Behind the Lies (Montgomery Justice #2)(48)

Zach lifted the imager again. A faint shape ran away. A small figure. Sam.

“I see him,” Zach said. “He’s running. He’s only a few hundred feet through those trees.”

The yellow-red image glowed clearly then suddenly slipped out of sight.

Sam had vanished.




Anna Montgomery didn’t want to leave the darkness. The lack of light soothed her, made it easy to forget. She breathed in, then out. She knew that smell. Anna hated the scent of hospitals. This was where Patrick had died, where her son Gabe had almost slipped away.

She opened her eyes and stared up at six sets of concerned gazes. She blinked. She should never have let the light in. It pummeled her mind. She squeezed her eyelids tight. Why did her head feel as if she’d been pounded with a meat tenderizer?

Memories beat through her, swirling, circling, like lumpy cake batter, incomplete and confusing.

A man. Not Patrick. Holding her.

A kiss.

She blushed.

Fiery visions exploded in her mind.

And she remembered.

“John,” she whispered. “Where’s John?”

“Don’t talk, Mom,” a voice choked.

Gabe. Her baby.

Someone squeezed her hand. “Open your eyes. Please, Mom,” Caleb said, without any of the reserve his medical training had pounded into him.

His words, laced with worry, drove Anna to try again.

She forced her heavy eyelids open and blinked several times. The light made tears erupt, but she didn’t give in. Not this time. She blinked again, her vision clearing. Her gaze moved from face to face. First to Jasmine, her daughter by marriage, a woman who had survived more hurt than Anna could fathom. Then Luke, who had healed Jasmine’s soul with his love. Her second youngest was a good man.

Gabe, Seth, Caleb, Nick…

“Zach?” she whispered. “Where’s Zach?”

Gabe’s expression grew dark. “I’m sure he’s fine,” he said, patting her shoulder. “Don’t worry about Zach. Focus on you.”

Anna clutched the blanket in her hand. “He’d be here if he could,” she said, wrinkling her forehead with an expression Patrick had called her stubborn face. “Make sure he’s all right. Please.”

Seth stepped forward. “I’ll find him, Mom. I have ways. You rest.”

Anna studied Seth. Everyone believed his job to be the most dangerous. He’d seen too much, and she recognized the torment he should never have known—too much like Patrick. But Zach, Zach had his secrets, too, and they rivaled Seth’s.

She let out a sigh. “Please, find him.” Her eyes drifted shut. “John saved my life. Tell him…thank you.”

A small sniffle sounded. Anna refused to give in to the frisson of apprehension. John Garrison would come to her. She wouldn’t consider any other alternative.




Jenna raced after Zach; the pine needles crunched under her feet. He jumped over a moss-covered stone and she stumbled after him. He grabbed her elbow but didn’t slow down. With the imager tight in one hand, he tugged her after him.

“What did you see?” she panted.

He didn’t answer, and Jenna’s heart rammed into gear like a souped-up roadster. Her muscles pumped as the terrain flew under them. “Sam!” she couldn’t stop the scream from escaping her lips.

This time Zach didn’t hush her.

Oh God. What had he seen?

Zach skidded to a stop when he reached a small thatch of aspens. Darkness had begun settling over the mountain. The shadows made everything murky and indistinct. She squinted. “Is he here?”

“I hope so,” Zach muttered, pushing through the thicket. He slowed down.

“Sam!”

She clutched Zach’s hand. “Tell me,” she whispered, her entire being shaking.

He turned to her and cupped her face. “Sam vanished off the screen.”

Jenna’s knees buckled. “No. This can’t be happening. I’m supposed to keep him safe. That’s why we left.”

Zach grabbed her arms. “Listen to me. This is my mountain. There are holes and caves nearby. The cliff isn’t for another fifty feet. Sam’s here somewhere.”

“Sam!” Jenna yelled. “Sam, can you hear us? Please, baby. Answer me.”

They stilled, listening for any sound that didn’t belong. Crickets chirped; chipmunks chattered; an owl hooted. A tree shuffled nearby.

But no voices save their own.

“Sam!” Zach shouted. “If you can hear me, call out.”

A hole where Jenna’s soul had been grew dark and empty, a void spreading that threatened to swallow any hope she ever had.

And then a sound filtered toward them over the chilling breeze.

“Heeelllppp!”

A boy’s voice. Sam’s voice.

Jenna closed her eyes, focusing everything within her on the direction.

The sound faded away before she could tell. She looked at Zach, his frustration mirroring her own.

“Sam, where are you?” she called.

“Mommmmmmy?”

His voice sounded strange, echoing and far off. She strained to pinpoint the location, circling around and around in the small grove. “Where is he?”

“Get him to call out to you,” Zach said.