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“You’ve played everyone,” she finally said softly. “You’ve suspected all this, all along.
Didn’t you?”
He barely managed to hide his surprise.
“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. ” He forced himself away from the table, paced to the other side of the room, then turned back to her.
“You suspected Gene was a part of the League and that Joe and Jaime had somehow been killed because of the group. ”
She hadn’t moved, but her gaze followed him, thoughtful, partially angry.
“What part did I play in this, Zeke?” she asked him as she waved her hand toward the scattered papers and pictures. “How did sleeping with me help you to get where you were trying to go?”
His jaw clenched. Hell, he was hoping she wouldn’t see that, because while that’s what it may have begun as, it wasn’t finishing that way.
“They were watching me,” he finally said softly. “They were focused on my investigation of Joe and Jaime’s death. They weren’t watching DHS or t
he Mackay boys.
Cranston was never suspended from duty, officially. The Mackays were never off the case. Gene’s been watching you for years, simply because you were Calvin’s daughter and because Jonesy tried to protect you. He wondered what you knew, what Jonesy knew. I let them focus on that while the others did their job. ”
Rogue felt the pain explode in her chest as Zeke stared back at her. The lack of emotion in his voice, in his eyes, cut her to the quick.
“It was all some elaborate ruse then?” she whispered. “It was never about us, was it, Zeke?”
“I couldn’t afford for it to be about us, Rogue,” he said softly as he turned away from her again. “Not yet. ”
He wasn’t turning away because he couldn’t bear to see her hurt, she saw. He was turning away to collect the weapons that lay on the other side of the room. His gun belt and weapon, which he strapped on efficiently. The rifle he collected from the side of the wall.
“You’re an intelligent woman,” he said, his tone so precise, so cool she felt flayed by the very lack of emotion in it. “Stay here where you’re safe. Stay off the phone. I’ll let you know when it’s finished. ”
She fought back her tears and her anger. She tried to swallow and felt as though she would choke from the tightness in her throat.
“John,” she whispered. “What about my brother?”
God, John had been right all along. This wasn’t about love, it wasn’t about anything Zeke might want from her emotionally. It was about a very elaborate deception. It was all about his job, nothing more.
“Natches has John out of the way,” he promised her. “He’s safe. You’re safe. Now let me clean up my town and undo the damage Thad Mayes did to this county without leaving any more scars on my conscience. ”
Scars on his conscience. He was protecting her so he wouldn’t feel any guilt if she ended up hurt. It was no more than that. She wanted to go to her knees from the pain; instead, she managed to hold her head upright and even managed to nod.
“By all means. ” She forced a tight smile to her face; she even managed not to shed a tear. “I’m sure I can find something to do here while you’re out saving the world. ” She waved her hand negligently back at him. “Have fun, Sheriff Mayes. ”
Be safe, Zeke. She whispered the words silently as he turned and headed for the stairs.
She wouldn’t cry yet, she promised herself. She wasn’t going to let herself shed more tears for another betrayal. She’d shed enough, she’d lost enough dreams. She wouldn’t lose her pride as well.
His foot rested on the first step before he paused. His back was still to her when he said,
“I didn’t want things to be this way. ”
Lips trembling, she had to force back the cry welling in her soul. She hated him. Oh God, she hated him! She hated him just as much as she loved him.
“But they are,” she said, barely holding back the pain now. “We’ll talk later, Zeke. You have a job to do. Right?”
He nodded, his head still turned away. “I have a job to do. ”
With that, he moved quickly up the stairs and left her alone with a basement filled with his memories, his life. Pictures and boxes of mementos. Sand in a bottle. Seashells. A framed picture of his wedding day. Shane’s first photo as a newborn. And stacks of pictures from Zeke’s childhood.
