Rebecca Zanetti - Forgotten Sins

“You were always such a good liar,” Madison murmured. “You’ve lost the touch, I think. So who’s with you right now? Is it my Matt?”

“Why don’t you come and get me to find out?”

“Okay.” A rough voice suddenly commanded the line. “You’ve had long enough to trace this call.”

Matt whipped his gaze toward the phone in unison with Shane. The fucking commander. He was there.

“Commander. Man. I figured the devil would’ve taken you by now.” Shane forced a deep chuckle into his voice, even as his hands closed into trembling fists. “Don’t tell me you’re still banging this used-up excuse for a doctor.” He’d caught them once in the armory—Madison bent over a table that bore AK-47s, shrieking as she came. Nightmares had plagued him for months afterward.

“Actually”—the commander’s voice matched Shane’s—“I’m thinking about banging your young wife. Well, after both Tom and Emery get through with her, of course. Assuming there’s anything left.”

Shane leaned forward, his entire body going cold. Matt clapped him on the back, shaking his head and pointing to Shane’s temple. Yeah, right. The commander was screwing with his head. Effectively. He nodded. “You know, old man, I think it’s time I killed you.”

“Bring Matthew with you,” the commander said. “He and I have unfinished business. Oh and”—he paused—“you have thirty minutes. Or I go get closely acquainted with the babbling blonde you married. I have to say, I’m quite surprised you married a woman who cries so easily.”

The line went dead.

Oh God. Shane had known the monster his entire life—there wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t do to get results. Pure evil. The devil as a father figure.

Matt sucked in air. “Ignore him. They haven’t hurt her.”

“I know.” Shane turned slowly to eye his brother, and emotion ripped through him. Matt had become his father figure, giving him the strength to fight the commander’s pull. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Sure.”

“No.” Shane grabbed Matt’s arm. “Thank you for everything. Always. I never realized—”

Matt lifted an eyebrow. “Now isn’t a time for girly sharing, Shane.”

Shane swallowed. “Nate is right. I can’t put you and Josie in danger together. We’ll rescue her, and then I’ll take her somewhere safe.”

Matt frowned, his eyes darkening as he turned toward Shane. “We stick together. No matter what. If you say Josie is with us, then she’s with us. Period.”

Emotion heated tears behind Shane’s eyes. They’d hash it out later. He grabbed his cell phone. The commander would hurt Josie with great pleasure. “Let’s go get my wife.”

Matt pulled to a stop in front of the broad cabin. “Good plan. We need to suit up.”

Shane jumped out of the car, his gaze on the front door as it opened. Nathan stalked outside, dressed for combat in black fatigues, a bulletproof vest, and heavy boots.

Emotion swamped Shane until he could barely breathe. Nathan. Family. “What are ya’ll doing back here?” The Southern twang broke completely free with his question. Nate had made his opinion clear—and he’d been right.

Nathan gave a smart-assed grin. “You didn’t think I’d let you rescue the girl all by yourself now, did you?”

“But I thought you went home.”

“I did.”

Shane swiveled his head to stare open-mouthed at Matt. “You called him? When?”

“Last night when you were in surgery.” Matt strode forward, catching the bulletproof vest Nathan tossed at him. “I had a feeling we’d need backup.”

Shane shook his head. “But the plan—”

“Plans change, little brother,” Nate said. He tucked a handgun into a calf holster. “I, ah, was wrong. Josie is family, and if she’s in trouble, we go in.”

Shane searched for the right words but couldn’t find any. “But you were right—”

“I was wrong. We’ll keep her safe and with us, Shane.” Nathan lifted his chin. “My anger shouldn’t change your life. If she’s family, she’s with us. Always.” As a vow, it was absolute.

Shane blinked. “Thanks.”

Nathan nodded, hard lines cut into his rugged face. Gray eyes darkened to nearly black. Anger and pain all but danced on his skin. “Dr. Madison is mine. I’ll take care of Audrey’s mother—after she tells me where her daughter is.”

Shane studied his brother. Something in his conscience whispered it’d be a bad idea to let Nate kill the mother of the woman he once loved. Memories of Nate being happy for a brief time flashed through his mind. So many moments—yet not enough. Not nearly enough.

He nodded. “Of course.” No way would he let his brother live with killing Madison. Shane would take care of the scientist.

Matt cut him a hard glare. Ah. Mattie planned to protect both Nate and Shane from killing the woman who’d helped raise them. Shane straightened his shoulders, meeting his brother’s stare head-on.

