Behind the Lies (A Montgomery Justice Novel) by Perini Robin

Author:Perini, Robin [Perini, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2013-04-23T03:00:00+00:00

Jenna raced after Zach; the pine needles crunched under her feet. He jumped over a moss-covered stone and she stumbled after him. He grabbed her elbow but didn’t slow down. With the imager tight in one hand, he tugged her after him.

“What did you see?” she panted.

He didn’t answer, and Jenna’s heart rammed into gear like a souped-up roadster. Her muscles pumped as the terrain flew under them. “Sam!” she couldn’t stop the scream from escaping her lips.

This time Zach didn’t hush her.

Oh God. What had he seen?

Zach skidded to a stop when he reached a small thatch of aspens. Darkness had begun settling over the mountain. The shadows made everything murky and indistinct. She squinted. “Is he here?”

“I hope so,” Zach muttered, pushing through the thicket. He slowed down.

“Sam!”

She clutched Zach’s hand. “Tell me,” she whispered, her entire being shaking.

He turned to her and cupped her face. “Sam vanished off the screen.”

Jenna’s knees buckled. “No. This can’t be happening. I’m supposed to keep him safe. That’s why we left.”

Zach grabbed her arms. “Listen to me. This is my mountain. There are holes and caves nearby. The cliff isn’t for another fifty feet. Sam’s here somewhere.”

“Sam!” Jenna yelled. “Sam, can you hear us? Please, baby. Answer me.”

They stilled, listening for any sound that didn’t belong. Crickets chirped; chipmunks chattered; an owl hooted. A tree shuffled nearby.

But no voices save their own.

“Sam!” Zach shouted. “If you can hear me, call out.”

A hole where Jenna’s soul had been grew dark and empty, a void spreading that threatened to swallow any hope she ever had.

And then a sound filtered toward them over the chilling breeze.

“Heeelllppp!”

A boy’s voice. Sam’s voice.

Jenna closed her eyes, focusing everything within her on the direction.

The sound faded away before she could tell. She looked at Zach, his frustration mirroring her own.

“Sam, where are you?” she called.

“Mommmmmmy?”

His voice sounded strange, echoing and far off. She strained to pinpoint the location, circling around and around in the small grove. “Where is he?”

“Get him to call out to you,” Zach said.

She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Keep yelling, Sam. Don’t stop, baby.”

“Mommmy…Mommmmmy…Moooommmmmmyyyy.”

Zach shifted to his right, Jenna trailed after him. Little by little they followed Sam’s oddly muffled voice. His calls grew louder and more distinct, and more scared.

“Pleeeaassseee. Save me, Mommy.”

Jenna could barely keep a whimper from escaping.

Zach squeezed her hand tight, and she drew from his strength and his certainty. “This way.” He pushed past a throng of pine trees and stopped.

A narrow ravine sliced through the landscape. Jenna swallowed down the bile rising in her gut. “Mommmyyyy!” Sam’s voice rose from the chasm in the earth.

She lurched forward, but Zach shoved her back. “The ground has eroded,” he said, pointing to the upturned dirt. “The earth just gave way, and Sam slid down. We can’t get caught in the same trap.”

With one hand clutching a long tree limb, Zach stretched out and peered into the crevice. “Sam?”

“I’m here!” he said, his voice cracking. “Where’s my mommy?”

“I’m with Zach, baby.

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