Page 30 of The Husband's Secret
“Scott,” Ben said. It wasn’t a guess…it was a given.
She laughed out loud. “I can’t believe I didn’t consider that. The height was about right…the eye color. But it happened so quickly I didn’t get a really good look. He shoved me against thewall, which sent me tumbling to the floor.” She swore under her breath. “You must think I’m such a fool.”
“You are not a fool, Brenda,” he urged. “You had no reason to suspect it was him.”
“But it had to be.” She shook her head again.
“It’s a possibility we can’t rule out,” he agreed. “Now the question is, why play this game? Obviously you and the bad guys both know he’s still alive. It’s not like he pulled that one off.”
“He wasn’t wearing the cologne he always wears,” she said, uncertainty obviously poking its way into her thoughts.
“Then it’s possible,” Ben felt the need to say, “it wasn’t him. But someone with whom he has shared details about you. Or maybe someone he hired and provided specific directions.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “Maybe the blonde I saw him with at LAX.”
“Maybe.” He opted not to point out that she’d insisted the intruder was a man.
She made a face. “No. It was definitely a man.” She turned fully to Ben. “I want to go to his house. I want to see inside. If there’s something else the police aren’t telling me, I need to know. I have a right to know. Maybe someone has been leaving messages there too.”
“We’re both aware that his home is a secondary crime scene and most likely sealed.” Ben felt compelled to offer the warning.
“I don’t care. Legally I’m still married to him so that gives me the right to go into his home in his absence—at least in my mind.”
He didn’t argue. On a level the law wouldn’t recognize, she considered herself entitled to this opportunity. She needed to be able to protect herself. She couldn’t do that as long as she was left in the dark. “Point me in the right direction.”
“Go back out to Triana Boulevard and take a right.” As he drove, she said, “Tell me about this Jalisco cartel.”
None of the information she’d just requested was going to make her feel better, but it wasn’t as if she couldn’t google it. “Extremely violent. Truly the worst of the worst. They have built a reputation as a new generation–style operation. Very diverse in their activities. Drugs. Human trafficking. Assassinations.”
“Dear God. What was he thinking?” She shivered at the images his words no doubt prompted. “You need to take a left at the next intersection.”
He slowed for the turn. “Not that I’m cutting him any slack,” Ben pointed out before saying more, “but I doubt a lot of rational thought went into the decision. These kinds of moves typically happen just before things are about to fall apart. Desperation drives the decision.”
“Whatever his motive,” she contended, “his decision to leave us with this nightmare is unforgivable.”
“Absolutely.” There was no way to disagree with that conclusion.
While she simmered about the man’s bad decisions, Ben focused on navigating the heavier traffic in the retail area along Airport Road. All those emotions she had attempted to keep under control the past couple of days were getting the better of her. Understandably so. It was the ultimate betrayal. Her husband had cheated repeatedly, then he’d left her in a dangerous situation with seemingly no way out. His one good deed was calling the Colby Agency.
“I want you to know,” she spoke up after a couple of minutes of silence, “that all these emotions I’m dealing with aren’t about me and certainly not about what Scott and I once had. All of what I’m feeling is because I’m worried about my little girl. One way or the other she has lost her father. I’m not seeing a way clear of it, and I’m terrified for her future.”
He braked for a traffic signal and looked directly at her. “You don’t need to worry about a way out of this, Brenda. That’s myjob, and you have my word you will get through this and safely to the other side of this nightmare.”
She tried to smile but it didn’t happen. Rather, she stared straight ahead. “Just promise me if there’s no way to the other side for me that you’ll keep my daughter safe.”
This time he put his hand over hers and squeezed. “You and Janey will both be safe.”
The light changed to green and he rolled forward.
“Ah…you should go…” She cleared her throat, swiped at her eyes with her free hand. “Left at the next light. You’ll have to stop at the guard shack. I’ll show my ID.”
The next left took them onto Ledges Drive. At the guard shack, Ben stopped and powered down his window.
Brenda leaned toward him so that the guard could see her. “Hi. I’m Brenda Devers.” She passed her driver’s license to the man. “I’m going to my husband Scott Devers’s house on Ledge View Drive.”
“One moment.” The man in the uniform returned her license, stepped back into the guard shack and checked whatever he needed to, then raised the gate and motioned for them to drive through.
Brenda relaxed into her seat once more.
