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I will be executed by lethal injection in two weeks. And last, I am innocent. I didn’t kill my husband.
How could anyone think that I killed Noel? I had no motive—he was the love of my life. And most of all, I have an alibi. Yet here I am, about to be executed for his murder. And the worst part of it all is how much I miss him.
I’m going to die. In less than two weeks, I will be executed by the state.
I look back one last time at the man in the dark suit. He’s talking to the redheaded inmate, his attention focused on her, but then, just as Rhea is pulling me from the room, he raises his eyes to meet mine. Oh my God. It’s Noel.
“On my life.” He takes another step closer to me. “And you know it’s true, because if I ever did cheat on you, you’d probably kill me.”
So the fact is, I never actually saw Noel’s body and confirmed that it was him. The police told me they used DNA to positively identify his scorched remains, but all I have to go on is what they told me. What if the DNA evidence was wrong?
Noel has lost his sense of smell, but I haven’t, and I am very aware that he reeks of another woman’s perfume.
It’s been a week, and every single time he goes to “work,” he comes back stinking of eau de slut.
If I came into my kitchen and smelled gas the way I do now, I would know not to use the oven and possibly to call the fire department. Noel wouldn’t know, though.
As the woman babbles on about their project, I become aware of something that is making my stomach sink. She reeks of the same perfume that’s been clinging to Noel when he comes home.
“I love you so much, Talia,” he says in a voice that now sounds like his own. “I . . .”
But the light has gone out in Noel’s eyes. He has gotten off his stool, and now he is walking away, without even a final glance in my direction. It was him, like I suspected, but he has no interest in helping me get free. He knows what I tried to do to him, and this is my punishment.
“I didn’t do it.” My voice slurs on the words. “I didn’t kill my husband. I’m innocent.” Albert is quiet for a moment, his fingers frozen on the syringe that will paralyze my muscles. He exchanges looks with Rhea and then lets out a deep sigh. “Yes,” he says, “we know.” What?
