Deadly Silence (Blood Brothers #1)(58)

He pumped harder and then jerked with his own release.

Finally, he dropped his head to the crook of her neck. A lazy swipe of his tongue made her tremble. He lifted up, his expression one of satisfied male. Then he frowned and glanced toward the still-running shower. “I think the hot water is gone.”

Humor bubbled up inside her, and she threw back her head and laughed.

Was this what happiness—the real kind—felt like? One last chuckle and she lowered her chin, seeking those bluish green eyes. God, this was happiness.

Suddenly, reality and the world crashed in. She couldn’t lose him. She couldn’t lose this. Not now.





Chapter





20




Ryker drove Zara and Greg back to his place first thing in the morning. While they’d have to sleep at her house for now, he wanted them near his offices during the day. After a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, during which he could almost forget the danger stalking them, Ryker desperately tried to concentrate on Greg and how Dr. Madison tied into Ryker’s own past.

Denver and Heath worked in their offices while Greg assisted Zara by measuring the apartments upstairs for furniture. After she’d fed him pancake after pancake, the kid had followed her around like a duck that had imprinted. He had even given a little growl when Ryker kissed her on the forehead before heading for his office.

Heath poked his head in, tension in his shoulders. “The FBI has about twenty suspects they’re following up on with the Copper Killer case, but I’ve gone through them all, and I think they’re on the wrong track. None of those guys really fit.”

Ryker sighed. “Do we have anything?” If they didn’t get a move on, the bastard would take another girl within the next week, if not the FBI agent. Gut instinct told him the killer was too smart to fall for the trap.

“Nothing.” Frustration marred Heath’s forehead. “If we had something, I’d head out, but I have no clue where to go.”

“Hey, guys!” Denver called. “Come here.”

Ryker pushed from the desk and followed Heath through the main room to Denver’s office. “What?” he asked, dropping into a chair while Heath did the same.

“I’ve been searching for Isobel Madison, and I found a string to pull. My gut says it’s a trap, and once we bite, backtracking software will kick in and trace us here.” Denver scratched his chin and looked at the computer like it might bite him.

Ryker’s stomach ached. Did they really want to find that woman? Logically, he knew they had to, but deep down, he was that scared kid again who just wanted to run.

“We could create software that won’t allow the backtrack,” Heath said, scowling.

Ryker held up a hand. He needed to be in control to think, and he had to be proactive. “What if we allow her to track us? We could do the same thing to her as we did to Greg. Draw her in. It’s probably the only chance we have of getting her.” She’d had a lot more years than they had to learn surveillance, subterfuge, and strategy. “Let’s fall into her hands.” He wanted to puke as he said the last sentence.

Denver’s hand folded into a fist on his desk. “I hate this.”

“Me too,” Ryker said.

“We’d have to use safe house three,” Heath said.

Ryker nodded. “If we want her close, it has to be in Cisco.” They’d created three safe houses when they bought the current building just in case they needed to move and fast. “We can wire the place, so if anybody shows up, we can be there in ten minutes.”

Heath kicked his boots out and crossed his ankles. “If we go forward with this, there’s no going back. I don’t know where it’ll end, but right now we’re somewhat safe from the past. She is the past, men.”

“She’s the key,” Denver replied softly.

“I’m damn tired of playing defense. Let’s take control. Plus, she’s the only way to find these missing brothers of Greg’s,” Ryker said. If his brothers were missing, he’d be out of his damn mind. He had to help that kid find his family.

Heath shook his head. “Speaking of which, if Greg has brothers somewhere, why won’t he tell us where?”

“He said their school was blown up, and he has no clue where his brothers were relocated,” Ryker reminded him.

“The kid isn’t telling us the whole truth,” Heath countered.

Ryker nodded. “Would you tell us? I mean, if you were that kid, would you reveal all?”

“Shit no,” Heath said slowly. “He trusts like we do: not at all.”

“If I couldn’t find you guys, I’d be desperate,” Ryker said. “He is, and that’s why I trust him. He has to find those brothers the same way I’d need to find you guys. That’s the only reason he came to us—to anybody—for help: desperation.”

Greg appeared suddenly in the door. “I’m not desperate.”

Denver typed quickly on the keyboard, waited a minute, and then flipped the monitor around. “Here’s the depot in Utah that was blown up.” Scorched earth and shattered buildings littered the snowy ground. “How do you expect us to believe you?”

Greg swallowed and stepped inside the room. He paled, and a look way too stark to belong to a kid filled his eyes. “Scan to the north.”