No Place to Run Read Online Free PDF Page A

would drift out of the faster current toward the calmer waters of the lake.
    Her eyelids fluttered even as she fought to stay conscious. Something warm and wet ran down her arm. Blood. It smelled like blood.
    Sam .
    His image rose vividly to mind. Her last coherent thought was that she had to get to Sam.

CHAPTER 4
    THE morning sun shone bright on the back deck of Sam Kelly’s Kentucky Lake home. The wood was warm underneath his bare feet, and the rays chased the chill of the morning away. It had the makings of a truly spectacular day.
    The only way it would have been more perfect is if he was on the lake, fishing pole in one hand, a beer in the other. At least he had the beer covered.
    He drained the remainder from his can, then crumpled it and tossed it across the deck into the garbage can.
    “Nice shot,” Donovan drawled from his indelicate sprawl over one of the lounge chairs.
    A brief cool breeze blew over Sam’s face, reminding him that spring hadn’t fully sprung yet.
    He glanced over at his younger brother and motioned for him to toss him another beer.
    Donovan tossed him a can and then looked in Garrett’s direction. Sam’s other younger brother—not that Garrett acted like anyone’s younger brother—held up his hand for one and Donovan aimed a beer in his direction also.
    Garrett cracked it open and then turned his attention back to the barbeque, where he flipped the burgers.
    Only the sizzle of the grill could be heard. That and the hiss of the can as Sam tabbed his open.
    “Ethan and Rachel get out okay this morning?” Donovan asked, finally breaking the silence.
    Sam looked in Garrett’s direction since he’d know better than anyone else.
    Garrett nodded. “Yeah, they left for the airport at the ass crack of dawn. Rachel was understandably nervous but very excited to be off to Hawaii for two weeks. She and Ethan both need the break.”
    Of all the brothers, and they all loved Rachel dearly—she was the only sister-in-law in the family—Garrett was closest to her, and the most protective. But then he had a protective streak a mile wide when it came to the people he loved.
    Sam leaned back and stared over the lake. He tuned out Garrett’s and Van’s discussion about Rachel’s recovery. They got on the subject of Christmas, and Sam tensed, withdrawing even more. Christmas was a touchy subject. Not that it hadn’t been wonderful this year. Rachel’s first holiday back in the Kelly fold.
    Watching her smile and her eyes light up like a child’s had been worth every minute.
    But Christmas had been just after he’d come back from Mexico. Right after Sophie had disappeared. It was stupid to dwell on her, but inevitably his thoughts drifted to her. Her smile. Her eyes. How good they were in bed. How she responded to his touch. How she felt when he was buried to the balls in her sweet, receptive body.
    Nothing about that mission had gone according to plan. They hadn’t taken Alex Mouton down. They didn’t even know where the bastard had disappeared to. The only thing they had done was take down a huge arms shipment. All in all, just a stumbling block for a man with Mouton’s resources.
    And Sophie hadn’t been there when he’d gone back.
    He wasn’t even supposed to have gone back. It had never been his plan. But he’d found himself making excuses about following up loose ends and had taken off, determined to find Sophie. And do what? That much he hadn’t ever figured out. He just knew he had to see her again. He’d been saved making the decision of what next because she’d disappeared. No one seemed to know a damn thing about her, or if they did, they weren’t talking.
    It took Sam a minute to figure out that his brothers were speaking to him.
    “Come on, Sam, wake up over there.”
    Sam looked up to see both Van and Garrett staring hard at him.
    “What’s with you?” Garrett asked. “You haven’t been yourself since we got back from Mexico.”
    Sam stiffened. He hadn’t realized