Page 77 of Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbi 3)

The plans in my head stopped formulating. I blinked. Detective Torres called him Noah. Detective Torres saw it too? I wasn’t crazy. I touched the side of my forehead as I stared at Noah. Really stared. The laugh lines around his eyes. His dark hair. His slightly lighter stubble. The freckles that were scattered right beneath his eyes. They were all familiar. I’d woken up to him thousands of mornings. He was my husband.

But when I looked harder? Really looked? My eyes narrowed in on him. The stubble was actually a lot lighter than his hair. His hair was really, really dark. Unnaturally so. Like it had been dyed. Like he’d been trying to hide his true identity.

It came back in a rush. A piece clicking back together in my brain. My husband had told me that I was crazy. That I was seeing things. That there was no possible way that there were two of him. But he kept appearing somewhere that he wasn’t. I’d kept it all written down. Every time I spotted him somewhere, he claimed he hadn’t been there. He’d found my calendar tracking him. He’d given me more medicine, trying to erase my memories. He’d whispered lies into my ear. And I’d eaten it up. For a short time. While I was still being drugged.

But they were all lies. And his plan hadn’t worked. There were two of him. This was one of him. And the other one of him…

No. I’d been fighting with myself. Half the time I thought it was really Noah. Half the time I knew it wasn’t. But I was never sure. Never really sure. Because it was easy to doubt yourself when you were belittled for years. And I wanted this to be my actual husband. Because if it wasn’t…

Noah stuck out his hand to shake Detective Torres’. “Nice to finally meet you too.” He flashed me a smile.

No. No, no, no. I blinked again. The Noah standing there shaking Detective Torres’ hand wasn’t the real Noah. He looked like my husband. He even sounded like my husband. Because he was supposed to. But this Noah was not my husband. Because the real Dr. Noah Collins?

I held my breath. I wanted Detective Torres to be right. That this imposter was Noah. I wanted it to be true. Because if it wasn’t…I was pretty sure the nightmares I had been having were true. I was almost positive that the real Dr. Noah Collins was dead. And if he was dead…I was worried I knew where he was. Detective Torres couldn’t know. He wouldn’t believe me. Just like my husband claimed he didn’t believe me. They’d lock me up. They’d think I was crazy. I’m not fucking crazy.

Detective Torres looked between us, eyeing our strange Christmas getups. “So…what the hell is happening?” he asked. “Please tell me this whole thing wasn’t a ruse so you can win that stupid neighborhood Christmas light contest? Some kind of grand entrance to shock your neighbors?”

Noah laughed. “Well, we will be wearing these costumes to that. As for the whole me being missing thing? This has all just been a huge misunderstanding. Actually, I have some files here that I think will clear everything up.” He held up the files that were in his hand. “Ensley, I want you to see these too. Come here, baby.”

I felt like I was going to throw up. I had no idea what was in those files. But I knew it was most likely damning. And even if it wasn’t? A dead body surely would be.

I needed to get Detective Torres out of the equation so I could have a second to think. My hands were still cuffed behind me, so I did the first thing I thought of. I kicked the back of Detective Torres’ knees so he buckled forward.

“What the f…” he started.

But he didn’t finish his statement. Because I kneed him right in the side of his head. He crumpled to the floor with a thud.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Noah said. “I was going to smooth everything over! I had a plan. You just assaulted a detective. You could go to jail, Ensley.” He raked his fingers through his dyed hair. “What were you thinking?”

I took a step away from him.

“Baby, it’s okay we can figure it out.” He closed the distance between us, probably assuming my sudden movement was fueled by regret over kicking Detective Torres in the head. And not out of fear of the man still standing in front of me. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I’ll keep you safe.”

Safe? I wasn’t the crazy one. He was. Think of a way out of this.

He touched the side of my face and I tried not to hurl. He’d sat in the basement saying he loved me. That he’d never cheat on me. He’d pressured me into believing. He’d said it all with my husband’s face.

But this man was not my husband. And I had no idea who the hell he was or what he wanted with me.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “We’ll figure it out together.” When he leaned down for a kiss, I let instinct take over again. I bit his lip so hard I could taste blood, and then I kneed him right in the junk.

He groaned and leaned forward, grasping at the front of his tiny elf shorts.

And then I ran as fast as I could.

Chapter 28

Monday

“Ensley, stop!” Noah screamed through a slur of curses.

I ran faster, which wasn’t that fast when my hands were still cuffed behind me and I didn’t want to topple straight onto my face.

I reached the back door in the kitchen and turned around to work on the lock with my hands.

Snuggle Muffins was still sleeping in the middle of the kitchen floor, as if my assaulting a detective and kneeing Noah in the crotch was uneventful.

My hand paused on the knob. I couldn’t leave Snuggle Muffins behind. He was more than just my accomplice. He was…all I had left. “Come, Snuggle Muffins. Now.” I couldn’t lift him up with my hands behind my back. He needed to get up and run to me. Run to Mommy.

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