She nodded, staring at her untouched water.“I had to tell Craig something.He caught me coming in one night after I was with Gil.He knew I’d had sex.I got sloppy because he was supposed to be out on the Blue Whale, but he came home a day early.I had to say something, so I said it was Eddie I was sleeping with.I panicked.I couldn’t tell him it was Gil because Craig would have gone after Gil, and Gil would never have stood a chance against Craig physically.So I said it was Eddie instead.”
“Did you know Craig would go looking for Eddie?”
She looked guilty.“Yes.I figured he would.”
“And that was fine with you?”
“It was the lesser of two evils.At least Gil would be safe.”She let out a tired breath.“I didn’t really care what happened to Eddie.I know how awful that sounds.But Eddie was the one threatening to ruin Gil’s life.A part of me hoped that if Craig roughed him up, maybe Eddie would back off and drop the whole thing.”
“Why’d you go after Eddie out on the water?Why not just talk to him in town?”
Her eyes flickered.“Our conversation had to be private.Nobody could overhear us.”
I narrowed my eyes.“You’re sure you didn’t plan on killing Eddie the whole time?Maybe that’s why you followed him out there on the ocean.”
Her face flushed.“Of course I’m sure.I wanted to talk to him, that’s all.But he was so pious, and he said such nasty things about Gil, it infuriated me.I just lost my temper.That’s why I pushed him, to shut him up.”She winced.“I didn’t mean to shut him up forever.”
I studied her, not sure I believed her.I’d always thought Tess was a sweet girl, but I was seeing a much more devious side to her.“Why are you so in love with Gil?He’s a lot older than you.”
“Age doesn’t matter.”She got a wistful look on her face.“Yeah, he’s older, but he’s a gentleman.He knows how to treat a lady.He never once used a cuss word around me, and he wouldn’t let anyone disrespect me.Sometimes the guys at the Rusty Anchor get a little rowdy, but he’d put them in their place for me.”Her eyes brightened.“And he had big dreams, which I loved.We were going to travel together and live life.”
I frowned.“What about Craig?”
She scowled.“As soon as Gil had enough money, I was going to divorce Craig.I couldn’t wait to get out of this little town.Gil and I were going to make a new life.”
“So Gil was your ticket out of a bad marriage.”
She didn’t like that.“You’re making it sound like I was using Gil.I love Gil.I’d die for Gil.”
“You definitely killed for Gil.”
She lifted her chin.“Yes, I did.It was an accident, but I’d do it again for Gil.I’d do anything for him.”
“Even though he is upset with you now?”
Her face fell.“I wish you’d let me talk to him.I could explain better if we were alone.”
“That’s not going to happen, Tess.”
She leaned back in her chair, looking frustrated.“I guess you don’t understand what it’s like to be in love.When you really love someone, you’ll kill for them.”
I cleared my throat.“We’re getting off track.”
She laughed gruffly.“Does that make you uncomfortable?It probably does because you’re a police officer.I don’t suppose even if you would kill for love you’d be able to admit that.”
She had a point.Because of my job, it was different for me.Although, tonight, when I’d thought she was going to shoot Spencer, I’d had to struggle hard not to jump the gun and take her out first.My instincts had been to save Spencer.While it was my job to protect people, I wasn’t supposed to be impulsive because my feelings were involved.Luckily, my training had held, and we’d been lucky.No one had died tonight.
“Can I ask you why you’re so angry with Spencer?”I studied her pale face.
Her eye twitched.“He’s the reason it all unraveled.”
“You really think that’s fair?I knew about the poaching.I was closing in on Gil for Eddie’s murder.”She didn’t need to know Spencer had pointed me in that direction.She hated him enough.
She sighed.“You’re a cop.You were supposed to investigate Eddie’s death.”Her face darkened.“Spencer just kept sniffing around so he could get a story.That’s different.”
I let that sit for a moment.“You wanted to hurt Spencer tonight.”
She wrinkled her brow.“I didn’t want to hurt him, but I was tired of his butting in all the time.He really did fuck everything up.”She looked at me as if I should agree.“The other night, he came into the Rusty Anchor asking Gil a bunch of questions.”
