She Can Hide (She Can #4)(73)

“Do you have any idea who his enemies are?”

“No. He’s never shared anything about his life with me. I’ve only been to this casino once. After my mother overdosed, I told him I never wanted to see him again.” Abby leaned her forehead on the cool glass. She could see Ethan’s reflection in the window. His posture was tense, his hands fisted at his sides. “He is one of the reasons I moved away. I wanted to start over. I wanted to forget he was my father.” She closed her eyes. “Ryland is a powerful man who chose to let me suffer rather than take the chance his affair with my mother would be revealed.”

Ethan moved closer, silently eliminating the distance between them.

“You don’t know how much I didn’t want to come here and ask him for help.” Ryland’s old betrayal still burned deep in Abby’s soul. “When I was a child and they took me to a foster home, I kept waiting for him to come and get me. I thought he’d swoop in and take me home, make me a part of his other family. He never did.”

“What do you think he’s doing?” Ethan asked.

Even though they weren’t touching, she could sense his body behind her. More than anything, she wanted him to touch her. Her desire transcended sexuality. She wanted the intimacy they’d shared, the soul-deep bond she’d never felt for another person.

And she needed to give him the trust he deserved, the piece of her she’d held back.

“I don’t know. I hope he’s looking for Torres and Krista. He might be cleaning up his business now, but I’m sure he still has plenty of contacts on the wrong side of the law. If anyone can find a criminal, it’s Ryland.”

Ethan put a tentative hand on her arm. She leaned into him, and his arms came around her.

“I shouldn’t have blamed you.” Unshed tears stung the corners of Abby’s eyes.

“It’s all right. I should have warned Derek, but I wanted him to finish with the artist. I was afraid if he knew he was going into a foster home, we’d lose an important piece of evidence that could help find his mother.” Ethan turned her to face him. His eyes were misty. “I was trying to help him.”

“I know. I lost it when that woman took Derek away.” Abby trembled. “I know exactly how scared and alone he felt when she put him in the back of the car.” Exhaustion and emotions buckled her knees.

Ethan scooped her into his arms and carried her to the closest bedroom. He set her on the bed. He tossed his jacket across the bottom of the bed, placed his gun on the nightstand, and stretched out next to her. “I don’t know how to convince you that you really can trust me. I would never do anything to hurt you. I drove half the night because I was insane with fear that something was going to happen to you.”

Abby slipped off her boots. “My heart trusts you, but my head has been conditioned not to trust anyone.” She leaned against his chest and closed her eyes.

“Next time, talk to me, all right?” Ethan rested his chin on the top of her head. “No running off alone. Promise?”

“Promise. I’m so glad you’re here.” Abby nestled closer, grateful for his presence.

He rolled to his side and draped an arm over her.

She welcomed the reassuring weight of it. “Don’t let me sleep more than a half hour, OK?”

“Just a quick power nap.” Ethan lifted his upper body. He set the alarm on his phone, turned up the ringer volume, and settled back into place.

But his phone rang less than a minute later. Abby read the display as he levered up on one elbow and reached for it.

WESTBURY POLICE DEPT.

“Hale.” Ethan held the phone a few inches from his ear so Abby could hear.

“Where are you?” Static sounded over the chief’s voice.

“Still in Atlantic City.” Ethan sat up. “Why?”

The chief raised his voice. “Derek is gone.”




Ryland let himself into his private suite. Closing the door behind him, he punched Kenneth’s number into his cell phone. The boy Abby had referred to had to be the same one that Kenneth was pursuing. Plus, Kenneth needed to find out who employed Joe Torres.

Was it Paul Medina? Was Paul angry enough over Ryland’s exit from the drug business to kill Abby as a warning to Ryland that the rest of his family could suffer the same fate unless he continued to provide distribution for Paul’s product?

He knew the answer without further consideration. Anger had nothing to do with it. Money was at stake. Huge piles of it. At one time, Ryland would have been more than willing to do anything to rake in more of it.

But he’d changed these last few years. The physical frailties that accompanied aging had humbled him. As had the knowledge that he had far more years behind him than stretched out on the road ahead.

Kenneth’s phone rang, but he didn’t pick up.

What was he doing? Fuck. Ryland should have made it clear the child wasn’t to be harmed when Kenneth called last time. Maybe Ryland hadn’t changed as much as he’d thought. He was still a selfish man, willing to let another child suffer so that Ryland’s own family could be safe.

Ryland pressed END without leaving a message. When Kenneth saw that he missed the call, he would return it. Ryland checked the time on his phone display. It would take three hours for another man to reach Kenneth’s location. By then it might be too late.