Ryan Murphy was a former SEAL who had betrayed them to the senator’s people a few months ago. It had resulted in the kidnapping of Sierra. It was all messy, but they realized that the senator had also kidnapped Ryan’s sister and had used that to blackmail him.
Drew shrugged and smiled. “He does now.”
Janey blinked, she’d obviously moved on from thoughts of Ryan. He was proven right when she began to wring her hands. He grabbed the hands in his.
“Janey?”
“We need to get going. If she’s the one…” her voice trailed off. Then she continued determinedly, “If it’s Diane she’s going to need someone with her.”
With renewed energy, she jumped off Drew’s legs and headed to the en-suite bathroom. Drew trailed after her.
“I think we should hold off on telling your family till we’re hundred percent positive,” he said.
She tucked the sheets securely around her body, then squeezed out toothpaste unto her brush. “I agree.”
He saw worry flash across her face as she began to brush her teeth. “What’s up?”
She met his eyes in the mirror as she brushed. After rinsing her mouth, she spoke, “My plants. Last time, I left Riley in charge…”
She didn’t need to finish it. Riley was not even remotely an option at the moment.
“I’ll handle it,” Drew said. While Janey had a quick shower, he walked back into the bedroom and placed a call. A few minutes later, he’d hired a gardener.
Next he called Janey’s mother and explained that she needed a change in scenery, so he was taking her back with him to Chicago just for a while. She was quite enthusiastic about the idea. He told her that he’d hired a gardener for Janey’s plants and asked if she could keep an eye of the person. She was more than willing to do so.
By the time Janey was ready to go, Drew had neatly tied up any loose ends, ensuring that she left nothing back home to worry about.
There was a charter plane waiting for them at the airport to fly them out to Chicago. They got into the vehicle he’d hired and drove away from her house. If she’d had any inkling that she would never see that cottage again, she would have turned for a second look.
Janey did not look back, and neither did Drew.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are we positive that she’s Janey’s sister?” Ryan asked.
Tamika glanced at him, then focused her attention on the woman without a reply. She was seated on a park bench in the garden of a very elite, very private hospital. The person who had rescued her from the water was a very wealthy man.
Tamika stared at the woman again. There was no denying the family resemblance. She had the same facial features and physique as Janey, only she seemed… Tamika could not find the words to describe her.
Janey was a diamond in the rough, a classy babe. Down to earth and exactly Tamika’s kind of person. But this woman here looked like she was brought up in goddamn Buckingham palace.
The security in this place was tight ass. Emily had pulled some strings to get them clearance to see the woman. According to the reports, she hadn’t spoken a word since she’d woken up from the coma. Several scans and tests were carried out and it appeared she was alright. But she just would not speak.
“Is she Janey’s sister, soldier?”
Tamika heard the irritation in his voice. She had deliberately ignored him. The others might have forgiven the asshole, but she did not have much use for people who betrayed their friends.
She brought out her phone, pulled out the photo Janey had sent them and held it up to him without a word.
She could practically feel the frustration oozing out of him and it gave her an odd sense of satisfaction.
“Look, I get that you don’t like me, but we damn well have to work together. So quit the bullshit and grow some balls.”
Tamika snorted. He was so full of bullshit. She kept her eyes on the woman who was staring into space. There was no doubt about it, she was Janey’s sister. What she could not understand was how she’d managed to survive.
She’d read her case files. Yeah, Rusty was usually handy with getting information like that. The woman had been hit on the head with the butt of a gun, then thrown into the water to drown. She should have drowned, particularly as she’d been out like a light when her body hit the water.
She swung her gaze to Ryan and stared at him through narrow eyes. She made sure he could see in her eyes exactly where she thought he could get off. Then she nodded towards the woman.
“I’ll go speak to her.”
Without waiting to hear his opinion, she walked to where the woman was seated and sat beside her. Tamika stared out at the garden, it was very well tended. The sort of place where rich, posh people went to get their asses fixed.
She sat for several minutes without saying a word. The woman did not glance at her once. She seemed lost in her own world.
“Sometimes, the ball of pain in your chest is so big, so painful, that you can’t seem to get any words out. So you remain silent,” Tamika said softly, still staring at the garden in front of her.
She knew exactly where this woman was; she’d been there. There was a time when it took all her energy just to say a word. And once she did, it would take her days to recover. She had decided that for her, words were just too much. Too energy draining. Too unnecessary.
“Internalizing stuff seems to work out okay at first. You insulate the hurt, kind of like bubble wrap for the pain. But that wrap slowly begins to choke you until you can’t breathe anymore. But then no one can help you because they can no longer hear your silence.”
She felt the woman’s gaze on her, but she did not look at her.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m here,” Tamika went on. “I’m here because some people love you enough to put their asses in danger for you. You have one hell of a sister who will take a bullet for you, hands down. She’ll drop everything, and I mean every damn thing, just to get to you. Don’t use your silence as an excuse to shut her out.”
She shifted her gaze to the other woman’s. Their eyes met and held and a thread of understanding passed through. Tamika nodded and stood up.
