Read Online Blind Run by Patricia Lewin - Free Book Online Page B

of the team who’d pulled the trigger and made them pay. Only Anna Kelsey had slipped through his grasp. But he was a patient man and knew he’d find her eventually. Yet, as he’d eased his rage with blood, he’d discovered revenge wasn’t enough. He had sworn his life to the Agency, they’d been the only family he’d ever known, and they’d turned on him. Now, Marco needed to know
why
.
    Like the elusive Anna Kelsey, however, answers weren’t easily found. So Marco had gone underground, selling his services to the highest bidder in a world where anything could be gotten for a price. Especially information. In this case all rumors, and the child he’d lost, led him to a private island in the northern reaches of Puget Sound, an island with children who never left its shores.
    All except one. His. And she was dead.
    He’d been hanging around the docks of Anacortes, gathering information and working on a plan to get out to the island, when he’d spotted Anna Kelsey. His first impulse had been to kill her, but at the last minute, he’d held back, deciding to use her instead. He had questions, and he figured Anna had the answers.
    So for six months he’d waited and watched, and his patience had finally paid off. Three days ago Anna had fled Haven Island with two kids.
    He’d considered taking them immediately, but again chose to bide his time. Without their cooperation, running with the kids would be risky. Besides, he wasn’t sure yet what to do with them or how best to get the information they possessed. So he waited to see what Anna planned and where she’d take them.
    It hadn’t been easy trailing her.
    She would have lost him more than once if not for the
niños
. They slowed her down and foiled her ability to fade into the surroundings. Despite them, though, she got away from him in the New Mexico desert, on a long stretch of empty highway where he couldn’t risk following too closely.
    Once he realized he’d lost her, he backtracked, cursing himself and her. He’d waited too long and was afraid he’d lost them for good. Spotting her a short time later was sheer luck, and he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. He wanted answers.
    But he should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. Nothing having to do with the Agency or Anna ever was. She’d gotten rid of the kids, and with a gun to her head she refused to give him anything. Not a hint at who they were, why she’d run with them, or where she’d taken them. So he’d had no further use for her. Nor the time to extract what she knew by force. Besides, they had an old score to settle.
    She owed him, and he collected.
    Afterward, he retraced her steps to look for the
niños
. He knew they had to be close. The question was where.
    Decker’s arrival on the scene a few miles later wasn’t really a surprise. The desert seemed a fitting place for him to hide, and Anna would know where to find him. Plus, it made a sort of Boy-Scout sense that she’d run to him.
    After that, it was a simple matter to figure he’d head for Dallas. Marco had left Anna’s phone behind as bait, or an invitation, depending on your point of view. Decker had the kids, and if they and Anna’s death weren’t enough to bring him out of hiding, the call would be.
    Now it was just the two of them, and they both needed answers. But first Decker would show up here at his ex-wife’s condo to prevent Marco from carrying out his threat to end the woman’s days.
    Decker didn’t disappoint him.
    A little before daybreak he arrived in a broken-down pickup. Parking the truck on the street, he took his time getting out and scanning the area. His gaze lingered on the garage with its layers of concrete rising above the street, and Marco willed himself to fade into the darkness of the car’s interior. For a moment he thought Decker had spotted him, that some sixth sense had honed in on this particular vehicle and its occupant.
    Finally he turned away, and Marco breathed easier. Even now,