Page 67 of The Husband's Secret

The FBI agent’s sedan pulled away just then, following the parade of police cars.

Brenda drew in a deep breath. “I’m glad.”

Shelton laughed. “I’m sure you are.” He gave her a little salute before turning and walking away.

Brenda went back inside and closed the door. She locked it and then announced, “I think we can put Janey to bed now.”

It was time to try to get their lives back in some sort of order. To put the past behind them and to move on.

Ben carried Janey to her room. Brenda drew back the covers and he tucked the sleeping child in.

Weak with relief, she wandered back to the living room. Ben trailed close behind her. She dropped onto the sofa. She was too tired to even consider having a conversation while standing. She couldn’t even remember when she’d last slept.

“Once Shelton told Mallory that Ginger was spilling her guts to the FBI agent,” he explained, “she confessed. She killed Cummings but she swears that Ginger killed Scott. The police will have to sort out the discrepancies.”

“As long as Janey and I don’t have to be involved,” Brenda allowed, “I’ll be happy.”

“I don’t see any reason your testimony would be needed. Those two are going to rat out each other well enough, I think.”

Brenda felt fairly clear enough on all that had happened. Scott and Tate had made a mistake and gotten involved with the cartel. But what Scott didn’t tell Tate was that he had already been skimming accounts. Once he realized he was in trouble, he went to the FBI and tried to blame the whole situation on Tate. Only the agent he spoke to was not an FBI agent, it was whoever Cummings turned out to be—ultimately a part of the cartel hierarchy. The FBI handler, Clinton Pratt, was actually an FBI agent. This one Tate had called in. Scott might have gotten away with his long-running bad deeds had he not decided to get greedy and steal funds from one of the cartel accounts. At least he’d suffered a moment of guilt and called the Colby Agency for Brenda and Janey.

Mallory had been put in place to keep an eye on Scott. Ginger had been having an affair with Tate, doing the same—watching Tate. Except Scott didn’t die in the explosion the way he was supposed to. What Brenda saw at LAX was Ginger retrieving Scott, but not for the cartel—for the little plan she and Mallory had come up with. The two made sure the timing was just rightfor trying to unsettle Brenda—to make her lose trust in herself and in her husband’s intentions for his family. The two weren’t happy Scott had reached out to the Colby Agency. As for the cartel, they didn’t care what Mallory and Ginger did as long as they got their money. The two faithful hirelings were welcome to the remaining spoils.

“We have every reason to believe the cartel has no desire to bother you and Janey,” Ben explained. “To them, the rest was irrelevant. I think the only people who need to worry about the cartel are Mallory and Ginger if either of them chooses to bring up their employer. But they won’t do that if they want to live.”

Brenda wished she could drum up some sympathy for Mallory but that was not happening.

“So it’s really over?”

Ben nodded. “We believe so.”

An unexpected disappointment nudged her. She wasn’t ready for whatever was happening between them to be over. But Ben had been here doing a job. She, of all people, understood that situations like this could get personal. She wrote about it, after all. She could hardly expect him to still have those same feelings now that the nightmare was over.

“I guess you’ll be leaving then.” Just saying the words was like inviting an elephant to sit on her chest.

“Soon. Yes,” he agreed.

There it was. He was going. Oh well. She didn’t write romance novels, and perhaps this was why—sometimes there just weren’t any happy endings to be found.

“I was wondering,” Ben said, “if you and Janey might want to get away for a couple of weeks or months. Just until things settle down here and everything has worked itself out. Otherwise, there will be reporters hounding you. The stories in the papers and on social media will draw all the true crime fans right to your door. You might be more comfortable taking some time away.”

She smiled. “You’ve given this a great deal of thought.”

“I have.” He searched her face, hope in his eyes.

“It’s really a good idea.” Having Janey back was all that had been on her mind until a few hours ago. “The trouble is I have no idea where we would go.”

“I think I know just the place,” he offered. “I have this great house in the suburbs of Chicago. There’s a big yard. The former owners had children so there’s a really cool outdoor playset.”

Hope soared in her chest, and her smile came back wider than before. “Are you inviting us to your home?”

“Yes. If you and Janey would like, I would love for you to spend some time with me. I have way too much unused vacation time.”

Brenda stood. “I don’t know what to say.”

Ben pushed to his feet and took a step in her direction. “Say whatever you feel.”

Her lips trembled with the emotions whirling inside her now. “I feel like spending time with you. I feel like getting to know you better.”

He took another step toward her. “Then just say yes.”

“Yes.”

The final step between them disappeared, and he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Tenderly, deeply.

Brenda couldn’t wait to start her and Janey’s new beginning.