Chris thought a moment. “If I would have showed up at your door, would you have come back with me?”

“I honestly don’t know.” I sighed. “I was scared. It wasn’t your baby, and I knew you were beyond furious. I know you tried to contact me, but I couldn’t get myself to answer you. I didn’t think you’d ever forgive me.”

“Back then, I probably wouldn’t have,” Chris said. “Obviously not the case now.”

“You’ve truly forgiven me?”

“Totally.” He sat back in his chair. “I was horrible to you.” He paused. “I won’t say I’m a different man. I’m still a nasty son of a bitch, but as God is my witness, I will never, ever beat you again. I am truly sorry about that. I crossed the line—even for me.”

I didn’t respond.

“Do you believe me?” he asked.

“I do, although …” I stopped talking.

“You’re thinking about sex,” he said. “That’s not the same thing as beating you. You’re my wife. Sex is part of the contract. I get in moods. Go along with it and we’ll both be fine.”

I didn’t answer him. There was no point in starting an argument. I said, “So what happened with India? Did you just decide to leave?”

He looked me in the eye. “I came there with a purpose, Terry.” A long pause. “Obviously, I wasn’t after you, because I had plenty of opportunity.”

I felt my heart racing and looked down.

“I kept waiting for him to come out alone. Several times, you two came out together. I didn’t want you there when it happened.”

When he stopped talking, I said, “So far as I know, Devek is still around.” I licked my lips. “You decided not to or …”

“Not exactly.” He drank water. “I finally did get my chance. Devek was in the garden … alone. He was in my sight. A super-clean shot. Easy-peasy, as my ladies say. What I should tell you is I had a sudden change of heart. That I had some kind of moral awakening.”

I waited.

He shrugged. “I missed.”

I was stunned into silence.

“I was aiming right here.” He pointed at the back of his head. “I should have gone for the chest … bigger target. But I wanted to take him out in one shot, and I suppose I was a little cocky. As soon as I squeezed the trigger, I felt the gun kick to the left. That rifle was my workhorse. It was a custom job. And at that moment, it decided to go gnarly. The bullet flew right by him. He felt the wind, must have heard it as well. Picked his head up and looked around like a prairie dog.”

The lightbulb went on.

“What?” he asked.