Matt blinked once, a dark flush crossing his high cheekbones. “Seeing us all—does it bring any memories back about Jory?”

“No.” But something lingered at the base of Shane’s consciousness. “The memories are so close—right there waiting for me.” He examined each of his brothers in turn. They were risking their lives to save the woman he loved, and he lacked the words of gratitude. Emotion clogged this throat. The right words probably didn’t exist.

“You’re welcome,” Nate said, his gray eyes swirling with emotion. “Come in and suit up—let’s go get your wife.”

“I don’t understand.” Josie wrenched her wrists against the handcuffs that held her attached to the grab bar above the door of the large SUV. Pain cascaded up her arm. From the backseat, she glared at Tom’s head as he drove through after-work traffic. “I thought you wanted Shane to trace the call.”

Dr. Madison sighed from the front passenger seat. “How in the world did my Shane fall for such a ditz?” Reaching out red-manicured nails, she ran her hand down Tom’s arm. “You always had better taste now, didn’t you, Tommy?”

He nodded. “Sure. Though I wanted to stay and wait for good old Shane.”

“No.” Madison settled back into her seat and crossed her legs. “We need you to protect us for now. The commander will capture Shane and whatever brother is with him. Then don’t worry. We’ll let you in the training ring with him.”

“I can’t wait.” Satisfaction oozed in Tom’s deep voice.

Fury swirled through Josie. “He’ll kick your ass.”

Tom’s brown eyes flashed to the rearview mirror. “Not a chance. Believe me, once he understands what I’ve done to you, anger will make him easy to beat.” Tom shook his head. “You’re a weakness, Josie. A big one.”

Damn it, she was his weakness. Nathan had been correct. Josie was going to get Shane killed. She tugged again on her wrists. The metal cut deeper into her skin, and she fought a whimper at the pain. Anger brought sharp focus to her eyesight. A blaring of a horn made her jump. Fear shoved the anger away. Her lungs wanted to seize up. “Where are we going?”

Madison smoothed her pencil skirt down. “To a safe place until Shane is contained. Then we’re going home. Thank God.”

“God?” Josie gasped. No way did the psychotic bitch believe in God. “Where might home be?”

Madison twisted in her seat to flash a tight smile. “Back East. Not the facility where dear Shane grew up, but similar. State of the art, in fact.”

The woman had more than one screw loose. “You honestly think you’ll be able to capture Shane, and he’ll go back to work for you? That he’ll be an ultimate soldier doing your dirty work?” Dr. Madison really didn’t know Shane.

The smile widened. “Of course. Now that we have you, Shane will do anything I want. And those brothers of his will follow suit.” She sniffed. “They’ve had an almost unnatural loyalty to each other since birth.” Her exhale scented the car with mint. “I wonder if it’s something we did with the genetic engineering.”

Josie shook her head, trying to ignore the pounding ache in her shoulder blades from her odd position. “More likely a survival instinct. To survive their childhood and being raised by a complete nut job like you.”

“Interesting theory.” Madison pursed her lips, lines in her forehead creasing as she frowned. “Though the commander held death over their heads. I just studied them. Put them through their tests and so on.” She turned around, her gaze wandering over Josie’s face. “So who’s with Shane? There must be one of the brothers close by. Close enough to call for help.”

Just Matt. Nathan had headed out to a new assignment. Could Matt and Shane take the commander and his soldiers? Josie raised an eyebrow. “Shane doesn’t need backup, and you know it. What kind of trap do you think will work, anyway?” There had to be some way to get a message to her husband. To warn him.

Tom switched lanes, allowing a hot yellow Ferrari to pass him on the left. “Let’s just say the trap involves nerve gas that would knock out a stegosaurus. Before your boy knows it, he’ll be at the new facility working to draw his brothers back in.”

What kind of gas? Shane had just recovered from a concussion and surgery—and he didn’t even have his entire memory back. Josie had to get out of there and warn him. How did people get out of handcuffs, anyway? The more she tugged, the harder the cold metal dug into her wrists. They were already raw. Blood oozed to coat the metal. Bile swirled up her throat, and she swallowed the horrid taste back down.

Tom signaled and took the off-ramp toward Miller’s Strip.

Josie stiffened. “We’re going to the airport?” Miller’s was a small, private airport for the superrich. She’d picked up wealthy clients there before. If she left Snowville, Shane might never find her. Panic threatened to cut off her breathing.