Read Online Dark Memories (The DARK Files Book 1) by Susan Vaughan - Free Book Online

had plans to be together, dreams of a future. You were going to transfer to Georgetown. Finally I had attainable dreams. Education, job, and then kids. You knew how I felt about a family. How the hell could you mow down those dreams?”
    Grief and sadness shadowed her face. She looked at him with overflowing eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, so you felt you had to leave and join the service.”
    “Don’t be sorry for me in that respect.” Giving in to impulse, he hugged her to him. “No regrets here about joining up. My interests in politics and history paid off. Without the Marines, I wouldn’t be a government officer today.”
    “Then you’re fortunate. As for the rest, fate and our immaturity conspired against us back then. Let’s leave the answer at that.”
    He shook his head. “It’s not enough.”
    She wrenched from his embrace and moved to the door. Her mouth and shoulders firmed. “It’s all I have to offer.”
    The tears brimming over glistened in the arc cast by the outside light. His gut instinct nagged him that she was still holding something back. If it wasn’t their biker-and-princess differences, what could it be?
    Damn. He was an idiot.Her tears were due to the shock of revisiting old wounds. Add to that her recent visit to hell. Witnessing a murder, nearly becoming the next victim. Going underground and living in fear. Then today’s brake failure. Another near miss.
    He’d pushed her as far as he should today. But he would eventually find out what she’d left unsaid. “Let’s go inside.” He tucked her behind him and finished unlocking the door for her. “You’re a target out here.”
    “For mosquitoes, definitely.” She swatted one on her arm. Her voice was thick with emotion, but not humor. “What on earth are you doing?”
    He saw she was staring at the small Glock he’d drawn from his ankle holster. “I’m going in to check out the cabin. Stay out here until I call you.”
    Pushing the door in slowly, he slipped into the darkened cabin and skirted the great room. He gagged at the alien odor.
    Gas.
    The chemical odorant the gas company added to the odorless gas was a precaution he was damned thankful for. The lousy heater was still leaking.If there was a hit man inside, he was dead to the world. Or dead period.
    After a quick tour of the rest of the cabin, he slipped the 9mm into its holster. No killer, sleeping or otherwise.
    He located the heater and quickly shut off the valve. Fixing it might not be the answer. Not worn threads, but a human hand had loosened it. He’d notify the others to surveil the cabin full-time.
    Shoving open windows to help clear the air, he called for Laura to enter. She was frightened enough for tonight without his laying the latest on her. “But don’t turn on the light just yet. Even a small spark would be enough to blow us clear to New Hampshire.”
    She stepped into the kitchen and stood by the table, shivering. No longer angry, she looked small and fragile and grief stricken. “I’ll see Stan tomorrow about getting that fixed.”
    Cole edged to the door, gazing out at the shadows beneath the trees. He braced his palms on the door frame.
    Laura watched him. Sooner or later she’d have to tell him.How much did he know already?“Turnabout is fair play. Did you ever go back to Potomac to learn the truth? Did you look for me later?”
    His back stiffened, and he turned slowly. “I went back one more time after basic. For my dad’s funeral. He drove with a snoot full one too many times and plowed his car into a highway abutment.” His eyes were as bleak and bitter cold as winter.
    She started to go to him, to put her arms around his big shoulders. He’d been all alone, far away, and no one comforted him then. Or since, she supposed. But she was too vulnerable to him as it was.
    So she clutched the kitchen chair and stayed where she was. “Cole, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
    Hands fisted at his sides, he stared past her into