Now You See Her by James Patterson Read Free Book Online

“Speaking of dangerous, I’ve been meaning to ask you, Elena. How dangerous is that DEA task force thing at work?”
    “Are you kidding me?” Elena said, handing me an hors d’oeuvre–packed silver tray. “You have to be a stone-cold supercop like your husband to even think about doing undercover work. Besides, you mean how dangerous
was
that DEA task force thing. They rerouted the DEA agents back to Miami, like, two months ago. Fed funding dried up. Sucks, too. I did surveillance for them for almost two weeks. The overtime was kick-ass. Take those out now. The yuppie natives look like they’re getting restless.”
    Over? For the last two months?
I thought as I stumbled out onto the grass, the tray almost slipping from my hand.
    Then where the hell had Peter been going on Saturdays only to come home at three in the morning? I wondered.
    For the last two months.

Chapter 17
    PETER BLINKED when he turned on the kitchen light and saw me sitting ramrod straight with my arms folded at the table at five thirty the next morning.
    “Jeanine, you’re up,” he said.
    Two months, I thought, noticing that he was showered. I didn’t know whether to scream or cry or hit him. I was ready for all three at once.
    Why had Peter been lying through his teeth to me for over two months!?
    “I’m up all right,” I said. “All night, in fact. I wanted to ask you a question. Um, I wonder how I can put this delicately. Where the
FUCK
have you been going every Saturday for the past two
FUCKING
months?”
    Peter held up his hands, a completely floored expression on his face. “What in the name of God are you talking about? Where do you think I’ve been? Mexico? I’ve been at
work
.”
    “Then why did Elena tell me that the DEA task force returned to Miami two months ago?”
    “She what?” he said. He actually laughed. “It’s OK, Jeanine. Don’t shoot. I can explain. It’s simple. For a cop, your boss, Elena, is one hell of a caterer. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. You didn’t tell her, did you? That I was still involved with the DEA?”
    “No,” I said, confused. “Don’t change the subject.”
    “Listen to me for a second, all right? The DEA only said they were going back to Miami. They have a confidential informant who said there’s a leak in the department. Some bad cop is leaking stuff to a suspected drug smuggling operation. That’s why the chief hand-selected me. It was stupid not to explain it to you. I should have told you. The important thing is not to tell Elena about it. Don’t tell anyone.”
    “You think Elena might be a bad cop?” I said.
    “Who the hell knows?” Peter said, shrugging as he took the orange juice out of the fridge. “Somebody in the department is. We can’t rule her out.”
    “Are you sure about all of this, Peter?” I said, staring into his eyes. “I mean, are you really sure you’re sure?”
    “Am I sure?” he said, laughing again as he stared right back. “Christ, Jeanine. Look at you. I thought cops were suspicious. You want to look at my pay stubs? Check our phone records. If you want, I’ll bring home a CSI kit so you can take prints.”
    “It’s just…” I began and then started crying.
    Peter stepped over and opened his palms.
    “Hands,” he demanded.
    I gave mine over.
    “Look in my eyes,” he said. “There. Much better. Now, I have a question. Why do you think I married you?”
    “You love me?” I said.
    “Ya think?” he said. “Look, Jeanine. I never told you this before, but you weren’t the only one that night on the beach who was seriously thinking about calling it quits. I was sick of it. Being a cop, Key West, people, partying. I don’t know, being alive, everything. It all seemed so meaningless and stupid.” He smiled down at me.
    “Then I rolled up and looked into your eyes, and I haven’t been inside a church since my Communion, Jeanine, but it felt holy, you know? Like God sent me an angel down from heaven. After I got