Page 28 of The Liar

“Can we meet?” I asked. “There’s something we need to discuss.”

“Be at the lakefront in an hour.” He didn’t waste time asking questions. “I’ll find you there.”

I ended the call.

An hour later, I was standing on the Lakefront Trail when Zeke sauntered toward me, clad in a leather jacket and black jeans, heavy rings adorning his fingers. I nodded to him in greeting. He didn’t respond. When he was only a few feet away from me, he drew his fist back and struck out at me so quickly, I didn’t have a chance to shield myself.

His knuckles smashed into my cheekbone, and I reeled backward, the metallic tang of blood in my mouth. I must have bitten my tongue. I raised my hand to my cheek, feeling a split where one of his rings had cut the skin, and I stared at him, hardly able to believe what he’d done.

“What the fuck?” I breathed, my cheek throbbing. My eyelid was already becoming puffy. I brushed my fingers over it. I had no doubt it would be swollen shut before long—nor that I’d be rocking a killer black eye.

So much for staying under the radar.

Zeke wiped his knuckles on his shirt and glanced around, probably to check whether we’d garnered any attention. We hadn’t. It was cold enough that few people were out, and those that were, weren’t lingering for long enough to notice our altercation.

“That’s for breaking Jo’s heart,” he growled, adjusting his stance so he’d be ready to take me on if I fought back. “Usually, my revenge would be more subtle. I’d tamper with your credit score or fake a BOLO. But considering that you’re deep undercover and I don’t want to mess with that, I have to settle for a punch.”

His words hurt more than the punch ever could have.

“I broke her heart?” I knew she’d been upset. No doubtshe felt foolish and betrayed, but the thought of breaking her that way… I could hardly stomach it.

Zeke’s lip curled and he looked at me as if I was stupid. “You pretended to be someone you weren’t in order to make her fall in love with you. What the hell did you expect to happen?”

I didn’t have an answer for that.

Zeke lifted his hand to ward off anything I might say. “If you’re here in a mistaken attempt to intimidate me into keeping silent, there’s no need. I’ve been undercover before. I know the drill.”

Relief filtered through me. “Thank you. Does anyone else know?”

“From me?” He shook his head. “Only Jo.”

The relief deepened.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” he added, obviously on a roll. “Taking advantage of someone as idealistic as her. Low move.”

I hung my head. “Trust me, I know. It was our best path to getting in with someone relatively senior on the force though.”

“And now?” His tone was taut. “Do you regret it?”

I considered my words carefully. “I deeply regret that she was hurt. But if I could go back in time, I’d do it all over again. Because Joanna wasn’t the only one to fall in love.”

Zeke snorted. “Good luck convincing her of that.”

8

JOANNA

I stayed at Hallie’s place for two nights before I capitulated and called West. I was curled on the sofa, my feet beneath me and the phone pressed to my ear. Hallie stayed close for moral support.

“Joanna. Thank God,” he said when he answered.

I told myself it wasn’t relief in his voice. He didn’t actually care about me, right?

“How are you?” he asked.

I didn’t dignify that with a response. Surely, he knew I wasn’t doing well. It would be ridiculous of him to think otherwise.

“We should meet,” I told him, drawing my knees to my chest and wrapping my free arm around them. “There are things we need to discuss.”

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