Hidden (Nicole Jones #1)(67)

‘You left me there,’ he says again. ‘I took care of it, you know. I took care of him. I did that for you.’

I swallow hard, shutting my eyes and then opening them again so I wouldn’t see the image imprinted on them.

‘So whose body was identified as yours?’ I manage to ask.

‘It doesn’t matter now.’

‘Are you in witness protection? Did you tell them it was all me, that you could help them find me? When my father was dying, did they send you to see if you could find out if I’d come out of the woodwork?’

Ian doesn’t answer, which makes me think I am right. But he lets go of me, and I shift away from him, out of reach.

I can’t stop myself, though. ‘The Feds must have thought you had the real inside scoop on where I was if they helped you stage your own death.’

Ian’s expression changes slightly, and I begin to question my first instincts. My head is full now with possible scenarios, but I am not sure which one is the right one. He is staring at me, almost daring me to continue. But instead, he begins to talk.

‘Tony had the postcard, Tina. I heard him talking about it with Carmine, how he was going to come after you for what you did. I took off, but not fast enough. The Feds nailed me in the Grove later that night. They said they could cut me a deal.’

‘So you did sell me out.’ I feel as though he has just set a hundred pound weight on my chest.

He shifts a little, won’t meet my eyes. ‘I couldn’t believe you left me like that, with nothing.’ He is back to talking about Paris. ‘But then, when I couldn’t find you, I figured I could get away if I faked my death.’ He chuckles nervously. ‘It was almost too easy.’

It was too easy. No real identification was done, no fingerprints, no nothing. Just the word of a neighbor. I know what happened now. He never really got away. They had been watching him all along, and this was their chance to get both of us.

‘And you’re wrong about one thing. I didn’t sell you out. You sold yourself out. You always told me you hated your father, but you didn’t. He challenged you, and you always loved a challenge.’

I hate it that Ian knows me so well.

He stares me straight in the eye. ‘You sent that postcard.’

I don’t need the reminder that I’d been stupid, and I am about to say something sarcastic, but he isn’t done yet.

‘It won’t be easy for you, Tina. I told them you killed Zeke. They want you for murder. Not just the money.’

Without thinking, I lunge toward him and take a swing at him, my fist making contact with the side of his face. I am much stronger than I used to be, and the blow surprises him and he stumbles backward, clutching his cheek.

‘What the f*ck—’

‘Right, Ian, what the f*ck?’ I could kill him, right now, right here, as the rage rushes through me. I remember the gun. Where did he put it?

‘I was pissed at you.’

‘You were pissed at me? I did leave you some money, Ian. It wasn’t my fault that they found it before you could get it.’ My heart is pounding. The FBI is here on the island, looking for me, because I am wanted for killing one of their own.

I am not going to be able to get away so easily.

I push the anger down, out of the way. I can’t think like this. I turn away from him, collapsing into the hay, its smell a mixture of sweet and sour. I feel his hand on my back and I twist around and push it away. He frowns, as if he doesn’t understand.

‘You’re kidding, right?’ I ask. ‘You sold me out to the Feds. And you’re married. I don’t think so.’

He leans back against the side of the pen and gives me a wistful look. I turn back to stare at the wooden slats between the pen we’re in and the next one. It is going to be a long couple of hours, but I still have more questions.

‘How is it you’re driving Tony DeMarco’s car? And that you knew he had the postcard?’ I will not look at him, and my questions are muffled by the hay.

He hears me, though, and clears his throat as though he is about to lie.

‘I thought he could help me.’

I am so surprised by this truth that I roll over to look at him. He gives me a wan smile. ‘I thought he could help me find you.’

I am actually surprised that with the resources Tony has that he couldn’t find me until now. I know I left traces. I flew back using the same passport, although I stopped using Amelie’s name once I got here. I bought a car in New York with five hundred dollars in cash and headed east, uncertain where I’d end up. I left the car in the ferry parking lot. If they’d just been able to follow the breadcrumbs, they would have found me years ago.

‘So he knew that you were considered dead?’

Ian nods. ‘I told him everything was your idea. The fact that you left me there with nothing proved it. Having me dead was convenient for him.’ A darkness crosses his face, and I know that Ian’s desperation had sealed his fate. ‘Tony DeMarco doesn’t help anyone for nothing. I had to do what he wanted.’

I don’t want to know what Tony made him do. The fact that he is carrying a gun says enough.

I don’t want to hear any more. I roll over and put my arms over my head, burrowing. I hear the hay rustling and know he is settling in as well. He is done with his confessions, and I don’t want to know any more.