Page 135 of Sin With Me

“You’re lucky to have brothers who can take care of you and who love you somuch.”

She narrowed her brows at me. “They shouldn’t worry. I can take care of myself.”

“Would you, if someone drugged you or put a chloroform cloth over your mouth?”

“I haven’t been in the situation, but yeah, I’ve been trained to get out of situations like those.”

“That’s good. That’s really good. But training is not the same as experience.” I couldn’t help but be wary of letting her help me. I’d need to re-evaluate this. However, if she could find John Huntz, I’d deal with him on my own, and I wouldn’t let the asshole come close to Emma – so technically, so long as she kept her end of the deal and stayed far away from him, maybe we could work together.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. Please continue your story.”

I inhaled deeply. This was the part of the kidnapping I’d need to adjust. There was no way I could tell her what a bad brother I’dbeen.

“Annabelle woke up a couple of hours later. She untied me and we scoured the small compartment we were in. You couldn’t even call it a room. It was a hole in the ground, no more than four feet high, and one we couldn’t stand up in. She didn’t remember who had caught us, and neither did I. Not until I was able to escape did I recognize the man who’d been trying to purchase our parents’ farm for years, all without success.”

“So, you’ve got a name?” Emma’s eyes grew wideopen.

“Yes, I’ve got a name. John Huntz.”

She immediately opened her phone and typed it in. “Tell memore.”

“I can still remember my sister’s trembles as she shook from the cold. Our teeth clattered so hard, I was sure I’d lose a couple. We held onto each other trying to retain and share any warmth we could. After about an hour of dragging ourselves around the small cave on our knees, we heard a hinge squeak, and a little girl’s hand reached down. She threw a banana and an apple toward us. We pleaded with her to let us out, but it wasn’t until the third try that she finally spoke through the thin slit. Her green eyes were so bright they didn’t look real. We didn’t even get her name.” I lowered myhead.

Emma squeezed my hand, asking, “What happened toher?”

“She helped us escape, but I don’t even want to think about what she must have gone through when Huntz found out. It wasn’t long before the cops were hunting him down. They’d found the little girl at her home, hidden amongst some clothes underneath a bed, all by herself. Huntz had left and never came back. There was no trace of a hole at the house – which we knew there wouldn’tbe.”

“How did youknow?”

“Because when we got out it was night time, and we were in the middle of a forest. We told the police and they searched the surrounding areas, but no one has ever found his hideout.

“Why dig up old wounds, Eric? Why not just let it go and move on with yourlife?”

“Because it seems that my parents haven’t been able to live in peace since that day. There’s a dark cloud hanging over their heads, and I’d like to find what that is. Call it a gut feeling, but I think Huntz may still be after their land. I need to find out why. I need for my parents to live in peace.”

“All right. Well, there’s no better place to start than your hometown. Plus you owe me those articles you didn’t bring with you. Even with today’s technology, they’re not all scanned into the system. I’d like to leave Friday. That will give me enough time to do some research at the office before we headout.”

“My ranch is ten miles south of Ogden. It’s a nine hour drive fromhere.”

Emma laughed. “Not when youfly.”

“I don’t fly.” I cringed.

“And I don’t make nine-hour drives that will tire meout.”

I crossed my arms, wondering how in the world I’d stumbled upon a woman who was so bossy. “How do you expect to book a flight on such short notice?”

“It’s not that difficult when you own a jet.” She shrugged.

She owns a frickin’ jet?I thought, before saying, “You’re not joking.”

“Do you see me laughing, Cowboy?”

“Is this a city thing? Where you have to fly when the destination’s just beyond city walls?”

“A nine-hour drive is not ‘just beyond city walls.’ Don’t worry, I’m not the one flying.”

“If you tell me you have a pilot’s license, I will strip naked and jump into Hudson River rightnow.”

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