Shattered (LOST #3)(17)
Absolutely, but fear changed nothing. “Have you contacted Eddie’s sister?” Sarah asked, instead of responding to his question.
“I left three messages for her. She hasn’t called back yet.” He waved that away. “Knowing that someone might be out there, gunning for you . . . what are you going to do?”
Find that person, before he finds me. “Maybe Eddie will talk more when his sister arrives.” She gave the detective her card—with her cell number. “Sometimes, people will open up more around family.” Then Sarah walked away.
“And sometimes . . .” the detective called after her, “it’s the family that causes the problems, isn’t it?”
She knew he was talking about her father. Murphy Jacobs.
Or, as the press liked to call him . . . Murphy the Monster.
She kept walking. Yes, family can cause the worst problems. And give you nightmares that won’t end.
GABE SPENCER WAS staying at the same hotel that Sarah was using. All the LOST members were in that hotel.
Only now we’ve got a new client? Just how much longer would they be staying in the Big Easy? She was ready to get home.
When the elevator opened on Gabe’s floor, Sarah hurried forward. A few moments later, Sarah knocked lightly on Gabe’s door.
Gabe Spencer. Ex-SEAL. All-around nice guy with a serious need to right the wrongs of the past. She’d profiled Gabe within moments of meeting him, and she’d known, from the start, that he was one of those guys that a girl could always count on. Lots of power and strength, but nothing evil in his core.
The door opened. Gabe stood there. His black hair had been swept back and his bright blue gaze sharpened when he saw her.
“Sorry it took me so long,” she told him. “I, uh, made a little stop by the police station this morning.”
She knew Gabe had been thoroughly briefed on last night’s events.
Worry was clear on his face when he said, “You went to see Eddie Guthrie.”
He was a nice, smart guy. She nodded.
“You’ll tell me all about that,” he murmured as his fingers curled around her shoulder and he pulled her into the room. “After our client meeting.”
Gabe wasn’t just staying in a normal hotel room. The guy was loaded, so he pretty much didn’t do anything normally. He’d booked a massive suite, and they were in the suite’s meeting space. A conference table was in the middle of the room, and the team had all gathered there. Sarah’s gaze swept the room, pausing briefly on each of her friends.
The closest seat at the conference table was occupied by Victoria Palmer, their forensic anthropologist. Victoria’s long red hair had been pulled back in a ponytail. Glasses perched on her nose, and, as she sat there, Victoria’s gaze darted a bit nervously over toward Sarah. Victoria had healed from her recent attack—courtesy of their last case. Or at least she’d healed on the outside. Sarah knew some wounds—the ones that were hidden the deepest—could never truly heal.
Dean Bannon was across the table from Victoria. An ex-FBI agent, Dean thrived on fieldwork. He loved the thrill of the hunt, and Sarah knew he would go to any extremes to find the missing.
Wade Monroe sat next to Victoria. Wade was a former Atlanta detective and, in general, a hard-nosed guy who would do anything to get the job done. He was currently glaring—intently. But he wasn’t glaring at Sarah. His golden stare was fixed on the tall, blond man who stood with his back to them all. A man who appeared to be staring out of that massive picture window and down at the city below. A man who—
—turned toward her.
Not him. Not him.
“Hello, Sarah,” Jax murmured.
She could actually feel all the blood leaving her head and flowing right down her body. No, he could not be there. She’d left him that morning. Wait, why would he be there? Her gaze jerked to Gabe. Gabe was staring at Jax.
“I think you know Jax Fontaine,” Gabe murmured.
Um, biblically, yes, she did. But did the others realize that?
“He’s our new client.”
Sarah grabbed tight to her control. She’d already revealed too much with her rapid breathing and her startled response to Jax. It was a good thing that Dean’s fiancée, Emma, wasn’t there. Emma could read people so very easily. The woman had a gift—or, rather, a wickedly honed talent. Emma would see right through her act.
But Emma isn’t here . . .
She stepped away from Gabe and advanced carefully toward Jax. He was dressed in a suit—not what she expected from him at all. He didn’t look like the leader of one of the biggest motorcycle gangs in the South—which he supposedly was. Instead, he looked like a too-in-control businessman. The tattoos on his arms were covered up, and the only markings she saw were the dark tats on his fingers.
“Who is missing?” Sarah asked Jax. But she really wanted to know . . . why hadn’t he told her sooner? Why waste any additional time on a case? With victims, time was always of the essence, even on cold cases.
Gabe had learned that lesson the hard way. If he’d found his sister just a little bit sooner, Amy would have been alive.
“That’s the tricky part,” Wade called out. His voice was mild, though, despite the frown that still pulled at his features. “Seems we have the missing, right here in this room with us.”
Her head cocked as she gazed back at Jax. She wasn’t sure what those words were supposed to mean. Normally, they were hired to find someone who’d vanished. Only once had they worked a different type of case.