Page 23 of Shadow of the Moon

Amberly waited for some response, but he clammed up. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

Devlin shook his head. “Because you won’t believe me if I tell you.”

She blinked, feeling a little defensive. “Try me.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

He stared at her for a long moment, mouth pursed, then turned back to watch the highway. “The CIA, I assume SAC, blackmailed me into taking the fall for the Regent hit.”

Amberly’s mouth fell open, then she snapped it shut. Seriously?

“Why?” she asked simply.

Devlin sighed, propping one hand on top of the wheel as he drove. “I was supposed to ‘wound’ him, and they would fake his death. They were going to house him in some clandestine location and milk as much info from him as they could, then they were going to dispose of him. Permanently. Imagine my surprise, when, three years later, he pops up on the radar again.”

Devlin glanced at her, and he frowned, shaking his head. “I can see the disbelief in your eyes. Two men approached me with CIA identification, told me to take him out. If I did it with no fuss, they wouldn’t implicate you when I was charged.”

“Me,” she gasped, her mind reeling. “No, wait. They played me a recording of you making a deal…”

“Did they really?” Devlin said, fury suffusing his face. “They said they would only use that recording if I didn’t go along with what they wanted. Another lie.”

He smacked the steering wheel with his fist so hard she worried he’d break something. Then he gripped it in both hands and yelled.

“Pull over, before you wreck us.”

He jerked the wheel to the side, skimming behind another car close enough that the woman honked her horn as she drove away. The Charger skidded to a stop on the berm and Devlin turned off the ignition. “I went along with everything they said, and they still played you that audio. That wasn’t me, Amberly.” Turning his head, he stared her in the eyes. “You’ve known that something wasn’t right. Well, this is it. I was framed by your agency,” he poked a finger at her chest, “and they are still fucking with my life. And fucking with your life.”

Amberly stared at him, hearing the truth in his voice, but not wanting to believe it. “Why would they do that?” Her voice was faint, but he heard her.

“Because your agency is full of sanctimonious assholes who think they’re God, doing what they want by any means necessary. They wanted Regent to disappear, and they needed a fall guy.”

She sat back in her seat, trying to roll through the details as she remembered them. Had she been the leverage they’d needed to make him take the fall? Yes, she probably was. Holy hell.

“Who was it that came to you?”

Devlin shook his head. “Two CIA types. They showed me IDs, but I doubt they’re legit. Holmes and Stacey. They could have passed for twins.”

Something twanged in her brain. She knew who he was talking about. They did everything as a two-man team. The names were wrong, though. She would have to ask Frank… Or Brown. Maybe. Fuck! What was she supposed to do now? This indecision was going to drive her mad!

What Devlin said made a strange kind of sense. He’d never lied to her before. Maybe that was why he hadn’t defended himself to her. Fuck, if this was true, she’d been the worst wife ever.

“So, there was no payoff…”

Devlin looked at her incredulously.“Seriously? Have you listened to anything I said? I don’t kill for money. Period. Ever.”

He was all but yelling at the end, and she didn’t blame him. For three years he’d been labeled as treasonous, and no one, including Amberly herself, had stood up for him.

The isolation he must have gone through, and the loneliness. “Oh, Devlin.”

Incredibly, tears started in her eyes. She never cried for anyone, but the thought of Devlin being turned on by everyone he cared about… her own family, and the few members of his… God, his SEAL team, and all of his commanding officers.

“Hell, babe, I didn’t tell you this to make you cry,” he said, voice gruff as he cupped her neck and pulled her close to kiss the edge of her mouth. “I never planned on telling you any of it.”

“Devlin,” she breathed. “I really had no idea. I knew something didn’t seem right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It’s that you’re as much of a bleeding heart for this damn country as I am. I knew in my heart that you taking money for a kill sounded wrong, but I was presented with ‘indisputable’ truth in the recording.”

“Not proof. Their version of it.”

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