Ultimate Fear (Book 2 Ultimate CORE) (CORE Series) by Kristine Mason

crowded her against the kitchen counter and brought up whether or not she still loved him, her eyes had filled with tears and her face had crumpled in agony. Yet she’d said nothing. She hadn’t told him she loved him, but she also hadn’t said she wanted the divorce finalized. Instead, she’d tried to turn his words against him, to the point where he had been the one demanding a divorce he hadn’t wanted. Now they were still legally stuck together unless one of them made the move to re-file. And it sure as hell wouldn’t be him. Call him a fool or a glutton for punishment, he no longer cared. He was still in love with his wife.
    “Re-file,” she echoed, and looked to the messy card table. “Are you going to take care of it?”
    “No.”
    She drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Well, I would if I had the time. But I’m—”
    “Too busy.”
    “Right.”
    Wrong. She was stalling and avoiding, and he was good with that. If he could make her understand that he shared her hurt and grief, that they could lessen each other’s suffering by being together and working through the pain of their loss, there might be hope for them. He’d been in love with her for seventeen years, and that wasn’t something he could let go of without a fight. Rather than crack through her barriers with an argument like they’d had last night, he’d fight for his wife in a different way. He looked to the newspaper clippings and missing children posters, and knew exactly how he’d begin his battle.
    “What are you working on that’s keeping you so busy?”
    “Shouldn’t you leave and go back to work?” she asked instead.
    “Lola’s taking care of our current investigation.”
    “Yeah, but—”
    “Damn it, Jessica. Just tell me what you’re up to.”
    Her eyes widened and she drew in a shaky breath. “Fine. Then you’ll leave, right?”
    “Sure,” he lied. He didn’t know what he’d do. After finally seeing the inside of her apartment, his curiosity had been piqued.
    “Do you remember the program Rachel created for me?”
    “Yeah, I remember,” he said, not bothering to hide his irritation. He’d been pissed off about it. Rachel had just started working for CORE and hadn’t known him or Jessica well. She’d had no way of knowing that creating this program only added fuel to the fire, giving Jessica another way to keep up with her obsession.
    She sent him a smug smile. “Thanks to the program, I have a serial kidnapper to find.” She shrugged. “Now that you know, you can leave.”
    Her case intrigued him. What drove someone to take not one, but multiple children? What was there motivation? Their history? And how could he stop them?
    What fascinated him even more was his wife. She hadn’t showed any signs of disappointment when he’d told her they would remain legally married until one of them re-filed for divorce. She hadn’t even jumped at the chance to take the initiative and put an end to their marriage once and for all. He’d take that as a good sign, that maybe she wasn’t ready for them to part ways in every sense. She’d also been hiding a side of herself from him, obviously using her skills as a detective to help other parents who had their children stolen from them. He could think of healthier ways to cope with their daughter’s disappearance, but also saw an opportunity here. Maybe if he joined in on her investigation, which would force them to spend time together, he could find a way to bring Jessica home.
    In a split second, he pictured them in their home, talking, laughing and later making love like they used to. Those memories, those special moments hadn’t faded and he doubted they ever would. She owned too much of his heart and soul. Although he’d rather romance her, he’d use hunting a serial kidnapper to help save their marriage.
    He grabbed a folding chair and set it next to the one in front of the laptop.
    “I told you to leave.”
    “I know,” he said, opening her