Body of Lies Read Online Free Page B

desperately on his face. “You’re not asking what that was. Because you know, don’t you, Joe? I wasn’t really sure until I saw your face. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe you’d do this to me.”
    He glanced around the room. “Is that the FedEx?” He crossed to the desk and picked up the single sheet of paper and scanned it. She could see the line of his spine stiffen as if he was bracing himself before he turned to face her. “Was there a return address?”
    She stared at him, stunned. “Christ, is that all you have to say?”
    “No, but I have to know who wanted to hurt you this much.” He grimaced. “And who wanted to hurt me.”
    “I don’t care who it was. All I care about is that you lied to me.” She closed her eyes as waves of fresh pain broke over her. “And that the little girl I buried on that hill is not my Bonnie. Jesus, I can’t believe it.”
    “But you clearly do believe it. And I’m sure you verified this particular scrap of poison.”
    “It’s not a scrap.” She opened eyes glittering with tears. “It’s the official report from the Georgia forensic lab stating that the DNA of the little girl found in Chattahoochee National Park did not match Bonnie Duncan’s. It was signed by Dr. George Capel.”
    “And you called George Capel?”
    “I tried, but he was out of the office. So I talked to the head of the department. He couldn’t find the official paperwork on the results, but he finally tracked down some of the transcripts from the work in progress. Shall I tell you what they were?”
    “Don’t bother.”
    “I was in Atlanta and you took the call that day. When I came home, you told me that Bonnie had been found.”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “You deliberately lied to me.”
    “Yes.”
    The agony was exploding inside her. “How could you do that?” she whispered.
    “How could I not do it?” Joe’s voice was harsh with pain. “I’d watched you suffer for twelve years. I’d seen you search for Bonnie in every one of those faces you re-created. It was a wound that never healed, that would never heal until you found Bonnie. Sarah Patrick searched all through that National Forest, and we’d almost given up hope when they found the skeleton. The chances of another skeleton being found there were practically nil at that point. So I prayed every night that skeleton would be Bonnie’s.” He threw the report on the desk with barely controlled violence. “And then it didn’t happen, goddammit. It was going to go on and on. But it didn’t have to. All I had to do was tell one lie, and you’d be at peace.”
    “A terrible lie. You . . . cheated me.”
    “You want me to say I’m sorry? I’m not sorry. Yes, I am. I’m sorry you found out and it’s hurting you. But I’d do it again if I thought I had a chance of keeping it from you.” His words came fast, hard, and full of passion. “I
love
you. You’ve been the center of my life for over twelve years. I’d do anything to take you away from the hell you’ve been going through all that time. I’d lie. I’d kill. Anything to keep the pain away.”
    “Well, you didn’t do it.”
    “No, I didn’t do it.”
    Eve raised a shaking hand to her lips as she thought of something else. “Jesus, I received an official notification two weeks later, verifying the telephone call. You did that, too?”
    “I bribed someone in the lab to do it for me. I knew you’d expect it.”
    “You were very . . . thorough.”
    “It was important to me. Maybe the most important action I’d taken in my life.” Joe was silent a moment, his face pale, strained. “So now what?”
    “I don’t know. I trusted you, and you betrayed me in the most terrible way possible. I can’t even think.” Eve moved heavily toward the bedroom. “I’m going to bed. All I want to do is sleep.”
    “You won’t sleep. You just want to get away from me.”
    “I can’t look at you right now.”
    “You
love
me, Eve.”
    She did love him. She