love I don’t want. Thanks, but no thanks.” Her gaze seemed so cold. “The cell will seem big enough, at first. But with each day, it will get smaller and smaller. Dare I say it will be tomb-like?”
“I’m not afraid of being confined.”
“It’s not the confinement that will get you. It’s the loss of control. You don’t have any power, Morgan. It’s all gone. I know that is what you fear the most. Being weak. You fear it so much you would rather die than become someone else’s prisoner.”
“No, no, that’s not it! I didn’t want to hurt you!” The machines were doing a near-constant beep. “Chloe!”
She was walking to the door. Patting the officer on his shoulder. Leaving.
“Chloe! Come back to me! You belong with me! Come back—”
The door shut.
The machines beeped.
“Hate to break it to you,” the officer drawled. “But that woman ain’t coming back.” He didn’t sound the least bit sorry.
“Screw off,” Morgan snarled.
He laughed. “Oh, man, those guys in prison are gonna have so much fun with you.”
***
Joel pushed away from the wall when Chloe stepped out of the hospital room. “Everything okay?”
“Everything is exceptional. Thank you.” She inclined her head toward him. “But if it’s all the same to you, I would really prefer to leave now.” She looped her arm with his, and they began heading down the corridor. “I don’t actually enjoy hospitals,” Chloe admitted. “They’re too cold for me. And all the pages that blast on the intercoms just distract me. It’s hard to focus when the pages are constantly sounding.”
“I hate for you to be distracted.”
She slanted a glance his way. “Still not interested in going back to surgery?”
“No. I have a new career path that keeps me quite busy.”
“Um.”
He wasn’t sure what to make of her response. But he didn’t question her again. Not until they were outside, and the sun was beating down on them. “Chloe? Are we good?”
“Good?” Chloe seemed to taste the word.
Joel tensed. Chloe mattered to him more than anything else, and the idea of losing her, of something happening to this relationship that had come to matter so much—
“We aren’t good.”
His heart squeezed in his chest.
“I think…we are better than that.” A nod. “Something quite special, in fact. Something that I never, ever want to lose.”
Relief flooded through him, and Joel pulled her closer. “So we’re still partners?”
“Yes. And I hope we always will be.”
If he had his way, damn straight, they would be.
Joel’s mouth lowered to claim hers.
***
When Chloe woke, he wasn’t in bed with her. It was still night. Chloe could see the glitter of stars above the bed—and she quite appreciated that view. Especially after everything that had happened to her.
Chloe slid from the bed. She was naked, so she picked up her silk robe and slid it around her body. After belting the robe, Chloe went in search of Joel. The search wasn’t overly hard. Knowing him as she did, it was easy to predict where he might have gone.
When she found him swimming laps in the pool, Chloe paused a moment to admire the sheer beauty and power of his body. Joel probably wouldn’t appreciate being called a thing of beauty, but she thought he was.
Beauty and strength.
She sat on the edge of the pool. Dangled her legs in the water, but made certain her robe didn’t get wet. It was a good thing the robe only fell to mid-thigh.
She enjoyed the view as she waited for him to come to her. When Joel needed to work off stress, when the past clawed up at him, he often went swimming.
Soon enough, he turned her way. Closed in. He broke the surface near her, and he shoved his dark hair back from his forehead. “I woke you up.”
“You not being in bed was what woke me. I missed you.”
Water glistened on his face and shoulders. The moon shone down on him, and the blue lights from the pool reflected from beneath the water.
His hand curled around the edge of the pool on either side of her body. She didn’t feel trapped, though. Quite the opposite. With Joel, she always felt…safe.
He might not understand how very important that feeling was to her. After a life where she’d never really felt safe—he’d changed everything for her.
“Do you know what I fear most?” Chloe asked.
“I don’t think you’re afraid of anything.” His thumb brushed over the side of her thigh.
“Oh, you would be wrong about that. I don’t let fear stop me, but there are many things I fear.” Not being able save the people she cared about. Letting innocent victims die. Turning into a monster herself. Those three were pretty high on her long list.