Page 71 of Cutter’s Lady

Chapter 14

“Blake?” Cutter repeated, his head turning first to Leslie, then to the man in the doorway.

Leslie made it to a chair before her legs gave way, and she sat down with a thud. She stared at her ex-husband, so many questions tumbling in her brain that she could get out nothing coherent. Cutter’s mouth tightened and he yanked Blake into the room, shutting the door after him.

“You’re Blake Westfield?”

“Yes, I am.”

“The one we’ve been chasing all over San Cristóbal?”

The man nodded. “The same, I’m afraid.”

“We thought the government had taken you.” Cutter frowned as if he was disappointed they hadn’t. “Thought this was now mainly a body recovery mission.”

“Consider my body recovered.” Blake shrugged.

“You’re a lot less corpse-like than I was expecting.” Cutter’s tone was suspicious.

“Luckily for me, I suppose.” He laughed nervously.

“Blake, what happened to you?” Leslie finally found her voice, and the questions began falling out. “Where have you been? Who kidnapped you? How did you get away?”

Blake sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, adjusting his glasses’ frame. “I don’t know where to start. I never dreamed you’d stir up such a fuss. That you’d come down here searching for me!”

“You weren’t really kidnapped, were you?” Cutter speculated in a cold, hard voice.

“What?” Leslie stared at the two men, her jaw dropping. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that this suit here faked his own abduction. Isn’t that right, Westfield?”

“Yes.” Blake sighed. “I never intended to harm you, Leslie. I really didn’t. But after you turned me down, I didn’t know what else to do.”

Leslie got to her feet, arms stiff at her sides. “You pretended you were kidnapped? None of that was real?” Blake shook his head, and Leslie’s eyes flashed. “What the hell, Blake! I’ve blamed the guerrillas, the government… everyone! I’ve been a complete pain at the state department and the embassy here. The whole government of San Cristóbal probably knows my name, I’ve called so many times. And the whole time you were safe. Do you realize that Cutter and I were in the jungle trying to save you during the middle of a military attack? And that’s not the worst. Your mother and sister have been absolutely sick with worry over you! Didn’t you care how you were hurting them?”

“I didn’t think about them. I just thought that it would be a good way to disappear from everyone’s lives. When you came to San Cristóbal, I tried to get you to leave. I warned you.”

“What?” Leslie looked confused, but Cutter’s eyes blazed.

“The men who followed us from La Luz… they weren’t government, they were yours. Right?” Cutter barked.

Blake nodded.

“And the guy last night? The one who nearly choked Leslie. He was yours, too.” Cutter advanced menacingly. “You piece of—”

Leslie cut in between them. “Cutter. No violence. Please.”

He looked at her, his face set and dangerous. He nodded briefly. “No violence. Yet.”

Blake paled. “Leslie, I didn’t mean for Moreno to hurt you. You wouldn’t leave. No matter what happened, you kept looking for me. I was getting desperate. I had to make you leave. The only thing I could think of was to scare you enough that you’d go back home. When Moreno told me what happened last night, I realized the only thing I could do was see you and tell you the truth.”

“What is the truth?” Leslie demanded. “Why did you pull a disappearing act? Why did you want to make us all believe you were dead?”

“Money,” he replied simply. “After you divorced me, I realized how much I enjoyed having a lot of money. I didn’t like living on an executive’s salary. It wasn’t enough.”

“Is that why you asked me to take you back? Because you wanted my money?”

Cutter rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms in front of him. “You picked a real winner for a husband.”