are you here?”
“To find you. And it wasn’t easy. You have no cell phone, and your house is like some kind of remote fortress or something.”
“Not remote enough, if you found it.”
She pushed another twig into the fire and edged so close her knees were almost touching the flames. “I...came to warn you that Wade had escaped.”
“Police could tell me that. So why did you come? Not just to warn me. You don’t care about me. Why?”
She was quiet. The little flames danced and popped, painting light and darkness across his face. Was there any of Wade’s darkness in his brother, Mitch? They shared genes.
That doesn’t mean anything, she told herself savagely. DNA doesn’t determine who you are—your soul does. But what kind of soul did Mitch Whitehorse have? Didn’t matter. He was the one, the only one, who could save what mattered most.
“I came because I need you to help me put Wade back in prison.”
He blinked. “So now you’re afraid of him, too? Why? You turned a blind eye while he kidnapped and murdered three women.”
She sucked in a breath. “I know you don’t believe me, but I didn’t know what Wade was doing.”
“You didn’t know the guy you married was a serial killer?”
The judgment was there in his eyes, the same she’d seen in the courtroom, the cops, the people who drove by her house and threw rocks into her windows, flattened her tires, sent death threats.
She swallowed hard against an onslaught of bitter tears. “I was blind, stupid blind, but I did not know.”
A long moment passed between them. “You’re right. I don’t believe you.”
She sagged. What else had she expected? Why would Mitch be any different? “Okay. Don’t believe me, but Wade has come here to kill you, and after he does that, he’ll kill me, too.”
“Why would he want to kill you? If you’re really innocent, why would Wade want to do that?”
“Because he will eventually find out that I have something he wants, something that I won’t ever give to him while I have breath in my body.”
“What could you have that would make him care enough to come after you?”
Her head spun, and she fought for breath. Tell him? What choice did she have?
“I have his son.”
She was lying, Mitch thought. Manipulating him, just like Wade. He crawled to the cave entrance both to scan for any sign of Wade or the returning police and to give himself a moment to think. It wasn’t easy with the hammering pain inside his skull and the cold that still made every movement arduous.
I have his son.
“I was pregnant,” she said, so low he almost didn’t hear it. “At the time...when things began to come out. I...I didn’t love Wade, hadn’t for a long time, when I began to notice things about him, scary things.” Her gulped breath made something inside him tense. “I was making secret plans to get away, which I’m sure you don’t believe.” Flames crackled as she threw another twig on the fire. “I was only four weeks along when the police came to arrest Wade. Two months at the time of the trial.”
“And he didn’t know?”
“No, but I was terrified he’d guess. I moved away and changed my identity. Wade found my hiding place two days ago, but I was out at the time and I got away.”
“Why’d he come for you, then, if you aren’t his accomplice?”
He saw a shudder pass through her. “He told me we’d always be together. I think he believes I belong to him and I’d help him.”
The starkness in her tone was convincing, but he’d heard a lot of convincing liars before. “Where’s the kid?”
She flinched. “Somewhere close. Safe.”
He yanked around to look at her. “Where?”
Her eyes flashed silver fire at him. “Somewhere safe,” she repeated, the words hard and clipped. Then she cleared her throat. “Ben is not even three yet, so he doesn’t understand any of this.”
“You need to tell me where he is.”
Her chin went up. “I don’t need to tell you anything.”
He stepped closer, staring her down. “If Wade suspects, he’ll get to your boy, no matter what kind of hiding place you’ve found.”
Her chin trembled, or maybe it was a trick of the firelight. “You don’t think I know that?”
“Then tell the cops. They’ll protect you.”
Her laugh was filled with bitterness. “The cops didn’t keep Wade in prison. They didn’t prevent people from sending me death threats and vandalizing my house. No one protected me.”
“Because you and your husband killed three women and almost a fourth if she hadn’t gotten away.”
She jerked as if he’d slapped her, then wrapped her arms around her middle and stared at him. “I...didn’t...know.” The lines around her mouth were hard, and every muscle in her frame was taut. “I didn’t know.” She moved quickly, snatched up a stick and cracked it in two. “You’ll never believe me. Think what you want, but...” Her voice broke. She cleared her throat and restarted. “My son, my little boy, does not deserve to pay the price for his father’s crimes. Please.” She was still on her knees, crouched in front of the meager fire. “Please help me. I have no one else.”
No one else.
He rubbed a hand through his hair, but it ignited a trail of pain, so he stopped. “I’m not your guy.”
“I saved your life.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” His harsh tone bounced back to him.
She stood now. “I’m not asking for myself. This isn’t about my life. It’s about my son’s.”
Silence grew between them, interrupted only by the pop and hiss of the fire.
“Right now we have to figure out how to get out of this cave without getting shot. That’s all.” He turned his back on her again and surveyed the cove. The fog had thinned a bit after the sun sank into the choppy waters. It was almost fully dark. The only way they were going to survive was to retreat from the cave back up to the trail that loped along the cliff top.
“Gonna climb up to the trail. Rosie will get us back to my place.”
“Who’s Rosie?”
“My
