For His Name's Sake (Psalm 23 Mysteries) (21 page)

“Yes.”

“But that doesn’t explain the attacks on Geanie, the car, the bridal shop, etc.”

“I figure Sonja just saw it as a bonus.”

“That man you saw at the bridal shop and then again at Rue de Main, you remember him?”

“Of course. I figure he was one of the people that Sonja hired, just like those tailors.”

He shook his head. “No, he had nothing to do with Sonja or Amanda.”

Cindy blinked in surprise. “Then who was he?”

Jeremiah took a ragged breath. “That’s not important. What’s important is what he was doing. He was the one responsible for the bridal shop, the car, the snake, and the black rose.”

“Why?” Cindy asked bewildered. She couldn’t figure out who would want to harm Geanie and why Jeremiah hadn’t told Mark any of this.

“He was never after Geanie,” Jeremiah said, his face contorting slightly.

“What are you talking about? Of course he was.”

Jeremiah shook his head. “No, he was after you.”

Cindy stared at him as his words sunk in. The first time she’d seen him she had been the one wearing the wedding dress, not Geanie. Was it possible he had thought she was getting married? But that still made no sense. “Why?” she finally asked. “I’ve never seen him before. I don’t even know who he is. Why would he possibly want to hurt me?”

Jeremiah dropped his eyes to the ground and it was as though she could literally see him struggling to answer her. Finally he looked back up and there was an intensity in his eyes she’d only glimpsed a couple of times before. “He thought that hurting you would hurt me and he was right.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He believed that you and I were...together. He planned to kill you because of me.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not the man you think I am,” he said, standing abruptly and pacing across the room.

Cindy felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. “This has something to do with your past, doesn’t it?”

“It has everything to do with it,” he said, and she noticed with a start that his voice was suddenly heavily accented. She knew he’d grown up in Israel, but he’d never really spoken with much of an accent. It often made it easy to forget that he was from a different country, a different culture. Hearing the accent now just brought it back home that she knew almost nothing about his past, nothing from before that day they’d met over a dead body in the sanctuary.

She stood even though waves of fear were rolling through her and she walked over to him. She grabbed his
hands and forced him to face her. “You need to tell me the truth,” she said. “I’ve known for a long time you were hiding something from me, and I was okay with that. I figured you’d tell me whatever it was when you were ready. Clearly, though, in light of what you’ve just said you need to tell me now. You must think so, too, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”

“You have to understand, I never expected any of this. I never expected...you.”

“I know, but I’m here, and clearly there’s something we need to deal with.”

“It could get you killed,” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper which was hard to understand with the thickness of the accent.

“And apparently, not knowing can get me killed as well. Jeremiah, you have to trust me.”

He laughed, a hard, bitter sound.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

He looked her in the eyes for the first time since she had gotten to his house. “That’s not even my name.”

She felt the world coming apart around her, but she forced herself to stand there, holding his hands, looking into his eyes.

“What is your name?” she asked, her voice trembling so hard she could barely get the words out.

“I can’t tell you that,” he said, shaking his head.

“Why did you choose that name?” she asked.

“I didn’t. It was chosen for me.”

“By who?” she asked, her heart pounding in her chest. Somehow she knew that what he was going to say next was going to change everything.

He took a deep breath and she could see the conflict, the struggle in his eyes. Finally, he said, in a clear, strong voice, “HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim. Or, as you would know it, the Mossad.”

.

Cindy and Jeremiah will return.

Look for more Psalm 23 Mysteries coming soon!

Look for

KISS OF REVENGE

The final book in the Kiss Trilogy

Coming
October 2013

Debbie Viguié is the New York Times Bestselling author of more than two dozen novels including the
Wicked
series, the
Crusade
series and the
Wolf Springs Chronicles
series co-authored with Nancy Holder. Debbie also writes thrillers including
The Psalm 23 Mysteries,
the
Kiss
trilogy, and the
Witch Hunt
trilogy. When Debbie isn’t busy writing she enjoys spending time with her husband, Scott, visiting theme parks. They live in Florida with their cat, Schrödinger.