Silent Run(98)

“I do, but—”

Before she could finish they heard heavy footsteps on the porch. The police and paramedics had arrived. It was time to officially end her life on the run.





Chapter Twenty-two


“Hell of a day,” Dylan said as he joined Jake on the back deck of Teresa’s house just before nine o’clock that night. “Are you all right?”

Jake glanced down at his daughter in his arms and smiled. “Better than ever.”

The past ten hours had been filled with grueling questions from both the local police and the feds, but he had finally been released. He’d come straight back to Teresa’s house, and now he was right where he wanted to be. Caitlyn had one hand on his shoulder and the other hand on the bottle of milk she was sucking down. She stared up at him with complete trust and love. He didn’t know if she remembered him or if she was just happy with her bottle, but whatever the reason for her joy, he was thrilled. His daughter was safe, and he had her in his arms, where she belonged.

“I picked up some food,” Dylan said. “If you’re hungry. It’s inside.”

“Maybe later. Is Sarah back yet?”

“No. She’s still down at the station.”

Jake was sorry to hear that. He wondered why they were keeping her so long. She hadn’t even been in the room when he’d shot Victor. He hoped to God that Sarah wasn’t right about the justice system not always being just. “I wish they’d release her,” he said aloud.

“There was a time when you would have wanted them to lock her up and throw away the key.”

“It’s more complicated now,” he muttered.

“I know. The feds want Sarah to retrace her steps since she disappeared out of Witness Protection eight years ago,” Dylan replied. “I’m sure they also want her to help them link Victor to some of the other deaths in his circle of friends.” Dylan sat down in the chair across from Jake. “I think Sarah is going to get some unexpected help in that regard.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just checked on the condition of Victor’s buddy, Rick Adams. He has a concussion, but he’s awake. Apparently when he learned that Victor was dead, he was eager to talk about how Victor had killed off a bunch of people, including that guy you tangled with earlier, Shane Hollis. That should back up your self-defense argument.” Dylan paused, frowning at him. “By the way, you should have let me tell them I killed Victor. No one else would have known. We were the only ones in the room—well, except for Catherine, but she wouldn’t have told.”

“I would have known,” Jake snapped back. “For God’s sake, I’m not going to let you go to prison for me. What the hell kind of brother do you think I am?”

“You have a kid to take care of. I don’t have anyone. You have a lot more to lose than me.”

“I don’t lie. I don’t shirk my responsibility. I wouldn’t let Sarah take the fall for me, and I certainly wouldn’t let you.”

Dylan appeared surprised by his statement. “Sarah offered to take the fall for you?”

“Yeah, before the police got there.”

“That seems out of character, but I guess neither one of us really knows who she is, do we?”

Jake was about to agree, but the words wouldn’t come. He’d learned a lot about Sarah in the past few days, more than he’d learned in the entire two years that they were together. And now that he knew about her past, her behavior made a lot more sense. Still, he wasn’t quite ready to talk about Sarah with Dylan. He decided to change the subject. “I don’t think I said thank-you for saving my ass.”

“Sure you have—about a dozen times. And you saved your own ass. I was just your wingman.”

“If you hadn’t come in when you did, we’d all be dead.”

“Finally, my timing was right.” Dylan’s gaze moved to Caitlyn, then back to Jake. “You look good doing that. Like a dad.”

“I’m not sure I know how to be a father. We certainly didn’t have a good example.”

“You’ll figure it out. You have a heart. Our own father didn’t. You actually love your kid.”

“More than I ever imagined. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see her again. I hope to God she never remembers being held or taunted by that bastard. When I saw him with his gun at her head, I wanted to kill him.”

“He had the gun at her head?” Dylan echoed.

Jake nodded grimly, still remembering that moment when he’d run into the bedroom and seen his daughter’s life in jeopardy. “But this little angel here, she knocked the gun out of his hand and started screaming. I tackled him, but his buddy showed up and distracted me, and the next thing I knew I was halfway to unconscious. Then you came in. I hope Caitlyn doesn’t remember what she went through.”