Page 116 of Fatal Betrayal

"Well, I plan on giving you five-star service." He put his hands on her waist as he took a kiss.

"I like the way it's going so far," she said with a smile. "But I'll need a little help in the tub. Will you join me?"

He pulled off his shirt in response, and she laughed.

"I guess that's a yes," she said.

He stripped off the rest of his clothes, while she got undressed, and then they got into the tub together.

"Oh, my God, this is heaven," she said, then dunked under the water completely, coming back up with another smile. "I already feel better."

"Me, too," he said, as he sank under the bubbles, rinsing off the last of the smoke.

When he came up for air, Andi's smile was even bigger now. "What are you grinning at?" he asked.

"I can't believe we're taking a bath together. Me and Cooper in a tub. Who would have thought this would ever happen?"

"I had some thoughts about it when we became teenagers. A tub wasn't on my mind but seeing you naked was definitely on the menu. Of course, you weren't thinking about that at all."

"I was immature. I was a tomboy. And the idea of falling in love while my parents were fighting a war in my house wasn't at the top of my list."

"I know. You had a lot going on. You weren't ready. That's why I never said or did anything."

"We've come a long way, Cooper."

"Yes, we have."

Her smile suddenly dimmed. "Do you think that Kyle will always be between us? Can you ever look at me and not think about him and what happened?"

"A few days ago, I would have said no," he admitted, hating the disappointment that ran through her pretty brown eyes. "But that's because I'd built you up in my head to be this terrible person who betrayed me. When you came back to town, I couldn't see that image anymore, because the real girl was standing right in front of me. And I liked her." He paused, wanting her to understand the complexity of his feelings. "I'll never not miss Kyle, not wish he was here, but I know so much more now about everything that happened. I don't blame you, Andi. You're not responsible for Kyle's death. It was unfair of me to put that on you. I know he had other problems, deep-rooted issues that would have surfaced if that night had never happened. I was just so locked in on the injustice of it all, so filled with guilt that I couldn't let it go. Blaming you took some of the pressure off of blaming myself."

"You weren't to blame, Cooper. You wanted to help Kyle, to fix his problems. I understand that because you and I are both fixers. Your mom told me that the other day, and she was right. We can't stand it when something breaks. It drives us even more crazy when we can't put it back together. But some things that are broken just can't be repaired." She paused. "But you know all that, because you're very smart and you've made a living studying people, their motivations, and their actions."

"I had a blind spot when it came to Kyle. But some good has come out of my tunnel vision. I still believe there are biases in the law enforcement system and repairs that should be made."

"I can't disagree. Look at Agent Burnett. He was supposed to be someone we trusted. But he was dirty. He was selling out innocent kids for money."

"I wonder why they killed him?" he mused.

"I know the answer to that. Kim said that Burnett thought the heat was on him because he was taken off the case. Then he wanted to ruin everything by saving Elisa and taking the credit, so he could come off the hero and allay any suspicions. Kim wasn't going to give up the payday that Elisa's illegal adoption would bring in. She was worried that Burnett was going to sell her out, so she started tracking his communications. When she saw him reaching out to me, she decided he was no longer of use to her. So, she took him out. She said it coldly, not a trace of emotion in her voice, even though she implied that they'd had a personal relationship going back twenty years. I couldn't believe I was looking at the woman who made the best brownies at the elementary school bake sale. It's like she was a completely different person. She was completely without remorse. It was all about business and money."

"I wondered why she didn't have someone shoot you in the garage. Why kidnap you? Not that I'm not happy that's the path she chose," he said.

"Kim said she was tired of me getting away and not being able to trust that I was going to be gone for good, so she wanted to see me face-to-face. I think she wanted me to know how brilliant she'd been in helping to create this international operation."

"Well, I never would have guessed the Lassiters were involved in something like this," he admitted. "Especially not Kim. She really did lead a double life. She lived next to the Montgomerys and witnessed their pain every day, and she never said a word. That's shocking."

"I said that to her. But she just said Hannah had a good life and was well taken care of. She didn't take her neighbors' pain into consideration at all."

"I have to say, though, that Will should have been as big of a suspect as my brother. They basically had the same messed up alibi, but everyone thought Will was normal and Kyle was the weird one."

"Will is going to pay for what he did. They all are. And we'll figure everything out in the days to come. Nothing else has to happen tonight. We don't need to talk about it anymore." She paused. "Unless you want to talk about it. I shouldn't be telling you what to do."

He grinned. "You love telling me what to do. You always have."

"You're right. I love telling everyone what to do," she said with a laugh. "I'm still bossy."

"But you're a lot of other things, too. You're a fierce fighter for right, a protector of the weak and the innocent, a true warrior, and a great detective."

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