Deadly Silence (Blood Brothers #1)(28)

Ryker replayed the entire meeting in his head, his heart hurting for Greg. “I don’t think so. He’s almost desperate to find her, to the point where I could smell it on him.”

“Wait a minute. If he’s good enough to hack us, then why doesn’t he just find her himself?” Heath asked slowly, his hand shaking a little.

“Says he can’t.” Ryker rubbed his chin. “Says he read our files and saw how we find people nobody else can.” With skills they shouldn’t have, really. “Greg said he couldn’t find her but thinks that we can.”

“He knows about us?” Denver asked, his head going back.

That was good. That Denver was still speaking in complete sentences when talking about the past was a good sign.

Ryker shook his head. “There’s no way for Greg to know much about us, but he suspects we’re able to do something most folks can’t. He can’t understand the rest of it.” Unless the kid had his own special gifts. “It’s not a coincidence that Sylvia—or rather, Isobel Madison—studied and taught us . . .and this special kid, the best hacker we’ve ever found, is looking for her.”

“We cannot open that fucking can of worms,” Heath snapped, his eyes wild. “Everything will unravel, and we just got to safety. Of a sorts.”

“I know,” Ryker said. “But what choice do we have? If we don’t help the kid, he’s going to turn us in to Sheriff Cobb.”

Heath scrubbed both hands down his face. “Damn it, I know. Even if the little shit wasn’t blackmailing us, we have to figure out what’s going on. I’ve always wondered about Sylvia, and it appears there’s more to her than we thought. Maybe—”

“Don’t say it,” Denver grumbled.

Heath cut him a hard look. “Maybe she has the answers about us. I mean, why we’re different. Why we have high IQs and super hearing. Why we can read a lie on most people. The weird stuff.”

“Maybe she knows about our families, the people we’ve been searching for,” Ryker added. It wasn’t a coincidence they’d created a detective agency to find the lost. “This kid may lead us to the answers we’ve been hunting for since escaping the home.”

Denver slowly shook his head, his eyes stark. “We have lives, and things are good. Digging up the past will lead to pain and death. You know that.” His voice broke, and heat swelled from him.

“What I know is that the past has always been coming for us. Now maybe we have a chance to get there first,” Ryker said quietly. He pulled out another drawing to hand over. “After Greg left, I quickly sketched his face.” The kid wasn’t the only one who could draw.

Heath studied the picture, his shoulders straightening. “Strong bones, sad eyes.”

“Yeah, and no doubt dangerous. Definitely dangerous,” Ryker added. He couldn’t let Heath try to save another kid in case everything went south.

Heath lifted an eyebrow. “Wait a minute. All hell is breaking loose, and you have a woman in your shower right now. You really think it’s time to bring Zara into your life?”

Ryker stilled. Heath was right. “No. Now is a shitty time, but Zara is in danger, and I’ve promised to protect her. Or at least to find out if she’s in danger. Somebody punched her, and I want to know who it is. Zara is in now, and I’ll keep her safe.”

“She’s not in,” Heath countered. “We could leave here like we did Alaska and start over in a different town to hunt the killer. Leave Zara safe and free.”

“The woman had a bruise the size of a tangerine on her face,” Ryker growled. “She ain’t safe.” That was why he was staying, damn it.

Heath threw up his hands. “Maybe not, but she sure as shit isn’t asking for your help or telling you the truth. She’s bruised, she’s been paying for motels, and she’s been giving somebody cash, brother. That woman is a fuckload of trouble, and she’s not leveling with you about it.”

Ryker ground his teeth together even as his hands fisted. Everything Heath was saying was true, and that just pissed him off. “I can handle Zara.”

“Right,” Heath mocked.

Fire flushed so hard through him it burned. Ryker moved then, and Denver planted himself firmly between the two men, his hand flat against Ryker’s vibrating chest. “Whoa now. We’re brothers.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t beat the hell out of each other,” Ryker said evenly, his gaze on Heath over Denver’s shoulder. While he couldn’t stop the voices inside his head, mocking his reasons for staying, he could sure as shit hit Heath a few times.

“Any time and any place,” Heath returned, fury flashing in his eyes.

Denver shoved Ryker back. “Jesus, you fuckwads. Knock it off. We have enough problems.”

Heath blinked and then leaned back against his door. He took several deep breaths. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Regret slammed into Ryker. “No, I’m sorry. Really.” God, he needed his brothers. Without them, he wouldn’t have made it to adulthood. “I’m an ass.”

“We both are. I’m off—had a rough day at court,” Heath muttered.

Denver frowned and partially turned. “Huh?”

Heath shook his head. “Nothin’. Just a rough day.” He turned and shoved open the door to his apartment, and his shoulders slumped. “Ryker, I’m sorry about what I said. If you want to keep her, I’m here for you. But that don’t mean it’ll end well. It never does.” He moved inside and shut the door behind himself.