Page 59 of Mail Order Bride

She stares at me for a long time, trying to goad a response, but I won’t let her win. I know Gina wouldn’t be this careless, not unless she was up to something. Maybe she’s finally ready to tell me the truth? Maybe I’m about to die too? It could go either way, but one thing is for sure, I’m stronger and I’m faster than her.

I lean forward and wipe the sweat from her brow. “You look beautiful when you’re angry.”

She flinches when I touch her, which bothers me. I love Gina. She infuriates me, but I don’t want to hurt her. Not really.

“Now, go strip yourself down,” I say. “I’ll leave what you need outside the door.”

“I’m not putting on a dead woman’s clothes.”

I hand her a silk scarf from the rack by the door. The one that I’ve always loved on her. It makes her look like she belongs in Hollywood, which maybe she does. “You are,” I say. “And then you’re going to drive her car out to that spot I showed you. The one where we stopped to pick lemons on our honeymoon.”

“That was a day trip, hardly what I’d call ahoneymoon.”

“Strange,” I tell her. “I recall you being rather pleased.”

She starts to protest, but I cut her off. “That’s the thing about women. You can never make them happy.”

The phone rings. Gina takes it in the living room. I can’t hear what she’s saying, but I sense it’s about me. When she returns, I tell her we need to minimize the distractions. We have a lot of heavy lifting ahead of us.

I glance at the front door, thinking I heard something, but it’s just Annie. Blue trails not far behind.

Gina looks at the dogs and then at me and sighs heavily. “While I’m playing dress up, what areyougoing to do?”

“I’m going to take care of the body.”

The way I say it, I think this marriage might actually work. It’s so nonchalant, like we’re having a discussion about where to go on vacation, or whether the dogs have been fed. It might have gone on like that for a long time, but then I realize I did hear something. Tires on gravel. I look at Gina. “Expecting someone?”

She swallows hard, and then she shakes her head.

My stomach sinks. My vision blurs a little. I think I might be sick, and it’s not my wife’s poisonous cookies. She’s done me one better. I look at her and I think she knows it. “What have you done?”

I wish she’d say something. I wish she’d tell me my worst fears are wrong, but she doesn’t. She just follows my gaze out the window. Together, we watch as the police cruiser comes barreling toward the house, and I wonder what I’m going to have to do to get us out of this mess.

Chapter Forty-Four

Joel

It turns out a couple of grand doesn’t buy much loyalty. That’s how much I’ve given Gina’s father. First to marry his daughter and then to keep her from having to go back to Tennessee to take care of him. “I just want you to know,” she says as we watch the police cruiser park in our driveway, “I didn’t make those cookies.”

“Great.” I have to admit, I’m not really listening. I’m more concerned with how to get rid of Edward Baker, Pine Lake’s infamous police chief. Preferably before he sees his wife lying on my kitchen floor, dead.

“What I’m saying, Joel, is it wasn’tmetrying to kill you.”

“Okay.”

“I just thought you should know.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Are you even listening to anything I'm saying?” I watch as Ed Baker comes striding up our walkway. I’ve known the guy since I was a kid. He’s a shrewd cop, misses nothing. Not unless he wants to, and I guess you could say he and I have always had an understanding. Probably not enough of an understanding that he’d be willing to overlook his wife dying in my house under mysterious circumstances, but you never know. Maybe he has that kind of marriage.

“Joel,” Gina huffs, tugging on the sleeve of my shirt. “Have you heard anything I’ve said?”

“Um. Sure.” Maybe we should just pretend like we’re not home. Sneak out the back. Make a run for it. Go with Gina’s plan in theland of dreams. Maybe hit the beach. I don't know.

It’s a nice thought, but I don’t have time for nice thoughts. This is my home. I’m not leaving. “Wait here,” I say to Gina. “And whatever you do, don’t let him inside.”

She nods eagerly, and I see the fear in her eyes. “I love you,” she says.

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