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“Even husband killers?” Kyle’s tone had turned decidedly frigid.
“She said she didn’t kill Nick, and I believe her. She loved him. That much is obvious. After all, she went to jail to keep his cover from being blown.”
“She did what?” the guys asked in unison.
“Yeah. Scotty, I told you she had a criminal record, remember? When you guys were in South America last year, the mission in Venezuela? Some cops showed up at Nick and Natalie’s house with a search warrant. At first I couldn’t figure out how that could have happened, but now I think Becks set it up. He wanted to get inside and snoop around.” Hayley shrugged. “Anyway, the cops claimed to have found unlicensed firearms and paraphernalia on the premises. She said all of it was hers and went to jail for three days until she could post bail. Never said where the weapons came from or answered any questions about the fact they were military-only, special ops kinds of equipment.”
“Nick never said a word about that.” Kyle frowned.
“I doubt she told him.” Hayley wrinkled her nose. “But she did it for him. If that’s not a show of love and loyalty, I don’t know what is.”
“Well, she trusts you, Red.” Scotty laced his fingers through hers. “You will, of course, share any information you gather with us afterward, right?”
“What if I say no?” It wasn’t clear whether she was teasing, but he decided to go the gentle route.
He raised her fingers to his lips and kissed each fingertip before turning her hand over and tracing his tongue along the delicate lines of her palm. “Then I’ll just have to torture you to get it.”
“I’m sure that violates the Geneva Conventions.” She squirmed in her seat and tried to pull away again, but nothing could hide the flare of desire in her emerald eyes or the quickening of her breath as he concentrated his efforts on the thudding pulse point at her wrist.
“Torture takes many forms. Any violating that happens here will be mutually enjoyable.”
“Okay, ew,” Spencer said from the front of the van. “Get a room, will you?”
Scotty chuckled and straightened, placing their entwined fingers atop his thigh. “I’m almost hoping you hold out on me, Red.”
“I bet you are,” Hayley said, squeezing his fingers.
Perhaps there was hope yet for this day, Scotty thought as they sped toward the hospital.
* * *
Hayley nodded at the officers standing guard outside Natalie’s hospital room, then stuck her head around the door. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Natalie said, her voice weak.
Monitors beeped all around her, and there were IV tubes coming from her arm. A bright white bandage covered her right shoulder and arm. She looked exhausted, and her dark hair was tangled in disarray around her head. Hayley took a deep breath and stepped inside, closing the door after her. She pulled a chair up at Natalie’s bedside and took a seat. “How are you feeling?”
“Like crap.” Natalie snorted, then winced. “How are you doing?”
“Okay.” Hayley lifted the edge of her shirt to show the bandages covering her left side. “I know yours was worse, but this still stings.”
“I bet.” Natalie gave a small smile, then fiddled with the covers on her bed. “So.”
“So.” Considering everything that had happened over the past couple of hours, Hayley suspected that this would be the last quiet time the woman would have for a while. She’d passed several police officers and military investigators on her way to Natalie’s room, all of them champing at the bit to get in here and question Nick’s widow. “It’s nice in here.”
“Yeah, if you like the industrial school of decorating. Though I guess I shouldn’t complain. It’s better than a prison cell.”
“Listen, Natalie. I—”
“No.” She held up a hand to silence Hayley. “I know what they’re saying about me. I’m sure there are men out there who can’t wait to get in here to drag me over the coals, but I have to know you believe me when I say I did not kill my husband, nor did I have anything to do with his death. I loved Nick. More than life. There’s nothing I wouldn’t have done to save him.”
Someone had killed Nick Matthews, but it was not this woman. “I believe you.”
“Good.” Natalie stared at the window on the other side of the room, her expression wistful. “Growing up, I always thought I’d find a nice man, have a few kids, live happily ever after. But life hasn’t turned out that way for me.”
“You’re young,” Hayley said. Weak, but she didn’t know how else to respond. “You’ve got time.”
“Not me. I’m not starting all over again. At least, not romantically. Nick was it for me.”
