Free Person of Interest by Debra Webb

endearment.
    “Elizabeth,” he acknowledged.
    Even then, as he acquiesced to her assertion he made one of his own. He drew tiny circles on her palm with the pad of his thumb.
    She started to pull her hand away, but decided that would only allow him to see that he’d gotten to her. Pretending his little digs at her composure didn’t bother her would carry far more weight. When he saw that he couldn’t get to her in that way he would surely let it go.
    “I liked his jokes,” she went on in hopes of losing herself in the past. She worked hard not to do that on a regular basis; doing so now was a stab at keeping her mind off how being this close to Joe Hennessey unnerved her. It shouldn’t, but it did.
    “Yeah, he was a jokester,” Joe murmured.
    His voice had thickened a little from the action of the painkiller. If she were lucky he’d fall asleep soon. His body needed the rest. Whether he realized it or not his whole system was working hard to heal his new wounds which diverted strength and energy from other aspects of his existence. He didn’t need to fight the process.
    Something he’d said in the ambulance, about lying, pinged her memory. She’d have to ask him about that later when he was further along in his recovery.
    “So he was nice,” Joe reiterated, “and he could tell a joke. Is that why you fell for him?”
    His lids had drifted shut now. He wouldn’t last much longer. Elizabeth was glad. She stared at their joined hands. Hers smooth and pale, his rougher, far darker as if he spent most of his time on a beach somewhere.
    As she watched, his fingers slackened, lay loose between hers. His respiration was deep and slow. She doubted he would hear her answer even if she bothered to give one. But he’d asked, why not respond?
    “No, Agent Hennessey, those are not the reasons I fell for him.” She paused and when he didn’t correct her she knew he was down for the count. “I fell for him because he was like you,” she confessed, her voice barely a whisper. “He made me feel things that terrified me and, at the same time, made me feel alive.” As hard as she’d tried not to look back and see herself as stupid, she couldn’t help it. She’d been so damned foolish.
    “And look where it got me,” she muttered, annoyed with herself for dredging up the memories.
    With every intention of leaving the room she started to pull her hand from the big, warm cradle of his and his fingers abruptly closed firmly around hers.
    “Don’t stop now, Elizabeth,” he murmured without opening his eyes. “You’re just getting to the good part.”
    The only thing that kept her from slapping him was the fact that she would likely undo some of her handiwork and have to do it all over again.
    Instead, she held her fury in check and went on as if he’d misinterpreted what she’d said. Tomorrow, or even after that, if he questioned her about her comment she would lie through her teeth and swear she hadn’t said any such thing. Two could play this game, she decided.
    Stating the facts as if they described someone else’s life she told Joe Hennessey the story of how Agent David Maddox had come into her life as her handler and proceeded to lure her into temptation with his vast charm.
    Hennessey would no doubt recognize the story. He probably practiced the same M.O. all the time. According to what David had told her, Hennessey left a heartbroken woman behind at every assignment. He was the proverbial James Bond. The man who had it all. A new secret life, with all it entailed, every week.
    How exciting it must be to live that kind of life with absolutely no accountability to anyone. The broken hearts he left behind would certainly be chalked up to collateral damage just as the occasional dead body surely was.
    Elizabeth worked hard at keeping her tone even and her temper out of the mix, but it wasn’t easy. The more she talked about the past and considered her relationship with David, the more she realized howshe