A Dangerous Widow (A Dangerous Series) by Christina Ross Read Free Book Online

life.   And then she’d
dropped the real bomb and told me that Michael had been murdered.   As much as I didn’t want to believe
that, how could I ignore it?   How
could I just dismiss it?   If that
was the case, I owed it to Michael to find out if he was in fact murdered.   And if he was?
    I’d bring his killer to their knees.

 
 
    *   *   *

 
 
    An hour or so later, after finishing my wine
and thinking long and hard about the road that was ahead of me, I went to my
laptop, looked up Ben Cade’s business in New York, and found his telephone
number on his website.   Curious to
know what he looked like all these years later, I searched his site for a
picture, but there were no photos of him to be found—likely due to his
own need for privacy.
    After taking a deep breath, I picked up my
cell and dialed his number.   It was
only a moment before a familiar yet deeper voice answered.
    “This is Ben Cade.”
    “And this is Kate Stone,” I said.
    For a moment, nothing was said as a ribbon
of silence stretched between us.   Since Michael had been so high profile in New York, at some point, Ben
must have read or heard that I’d married him.   And that my last name was Stone.
    “Kate?” he said.
    “It’s me.”
    When I said that, the thundering quiet that
came after it was as tangible as it was unnerving.
    “I—why are you calling?” he asked.
    I wanted to cry as I said, “Because I think
that my husband might have been murdered.”
    “Murdered?”
    “Yes.”
    “Where did this come from?”
    “Trust me, you don’t even want to know.”
    “Kate, I remember reading four or five years
ago that he died of some sort of freak accident.   News of his death was everywhere.”
    And you didn’t reach out to me?
    But that was an unfair reaction, wasn’t
it?   Why should he have?   At that point, we hadn’t seen each other
in eleven years.   We hadn’t even
spoken to each other.
    He’s probably married now and has his own
family.   The fact that he didn’t
call when Michael died doesn’t mean that he lacks empathy.   It likely just came down to the fact
that we are worlds away from the couple that we used to be.   And so be it.
    “I think it would be best if I just came to
see you,” I said.   “Can that
happen?   If it’s too awkward for
you, I understand.   If that’s the
case, perhaps you can give me a referral.   But I—”
    “It’s not awkward.   And you don’t need a referral.   Do you know where my office is?”
    “I’m looking at your website now.   I see the address.”
    “How soon can you be here?”
    To see you again?   How about next year?   Or the year after that?   I’m so not ready for this, Ben.   I can’t tell you…
    And then it came to me that I had a chance
to vet Rhoda even further.
    “Ben, this is a random question—but
are you a former SEAL?”
    He hesitated before he said, “I am—why
do you ask?”
    So, all of this must be true.   She’s gotten too much of my life right…
    “It doesn’t matter.   Do you have time to see me today?” I
asked.
    “Actually, today has turned out to be a free
day.   Cancellations—that sort
of thing.   You can come here if
you’d like.”
    “I never expected this to happen, Ben.   I never wanted to involve you.   I didn’t even know that you were in
Manhattan.”
    “I knew that you were.”
    “If you did, then why didn’t you contact
me?”
    He didn’t answer.   Instead, he said, “You know, I’ve got
this wrong—I need to come to you.   You’re too upset to find your way to me right now.   Would you like me to come to you?   I can do that, you know?   It’s not an issue.”
    “No, no—”
    “Where do you live?”
    “I should just come to you.”
    His voice was firm when he said, “Where do
you live, Kate?”
    I told him.

 

 
 
 
 
 
    CHAPTER FIVE

 
    I hung up the phone.   Ben said that he’d be here within thirty
minutes, which at once turned my stomach into