She felt exhausted. It was the most she’d spoken in a very long time. She’d probably used up her quota of words for the month.
But she liked Janey. More importantly, she liked the way Drew went to pieces over Janey. Her lips quirked in an almost-smile. Big, strong, love-em and leave-em Drew, had finally met his watershed. And she was damn glad about it. For all his posturing, he was a good man and Janey was pure gold.
Her phone beeped. She swiped it open and saw it was a message from HQ. Janey and Drew had arrived in DC.
She turned and walked past Ryan. She ignored the speculative glance he threw her way as she walked out of the building without a backward glance.
**
They waited for the cover of night to ride into the town. He had used the time very productively. Now he knew everything that there was to know about her. He knew where she lived, where her folks lived, her store, what high school she attended…hell, he knew what brand of juice she drank.
They drove straight to her house, a convoy of three vehicles. Two others had been dispatched to her store. The first thing he noticed was that there did not seem to be anyone in the house. All the lights in the house were turned off and there was no sign of life.
He texted the one next to him in rank, he’d been sent to handle the store. The reply came in. The store was empty. He frowned, his annoyance clearly written on his face. Could she have gotten a heads up and evaded them?
Fuck. How was that possible?
He felt the rage that had been his constant companion since he buried his brother. It welled up inside him, threatening to drown him in its poisonous heat. He clenched his fist as he stared at the darkened house.
“Boss, what do we do?” one of his men asked.
“Torch it,” he said.
The team at the other end also got the sam
e order. They were to break in and set the store on fire. They knew it was risky, particularly as her store was in a strip mall with other stores attached. There would be security, but they were adept at disabling security. In no time at all, they got in with a can of gasoline.
**
Later that night, Daphne Moore woke up to the acrid smell of smoke in her house. She woke her husband up and they tried to get out of the house, but both doors were bolted from outside. She banged on the door, screaming for help, but they were too far for anyone to hear them. Somehow the fire alarm wasn’t triggered.
The house was filled with smoke and her lungs were beginning to hurt. Everywhere she looked, bright flames seemed to be creeping around inside the house with rapid speed. She had no idea where the fire could have come from, but she knew they needed to get out. Her husband’s health was weak, so it was up to her to get them out.
Determinedly, she went back into the living room where the telephone was. She picked it up and placed it to her ear. It was dead.
Her cell phone was back in their bedroom and the entire area was ablaze. But she knew she had no choice. She picked up the afghan blanket that usually lay on the coach and wrapped it around her, covering her head and half her body. Then she dashed into the room. The blanket was on fire by then, so she quickly discarded it.
She was coughing badly, struggling not to pass out. She searched blindly for her phone and found it beneath her pillow. Her sons were on speed dial. Not caring about who she called, she pressed a key and sobbed with relief when she heard Liam on the other end.
“Fire…can’t get out…” she gasped and then fainted.
There were three fires in Broken Arrow that evening and each was unexplainable. The only link they all had was Janey Moore. The properties that were torched were her house, her store and her parent’s home. It was clearly a case of arson. A very personal case of arson.
Her parents were pulled out of the fire by the firemen of Broken Arrow. They worked valiantly to save the farm house, but it didn’t do much good.
The elderly couple survived, but barely. They were rushed to the general hospital where they were immediately put on oxygen. They had sustained third degree burns and could lose their lives to asphyxiation.
Several calls were placed to Janey, but no one could reach her.
Chapter Eighteen
Janey’s thoughts were all over the place. She needed to think, to process, and to do that, she felt the need to constantly be in motion. There was no doubt that it was her sister inside that ward. It was definitely Diane. But Janey had mixed emotions.
On the one hand, she was happy, ecstatic really, that her sister was still alive. On the other hand, Diane had refused to speak to her. Oh, she’d recognized her. Janey had seen the spark of recognition in her eyes before she turned away, refusing to speak a word.
That hurt. It hurt so much that Janey felt her heart squeeze in pain.
She thought of her family back in Broken Arrow. She wanted to tell them that she’d found Diane, but she couldn’t. What if they all came over and Diane refused to acknowledge them? She felt her heart wrench at the thought.
“Janey, stop pacing, you’re making me dizzy.”
She paused to look at Drew where he was seated. They were in a very fancy-looking, upscale visitor’s lounge. Drew had his gaze focused on his phone and didn’t look up.
Janey went to him and sat beside him. “Why won’t she speak to me, Drew?”
Drew lifted his gaze to hers and she read the sympathy in his. She instinctively stiffened her shoulders, rejecting what she read in his eyes. She did not need pity, she needed answers.
Drew must have read her body language correctly because his expression became bland. “She’s going through a lot, Janey. I guess this is her way of protecting herself.”
“But I’m her sister.” Janey placed a hand on her chest as she struggled with tears. She’d come so far and gone through so much in trying to find Diane. And now this?
He placed a hand around her shoulder and drew her to him. “Give her some time, honey,” he said, dropping a kiss on her head.
