Evan stretched out with a deep sigh. He didn’t want to think about the fact that he was oddly comforted that Annalise was so nearby, that they were both fighting side by side to save a little girl.
He definitely didn’t want to think about what would happen to him...to her...to them if in the end, Sadie wasn’t saved.
Chapter Ten
Annalise jerked awake, surprised to realize she’d nodded off in her desk chair. The clock said it was just after midnight, and with a quick glance around she immediately knew what had awakened her.
Evan was having one of his nightmares. He’d had them occasionally when they had been together, although he’d never shared with her what they were about. He tossed and turned, his features twisted as he breathed rapidly...harshly.
Her first instinct was to wake him, to get him out of wherever he was in his sleep landscape. But she paused and hoped the nightmare would pass and he’d continue to get some more much-needed sleep.
His thrashing grew more intense, and Annalise half rose from her chair, afraid that he would end up falling off the sofa. “Maria!” The name exploded out of him and he bolted upright. He swiped his hands down the sides of his face and released a deep breath.
“Evan, are you okay?” Annalise asked softly. “You were having one of your nightmares.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He swung his legs off the sofa and sat up. “What time is it?”
“Just a little after midnight. Evan, who is Maria?”
She was sorry she’d asked him the question the minute it left her mouth and she saw his reaction. His face paled as he sat up straighter. “How do you know anything about Maria?” he asked.
“I don’t know anything about her. You just called out her name and now I’m curious.”
He held her gaze for a long moment and reached a hand up to rub the back of his neck. He broke eye contact with her and stared down at the coffee table, but before he did so she saw what appeared to be stark grief sweep over his features.
He released an audible sigh. “Maria is...was my younger sister.”
She looked at him in stunned surprise. She’d met his mother on a trip they had taken to New York, but in the two years they had dated Evan had never mentioned he had a sister. She’d always thought it was just he and his mother.
“You never told me about her,” she said.
“There’s not much to tell. I don’t know if she’s dead or alive. She disappeared when she was five years old.”
Annalise gasped. “Disappeared? What do you mean? What exactly happened?” She got up from the desk and sank down next to him on the sofa.
He immediately stood and began to pace back and forth in front of her. The grief she’d seen momentarily before now captured his features once again, along with something else...some emotion she couldn’t quite identify. “Tell me, Evan,” she said softly.
“It was an early evening on a Tuesday. My mom had worked all day cleaning a couple of really nasty apartments for our landlord. She was hot and exhausted by the time she got home. All she asked was that I take Maria outside for about an hour or so to let her take a quick shower and catch a nap.”
Annalise could feel the tension that wafted from him as he continued to pace back and forth. “How old were you at the time?” she asked.
“Eight. I was eight years old and she was five. I loved my little sister so much.” His voice cracked slightly. “Even though I was older than her, she was like my best friend. She could be a pest, but I loved her anyway.”
He paused and drew in a deep breath, then released it on a shuddering sigh. “So, I took Maria outside. I remember it was a hot summer evening. Maria had a piece of sidewalk chalk. It was purple, and she sat on the stoop and was drawing pictures of me while I made goofy poses.”
His dark eyes grew distant, and for just a moment a faint smile curved his lips. “I’d act goofy all the time just to make her laugh. She had such a wonderful giggle.”
The smile faded and his eyes grew darker. “We were outside for probably half an hour or so when some of my buddies came walking up the sidewalk. I went to talk to them, and at the same time Maria chased a butterfly into the alley.”
He stopped pacing and stood in front of her. A deep, raw pain emanated from his eyes. “I greeted my friends and then I went to get Maria. I went into the alley...and...and a man was there. He had Maria and he had a big knife.”
He drew in another deep breath. “I wanted to save her. I needed to save her, but I didn’t. The man ran away with her and...and we never saw her again.”
She couldn’t stand to see his anguish any longer. She got up from the sofa and took his hand in hers, then pulled him down to sit next to her.
She held his hand tightly. “My God, Evan. Why have you never told me about this before?”
His dark gaze held hers and then looked away. “Why would I have told you that I was responsible for the kidnapping of my little sister? Why would I share that with the woman I loved?”
“Evan, you were just a little boy. You should have never had that kind of responsibility on you in the first place.”
“But I took on the responsibility and I screwed up,” he replied. “I should have never stopped to say hi to my friends. I should have never taken my attention off her. I definitely should have never allowed Maria to chase a damned butterfly into the alley.”
“What did the police do?” She continued to
