Baltimore [3.5] Broken Silence Read Online Free PDF

agreed that we’d ditch the kids, then you’d stagger into the ER saying you’d gotten carjacked and they’d knocked you out and taken the kids. You could have been home free, but now you’ll be on the Ten Most Wanted list in the post office.’ He grew calm abruptly. ‘You’ll have to disappear, too.’
    A chill skittered down her spine. He’d had this argument with her repeatedly, but the ‘you’ll have to disappear, too’ was brand new. ‘What do you mean by that?’ she asked.
    He blinked and the old Brock was back. ‘I mean we have to get you a new identity. Plastic surgery to change your face. What did you think I meant by – whoa . You thought I meant to kill you? For God’s sake, Amber. Get a grip.’
    ‘Sorry. It’s just been a stressful few days.’
    ‘I know. Come here.’ She sat next to him and he put his arm around her shoulders. ‘I was just upset that we have to change your face.’ He kissed her mouth hard. ‘I like your face.’
    ‘I like it, too. But it was always plan B if the carjacking story didn’t fly.’ She rested her head on his shoulder. ‘It’s almost Christmas and I haven’t had time to shop.’
    ‘It will be over soon. We’ll grab the brat from foster care tomorrow, find out where she hid the jewelry, take the kids to their new families. Then we’ll start fresh. You can shop till you drop.’
    Amber blew out a breath, bracing herself for more rage. ‘She’s not going to foster. Not yet.’
    ‘What? I thought you said the doctor said she was ready to be discharged.’
    ‘He did. But the stupid social worker wanted her to stay. And . . .’ She winced.
    ‘Tell me,’ he demanded, the menace back in his voice.
    ‘They took her to see the cops today. I heard the nurses saying that they want to do some new kind of therapy with her tomorrow. To make her talk. Equine therapy.’ He said nothing, just began breathing hard through his nose. Amber raced on to fill the silence. ‘It’s one of those therapies of the week. Looks good in newspapers articles but it doesn’t work.’
    ‘And you got your counseling degree exactly when?’ Brock bit out. ‘God, this is a mess.’
    ‘It might not be so bad,’ she ventured cautiously. ‘I’ve been thinking.’
    ‘Fuck. We’re definitely screwed now.’
    ‘Stop that,’ she snapped. ‘I’m in this deeper than you. I’m the one who can be linked to this family. Now listen up. They’ll take the kid out of the building and transport her, probably outside the city. Because horses eat grass and outside the city is where you find grass .’
    She choked back a cry when Brock grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. ‘Don’t patronize me, Amber. You don’t want to make me any angrier than I already am.’
    ‘I’m sorry.’ He let her hair go and she rubbed the back of her scalp, her heart beating hard. ‘I was just trying to point out that once they’re further away from the city, we can do what we did with the Smirnovs’ SUV. Force them off the road, kill the driver, and take the girl. Easy.’
    ‘Maybe,’ Brock said petulantly. ‘Unless they have cops guarding her.’
    Amber leaned up, kissed his jaw. ‘That’s why they put so many bullets in a magazine, baby.’ Planning to distract him from his anger, she unbuttoned his shirt. He’d be a kitten after a good hard fucking. He always was.
    But he pushed her away. ‘Not now. I have to put the Mercedes back together so we have a getaway car.’ He went into the garage, leaving her staring up at him, stunned.
    And worried. He’d never done that before. Never pushed her away. He’s just stressed out and tired , she assured herself. But not tired of me .
    Just another few days and it really would all be over. They’d have their payoff and they could start over anywhere – L.A., Chicago, New York. Maybe even Miami. She’d wear a minuscule bikini and strut her stuff along a white sandy beach and have her pick of men.
    If Brock was growing tired of her. Which