Page 31 of The Liar

“I love you,” he said, the words running together as he raced to get them out. “You can’t ask me to just walk away. I love you so much. I won’t lose you.”

I gazed into his eyes, the green irises almost black in this light. It was impossible to tell whether this was part of hisgame, but the desperation in his tone and the twinge of something unpleasant deep within me made me wonder.

“I’m sorry.” To my surprise, I meant it. If this was causing him distress for whatever reason, I took no joy in that. “It’s too hard.”

“But—”

“That’s my condition.” I said it firmly, so he’d know it wasn’t up for debate. “I help you, and then you leave me alone. If you won’t agree, then tell me now, because we’ll have to figure out something else.”

He stared at me for a long time, a combination of pain and calculation in his expression. Finally, he nodded. “Okay.”

Thank God. If he’d argued, and tried to insist once again that he loved me, I don’t know what I would have done. We ate our chicken in silence for a minute or so, gathering our thoughts.

“I have some rules.” I’d need them to get through this with my heart intact.

He frowned. “I thought that’s what your condition was about?”

“Not exactly. I needed that so I could agree to work with you. These rules will govern how we work together.”

“Go ahead, then. Tell me what they are.” He looked resigned, and I had to hope that meant he wouldn’t argue.

I put down a chicken bone. “First, we don’t share a bedroom anymore.”

He opened his mouth as if to speak but then shut it again and nodded.

“Two, you don’t lie to me again. I’m going along with this because I know how important your investigation is, but if I catch you keeping me in the dark about something, you won’t get another chance.”

He picked up another piece of chicken. “That’s fair. What else?”

I held up a finger. “Just one last thing. There’s no unnecessary affection when we’re alone or with people who know the truth of our relationship.”

I couldn’t handle it if he continued to hug me, kiss me, and promise me love. It would be too confusing, not to mention needlessly cruel.

“Fine.” He didn’t seem happy about it. “I agree to your rules, but for the record, I do love you, and I’m going to prove it.”

Emotion clogged my throat. “Please don’t.”

If I wasn’t so proud, I’d get down on my knees and beg him not to make this harder than it had to be.

He studied me, his eyes darker than usual in the dim light. “I’ll do what I can not to make you uncomfortable, but one of your rules is no lying, so I won’t pretend not to feel anything for you.”

I wiped my fingers on a napkin so I wouldn’t have to look at him. “Tell me about your assignment.”

He hesitated for a long moment, as if weighing whether he ought to push, but then allowed me to move the conversation on.

“Last year, a detective was shot while off-duty. He was investigating Carlos Ortez in relation to a drug bust made at a warehouse in the industrial district.”

I nodded, grateful to discuss a case rather than our sham of a marriage. “How did that lead you to investigate dirty cops?”

“Because we found far less product at the warehouse than we expected.” He pushed the chicken toward me, his lip curled as if in disgust. “According to our intelligence, we should have confiscated almost ten times as much, and have arrested at least five of Ortez’s employees. Instead, we gotone low level dealer and hardly enough coke to put him away.”

“So, you think someone warned him about the raid?” I asked, following his train of thought.

“The raid was organized quickly, based on a last-minute tip, and only a small number of officers knew about it. There’s no reason word should have gotten back to Ortez so quickly.” He stacked his hands one on top of the other. “Yeah, we think a cop alerted him before we arrived, so he had time to clear out almost everything.”

I considered this. It would certainly be the simplest explanation, even if it wasn’t the one people would prefer to believe. “Any idea who?”

His lips tugged down at the corners. “Pretty sure we know, but we can’t make an arrest yet. When we started asking questions, it became clear that this guy isn’t the only one on Ortez’s payroll. There’s a reason nothing ever gets pinned on him. We’re holding off on any arrests until we can take down the whole lot at once. Otherwise, we risk some of them getting skittish and running.”

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