Behind the Lies (Montgomery Justice #2)(45)

She turned to the house, tears burning behind her eyes. Why couldn’t she have met Zach some other time, some other place?

She glanced back, and his intense gaze followed her. Her steps faltered.

Slowly she faced him. She couldn’t stop herself. She ran back to him and into his arms, hugging him tightly. “I wish…”

“Things were different,” he finished.

She gazed into his eyes and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I know I shouldn’t,” she said softly. “But I’ll always wonder…”

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. He groaned, his mouth still against hers. Finally, with a harsh curse, he took her lips.

His arms enfolded her and she felt safe. She wanted to burrow herself inside of him and just be warm and cared for and, dare she think it, loved. Zach pressed her mouth open and tasted her. A hint of coffee tingled on her tongue. Her belly flipped, her legs turned to noodles. She moaned under the welcome assault. He tasted of peppermint and something more, something that lit a fire deep inside her heart.

She pressed closer. She wanted more. And she could never have it.

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, lifted his lips, and gently set her away from him.

“You pack one hell of a wallop, Gennita McMann.”

The blue depths of Zach’s eyes turned deep cobalt. Her breathing came fast. Her chest rose and fell. She wanted more.

“Now I know how it feels,” she said softly.

“Now we both know,” Zach agreed, his gaze hooded.

“Maybe that’s not such a good thing.” An unarguable melancholy settled over her. Maybe it was better if she didn’t know what he tasted like, that they fit together, that he had the willpower to stop them from doing something they’d both regret.

“You have to go,” he said, looking at the sky where the sun had dropped lower, just over the mountain range to the west.

She touched his lips then disappeared inside the house. He was right. Jenna walked down the hall to Sam’s room. She knocked softly and opened the door. “Time to go, baby.”

The bunk bed was empty. She tried the bathroom door. “Sam!”

Nothing.

“Sam. No more games. It’s time to leave.”

Zach opened the screen door.

“Sam’s not answering,” she said, frustration warring with an underlying fear. Where was he?

“I’ll try the basement. He liked my communication center.”

Zach bounded down the stairs, returning in less than a minute, his forehead creased in a worried frown. “He’s not there.”

They searched from room to room.

Nothing.

Sam was gone.




No one noticed Brad. That was his gift. Being invisible. It came in handy while waiting for the shift change at the Denver hospital. He’d make his way unobserved to the medical floor, take care of business, and leave, just as unnoticed.

He sat in the institution’s coffee shop, his placement just out of sight of the surveillance cameras. He’d researched the security system. Amazing what information his FBI contact, Johansson, could provide. Once John Garrison was dead, the cops would pan through hours of footage, but they’d never see his face.

His smart phone beeped. He stared at the results and fumed. No sign of Jenna. Not on planes, buses, trains. She’d simply vanished.

He sipped the institutional coffee. He could’ve used a belt of whiskey to hide the bitterness. No more sour than the scent of failure.

His fingers drummed the table until the doctor sitting next to him glared. Brad forced himself to silence the unusual fidgeting. He didn’t like the symptom. He refused to let his body’s nervous habits overcome his mind. The thing was, he just didn’t get it. Jenna wasn’t smart enough to completely disappear. Not without help.

His phone rang. He glanced at the screen. An unknown number.

“Walters,” he snapped.

“Daddy?” Sam’s tentative voice filtered through the line.

“Sam?” Brad made his voice sound worried and concerned. “Thank God. Are you all right?”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday,” he said.

Hell. Saturday. Not the kid’s birthday. Not Jenna’s birthday. What then?

“I know. I miss you. When are you coming home?”

Sam sniffed. “I don’t know. If I come home will you take me to the game? Please, Daddy?”

The damned baseball game.

Jenna had bought the tickets after he’d lost his temper a bit last week. He’d agreed in a moment of weakness, not because he wanted to go to the game with his son, of course. It looked good to see a father and son at the ballpark.

“I’d love to. I want to take you with me, Sam. What if I come get you?”

“Really?”

“Promise.” Brad sucked in a deep breath. “Where are you, Sam?”

“I don’t know. The Dark Avenger took us to his house. But now he’s making us leave. Even though the bad guys are after us.” Sam sniffed. “And he kissed Mommy. He’s not s’posed to do that. She belongs to us.”

Montgomery. Brad squeezed the coffee cup so hard, he was surprised it didn’t shatter. Son of a bitch. He shifted toward the wall and lowered his voice. “Sam, I need you to look around. Where are you?”