Behind the Lies (Montgomery Justice #2)(11)

“He likes kids,” Sam said, his voice certain.

She chucked his chin. “And he’d love you.”

Sam smiled and Jenna studied the ground below her. Fifteen feet. They could do this. She held out her hands to Sam.

“Hold on to me. I’m going to lower you down.”

He bit his lip. “OK, Mommy.”

That look was so trusting, so believing. How long would it last when he realized they weren’t coming back?

Another roaring yell pounded over the huge wall.

Sam stared at the lights streaming toward them from their house, his eyes growing wide. “Daddy sounds really mad. He needs a time-out.”

A permanent time-out. She couldn’t go back. Not now. Not ever. She hugged him close. “I know, baby. Let’s find the Dark Avenger.”

She took a deep breath and lowered Sam as far as she could down the wall. The drop looked way too far.

A strobe light swept toward them.

“OK, Junior Avenger,” she said, desperately trying to keep her voice calm despite the panic prodding her, causing her heart to gallop. “We’re escaping the jungle. Can you jump down?”

He gave her that rolling eyes look—the one he used when fear took a backseat to common sense.

“It’s easy, Mommy. Watch.”

His hands slipped from hers. Suddenly, he landed on the ground and stared up at her. “You can do it, Mommy. Don’t be afraid.”

His small face gazed up at her. If her boy could do it…she took in a deep breath. She shifted her leg over the side. Her foot slipped and glass gouged into her calf. She hissed in a breath to keep from crying out. What was a little cut compared to Brad’s reaction if he caught them? She eased her legs over the wall and hung there, fingers gripping the edge. With a small prayer, she clutched her jacket and dropped next to Sam. She fought to smile. “Nothing to it.”

Sam crouched by her leg. “You’re bleeding.”

She looked at the deep, bleeding scrapes. A line of blood sprinkled to the grass. “It’s just a few scratches. I bet the Dark Avenger has a first aid kit.”

Taking Sam’s hand, Jenna led him to the back door. She peered inside. A blinking light flashed on a security panel. She rested her head against the door. It looked like the same brand as hers. Brad had picked it out. State-of-the-art. Without the code, she couldn’t chance breaking in.

She bit her lip and studied the backyard. A pool house stood vacant. “Come on, Junior Avenger.”

“Where is he?” Sam asked.

“He’s not home right now. Come help Mommy take care of her leg.”

Sam nodded and followed her to the small building. Once inside, Jenna released the blinds to enclose the pool house’s interior then turned to the refrigerator. Darkness made it difficult to see, but she couldn’t risk turning on the lights. She opened the door. Alongside the expected beer was a large array of water bottles, juice boxes, and applesauce cups. Not exactly what she’d expected.

But at least the light from the refrigerator gave her just enough to see.

She grabbed two juice boxes, left the refrigerator door open to illuminate the room, then sat on one of the lounge chairs. Grabbing a fluffy white towel and bottled water, she dabbed at the scrape. She hissed at the tender skin. Red blotted the towel, but the bleeding soon stopped. Antibiotic ointment would have been nice. Maybe…

Jenna rose and searched through the cabinets. She found some snacks and protein bars that might come in handy. She snagged a few, then in the last cabinet she hit the lottery. A small first aid kit.

She pulled out the spray disinfectant, gave her leg a few squirts, and closed her eyes against the burning.

Sam’s lip trembled. “I don’t like that stuff. It stings.”

“Yeah, but sometimes we—”

“—gotta do things we don’t wanna,” Sam parroted. “Like picking up toys.”

She pulled him into her arms. The strobe lights from their backyard had gone out. The light of the refrigerator bathed the pool room in a dim glow.

Even though Brad was only yards away, for the first time in the months since she’d called the FBI Jenna’s heart didn’t race in unending panic.

She toyed with Sam’s locks. She’d make certain he grew up without fear. She wanted him to be secure like she’d been, before her dad died. Before she’d been forced to fend for herself. She had to find a way.

“Tell me a story, Mommy,” he whispered. “You haven’t told me a story in a loooong time.”

“What about last night, Sam?”

“That was forever ago. Tell me about the Dark Avenger again.”

She listened. The sound of summer crickets circled the pool house. No threats floated in from her backyard. She settled Sam against her, wrapping him close. She kissed his hair. “Once upon a time—”

A bright light exploded in Zach Montgomery’s backyard.

Jenna gripped Sam tight. Oh God. Had her husband found them?





* * *





Chapter Three




* * *





THE AFGHANI WIND howled in warning through the hidden pass. Sweat beaded on Farzam’s upper lip as his captor removed the blindfold. The jagged rocks surrounding him loomed upward, and the scraggly junipers growing out of the stony landscape reached out as if to yank him from rounding the next bend in the barely visible path.