“I never thought—”

Niki stood, her anger pulling her to her feet. “You have this twisted belief that keeping me in the dark is noble.”

“Keeping you in the dark?”

“Christ, Max. I’m a detective. I make a living figuring things out.”

“Things?”

“You were hunting for the man who killed your wife. I was there. I helped you look. I covered for you, remember? Then you disappeared without a word. Don’t you think I know what happened? I may not know the details, but I’m not stupid.”

Max lost his breath. Of course she knew. It had always been wishful thinking on Max’s part, the hope of seeing a better version of himself reflected in Niki’s eyes.

“I should have told you,” he said, finally.

Max walked to the refrigerator, using those few seconds to think. Niki deserved to know the whole truth. He would tell her the details and let the chips fall where they may. Lyle had left two beers behind. Max opened them and took one to Niki on the couch. Max took a seat in a chair opposite her.

“The man who killed my wife… his name was Mikhail Vetrov. Jenni had a recording. One of the girls that Vetrov trafficked had told Jenni about his business. But she’d told it in Russian, so Jenni had no idea. He killed her before she could get the tape translated. I followed him from Minneapolis up to the border… and caught him about twenty yards into Canada.”

Max thought back to that night: the cold, the wind, the ease he felt in his chest as it all played out. “I dragged him onto a frozen lake—tied up—and I cut holes in the ice with an old spoon auger. I had to cut eight little holes in a circle to make one big enough to fit a man through. I listened all day as he denied killing Jenni, but as I dragged him toward that hole… he confessed.”

Max expected to see an expression of horror on Niki’s face but saw what looked like… empathy?

“I told myself that I had no choice. His confession would never be admissible in court. He would walk free.”

“Mikhail never made it off that lake,” Niki said.

Max held Niki’s gaze. He wanted her to see the lack of remorse, see him for who he was now. “No,” Max said. “Mikhail didn’t make it off that lake.”

He stood and said, “Now that you know… you deserve to have some time to take it in. I’m gonna go take a shower and if you’re not here when I come out, I’ll understand.”

Max took a couple steps and stopped next to the couch. Slowly, gently, he laid a hand on Niki’s shoulder. “And what I just told you… my confession… you can do with that what you want. I’m done running. No matter what you decide to do… it won’t change how I feel about you.”

He gave her a soft squeeze, and then walked into the bathroom and closed the door.