Silent Run - Barbara Freethy [33]
“Did we really love each other?”
He paused by the door. “When you get your memory back, you’ll know the answer.”
* * *
“She went on the news,” Shane Hollis said, adrenaline rushing through his blood as he turned off the television set in his motel room. He hadn’t anticipated that she would go public. It changed everything, and it would make it more difficult to get to her. “She went on the fucking news,” he repeated.
The silence on the other end of the phone disturbed him. He’d already failed several times. He knew he would have only one more chance at the most. If he didn’t kill her, his own life would be over.
There had been a time when they were equals, brothers—or so he had thought. But what had started out as a game in their youth had taken turns he had never imagined. He stared down at the tattoo on his wrist, still remembering the day they’d gone in to get them. The tiger stood for fierceness, power, loyalty, brotherhood. He hadn’t realized at the time that it also stood for murder.
He was in too deep now; there was no way out. The price of belonging to their elite group was blood on his hands that would never come off. He could only continue what had begun years earlier.
“I’m disappointed in you,” the man said. “After all I’ve done for you.”
Shane wanted to point out that he’d done far more in return, but he remained silent. The order of power in their group had been established long ago. The man on the other end of the line had known how to use each one of them to his own advantage. But he had made one critical mistake—a woman with long blond hair and blue eyes, a woman who still had to be silenced.
“I’ll get her,” Shane promised. “I just need some time. Besides, she doesn’t remember anything. She’s not a threat right now. We can wait until things cool down.”
The pause at the other end of the line sent a chill down his spine. It wasn’t his place to offer opinions.
“As long as she breathes, she’s a threat,” the man said. “She betrayed me. She must pay for that. I’ve waited a long time for her to die. I won’t wait any longer.”
“I’ll get her, but there’s someone with her—a man named Jake Sanders. He claims to be the father of her baby, but I never saw a kid.”
“Maybe you weren’t looking closely enough.”
“What do you want me to do about the guy?” he asked, ignoring the criticism.
“Kill him, too.”
His blood thundered in his veins. “What about the child?”
The line clicked, replaced by a dial tone. Shane closed his phone, knowing it didn’t matter what he wanted to do. He would do what had to be done. If he didn’t, someone else would.
Chapter Eight
Sarah was relieved to see the sun shining when she woke up the next morning. Unfortunately her optimism faded as she tried to remember something about herself that Jake hadn’t told her, and she came up with nothing. At least she felt better. Her head didn’t hurt, and moving it from side to side did not make her dizzy. Thank goodness.
She glanced at the chair where Jake had spent the night. It was empty now, but she suspected he hadn’t gone far. During the night she’d been vaguely aware of Jake trying to get comfortable on the two chairs he’d propped together, but she doubted he’d been successful. She’d suggested he go to a motel, but it was clear he had no intention of leaving her until they found Caitlyn.
Getting out of bed, she made her way to the restroom to wash up. She was determined to get out of the hospital and go look for her daughter. She couldn’t spend another day in bed doing nothing.
When she returned to the room, Jake and Dylan were waiting for her. Dylan had changed out of his suit and into a pair of worn blue jeans with a dark blue sweater. Jake also wore jeans and a long-sleeved black T-shirt. Despite their similar attire, the two men didn’t look all that much alike.
Dylan was a golden boy, tan, handsome. Jake was rugged, less refined, more serious, less flippant. But there was a connection between them, an unspoken conversation that seemed to go on whenever they were together. They were united in their search for Caitlyn and in