Page 91 of In Hiding

A well of hurt opened within her at the thought he didn’t tell her of his arrival. The last time she saw him, she was fading in and out of consciousness. He was covered in blood—hers, William’s, and Ryan’s. She would never forget the pure fear in his eyes as she felt her own life force pour out of her. She remembered him shouting at her to stay with him. He ordered her to endure the pain and forbade her from allowing death to spirit her away. In her mind she saw the terror on his face, heard the resignation in his voice.

Why, after everything they’d been through, would he not tell her he was here? She didn’t understand what good it would do for him to hide in town.

“Sarah? Are you okay?”

Wilson handed her a glass of water. She swallowed the liquid to clear the lump in her throat. “You’ve spoken to him?”

“I have. He’s a very interesting character, I must say. Now that I think about it, the resemblance between you is quite remarkable.”

He was five years older than her, but everyone noticed their similarity. “He’s my big brother.”

Wilson smiled. “Big. Yes. Very. I’m surprised Jake didn’t say anything.”

Jake knew?

The war between joy and anger took a nasty turn and betrayal settled heavily in her gut. That he would keep such a secret from her was the greatest disappointment of all. He understood how hard it had been for her to trust him. He’d promised to never lie, to tell her the truth. Was that before or after Erik came to town?

“Don’t be angry, Sarah. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for this.”

Blinking, she focused on Wilson. The hope is his eyes wasn’t confident at all. Smart man. “Oh.” She stood. Unsteady at first, she took a breath and willed her body to be strong. “Don’t worry, Sergeant. Tell me, will your warning system alert you to when my ex-husband arrives in town? Or is that beyond your scope?”

His apologetic expression more than answered her question. “I’m sure he has been told to keep his distance from you.”

Sarcastic laughter bubbled out of her. “How many domestic violence victims have been promised the same thing?”

He stepped back. “It’s not a perfect system, I admit.”

“No.” She led the policeman to the front door. Pulling open the door, she was greeted by the return of Jake’s ute. “It’s not perfect, not by a longshot. Thank you, Neville. I appreciate you coming to tell me.”

The man looked lost for words as he watched Jake appear and climb the stairs to the house. “Don’t be too hard on him.” Then he left.

Jake’s smile fell when Wilson sped by him and he looked to Sarah. She shook her head and barred the doorway. Appearing behind Jake, William frowned in confusion. Jake opened his mouth to speak but she held up a hand.

“I don’t want to hear it.” She focused on William. “Go clean up for dinner.”

“But—”

“Go.”

Squeezing by her, he kissed her cheek. She waited until his footsteps stormed up the stairs and faded into silence.

“Sarah—”

“You lied to me.”

He shook his head. “About?”

“Erik.”

“Oh.”

“I’m done with it. You’re fired. Pack your bags and go.”

“Sarah, I didn’t lie to you.”

“So, what? You just omitted the truth? Same deal. You know how hard it’s been for me to trust you. Why, after everything I told you, would you still think it was okay to withhold information? He’s my brother.” She shook her head, not interested in an answer. Hot tears gathered in her eyes. “You need to go. Now.”

He stepped toward her. Instinct forced her backward.

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