Page 41 of Evening Shadows

Turning over a couple of things that nagged at him that he couldn’t let go of. He should’ve addressed both of them before and cleared up what his mind had conjured before they’d departed. Now appeared the appropriate time to start. “Sam, why did you hold back that shot?”

Her breath caught, and he noticed a subtle change in her. She closed herself off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She substantiated this with a furrowed brow and a questioning look.

True, he hadn’t been specific, so maybe she didn’t understand. “You didn’t shoot the man aiming his weapon at Jesse when I first told you. It’s the only shot that you didn’t make within the span of a heartbeat.”

“Oh, that shot.” She acted innocent, but he didn’t believe her for a second. “I just didn’t see who you meant right away.”

He may love this woman, but that didn’t mean he’d blindly follow her words and deeds. Yet something about this entire scenario eluded him. Not sure he’d get a different answer, he tabled that topic until a better time.

“What did they ask you?” she said, deflecting the questioning off her.

He sighed and wished he’d remember not to do that because it pained his chest. “I only had one question about Cody.”

“One? You’ve been gone for about half the day. Were you really that obstinate?”

And he’d suffered all those hours as they passed with basically that same questions with only Alejandro and Jose—his new least-favorite person. “He only wanted to know if Cody was safe.”

“He? You mean Alejandro?”

“Yes,” Ken responded.

“He didn’t want him back? That’s odd. He wanted him back earlier. Why kidnap him at all?”

That’s where it had gotten strange. “He wanted confirmation that Cody wouldn’t go back to Beverly and that he’d go to someone who loved him and could give him a good home. If HIS couldn’t do that, he wanted the boy back.”

Her face brightened. “Good. We can promise that, so there’s no need to hold us any longer.” Looking hard at him, she must’ve realized what he hadn’t told her. “There’s more, isn’t there? They wouldn’t have beaten you otherwise.”

How much to tell? He loved her, but in this case he didn’t know if he could trust her. One coincidence shouldn’t sway his mind, but he couldn’t let it go. The first non-Cody question they’d asked had him reliving her actions.

His mind couldn’t settle on what to believe. If she’d been in on this, she wouldn’t be in the cell with him. Unless her goal was to get the information he hadn’t shared. But that didn’t make sense either because she’d have whatever information they’d asked him for.

Because of his heart, he kept making excuses for her and didn’t want her to be involved. He had to stop that and treat her like any other teammate. After letting everything brew around in his mind again, he came to the same conclusion—love and trust firmly in a battle.

If he wanted to escape, he had to because he couldn’t do it alone. The question was if she’d rat him out or help him. But would she only be helping him to further Alejandro’s cause?

He just couldn’t figure out how she knew the man. She’d acted as if she’d never heard of him at Beverly’s nor when they’d been introduced upon arrival.

“Ken,” she prodded, “what did they want?”

“He knew that even though he’d said otherwise that Beverly would call you, and you’d bring HIS. I think he’d planted that seed at some point.”

If he didn’t know better, he’d say her hackles rose. Whether that happened to be about the situation, the boy, or her friend he didn’t know, but she had reacted.

“He wanted HIS here.” He watched her closely for any telltale signs of duplicity.

“I thought HIS didn’t know him.”

“I thought you didn’t either,” he accused.

Her hand stilled in his hair and she stiffened. “What do you mean? The first time I’ve seen the man was when you did.”

Her phrasing hadn’t escaped him. It could be nothing, and he hated how quickly he’d come to not giving her the benefit of the doubt. She didn’t deserve this from him, but he had to get to the bottom of it before any more trouble surprised the team.

“Seen?”

“What’d you mean?” She narrowed her eyes. “What are you accusing me of?”

Glad she hadn’t jumped up and allowed his head to drop, he softened his tone. “I’m trying to see if there’s a connection between you and Alejandro.”

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