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He took a deep drink of whisky, letting it burn all the way down his throat, too shocked to even speak. What the hell was she telling him?
“I had no idea they were going to bomb that factory. The moment I saw the explosion, I realized that I’d gotten in way over my head. I tried to quit the group, but Jacob said they would never let me go, that I knew too much...”
“You are a member of the Citizens Committee,” he said dully, praying she’d deny it, that he’d somehow misunderstood her.
A sob caught in her throat, and she shook her head. “I didn’t know what kind of a man Jacob was. He can be very charming, and I suppose I was seduced by him, by his vision of the changes he wanted to see in the world...”
“You were lovers,” he realized, numb with disbelief. When she’d told him that she hadn’t been a virgin, he’d assumed she’d been taken advantage of, not that she’d willingly entered into a relationship with a criminal like Lindon.
“After the bombing, I tried to get out,” she said again. “I told him that I didn’t want anything more to do with him, but he wouldn’t let me go. He told me that if I didn’t do what he wanted, if I didn’t get you to tell me what those men who were captured knew about him, that he would kill me. I didn’t know what to do.”
“You were working with that bastard,” he finally managed, a wave of betrayal washing over him, shattering the momentary happiness he’d arrived home with. “You were never kidnapped.” The knowledge that every single beautiful thing that had passed between them had been a filthy fucking lie was almost more than he could bear. He’d never believed in anything the way he’d believed in her. How could he have been so stupid?
“I never told him anything,” she hastened to defend herself. “I knew I couldn’t do that. I never would have done that to you. Not even to save myself.”
He downed the rest of his whisky and shoved to his feet, unable to sit and listen to this any longer. “Stop talking,” he snapped. “Don’t you realize how much you’re incriminating yourself?”
“I wanted you to hear it from me!” she cried as he reached the bedroom door. “I couldn’t live with the lie any longer. I never wanted to hurt you, Drake.”
“Too late,” he muttered beneath his breath, his heart shattering as he slammed the door behind him.
He stood out in the hallway, breathing heavily, still stunned by what he’d learned. She was one of them. He was harboring a damned criminal in his home.
He’d asked her to be his wife.
Hysterical laughter bubbled up within him but he tamped it down viciously. There would be time for self-recrimination later. For now, he had to decide what the hell to do next.
The answer came to him immediately, and even though he hated it, he knew she’d left him no choice. His integrity had already been questioned enough. If anyone knew he’d willingly let a criminal go free, Ness and O’Brien would never trust him to bring Danbury to justice.
He strode to the front door, finding Constable Graham right outside where he should be. “Arrest the woman upstairs and put her in a holding cell at J Division,” he said shortly. “Gather up all the men who are here and escort her to make sure she gets there safely.”
The constable’s eyes widened, but he just nodded and turned on his heels to do Drake’s bidding.
One way or another, Drake was going to get to the bottom of this.
Chapter Seventeen
