Body of Lies Read Online Free Page A

bitch.
    Hebert’s phone rang as he was getting back in the car.
    “I hadn’t heard from you,” Melton said. “Do I have to remind you that time is of the essence?”
    “No.”
    “The situation may be escalating. Have you thought any more about getting Dupree?”
    “Forget Dupree.” Jules wearily leaned back in the seat. “That may not be necessary.”
    “Why not?”
    “Things are looking up. I want you to wait one day and then call Eve Duncan again and make her the same offer.”
    “She was quite adamant.”
    “Try her.”
    “Whatever you say. It’s good that things are proceeding so well.” Melton hung up.
    There was nothing good about this but the end result, Jules thought. It had been a hideous night. The man had been harder to break than he had thought, and torture was always worse than a clean kill. As he punched the end button, he noticed there was blood on the phone. He looked down at his hands. Blood on them, too.
    He wiped his hands with a tissue, and then the phone. He glanced at the sheet of paper on the seat beside him. Good. No blood on the paper. He didn’t want to leave any traces.
    He looked out the window at the drainage ditch several yards away from the road. The water should wash away any evidence he had left behind.
    He wished he could cleanse his mind and soul as easily.
    “I ran into the FedEx man outside.” Jane dropped her schoolbooks on the coffee table and tossed the FedEx letter on Eve’s desk.
    “Who’s it from?”
    “Search me. No return address. Where’s Toby?”
    “Outside by the lake. He chased some ducks this morning.”
    “Well, he has retriever blood.”
    “And he turned tail when one got mad and bit his nose.” Eve grinned. “Some retriever.”
    “Poor Toby.” Jane started for the door. “That must have hurt his pride. I’ll have to go soothe his feelings.”
    “He’s forgotten already. I saw him chasing a butterfly an hour later. Maybe he thought that wouldn’t be quite so dangerous.”
    Jane giggled. “A little more respect, please.” She ran out the door and down the steps. “Toby!”
    Eve was still smiling when she picked up the FedEx letter and tore it open. Thank heaven for Toby. He had completely taken Jane’s mind off that horror of two days ago. She only wished Joe would be similarly distracted by—
    My God.
    “Come home, Joe,” Jane said as soon as Joe picked up the phone. “Right away. You’ve got to come now.”
    “Easy. What’s wrong?”
    “Eve. She’s just sitting there. She told me nothing was wrong, but she’s just sitting there.”
    “Maybe nothing is wrong.”
    “Don’t you tell me that.” Her voice was shaking. “You come home, Joe.”
    “I’m on my way.”
    “Eve?”
    It was Joe. She curled up tighter at the end of the couch. Go away. Go away.
    “What the hell’s wrong?”
    She put it into words. “Go away.”
    He sat down beside her. “Stop closing me out. I’m not going anywhere. Now what’s wrong?”
    “I don’t want . . . to talk about it right now.”
    “Well, I do. That’s what a relationship is about. Sharing.”
    “Sharing what? Sharing lies?”
    He went still. “What are you talking about?”
    “I told you, I don’t want to talk at all.” She just wanted to close herself away and try to heal the raw wound. “Go and see about Jane. I think I scared her.”
    “You’re scaring me. Did something happen to Bonnie’s grave again?”
    “I don’t know,” she said dully. “It doesn’t matter.”
    “Jane said you got a FedEx. May I see it?”
    She got to her feet. “Not now.”
    He was silent a moment. “Let me help you. You’re not being fair to me, Eve.”
    She whirled on him, her eyes blazing. “
I’m
not being fair? My God, how do you have the nerve to say that after what you’ve done to me?”
    He went still. “And what have I done to you?”
    “Lies. You lied to me, Joe. The cruelest lie, the cruelest thing you could have done to me.” She drew a deep breath, her gaze fixed