Free The Ex Who Wouldn't Die by Sally Berneathy

purportedly stolen. "
     
    Charley ' s words came back to her. He killed a woman with the gun he thought I had, the one he thinks he stole from you . " How do you know that? "
     
    " You told the dispatcher when you called 911. "
     
    " Oh! You mean my gun. The one you think I used to kill Charley. Except he isn ' t dead, so that pretty much shoots down your theory. "
     
    " Hey, J ake," Officer Robbins said . "You got this case?"
     
    "Yeah," he said. "Ongoing murder investigation."
     
    Robbins nodded. "No sign of forced entry," he said. "Ms. Randolph claims the only person besides her with a key is her assistant…" he consulted his notes…"Dawson Page. We don't have an address yet."
     
    "Thanks. I'll take it from here."
     
    The two officers left, closing the door behind them.
     
    Jake folded his a rms and looked at her, his gaze intense . She did not, however, think Detective Daggett, like Charley when he did that, was buying time to make up a lie. More like he was trying to determine if she was telling a lie.
     
    "So," he said, "your husband's not dead."
     
    Daggett was taller by several inches, but Amanda stretched to her full height, meeting his gaze head-on. "My estranged husband is very much alive."
     
    Daggett raised one eyebrow. "Would this be the same estranged husband whose dead body we found in his apartment?"
     
    "I don't know whose body that is, but it's not Charley's. He was just here, alive."
     
    Daggett stared at her in silence for a long moment, searching her face as if trying to determine whether she was lying or just nuts. "The dead man was Charley Randolph," he said, his voice quieter. "We matched the fingerprints."
     
    She folded her arms, mirroring his obstinate stance. "Maybe, maybe not. You don't know Charley very well if you seriously think he couldn't have somehow switched fingerprints in your system."
     
    Daggett lifted both eyebrows this time. "Yeah, I seriously think Charley could not have switched fingerprints in our system. Trust me on this one. But even if you think he could have, Charley Randolph's mother identified his body." 
     
    "Some woman suddenly appears and claims to be his mother, and you believe her. Charley told me his parents are dead. Maybe they are. Maybe this woman isn't really his mother but somebody who has a hidden agenda. Maybe…" A sudden idea stopped Amanda in mid-sentence .
     
    "Maybe…?" Daggett encouraged.
     
    Amanda swallowed. "Maybe my estranged husband's not Charley Randolph. Maybe he changed his name, stole someone's identity, the identity of that man who was killed in his apartment, the real Charley Randolph." Maybe this was worse than not knowin g she had a houseful of in-laws. M aybe she didn ' t even know who she was married to.
     
    Daggett dropped his arms to his sides, his dark eyes losing some of their sharpness, becoming almost soft. When he spoke again, his voice was less harsh. "Your father also identified the dead man as your husband, known to him as Charley Randolph. Your husband is dead."
     
    Amanda frowned. Her father would not, could not mistakenly identify Charley.
     
    But her father had kept Charley's family a secret from her. Could her staunchly upright father somehow be involved in one of Charley's scams?
     
    Not possible. He might lie by the sin of omission, but he'd never be involved with Charley.
     
    She moved across the room and sank onto her brightly-patterned sofa.
     
    So Charley was dead?
     
    Charley was dead.
     
    Charley had not just been in her apartment.
     
    But she'd seen him, talked to him.
     
    No, she hadn't.
     
    She'd been hallucinating.
     
    Just like after her accident.
     
    That explained the tricks and how he suddenly disappeared. He hadn't been here in the first place. She needed to get a grip on her emotions. Hallucinating Charley was not a good thing.
     
    "Mrs. Randolph? Are you all right?" That soft, pitying tone again.
     
    Amanda straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin. "I'm fine. Do you