Rebecca Zanetti - Forgotten Sins

Something hurt in Shane’s gut. Bad. And it wasn’t the bullet holes. “What then, Mattie?”

Matt dropped his gaze. Lines dug into his face. “Nate hacked into the computer system, and we found a video file showing Jory being tortured.”

“The commander?”

“I don’t know. Just saw Jory.”

Shane didn’t remember the tape. “I saw the video?”

“No. Nate and I saw it before a virus uploaded and pretty much exploded his system. What a mess.” He sucked in air, pain filling the oxygen around them. “I saw Jory die. Or rather, a video of his death.”

“Are you sure?” Shane whispered. Videos could be doctored.

“Yes. A woman shot him point-blank in the chest.”

“A woman?” Pain filled Shane’s body along with air as he breathed. “Just one shot?”

“No. Several.” Matt scrubbed his face. “I saw him fall. Saw his eyes go blank.” He coughed, closing his eyes. “I lost him.”

“Not your fault.” Shane shifted, hiding a wince at the pain. “So I went undercover to find out who killed him—and what he’d found before he died. Did I check in?”

“Yes. Not with information, but you let Nate know you were alive every other month. Until a month ago. Then you took off—without a word. We didn’t even know you’d broken cover until you triggered the Internet alerts looking for us.”

Shane sighed, his head aching. Something there… a memory. Reality flashed through, hard and bright. “I was heading to Seattle, to you, Matt.” He remembered going by his old base for mail and getting the divorce papers. “I stopped here on the way to deal with the divorce.” He’d waited for Josie at her house, the buzzing of the planted bugs instantly alerting him she was in danger. “Figuring the commander had found her, I set up my own bugs to find him, and the next day I had the run-in with Max’s men.” Ending up with him getting amnesia. “But I was coming to you. Something happened, I knew something.” He grabbed his head. What the hell was it?

“We need to figure out what you found.” Matt lowered his voice. “Shut your eyes and relax.”

Shane shut his eyes, forcing his heartbeat to slow. His breathing to even out. Such physical control the scientists had given him. An explosion ripped behind his eyelids. “Jesus.”

“What?”

“I remember blowing the facility up five years ago.” He opened his eyes. “We escaped. The barracks, the base… we blew it up and ran.” The horrible place they were raised, the horrible place where they were trained to kill. Destroyed. It was easy to blow the place to hell. But they’d remained safe for the time being because of Jory. He figured out how to corrupt the computer system—with most of their records—which made them harder to track and even harder to find. Jory was by far the smartest one of them.

“Maybe you should sleep. See if anything comes back in your dreams.” Matt’s voice lowered to a hoarse rumble.

Sounded like a good idea. “What’s your plan?” Shane asked.

“I’ll keep watch until you get your memories back, and we find out what you discovered.”

Doubt made Shane clear his throat. “Can you be away from your job any longer?” Another memory… of Matt searching for a witness. “You’re hunting somebody?”

“Yes.” Matt stood. In profile, Matt’s face appeared even harder than usual. Two strides had him at the door. “Get some sleep, Shane. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

His brother. The one who’d driven Shane so hard to train, so hard to fight. So he’d survive their childhood.

But they weren’t kids anymore. It was time someone protected Matt. Shane ran his hand through Josie’s silky hair. He’d been trained by the best, and he knew how to survive. Survival meant both Josie and his brothers lived. So he’d make sure they won. No matter the cost.

Josie stretched awake in the hospital bed, her face tucked into Shane’s shoulder. His steady breathing lifted his chest, and she wriggled out of bed to stand alongside his quiet form. She stepped into her tennis shoes, running her gaze over him. Even in sleep, an intensity lived on his face.

No softness, even now.

This was the first time she’d ever had the chance to watch him sleep. He had always been alert, ready to jump into action before she even left the bed. The doctor must’ve prescribed something incredibly strong in his IV.

Early light filtered through the blinds, scattering dust mites through the air. Bleach and the scent of freshly laundered linens filled her nostrils. The low murmur of voices wound through the hallway outside.

Her heart ached. Love wasn’t supposed to hurt, and she guessed it didn’t. The pain came from the uncertainty of where she stood with the sleeping soldier, and the damn kill chip. Would it actually take him out?

The smell of coffee out in the hall made her stomach rumble.

She reached for her cell phone on the counter and tucked it into her back pocket. Brushing her hands through her tangled hair, she tiptoed into the hallway and headed for the vending machine at the end.

“Mrs. Dean.” Detective Malloy glanced up from his perch on a worn chair, where he was scribbling in his notebook. “Sleep well?”

Josie faltered. “Yes, thank you.” What the heck was he doing there?

“Good.” Malloy stood, sliding the notebook into his wrinkled jacket pocket. “We need to go down to the station and finish up with the paperwork.”

A nurse plunked coins into the vending machine, and a candy bar dropped to the open slot. She grabbed it and walked down to a large counter. Josie watched her leave, then turned toward Malloy. “Why? I already gave my statement.”

“I know.” Malloy gestured toward the elevator. “But not only did you shoot a man, there are enough holes in your story to have my superiors wanting to send me back to detective school. I just need one more interview to put this entire matter behind us.”

“But my husband…” Josie stumbled toward the elevator.

“Will be fine.” Malloy pushed the down button, his face softening. “I checked with his doctors. We should have you back by the time he awakens later today.”

The door slid open, and Josie sighed before walking inside. “My story isn’t going to change.”

