Page 43 of Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbi 3)

He absolutely had been implying that it was me. Did he really think I could be part of that disappearance too? That was...ridiculous. I just stared back. "My husband is missing. I haven't been sleeping." At least half of that was true. "I'm a nervous wreck. Are you seriously going to come into my house and imply that I hurt my husband and am somehow involved with some strange guy I don't even know?"

"Hurt your husband? I never said anything about hurting anyone."

I was pretty sure he had me right where he wanted me. And I needed him to get the hell out of my house. "If you're here to arrest me, just do it. But I’m not guilty. So you'll never find any evidence to hold me. I'll be out within 24 hours and you'll be 24 hours behind on helping find my husband."

"Would that be 24 hours too late?"

I closed my eyes like his implications physically exhausted me. "I just want to find Noah. I want all of this to be over. I want my life back." All of that was true. But I wanted my old life back. The one I had before I'd ever met Noah. I wanted to be free from him. I just wasn't sure if that was possible.

"Then you won't mind me looking around your kitchen." He brushed past me in the doorway and was already heading down the stairs before I turned.

Shit. I ran after him and tried to get him to go into the dining room. Living room. Family room. Any room. I even tried to force him to go outside and play fetch with Snuggle Muffins, something I was sure Snuggle Muffins would not enjoy. But Detective Torres ignored me and went right back into the kitchen.

He was in the center of the kitchen looking around the island. It was clear to him that I was hiding something. He just had no idea it was connected to the kitchen. Not in it. He opened the drawer next to the one with weed and I swear I stopped breathing. Crap, the drugs. If I didn't do something, he'd find my weed stash and he'd have an actual reason to arrest me. Well, another reason. The whole kidnapping my husband thing was a good reason too.

I glanced at the basement door and then back at him. "Are you happy with your search now, detective? Because I think it's time for you to go."

He closed the drawer. "I think only a guilty person would ask a detective to leave her house. I thought you wanted me to look for clues?"

"I would if you didn't think I was somehow mixed up in Noah's disappearance. You're wasting time by being here."

"I'm not so sure about that." His hand landed on the handle of the weed drawer. Like he had a death wish. I could already picture him convulsing on the floor after I tased him. It would be a quick draw, straight from a black and white cowboy film. But I had a feeling he'd be faster. I didn't want a bullet in my chest. This needed to end peacefully even if it meant me begging on my knees.

"Please," I said. I thought of death. Destruction. Natural disasters. Even the horrible image I'd had this morning of Noah dead at the basement stairs. And somehow I mustered the despair to make a single tear fall down my cheek. "I don't know how to live without him."

The accusation in Detective Torres' eyes faded as quickly as my fake tears had formed. His hand fell from the handle. "Then help me understand. Tell me why you don't wear your wedding ring."

Oh. God. I glanced down at my empty ring finger. Why did I keep forgetting to put on my wretched rings? What was wrong with me? "You made it seem like he cheated on me. I thought...I thought you were going to find him with that Sophia woman. Shacking up. I've never felt so broken." I put my hand over my mouth to pretend I was seconds away from breaking down in front of him. There was nothing men hated more than feeling uncomfortable around a sobbing woman.

"It doesn't seem like that was the case, Ensley. It was definitely something more sinister. Do you have any idea why he would be following Sophia Tremblay?"

If I did I wouldn't tell you. "No. I'm sorry. But you have to believe me. I love my husband. I was blindsided by the fact that he might be cheating. But I'd never hurt him." I shook my head. "And Ben? Yes, I like to watch the local news. That doesn't mean I...what...somehow kidnapped him from the hospital? That's crazy." I'd only kidnapped Noah. Geez. "I just like being well informed of local crime." I dropped my voice to a whisper. "Especially since so many of the housewives in the area seem cray cray." I walked around the kitchen island to block his view of the basement door, Snuggle Muffins hot on my trail. I was worried that Detective Torres would see the deadbolt and start asking questions he had no business asking. Luckily Snuggle Muffins looking semi-adorable on the floor right in front of him was a decent distraction.

Detective Torres reached down and scratched behind his ear. "Well, the vultures are starting to swarm the station already. They got a whiff of this case. It will probably be on the nightly news at this rate."

"I never wanted to be on it." But I did. I really really did. It took everything in me not to jump up and down. I was going to be famous. More famous than all the other murderous women in little old Wilmington, Delaware. And I was playing Detective Torres like a fiddle. I pressed my lips together and

shook my head. "I can't believe this is happening. Maybe it's one of those murderous lunatics you mentioned that is doing this. Violet or Adeline?" Throwing my previous neighbors under the bus seemed like a pretty good idea. They were already wanted.

Detective Torres shook his head. "No. I don't think so."

"Maybe Sophia's lying."

Detective Torres shook his head.

"Maybe Noah and she actually got into a lover's quarrel that turned physical...that left him dead."

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "The last thing I need is for this to turn into a homicide. I’m still hoping he turns up." He closed the distance between us. "I'm sorry about earlier. I just...I couldn't get you not wearing your rings out of my head. And the coincidences with Ben disappearing too. I need to figure this out before I..." his voice trailed off.

"Before you what?"

"You saw the news, Ensley. My last partner ran off with a serial killer we were hunting. I let him get away. My job is on the line. I need to find Noah or I'll lose everything. This case is my last chance to prove myself."

I stared at him like I was seeing him for the first time. He looked exhausted, just like a man who was about to lose his job might look. But there was one thing that didn't line up with his story. A man about to lose his job wouldn't have just taken a mini vacation in Canada. It didn't make sense. What the hell was he really doing in Canada?

"You can be honest with me, Ensley," he said. "If your husband did hurt you, I'd believe you." He reached out and lightly touched my elbow. "You can trust me."

Oh my God. Did he seriously think the whole "you can trust me" line would work on me? If he thought my husband hurt me, I'd for sure become his number one suspect if I wasn't already. He'd let Sophia Tremblay off the hook, but I had a feeling he wouldn't let me off so easily. "Noah never hurt me." He broke me.

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