Rebecca Zanetti - Forgotten Sins

Good question. The phone stopped ringing and silence came over the line. A silence heavy with expectation. Someone listened, breathing softly. Lifting his eyebrow, Shane pressed the speaker button and put the phone on the dash. “Josie?”

A loud exhale sounded. “Shane, my boy. So good to hear from you.” Soft and sexy, the voice dripped with false sweetness.

Rage ripped through every muscle in his body. “Dr. Madison. I’d hoped you were dead.”

Next to him, Matt went rigid.

“Oh, Shane. You were always such a naughty boy.” The girlish tone from the psychopath nearly made Shane puke.

Matt opened his mouth to speak. Shane shook his head, his gaze narrowing on his brother. There was a good chance they didn’t know Matt was with him, and they needed all the advantage they could get. “Where’s my wife?”

“Well now, she’s safe right at the moment. Though I have to tell you, my Tom seems to have a nice little crush on her. Thinks he can get her pregnant and give me little soldiers.” A high-pitched giggle escaped the doctor.

What the hell? Tom? How had Shane missed it? He’d been played.

Shane focused his fury until his skin prickled. Calmness settled his limbs into a state of readiness. Emotion had to go. He tuned in with his hearing, trying to get a location. No sounds echoed in the background. “Tell Tom he’ll die slowly if he touches her.”

“Oh. Looking forward to it, jackass.” Tom’s voice came clearly over the line. “Taking a dive the other night in my own hallway really pissed me off. Can’t wait to give you an honest fight.” He chuckled. “After I screw your wife, of course. Again, that is.”

“You haven’t been near my wife, dumbass.” Shane lowered his voice. “You tried, though, didn’t you? For two months, when she thought it was over with me, she still didn’t turn toward you. Who the hell trained you, anyway?”

“You sure about that?” Tom asked. “With her background, she’s quite the little liar. Are you sure she told you the truth about us?”

“Yes.” Shane snorted. “You’re junior league. Don’t think for a second the psychotic bitch standing next to you right now won’t cut your throat to get to me. To get to one of my brothers.”

“You know,” Tom breathed, “I think I’ll have your wife call me ‘Jory’ as I fuck her tonight.”

Raw fury threatened to blow Shane’s calm façade. “I can kill you in ways you can’t even imagine.” Shane tightened his hands into fists, vaguely seeing Matt type something on his phone. Probably telling Nathan to trace the call.

Tom laughed again. “Think so? Well, I doubt it. We have the same training.”

No, they didn’t. Not even close. Matt had made sure his training beat anything the commander could come up with. At times Shane had truly hated his older brother. Now he thanked God Matt had been so ruthless in teaching them to survive. “You’re going to find out how wrong you are.” He needed to keep the line open for Nate.

“What’s the problem, Shane?” Madison piped up. “If I recall, you’ve shared a woman with more than one of your brothers.”

“The psychopathic whores you sicced on us don’t count.” He nodded as Matt gestured to keep them talking. “Of course, we wanted them far more than we ever wanted you. Not that we didn’t see how bad you needed it. Or wanted it. But you never got it now, did you? Bitch.” Though he had no doubt the crazy woman had screwed her way through several of the trainees through the years.

“Are you sure about that?” Her voice lowered to a breathiness that made his skin crawl. “You might want to double-check that fact with your brothers.”

Shane shook his head. If one of his brothers had fallen prey to the nut job, he sure as hell didn’t want to know about it. “What’s your plan here, bitch?”

“Calling names? That’s more Nathan’s style, not yours.” A rustling of paper came over the line. “How is good old Nathan, anyway? Killed himself with grief yet?”

Shane inhaled quietly, ignoring the pull at his fresh stitches. Forcing pain into a distant box, he slid calmness into his voice. “Nathan is married to a nice nurse with two kids. He moved on, Madison. Sorry to disappoint you.”

“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.”