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He marched into the living room, where Freya glanced at him with a smile. And his heart ripped to fucking shreds.
“Hey, we were going to go swim for a bit if you want to join us.”
“Ja’per.” Maddie held her little arms out to him. But he couldn’t touch her, not when he was this enraged.
“We need to talk. Put Sesame Street on for Maddie and follow me.”
Freya’s eyes widened at his tone, but she followed his command without question. “Here you go, baby. We’ll go swimming as soon as we finish talking.”
Don’t bet on it, he thought.
She followed him into the dining room, her brow scrunched in concern. “Something wrong?”
He hated that his body responded to her nearness. That the sight of her in jean shorts and a tank had his cock lengthening. He clenched his fists to keep his hands to himself. If he touched her, he couldn’t be certain he wouldn’t cave and take her and say to hell with the fact that she was a wanted criminal. “You could say that. I just received a call from Josh. There was a problem with your passport applications.”
“Oh?” Her brows shot up in surprise. But he’d come to know her well these last two weeks. He knew when she was lying or afraid. And right now, she was both.
“Don’t act so surprised, Mrs. Gerritson, considering all the information you fed me was utter bullshit,” he seethed, lashing out. “So should I call the authorities for real this time? I mean, you are wanted for attempted murder and kidnapping.”
“Those charges are false. Ian tried to kill me and was going after Maddie because she wouldn’t stop crying,” she denied, tears lining her inky lashes.
“Is this another one of your make-believe stories? How long were you going to run this con?” he snarled an inch from her face.
“I’m not lying.”
“Oh really? You think I’m going to buy that?”
“I have proof.”
His heart stopped with a glimmer of hope shining through the heartache. Bloody hell, she was trying to fool him again. “Do you really now? Is this proof that you fabricated like you did your fake last name?”
She shook her head. Tears slipped down her cheeks. “No, it’s not fabricated. The night Ian came home when everything went south, he was in one of his moods where I knew I’d get hit. No one ever believed me. So I put my phone up on a shelf in the living room and had it recording. It got all of it. Him beating me. Then trying to go after Maddie. You don’t understand that when he entered those states, there was no telling what he would do. So I wrestled his gun away from him.”
“Where is this magic recording?” Doubt filtered in through his fury.
“On my phone, in a safe deposit box in Denver. I swear to you, it’s there. I can give you the key and the box’s location. I had to keep it safe in case something happened. Because his police department in Macon suppressed evidence.”
“Show me the key,” he demanded. After everything, he was willing to go on a little faith here. It didn’t mean he wasn’t pissed as hell over the lies, because he was fucking furious.
But that niggle of doubt entered his mind. What if she’s telling the truth? What if she’d been terrorized to the point of having to defend herself and Maddie like that? It would be far too easy for someone who works at a police department to remove, hide, or suppress evidence.
“It’s up in my bag.”
He took her arm and steered her toward the stairs. “Let’s go. Maddie will be fine.”
She nodded. He ushered her up the stairs and into their bedroom, releasing her when they entered the room. If he touched her in here, he would forget why they were really in here. She strode over to her bag. He watched her rifle through it until she found what she was looking for. She held up what he recognized as a key to a safe deposit box.
“I need the location and number of the box.” He was taking an unexpected trip to Denver today. Because he wouldn’t be able to rest easy until he knew the truth.
“Why?”
“If you want me to believe you, then you’re going to have to trust me.”
She studied him for a moment before she conceded. “All right.” She handed over the key and jotted down the bank’s information.
“I’m going to head there now and retrieve it. If everything is as you say, I will help you get this cleared up.”
She stared with regret, tears trickling down her cheeks. “Jasper, I’m so sorry. I never meant to—”