“Excuse me, are you Janey Moore?”
Janey looked up to see a man standing in front of them. He was tall, easily as tall as Drew, although less built. The first thing she noticed about him though, was his shoe. It was blue-gray and looked like it was hand sewn using the softest leather. He wore a blue suit that looked like it was designed specifically for his body. He had the air of one who was born into several generations of wealth.
“Yes, I am,” she said after a pause.
“My name is Abe Sinclair. I brought your sister in several months ago.”
Janey stood up and without another word, threw her arms around the startled man. After a brief hesitation, his arm came around her and he returned her hug. When she pulled back, she was crying.
“I don’t know how to thank you. What you did…” She shook her head as she tried to contain her emotions.
Abe looked embarrassed. “Anyone would have done the same, Ms. Moore,” he said with a gentle smile.
“Please call me Janey,” she said. Then she noticed that Drew was standing beside her and he didn’t look too happy. “This is Drew Campbell.” My boyfriend…my lover? She didn’t know how to describe him so she just left it at that.
Both men shook hands. Then Drew’s arm settled around Janey’s waist. “We really appreciate all you’ve done.”
There was no mistaking the possessiveness of that action or the we in his words. Both men stared silently at each other and Janey thought she saw something pass between them. She was right because Drew relaxed and Abe’s eyes twinkled with amusement.
She bit the inside of her lip to keep from lashing out at them. Here she was, worried about her sister and they were measuring the sizes of their dicks? She decided to ignore it. For that moment.
“Has she spoken to you yet?”
His face clouded over. “Unfortunately, she has not. She understands everything I say, though, but she won’t speak. She must have had quite a traumatic experience.”
“She was betrayed by the man she was in love with. He’s the one who tried to kill her,” Janey said.
Abe nodded thoughtfully. “Could you give me more details?”
Janey shook her head regretfully. “I’m so sorry. What I know is sketchy at best, but I think Diane would be in the best position to tell you her story.”
“Diane…that’s her name?”
Janey nodded.
“It suits her.”
Janey was grateful for all he’d done. She knew he had the best medical minds money could buy working on her sister’s case. She’d met some of them and she knew that Diane would speak in time, hopefully. However, she didn’t know how they would manage to repay him for what he’d spent.
“Please…that is not even an issue,” he said when she tried to broach the subject.
“But you must be spending a lot on this place…”
“Janey, please,” he said with a faint smile. “I have a lot of it. I know better than most that money cannot buy life. So let me do this for your sister.”
Janey felt her eyes sting with tears once more.
“Thank you, Mr. Sinclair. I don’t have the words—”
“Abe, please,” he said. “I would like to invite you both as guests in my home. You are welcome to stay as long as you need.”
“Thank you, Abe, but we’ve already booked our hotel room,” Drew said.
“As you wish,” Abe said, inclining his head slightly. “I’ll go check on Diane now, please let me know if you need anything.”
Janey watched him go, then turned towards Drew and wrapped her arms around his waist before resting her head on his broad chest.
He pulled her closer and gently ran a hand over her hair, to her shoulders. “Are you okay, babe?”
She nodded. “I just need to feel your arms around me, Drew.”
Her voice was muffled by his shirt, but
she knew he heard her because his arms around her tightened.
“It’s going to be fine, sweetheart,” he murmured in her ears.
“I’m scared, Drew. I can’t explain why, but I’m scared.”
“I’m here with you. You know that I’ll take a bullet for you, right?” He pulled back to look into her eyes and she was shocked to see the absolute certainty in their depths.
She felt her heart take wings. Whether he was ready to acknowledge it or not, Drew Campbell loved her. She was sure of it.
The bleakness was suddenly leeched out of her soul as she felt the day get brighter. Things could only get better now.
**
They went to the hotel room later to freshen up and rest a bit. Janey dug out her phone from her carry-on bag and turned it on. Nothing happened.
“Drat!” She’d forgotten to charge the phone.
“What’s up?” Drew asked, coming out of the bathroom.
She held up her phone. “Battery’s dead.”
“There’s a charging port somewhere there,” he said, pointing towards the console table.
With a smile she went to plug in her phone. Janey checked to be sure that it was actually charging. She was debating whether to switch it on immediately or wait a while first, when she felt him behind her. She hid a smile and kept gazing at the blank phone.
Drew’s arms came around her waist and she relaxed into him. She could not explain the feeling, but it felt so right. Like she was exactly where she belonged.
“Discover the mysteries of life yet?”
His mouth was just by her ears and she could feel his breath. She trembled in response.
“What?”
Drew lowered his head and nuzzled her neck. Janey’s breath hitched in her throat as a single thread of pleasure passed through her body.
“You’ve been staring at the blank phone. Just wondering if it’s telling the future of something.” His hands brushed lightly over her abdomen, coming to rest just beneath the swelling of her breasts.
“Haha.” She was having trouble concentrating.
Drew bit lightly on her neck and she involuntarily pushed back against him. She felt the imprint of his erection just above her backside.
Silver Shield Security Box Set Page 37