Malloy raised a bushy eyebrow, poking the button for the parking garage. His gray suit sat frumpy and wrinkled on his large frame, but a shiny green tie brightened the entire look. Nothing brightened his hangdog face.

“Don’t you ever sleep?” Josie frowned.

“As soon as we file the paperwork on the shooting, I’m taking some time off. Thanks to you, we’ve solved a huge case, and I deserve a break.” The door slid open and he gestured her toward a brown nondescript car double-parked in a loading zone.

Josie hesitated at the car.

Malloy opened the front passenger door. “It’s cleaner up here.”

She slipped past him and sat, waiting until he had stomped around the car and settled his bulk in the driver’s seat. “Are you going on vacation alone?”

He grinned, the smile making him seem years younger. “No.” Starting the ignition, he backed out of the space, his gaze on the windshield. “But there’s nothing wrong with being alone.”

His scent of peppermint and tobacco wafted through the car in an odd ambiance of comfort. “Are you trying to tell me something?” She clicked the seat belt into place.

“Kind of. I like you.” He maneuvered the large car out of the garage into the main road. “You’re smart and spunky in a really cute way.” He turned left toward the police station.

Why were hospitals always near police stations? Josie shifted in her seat. “Um, thanks?”

“You’re welcome.” He turned his attention back to the busy road, barely skirting a red sports car switching lanes. “Women rarely listen to my advice, but I feel the need to give it anyway. I think you should leave the past in the past… and move on. Away from danger.”

The big bear was trying to protect her. “You’re very sweet.”

“I am not.” The detective snorted.

“Are, too.” But the man couldn’t see that Shane and his brothers were her safe place to land. She loved and trusted Shane more than she would’ve thought possible. The realization set her firmly on her course. No matter what they’d done, or who they were, she wanted to keep them. She needed them. Family mattered, and she finally had one. “Please don’t worry about me, Malloy. I promise I know what I’m doing.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. You do seem like a smart gal. We’ll get the final paperwork done, and I’ll make sure you have a ride back to the hospital. But if you ever need anything, promise you’ll call.”

“I promise.” She eyed him from the corner of her eye. “Nice tie. Another gift?”

A light flush filtered across the detective’s worn face. “Yes.”

“Really? Who from?”

Malloy was actually blushing.

He pulled into a parking spot in front of the two-story brick building. “Let’s go inside, Mrs. Dean.”

She jumped out of the car and followed Malloy through the bustling entrance, past several uniformed young men to the same conference room as her earlier interview. The cold metal of the chair instantly chilled her butt. “You gave me coffee last time.”

Malloy smiled. “The receptionist will bring some in after she’s off the phone.” He slapped his notebook onto the scarred table. His chair scraped across the floor as he pulled the heavy frame away from the table before dropping his bulk down. His deep brown gaze settled on her face. “So. Please explain to me how your fingerprints ended up on the dead body of Billy Jones.”

* * *

Shane struggled to rise to consciousness. Bleach and medicinal plastic scented the air. Drugs. His blood pumped slower, his brain fuzzed. The doctors had drugged him. Probably class A narcotics—good painkillers. But something in the back of his head insisted he awaken. He needed to wake up.

But the drugs pulled him under. The dream caught him unaware, and he slid into it, accepting the return of memories.

In this dream he was an adult.

He sat against the trunk of an old pine tree, his legs extended before him, his gaze on the training field. The dusty field of hell where he’d learned to fight, where he’d learned to kill.

Matt and Jory sat with him, their gazes hard on Nathan as he beat the hell out of another soldier. Fist to flesh, blood spraying to stain the dust red.

“We’re sure Audrey was working with the commander?” Jory had asked, wiping blood off his chin from his training session.

Matt nodded. “Yes. Nate found proof—and she confirmed it just before several of the blue team were terminated.”

Some of those men had become good friends—especially to Nate.

Jory plucked a lone blade of grass from the beaten earth. “We need to go. Now.” His face tightened as Nathan threw the other soldier a good six feet across the field. Raw rage and pain cut deep into the hard lines of Nate’s face. “Something bad is coming, and we all can feel it.”

“This is the first time we’ve all been here at the same time in years.” The first time the damn commander and his scientists couldn’t extort them into killing in order to keep the other brothers alive. Usually at least two of them were out on missions at any given time.

Shane studied his brothers. Of them all, Jory and Matt looked the most alike. While they all had the odd gray eyes, only Jory and Matt had pitch-black hair. He wondered once again if the two shared the same mother. Or if any of them did. He focused on Jory. “Can you do it?”

“Yes.” Jory hopped to his size fourteen feet. His shoulders blocked out the sun. So much bigger than the scrawny brainiac Shane had protected many years ago. “I can take care of the entire computer system, if you can blow this place to hell.”

“The commander will come after us.” Matt stretched to his feet, his focus on the tight form of the man standing to attention at the edge of the field watching Nathan. “I’ve got the commander, but what about Emery?”

Dread slid through Shane. “You going to kill the commander?” Could Matt kill the man who’d trained them? Even now, even as an adult with so many kills behind him, Shane still sometimes thought the commander invincible. Pure evil.

“Yes.”

Jory shook his head. “Emery deserves a chance. He was raised in this hellhole, too.”

Shane rubbed the scar on his forearm that Emery had gouged with a bent paperclip when Shane was six. Two years older and just plain mean, the brown-eyed Emery was a favorite of the commander. “Emery is crazy and evil. I say we take him out, too.”