Page 7 of Three Steps Behind

Harper reached for the strand of hair that always managed to slip across her forehead, but it was gone, left on the tangled vine in the harsh Syrian landscape.

“It’ll be okay, luv,” Grey said, rubbing Riley’s arms.

Harper watched the pair, feeling so out of touch. When had the two become a couple?

Then again, she always felt out of touch. As if she were floating in and out of reality—her feet light and airy. The sensation was disconcerting, but the agency psych assured her that was normal. Yeah. Normal for a hot mess. She wished she had someone to comfort her like Grey did for Riley, but even if she had someone, her skin crawled the moment anyone got within a foot of her. She had a mental boundary that, when crossed, suffocated her.

Would that end? Heal “in time” like her therapist said? Or would she be broken forever? The icy fingers of the swift Yarmouk River continued to yank her under, stealing the breath from her lungs—only nobody else could see it.

“Look . . .” their dad, Art, jangled the coins in his pants pocket. Some things never changed. It’s how Deck would hear him coming as a kid. Gave him enough notice to get Riley tucked away before his parents entered—always striving to protect Cool Whip the best he could, but he hadn’t done nearly enough. What she’d been through, what they’d all been through at his parents’ hands . . . Anger roiled inside.

“It’s past time for you to go,” Deck said, cutting off his dad’s thought.

“Agreed. I should go before Max’s men catch back up with my trail.”

Deck ground his teeth, the small muscle in his jaw pulsing. “Back up? Big Max knows you’re alive?”

“How?” Christian grunted out.

“I went to see your mother. I used an assumed name, but he must have had someone watching who recognized me.”

Deck scowled. A watcher had been there the few times he’d visited his mother too. A solitary man there under the pretense of speaking with another inmate, but his gaze never left them. He was one of Max’s. Had to be. Waiting to see if their father’s death was a con, and apparently Max had called it right. Now what? Would he show up on their land? Had their dad led him here?

“You knew he was after you, and you still came?” Deck shook his head, disgust for the man standing ten feet away from him. “Could you be any more selfish? Same old Dad.” He rolled his hands into fists in his pockets, stretching the denim.

“I was careful.” Their father slipped his gloved hands into his camel overcoat.

“You shouldn’t have taken the risk,” Christian said. “Not with our lives. But it wouldn’t be the first time, would it?”

“I told you,” he bit out. “I lost them.”

Deck stiffened. They’d built their business and lives under a new, albeit legal name, and lived in the boonies, but he wasn’t naïve enough to believe if Big Max wanted to find them, he wouldn’t. With Max and his arsenal of thugs, there was no place safe enough to hide. None. They’d have to face him at some point. It was just a question of when. Between Riley’s last case indicating he already had a bead on them and their dad’s resurrection, their meet-up wouldn’t be far off.

“Get off our land,” Christian said, his already broad shoulders broadening.

“Land?” Their dad chuckled. “You own a pile of dirt.”

“We own homes, and we bought this”—Deck gestured across the landscape—“honestly. With hard-earned money. Something you know nothing about. Now leave. I won’t say it again.”

“I’ll go, but you’re making a big mistake.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because Max will try to get answers out of you if he can’t catch me. Which he can’t. I know how to disappear.”

Probably where Riley got her skills of hiding battered women from their abusive husbands—getting them out of harm’s way and making them disappear.

Christian shifted his stance. “Answers about what?”

“I’ve made Max’s money last well. He’s going to want to confirm that and discover where the remaining money is hidden, not to mention other items of invaluable worth.”

Deck rested his hand on his waist, crooking his finger through his belt loop. “Other items?” What else had he stolen from Max? This was getting worse by the second.

“That’s a story for another day, but the money—”

“We have no idea where you hid it,” Christian said. “So why would Max bother to question us?”

“I’ll have to explain that later. Right now, I need you to listen to me. It’s vital you find your sister.”