He stopped and turned back toward me. “Oh.” He laughed. “You know the group of deer I mentioned that roam around in the woods behind my house? They just had a fawn. I thought it would be cool to get video of her.”
“That’s odd. Aren’t fawn usually born in the spring?”
“Yeah. Normally the spring through early summer. Not this one, though. I’ll be right back.”
For the first time I got the sense that maybe it wasn’t so odd for Ben to be falling for me. If he was filming some oddball fawn in his free time, he was clearly pretty lonely.
I heard the back door shut and sighed. I had been so close to getting him to help me commit murder. But maybe this would be better. Getting evidence against my husband was better than getting myself sent to prison. I wouldn’t do well behind bars.
But my plan was foolproof. If this deer camera thing didn’t work, I’d revert back to my first plan. This time, I’d just leave Ben out of the particulars. I was strong enough to lug my husband’s body out of the house and into the backyard. Especially once my ankle and shoulder were healed.
I looked down at my hurt ankle. Hurry up and heal. It ached today. A throbbing pain that was almost all-consuming. Much like the feeling in my fingertips. Because they ached to feel my lovely husband’s bones snap beneath them.
Chapter 28
I lifted up another slice of pizza and took a huge bite. Cheesy goodness from Grotto’s was everything I needed to calm myself. It really did seem like Ben was real. If he wasn’t, surely he’d be more agreeable. If all of this was in my head, I’d have an actual plan of attack. As it was, the gorgeous specimen installing a camera on the corner of one of my cupboards was real.
Just the thought made me smile. I’m not insane. Well, despite the fact that he called me a psychopath. But there was no reason to dwell on that one comment. He was here helping me.
“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” I asked before taking another bite.
“Just one more sec.” The sound of the drill drowned out our conversation. “Done.” He hopped off the ladder with a smile on his face.
“So what else do you have to do to link them to your computer?” I looked around at his toolkit and didn’t see his laptop anywhere.
“It’s already set up. I had them outside my house feeding to my computer already. Having them a few doors down shouldn’t matter any.”
“Did you manage to get much video of the fawn? I’d love to see it.”
“I didn’t realize that you were that interested in deer.”
“Who doesn’t like baby animals?”
He laughed as he sat down across from me. “Fair point. Can I ask you something?” He lifted up a slice of pizza. He was lucky there was any left. After my little stunt earlier, my stomach was left completely empty. I was ravenous.
“It depends on the question,” I said. Now that my lies were diminishing, it was easier to be frank with him.
“Don't be fooled by what you see,” he said slowly. “It's the things you don't that really matter."
Him repeating my own words back to me gave me chills down my spine.
“What did you mean by that?” he asked.
I hadn’t expected such a serious question. Why did our conversations always do a 180?
“Was that about the fact that you were married?”
He wasn’t letting it go. I bit the inside of my lip. “It’s about everything you can’t see. You say you like me, but you barely know me.” I didn’t want him to walk away now. I didn’t want to be alone anymore. And he knew too much.
He put the slice of pizza down. “I know you, Addy. You’re feisty, yet kind. And beautiful.” His eyes fell to my lips. “God, you’re beautiful.”
“Maybe you don’t understand because you don't see the worst in me."
“The worst in you?” He flashed me a smile. “There is nothing wrong with you.”
Oh, yes there is. “I’ve done some…bad things.” I fiddled with the crust of my pizza slice.
“What kind of bad things?”