Sins and Scarlet Lace Read Online Free

handcuffed had brought her—as her neighbors gathered on their lawns and the reporters swarmed around her and she was driven away.
    “Mrs. Huxley,” the agent said. “My name is Agent Brennan. And you’re in a whole hell of a lot of trouble.”
    His size filled the doorway and the freshly creased slacks and blue dress shirt couldn’t hide the savagery within. His hair was dark as night and swept rakishly across his forehead, and his eyes were the same piercing blue as his dress shirt. He held a large file in his hand and had a weapon at his hip.
    Her fingernails bit into her palms and she tensed as he moved into the room and took the chair on the other side of the table. His chair either didn’t wobble or he didn’t care about the discomfort. He didn’t look like the kind of man you’d want to cross.
    The pain from squeezing her fists was only a reminder that the nightmare had become reality, and she stared past Agent Brennan into the long expanse of mirror, wondering what the men behind it saw when they looked at her.
    “Mrs. Huxley?” Agent Brennan asked, the frown lines marring his forehead making him all the more menacing. “Are you all right?”
    The laugh that escaped was harsh and filled with disbelief at his question. “Why am I here?” Her voice cracked and she swallowed once, trying to soothe the dryness.
    “Let’s not play games, Mrs. Huxley. Things will go much easier for you if you just tell us the truth.”
    “What truth?” she spat, heat rushing to her cheeks as her temper unleashed. “I’ve been called a terrorist and a traitor without any explanations. I’ve been locked in a room for hours without food or water, and no one has read me my rights or asked if I’d like an attorney.”
    “Terrorists have no rights. Welcome to the United States of America.”
    “I’m not a terrorist,” she said, but the words trembled past her lips and fear rooted in her belly. “I’m not. I haven’t done anything.”
    “Your husband was a high ranking agent within the CIA who had top-secret security clearance. Do you know what his legacy is, Mrs. Huxley?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “He’s the man who put a price on his agents’ heads and sold them to the highest bidder. He’s been responsible for the deaths of fourteen agents, and God knows how many more names he sold before he had the good sense to die.”
    Sophia shook her head in confusion. “This is a mistake. My husband was a contractor for a steel company. He never took government contracts because he said they didn’t pay enough. I’ll be the first to agree with you that he’d be capable of murder, but he wasn’t an agent.”
    She watched in horrified fascination as the heavy file landed with a thud onto the table. He flipped it open and picked up the document that sat on top. Attached to it was a photograph of her husband. He pushed it towards her and her blood ran cold at the sight of him. Everything she’d never known about him was listed on that one sheet of paper—his security clearance, those under his command, his contacts, his family—her.
    “My God,” she said, meeting Agent Brennan’s stone cold gaze. “This has to be some kind of a joke.”
    “I promise you, it’s not. Your husband went to work every day and looked into the eyes of the people he was selling out. He was a murderer.”
    His eyes flashed with anger and she felt the blood drain from her face. The words he’d said earlier suddenly hit her. She had no rights. No friends. No protection. She was locked in a room with a man who could do anything he wanted so long as she confessed what he thought was the truth, and those watching would do nothing to stop him.
    “I want out of here,” she said, pushing back her chair and coming to her feet. The muscles in her calves cramped and the pain almost brought her to her knees, but she stood her ground and gritted her teeth through the pain. “I want to know what you think I’ve done. I want an