She stared at him, eyes wide, listening intently.

“What’s most important to me is that you’re happy. I want to destroy what hurts you.” His grip tightened on her arms. “But when it’s your sister that’s hurting you, what can I do to fix it? I’ve never felt so helpless in my life and it’s unbelievably frustrating. I can’t order you to stay away from her, but damn, that’s what every cell in my body is screaming!”

He breathed hard, waiting for her reply.

“So we agree we’re both angry,” she said softly. “And completely at a loss for what is the right thing to do.”

Mason leaned forward, resting his lips against her forehead. “I’ll do whatever you want to do. This is your fight, and I’ll support you every step of the way,” he said quietly, ignoring the deafening voice in his head that wanted to order her to drop the search for her sister.

No good could come out of locating Jayne.

But what Ava needed came first.

11

He circled the fat man tied to the chair.

“You know, Joe, this was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made,” he said. “I liked you. I liked you a lot. Carson and Aaron were dicks. I can see that now, but you were one of the good guys. Why’d you let yourself get caught up with them?”

Joe couldn’t speak. The ball gag in his mouth blocked his words¸ but his eyes screamed out his thoughts. Don’t kill me!

“It’s too late, Joe. I’m truly sorry for that. But you had your chance. All of you had your chance to set this to rights and you did the opposite!”

Joe’s eyes bulged.

“What? You didn’t agree with Carson and Aaron’s plan?”

The tied man frantically shook his head.

“Are you trying to tell me that you didn’t have a part in my beating in downtown Portland in January? I got the shit kicked out of me. And that guy was about to slit my throat when I managed to kick him in the balls. Do you think it’s a coincidence that happened a week after I contacted everybody?”

Joe looked confused.

He studied him. “I know Carson was behind it. He has connections.” Joe still didn’t seem to know what he was talking about. “You see this?” He pulled aside his collar and showed the healing gash on his neck. “Before he died, Carson swore he didn’t hire the guy, but we both know Carson is the king of liars. He coached us, remember? His motto was always ‘Deny, deny, deny.’ ”

Joe nodded, his eyes wary.

“I trusted you guys! I thought you all were taking me seriously when I called us together. I thought we had each other’s backs. Imagine my shock when I figured out what they’d done. Aaron told me I had it coming. He didn’t deny it. He and Carson had agreed it was the only way to quiet me. But look who’s quiet now!”

The man wildly shook his head.

“They left you out of that aspect of the plan?”

He nodded.

“I guess that makes sense. You wouldn’t be much help, and the fewer people who knew they’d hired someone to kill me, the better.” He sighed, shaking his head.

Joe shook his head, muted squeals coming from his mouth.

“You feel remorse for what you did way back then?”

More distressed nods.

“Well, why the fuck didn’t you remedy the situation when I offered you the chance?”

The large man’s body shook with sobs.

“Everybody wants to make it right after they’ve been caught. All those criminals that cry with remorse at their trials are only crying because they got caught. Not because they destroyed someone’s life. You’ve been caught.”

Joe’s chin rested on his chest as tears streamed down his fleshy cheeks. He’d put on a lot of weight in the last decade. From the looks of it, eating and watching TV were about all he did.

“Were you able to let it go? It looks like Carson and Aaron moved on just fine with their lives. They had the personalities to put the past behind them, but your life has sorta gone to crap. Is that what happens when you’re eaten up inside by guilt?”

Joe didn’t look up anymore. He’d given up pleading with his eyes and simply stared at the floor, letting the tears soak his old T-shirt. Joe gave a low moan, which he took as a positive reply to his question.

“Good. Then deserved you part you . . .” He stopped, shook his head to straighten the words in his brain, and slowly stated, “Then you got part of what you deserved. I’m here to deliver the rest.”

Dammit. Joe had looked up during his messed-up sentence, a question in his eyes. He swallowed and stood straighter, slipping the utility knife out of his pocket. Joe’s gaze immediately went to the tool, and his curiosity about his speaking problem vanished. The chair shivered under his big frame.

That’s better.

Sometimes he couldn’t think of the word he wanted to say. Sure, everyone had that problem occasionally, but every single day? He’d said, “You thank” to the grocery store clerk yesterday and received an odd look in return. He had laughed it off and immediately corrected the phrase, but his face had burned as he’d left the store.

It’s getting worse.

Since the diagnosis he’d avoided all social situations. No dating, no beers with friends, no casual discussions in bookstores. In his mind he’d gone dark. He did everything he could by using the Internet now. Banking, shopping . . . thank God for the chat features on most websites. People were used to seeing typos during chats. It was the errors that were spoken out loud that made people stop and stare.