Suddenly my idea of stopping a car to get help didn’t seem so bright after all.
“I don’t think—”
He laughed, a sound so soft, and yet so cold. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”
Meaning I should? “Other than the man who just tried to run me down, you mean?”
He snorted softly. “Yeah.”
I frowned and tried to force a memory through the fog. He did remind me a whole lot of Egan—he had the same broad-shouldered, athletic build and shaggy, sun-kissed hair. But this man’s face was more aristocratic and a whole lot handsomer. And there was an odd sort of grace and elegance to his movements. Egan, for all his gentleness, had often resembled a bull in a china shop.
But then, in all the time I’d known him, he hadn’t really seemed to care about anything at all.
Except for me.
And the kids.
Tears touched my eyes again, but with them came anger. And I had no idea why, because the answers to all my questions were still locked behind the walls of forgetfulness.
I glanced down at my somewhat bloodied feet and blinked the tears away. Whatever the reasons behind the anger, it was an undeniable fact that I hadn’t deserved Egan’s caring. I’d liked him, I’d enjoyed being with him, and I’d slept with him—but it had never been anything more than that. Not for me.
And not for him.
Yet he’d still given his life for me.
Nothing could ever repay such selflessness.
Nothing except stopping this. Stopping Marsten.
I looked back at the stranger. “No. Who are you?”
“Egan’s brother.”
I blinked. Of all the answers I’d been expecting, that certainly wasn’t one of them. And it made me even more wary. “Egan hasn’t got a brother.”
“Egan has three brothers, two sisters, and one half brother. That last one’s me.” His gaze went past me again as the hound barked, closer than before. “That dog seems to have found the scent of whatever it’s chasing. You want to stay, or do you want to go?”
I hesitated, but really, what choice did I have? It was either stay here and confront the police—try to explain why I wore stolen clothes, and had no ID and no memory—or go with this man who could be spinning me more lies than a used-car salesman desperate to close a deal.
“They’re almost on us,” he prompted.
“Let’s go. Please.”
“Good decision. Come on.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward, the heat of his fingers seeming to burn through the sleeve of my sweatshirt and brand my skin. He opened the car door, then ran around to the driver’s side.
A prickle of awareness ran down my spine, and without turning around, I knew we were no longer alone on the road.
“Oh, fuck,” the stranger said, about the same time as another voice said, “Hey, you two, stop right there.”
“Get in,” the stranger said. “Quickly.”
I wasn’t about to argue. I got in as fast as I could, then slammed the door.
“Police. Stop,” the other voice called.
I looked around, saw the big cop accompanied by another man wearing a checkered shirt and holding two dogs in check. Then the stranger gunned the big car’s engine, and we were speeding off.
“Thank you,” I said, after a few moments.