so happy.'
'I am happy.' Briony wiped at the flowing tears. 'Whitney did something to my memory, and I couldn't think about my past without feeling pain. I couldn't remember anything, but as soon as I did. I tried to find you.' She took two steps closer but stopped again, afraid of rejection.
Mari took a step toward her. 'Whitney did that to anyone leaving the compound. He liked to tell me he knew where you were, and what he could do to you if I didn't cooperate.'
Briony ducked her head. 'I' in sorry. It must have been terrible for you.'
'No,' Mari said quickly. 'It wasn't. Not really.' She took another step toward her sister. 'I didn't know any other way of life, and as a child, it was rather exciting. I missed you every single day.'
A fresh flood of tears turned Briony's face bright red. Jack started across the room, but Mari got there first. She gathered her sister into her arms and held her. Jack stilled, halfway to his wife, his throat working convulsively. If there was one thing he couldn't take, it was Briony's tears.
Ken handed him a cup of coffee, and they sat at the kitchen table while their women went off together, arms around each other, into the great room.
Jack scrubbed his hand over his face. 'Briony's killing me with her tears. I'm hoping Mari can get her to stop.'
Ken flashed him a small grin. 'You're looking a little pale, bro. What are you going to do when she goes into labor?'
'I'm contemplating shooting myself.' He tapped the table restlessly. 'What about you? How are things going?'
The grin faded, and for a moment Jack glimpsed pain sliding into the shadows in Ken's eyes. 'She isn't going to stay.'
'You sure?'
'Why would she? She's got everything going for her. I'm not exactly normal. And unlike Briony, she isn't going to be accepting of me telling her what to do all time.'
Jack nearly snorted coffee through his nose. 'Is that what you think? Briony pretty much tells me how it's going to be, except maybe in the bedroom, and even then, she likes what I do to her or she wouldn't be doing it. Don't kid yourself, bro, my woman makes up the rules and yours will too.'
'Maybe.' Ken couldn't very well tell his brother just what it took to feel with his skin sliced to pieces-although maybe Jack already had guessed. More than once he'd repaired damage when Ken had been unable to feel the blade of a saw slicing through his hand until it was too late. He didn't want to go there and see pity in Jack's eyes. 'You hear anything about the senator?'
'He's being guarded at an undisclosed location. No one is saying how badly he's hurt. Nothing on the news. Not a single thing about him being shot and nothing in the media about Whitney's laboratory. The general sent in a team, but the place is abandoned and all data appears to be destroyed. Of course they'll take weeks to comb through everything. Whitney's moved on.' Jack frowned. 'Logan radioed last night to warn us that Sean was last seen getting off a plane in Montana. He's heading here. You know he is.'
Ken nodded. 'I was certain he'd follow her, but I didn't think he'd come so quickly. Take the women and get out of here, Jack. I'll deal with him.'
Jack grunted. 'Like that's going to happen. I've already called Logan. He'll be here in an hour, and he'll protect the women. I'm going to be backing you up just the way we always do it.'
'Sean isn't going to stop until he has her or he's dead. Whatever Whitney does to these men makes them believe they're entitled to the women. They don't care whether the woman wants them or not; she's a possession.'
'We'll get him.' Jack's fingers drummed against the table-top. 'You realize Whitney isn't alone in this? Senator Freeman's father is involved, and Mari dropped the name of a banker. She's seen at least two of the others, and that means the other women probably have as well.'
'Which increases the risk to them. Whitney and the others are going to want them back for many reasons. I should have realized when Mari didn't really talk about them or let me see what they looked like when she was thinking about them, that they planned to strike out on their own.'
'You can't really blame them for not trusting anyone,' Jack said.
'No, but I'm a little upset with Mari. If she'd warned me, I could have tried to persuade them that there was help out there for them.' He kept his face averted from his brother. Mari was thinking of leaving him. She was going to join her sisters and follow through with their original plan. He was desperate to cage her-but how?
'She trusted you with her life, just not with the other women's.'
'She did at that,' Ken agreed, and stared out the window as he sipped at his coffee.
An hour later. Logan arrived, grim-faced and angry.
'I spotted Sean, or what I'm fairly sure was him.' he said. 'He ducked into the trees and he's too careful to make the same mistake twice. I didn't have a clear identification so I couldn't take him out.'
'How close is he?'
'Close, Ken. He's moving fast. Tell me what you want and I'll get it done.'
'You're going to stay and protect Mari and Briony. Jack's going to climb the mountain and let Sean get a real good look at him. Hopefully he'll think it's me. I'll try to look like Mari and go for a little walk, lead him away from the house to the spring that runs along the bluff. I'm guessing he'll make his try for Mari. If not, he'll go after Jack. Either way, Jack will be waiting or I will.'
'And I babysit.'
'You've got the most important job, Logan,' Jack said, coming up behind them. 'Anything happens to Briony and I'm no good to anyone anymore.'
'I feel the same way about Mari,' Ken added. 'If he gets by us, you have to kill him. No matter what, he has to die.'
Logan nodded and glanced at the two women as they entered the room.
'Why the grim faces?' Briony asked.
Jack took her hand and tugged until her smaller body was up against his. 'You're going to have go down into the tunnel, Bri. We have a nasty visitor and we can't take any chances. Get your emergency pack and go with Mari and Logan.'
Mari frowned and shook her head. 'It's Sean, isn't it? He's found us.'
'That's right, honey, and you've got to get moving,' Ken said. 'Go with your sister and Logan. We'll take care of this.'
'What? You think I'm going to go hide while you and your brother put your lives on the line for me? Think again,' Mari snapped, her dark eyes flashing. She looked furious. 'Sean is my responsibility, not yours.'
'Like hell. Get in the damned tunnel, Mari, where I don't have to worry about you while I take care of this bastard.'
'I'm going to stay with you.'
Strobes went off in the house. A soft alarm buzzed. Jack and Ken sent Logan a quick, hard look. 'An hour?' Jack said.
'I don't have time for this,' Ken snapped, his voice icy cold. 'You'll do what I say. This is about safety, and when it comes to safety, you get in line, no arguments.'
'No one controls me.
Ken stepped closer to her. his eyes glacier-cold. 'You'll do exactly what I say when I say it, Mari. I'm not fucking around here. I'm not about to let you get shot so that you can prove a point. This isn't about freedom or whatever else you think it is. Sean wants you any way he can have you. He's got to go through me to get to you. If I fail, and Jack fails and Logan fails, you're welcome to blow him away.'
Mari's face paled and she took a step back.
'Don't you dare look at me like you're afraid I'll hit you!' Ken caught her arm and jerked her toward him.
Mari's hands came up in a defensive lighting position. 'Get off of me.'
'That was really sensitive of you,' Jack declared. 'Sheesh, Ken, can you be any dumber?'
Ken ignored his brother and pulled Mari tight against his body. 'Last night I was so deep inside you we were sharing the same skin. And today you're going to look at me like I'm some kind of fucking monster.' He looked down
