Page 11 of The Saint

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“We don’t usually trade in personal details.”

“I don’t know whoweis, but I need to know. Please.” She laughed quietly, voice shaking and in every way the opposite of his collected demeanor. “Don’t make me beg while I’m hiding under a bed.”

“Afuckin’bed,” he joked.

Her lips quirked. “Tell me who you are.”

“Camden.”

No last name, which was to be expected—if it was even his real name. Still, she believed everything else he’d said.Why not something so trivial?It didn’tfeeltrivial to her. This man was legendary. He’d saved her life by simply being on the phone.

“Thanks, Camden.”

He waited for an extra beat. “The agents are there. You’re going to hear them come in. Okay?”

“What about my sister—”

“They’re arriving simultaneously. They’ll find you and your sister soon.”

Voices called her name from the first floor. She could hear law enforcement clearing the rooms as they fanned throughout the house. “I can hear them.”

“All right. They’ll take care of the situation—I hope everything works out for you.”

She swallowed hard. “Things don’t work out well when they have to call you, do they?”

He laughed soberly as though she’d hit the nail on the head. “You did great tonight. Whatever happens, know that few people could have kept it together the way you did.”

CHAPTER FIVE

The gray sedan was gone, replaced by the spinning blue, white, and red lights of law enforcement vehicles. Amelia wasn’t sure how so many police cruisers and unmarked cars had fit into the neighborhood. The sheer number of people standing on sidewalks and in the Dumonts’ and Callaghans’ driveways was enough to fill a high school gymnasium.

Despite all that, Amelia didn’t know anything and had been all but trapped, ordered to stay put until Hailey and Jonathan were brought out. She shivered under the jacket someone had draped over her. Official-looking people with badges milled about the damp, foggy night. The rookie cop in charge of babysitting her looked as thrilled as she felt to wait, uninformed and ignored.

His radio crackled. He jumped at the chance to be involved. “Yeah, go ahead.”

Amelia didn’t catch the garbled order. The police academy must teach cadets how to decipher mumbles from static. Exhaustion flamed her irritability. If Amelia couldn’t find her sister and head to bed soon, she would scream. Standing around and shivering wasn’t making her mood any more congenial.

The rookie cop scanned the street then beckoned her. “Come with me.”

They weaved between unmarked cars through the labyrinth of uniformed people with badges and guns. Amelia miscalculated the curb while wearing Hailey’s wet, oversized shoes and stumbled. The rookie cop didn’t notice that she nearly face-planted.

Amelia caught up and found him with two suit-clad men. Neither wore ties. Both flipped their badges at her with such speed and finesse that she didn’t get a good look at them. Her brain garbled their names as though her hearing was filteredthrough cotton balls. She didn’t introduce herself. Everyone seemed to already know who she was.

The rookie cop was more animated than he’d been in the last hour, as if he wanted to impress the two men they were standing before. When the two suits shooed him away, disappointment dragged his features into an exhausted frown. She wanted to snap that at least he could go home to his family and his nice warm bed, not worrying that everything he understood about his world had been turned upside down.

Amelia crossed her arms over her chest. “Where’s my sister and brother-in-law? Can I talk to them now?” Their scrutiny made her unsteady. Apprehension tightened in her chest. Something was wrong with the only family Amelia had. “What?”

“I’m sorry. Jonathan didn’t make it.”

“Wait. What? No.” Her equilibrium tilted. Amelia’s legs went weak.Didn’t make itsounded like he died, like the nightmare was only getting worse. “What do you mean ‘didn’t make it’?”

One man’s frown dipped. The other’s brow furrowed. “Single shot to the back of the head. Found in the kitchen.”

Bile rose into her strangled throat. A tornado of words echoed and slammed in her pounding head. Their unemotional faces focused on her like she was a specimen in a lab.Jonathan didn’t make it?“No. That’s not possible.”

As if on cue, a gurney with a covered body was brought out the front door.

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