the man standing across from me. “Yeah.”
“Where have you been? And why the hell won’t you answer my calls?”
Despite his questions, there was a thread of relief in my friend’s voice.
Ex-friend, remember? “Why would I?” I answered absently, watching
Kayden move to the other side of the counter and take a seat on a bar stool.
In my ear, Tag cursed. “Dammit, Cyn. I don’t have time to explain shit now
—”
“Why are you calling me?” I cut him off, ice coating every word.
“Why are you in Sedona?” he shot back, his voice hard.
“I’m more concerned with how you got this number, and why everyone
seems determined to turn my cabin in to Grand Central Station.”
Momentary silence filled the line. “Shaw’s there?”
“Got it in one.”
“Thank God,” Tag muttered. “Be as bitchy as you want, Cyn, but tell me
you’re okay. You ran away—”
“I didn’t run from shit, Tag,” I snapped. “I was kicked to the fucking curb as
soon as you and everyone else got what you wanted.”
“That’s not what happened.”
My chin lifted, even though he couldn’t see it. “Really? Because from where
I stood, it sure as hell looked like it.”
Silence answered.
Turning away from Kayden’s too-avid gaze, I tried to regain control so I could shove both men back out of my life. “I’m fine, but I’m little busy dealing
with my own situation.”
“What kind of situation?” His voice sounded sincerely concerned.
Closing my eyes, I fought the urge to bang my head against a wall at the single-minded intensity of the male gender. “My sister is AWOL. Now, can we
just focus on why you’re bothering me, and Kayden has decided to pursue a career in B and E?”
Tag didn’t budge from his conversational target. “How long has Kelsey been
missing?”
The urgent note underlying his question fanned the flame of my earlier
unease. Was there something bigger at play here? Worry for Kelsey trumped hurt feelings, so I answered. “Not sure, a couple of hours maybe. Her car is here.”
Over the line a string of oaths erupted, and Tag proved no one could swear
like a marine. “Son of mangy bitch,” he wound down before taking a deep breath. “The cabin’s an hour and half outside of Phoenix?” He didn’t wait for my
confirmation. “I’ll meet you up there. Stay with Kayden.”
“Tag.” I put all signs of my waning patience into his name as my fingers tightened around the phone. It took an amazing amount of willpower not to share
my own colorful vocabulary. “You need to tell me what’s going on. Right. Now.”
The last two words squeezed around clenched teeth.
“It’s about Flash.” His unexpected answer stabbed deep, drawing blood
under my skin. “His killer is out.” Brutal memories boiled forth, almost making
me miss his, “Stay with Kayden, Cyn.”
My world spun as the drone of a dial tone filled my ear. I concentrated on replacing the phone in the cradle. My legs did a great impression of spaghetti noodles and folded under me, until I was sitting on the cool tile drowning in memories.
