fifteen years of my life, and because of it, I paid attention to the little things that those expecting to live to see the next spring never see.
“She said that to you before, didn’t she?” I said, and his eyes flicked to mine. “That you didn’t deserve her.”
He blinked fast, and I held my breath, waiting for it. “I cheated on her while we were engaged,” he said, clearly embarrassed. “I was stupid, and it took a long time for her to forgive me. Maybe she never did. She said she did.”
And there it was, the motive that should have been safely in the past, and my gut tightened. An Inderlander was behind this. But why and, maybe more important, who?
Jack’s jaw tightened, the confusion under his anger easy to see. “We’ve had arguments before, but not like this. And I’ve never hit her. I was only trying to stop her from trying to stab me. Even when she caught me cheating on her, she never tried to hurt me.”
He looked at me beseechingly. The charm in my hand was a steady green, and I exhaled, believing him. “She says she doesn’t remember any of it,” I said, and Jack made a noncommittal shrug that was more desperation than anything else. “Is she lying to get you in more trouble?”
“For cheating on her?” he said, confused. “She knows I’ve never cheated on her again. I don’t understand.” Fatigue pulling at him, he put the flats of his arms on the table and slumped over his cuffed hands. “We went to bed like any other night, and I woke up with her turned into a deranged, crazy woman mad about something I did years ago, something that she forgave me for before we got married.” He sniffed, the sound going right to my core. “At least I thought she did,” he whispered, the guilt he had felt in the past swamping him again.
“Have you had any other marital problems recently?”
“No.” His voice took on some strength. “Just the usual stuff like using all the milk and forgetting to turn off the TV, but nothing worth . . . this.”
The truth amulet was green, and more telling, I believed him. “Okay,” I said, and he looked up at my soft voice. “Maybe I can get a message to your wife.”
He blinked fast, pulling his arms back to his chest. “Will you tell her I love her?”
I smiled at his sincerity. “Sure.” I stood and touched his hand, wondering if I heard Edden groaning behind the one-way glass.
“But you don’t believe me. No one does,” Jack said as he looked at the mirror.
The rustle of the paper being pulled from the table seemed loud. “It’s hard when Jacqueline doesn’t remember it.” According to the report, she didn’t even remember him hitting her, which was suspicious in itself. Suddenly I wanted to talk to Jacqueline, and I gave Jack a final smile as I went to the door.
“Thank you,” Jack whispered as I left, but he was looking at his cuffed hands when I turned, and so I simply closed the door, leaving him in his personal hell.
I jerked, finding myself eye to chest with Edden. Not liking his accusing stare, I held the truth amulet up. “He wasn’t lying,” I said, and when he grudgingly nodded, I dropped my keys into my jacket pocket.
“Maybe he’s just good at it,” Edden muttered.
“Maybe he’s telling the truth,” I shot back, stiffening when Edden’s hand went to my shoulder to lead me to the FIB’s back door, where my car was parked.
“Stop it, Rachel,” he said, and I eyed him askance.
“Stop what?”
He smirked, his mustache bunching. “You have this bleeding heart for the underdog, but we found him standing over his wife, who was sobbing on the kitchen floor. He admits to hitting her hard enough to knock her down. Why should I take his story at face value?”
“Other than my gut and my charm?” I said, a hint of outrage trickling through me. “Maybe because Jacqueline doesn’t remember anything. Not even Jack hitting her. If she was trying to get him in trouble, I’d think she’d at least remember that. Besides, his story matches the motive pattern of the other cases.”
“There is that,” he said, and I breathed easier when we left the detention hall behind and entered the FIB proper. The phone chatter and the officers moving around were like heaven itself, and it was nice feeling as if I was part of it.