Silent Run - Barbara Freethy [92]
“Wait,” Dylan said, catching her by the arm. “Do the surprises have to do with Jake and Sarah?”
“No, they have to do with your past. You judge Sarah harshly for her secrets, but you have some of your own.”
He frowned. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Catherine, and I certainly don’t want to show any disrespect for your fortune-telling abilities, but I don’t believe a bunch of tea leaves can predict my future.”
“There are two women,” she said. “One represents danger, the other salvation. But it will be difficult for you to know which is which unless you find a way to listen to your heart instead of your head. A task, I fear, that will not be easy for you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yeah, thanks for the bedtime story,” he said sarcastically.
His words did little more than make her smile. “The disbelievers always fall the hardest.”
Chapter Nineteen
The door to the motel room opened, and Sarah started, letting out a breath of relief when she saw it was Jake. His hair and jacket were wet from the rain, and he didn’t look any more relaxed than when he’d left. He had a damp newspaper in his hand, which he tossed down on the table along with a brown paper bag.
“What’s that?” she asked. “Stuff,” he said vaguely. “Are you okay?” “How the hell do you think I am, Sarah?” Since she had no good answer for him, she said
nothing. She wasn’t sure if she should tell him what she’d remembered about their last day together. His mood seemed dangerously volatile. Would he be happy that she’d remembered him at all? Or would it just annoy him more? Her memory had given her little new information, so perhaps she’d keep it to herself for now.
Jake sat down by his new laptop computer and began hitting the buttons. Apparently he wasn’t planning to talk to her. Well, maybe it was better that way. She didn’t know what to say to him either. Glancing at the clock radio by the bed, she saw that it was ten o’clock. They still had a long night ahead of them. Would Jake sleep with her or take the other bed? Would it be as awkward and uncomfortable as it was right now?
Putting a hand to her abdomen, she thought again about the fact that she could have just gotten herself pregnant. What an idiot. She might not remember her life, but she knew better than to have unprotected sex. She just hadn’t been thinking—she’d been feeling. She’d let her emotions run free for what felt like the first time in forever, and it had felt great. She suspected she’d been keeping a tight rein for the last seven months, and she’d needed the release.
But it had been more than just a release of tension and simple sex. Simple could never describe the relationship she and Jake shared. It was complicated in every possible way. She didn’t know how she felt about him or how he felt about her. They were both afraid to care too much—even though they had different reasons for that fear. She couldn’t remember enough, and he remembered too much.
She flipped on the television set, desperate to bring some neutral noise into the room. She was far too aware of Jake’s presence just a few feet away.
Changing the channels, she finally settled on one of the local news shows. She wasn’t paying much attention until the camera panned an area that looked very familiar to her. It was Venice Beach, a location not far from her apartment building.
She sat up abruptly. “Jake,” she said urgently. “Look.”
He frowned, not lifting his gaze from the screen. “What? I’m concentrating here.”
“The TV.” She turned up the sound as the news reporter began to speak. “A body was found behind a dumpster at Venice Beach early this evening. He was shot in the head, execution style,” the woman said. “The man has been identified as thirty-six-year-old Shane Hollis of Chicago. The police have no suspects and no motive, and would like the public’s help in solving this crime.” A phone number ran across the bottom of the screen just as a photo came up next to the reporter. It was a head shot of a man with dark hair and dark eyes.
Sarah felt like she’d been punched