She searched his face. “Either you’re one of the most accomplished liars I’ve ever met, or you’re serious.”
Moving closer, he shook his head. “I don’t know anyone named Bettina, nor do I have a girlfriend. I’ve been alone since my daughter died.” He didn’t understand where they were going with this, but sensed he should follow her lead. Eventually, they had to come to truth, when they hit the rock bottom.
He watched the emotions play across her face. First and foremost, he saw hope, before her features went blank as she shut her feelings down. She seemed to do that a lot, whenever she got something she didn’t want to face.
“Whatever,” she said, shrugging as if she didn’t care.
She began to pace, her movements jerky, agitated.
He followed. “Explain, please. Where did you get this false information?”
“I met her.”
“Met…Bettina?”
“Yes. Reba introduced me to her. She said I needed to know what kind of man I was living with.”
He couldn’t have been more astounded. “Reba? I’ve known her for years. She should know better than to believe this woman’s story without checking with me first.”
“Right now, Reba thinks you’re a monster.”
Words stuck in his throat. He’d done a lot of wrong things in his lifetime, made his own share of mistakes, but he’d never hurt anything or anyone smaller or weaker than himself. “Why wouldn’t Reba come to me?”
“Something like this is a touchy issue,” Jewel reminded him. “Especially when a woman is battered as badly as Bettina was.”
Battered. He closed his eyes. “What about the police? Did she fill out a report? Of course she didn’t. No one’s notified me, or even asked me any questions.”
“No.” She watched him closely. “I asked her that too. She said she couldn’t go to the police. She was afraid you might kill her.”
“Kill her?” He shook his head. “I don’t even know her.”
“There’s more. Your friend Roy backed Bettina up.”
“Roy?”Dragging a hand through his hair, he tried to make sense of her words. “My former coworker from Houston? That Roy? What’s he got to do with any of this?”
“Remember I told you Reba was seeing someone?”
He nodded. “Roy?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand.” He felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut. When she told him Roy had not only corroborated Bettina’s story, but made accusations of infidelity during his marriage, Colton could barely hang on to his rapidly vanishing self-control.
Flipping open his cell phone, he paged through the stored numbers, looking for Reba’s real estate office.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling Reba first, then Roy. I want to get this straightened out once and for all.” Clenching his teeth, he punched in the number. After a few rings, Reba’s voice mail picked up. He left a terse message, then tried Roy. Again he got voice mail; again he left a message. Done, he closed his phone, the movement carefully controlled.
Eyes narrowed, Jewel crossed her arms. “You’re seriously pissed, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. I’ve never hit a woman in my life.”
The breath seemed to go out of her in a rush. “You know, I believe you.”
Breathing deeply, he forced his teeth to unclench. He was absurdly grateful. “I don’t understand. Why would anyone, especially a total stranger, then a guy I’ve known for years, accuse me of such a thing? What would they have to gain?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
