I must have looked ridiculous sitting there with my mouth open and my forehead scrunched as I processed what he said. I'd trusted Alice, believed in her. No way I'd misread her or her need for answers. Um-hum, all my history of having great instincts about people argued otherwise while a jolt of hurt she might have been lying to me cut deeper than it should have.

Okay, time to be honest with myself. Was I defending her because I liked her, or because I thought she was ...