Page 97 of In Hiding

“Not even me?”

He took her by the shoulders. Five years older than her and he still thought he knew better than her.

“Especially you. I know you would have come to find me. I had to think as though Ryan had me watched.”

Dread tightened her throat. “He’s out.”

“I know.”

“He’ll come.”

A single nod was all he answered with as William rejoined them. Erik’s expression softened as he turned to the boy. “Did she ground you for skipping school?”

William rolled his eyes. “And I got detention. You owe me.”

Looking impressed by William’s comeback, Erik chuckled. “Touché, kid.” To Sarah, he said, “I’m hungry.”

That was nothing new. He’d been ravenous his whole life, nearly eating them out of house and home. Now that he was the size of a mountain... With a nod, she led him to the kitchen where he stood at the window and gazed out over the wet landscape for a long time. She set a pot of casserole on to heat and busied herself peeling some potatoes to serve with it.

“Make yourself at home,” she told him. “William, please stock Erik’s room with wood. It’s going to get cold again.”

“Sure.”

As he made for the laundry, she reminded him to take his phone. He patted his pocket and disappeared. Beside her, Erik leaned against the counter and watched her work.

“Where’s Jake?”

Her hand slipped on potato juice and sent the peeler into her flesh. She swore as Erik scrambled to put her hand under running water. Sarah squeezed her eyes closed at the sting of the icy water, grateful she didn’t have to watch the blood run down the sink.

“There’s a first aid kit under the bench,” she said through gritted teeth. She heard him rummaging before his bulky presence returned to her side. “It’s your fault.”

“Liar,” he retorted. Falling into the banter of their youth was like pulling on a pair of old, worn jeans. The tap stopped and he took her injured hand in his. “Where’s Jake?”

Sarah stared out the window. “Gone.”

“What do you mean? Gone? I sent him here to protect you.”

“And by protect, you mean lie to me? Not tell me things I should know?” She shook her head. “I don’t need that kind of protection.”

Erik applied antiseptic cream to the wound, making her grimace. “Don’t be a baby.” The anger in his voice drew her attention. “He’s a good man, if a little unorthodox. Ryan nearly killed him the day he was assigned to my cell. I hardly knew him, but I knew some of his story.”

“He told me.”

Erik leaned closer to her ear. “Really? Did he tell you that he handed himself in to the cops for some stupid mistakes? That he got thrown in maximum security because he was too dumb and too broke to hire a better solicitor? And that because of those twists of fate, he was nearly sliced in two? I doubt it.”

She watched as he impatiently tugged her hand closer to bandage up her wound. “It’s true, he’s a good man,” she agreed. “But he lied and that means I can’t trust him.”

Her brother frowned at her, looking exasperated. “I trust him.”

It was too late now. Jake was probably halfway back to Melbourne. “He left, didn’t he? He didn’t stick around.”

“I know you, Kat.” Erik touched her nose. “I know you didn’t give him a chance to explain himself.” He shook his head and fastened the bandage. “I sent him because he had my back in prison. He proved himself to me time and time again. I trust him with your life. With William’s life.”

Her gut twisted. Mortified by her rash decision, she stared out the window again. Rain fell straight down, soaking the earth. Erik’s endorsement of Jake mocked her but not even he could deny Jake chose to leave. How many times had he ignored her instructions? How many times had he persisted where others would have given up? Why wouldn’t he persevere one last time?

He knew she feared Ryan. He said he believed her insistence that Ryan would come for them. After everything that happened between them, she’d started to trust him—against her own judgment. He’d shown her she could have confidence in him. Then he left. What was she supposed to make of that?

The unanswered question played like a carousel in her brain, looping round and round until she felt dizzy. Sarah closed her eyes against the nausea rising in her belly.

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