Page 45 of Ace of Spades

“Yes, I do. I know it’s hard, but you have to tell me everything.” Truthfully, she didn’t want to hear it, but she needed to know anything that would help them find their killer, no matter how close to home it hit.

Rosie took a deep breath, her heaving chest proof of her misery. “Okay. I eased the door open. The first thing I saw was your mother. She was on the floor, not moving. I started to go to her, then I saw the back of a man. You were in bed, but you’d stopped yelling. He was leaning over you. I ... I screamed at him and slammed the bat down on his legs. I should’ve bashed his head in.”

Taylor rested her cheek against Rosie’s hair. “My vicious Rosie. What was he doing?” It confused her that Rosie’s story wasn’t tearing her up inside, but nothing Rosie said triggered any memories of that night. It was strangely as if they were talking about people she didn’t know.

“He had his hands on your throat.” Rosie squeezed her eyes shut. “I thought he was trying to kill you, too.”

How could she not remember that? Not even a flicker of a memory from that night came to mind. Had she been so traumatized that she’d blocked everything out? All Rosie had told her before now was that her mother had died. It wasn’t until she’d joined the FBI that she’d searched for information on her mother, shocked to learn that she’d been murdered. When she’d tried to question Rosie about it, her foster mother had refused to discuss it—until now.

Taylor pressed her fingers against her throat. She should remember almost dying, if Rosie was right and the man was strangling her. “Did you see his face?”

“No. I raised the bat to hit him again, but he ran away. I only saw the back of him. All I can tell you is that his hair was blond—dishwater blond I think they call it. I was more worried about getting you away before he came back.”

“Was it Paul?”

“No, I’d seen him several times. He had dark-brown hair.”

“Please don’t cry,” she said when tears rolled down Rosie’s cheeks. “You were so brave.”

“I had nightmares for a long time about that night.”

“I’m sorry to make you relive it, but I needed to know. If you remember anything else, call me, okay?”

“Of course. I called the police. After I got you to the motel and asleep, I went to a pay phone and called them, told them where to find your mother. When they asked my name, I hung up. I was afraid he’d find us.”

Taylor’s phone buzzed. At seeing Nate’s name on the screen, her heart did a little dance. “Hey.”

“The men are here.”

“Okay, we’ll seen you soon.” He disconnected. She hated the tension between them. Even over the phone she could feel it.

She stood, pulling Rosie up with her. “Thank you for telling me. Go get Annie ready while I load the suitcases in the car.”

“Are we picking up the girls now?” Rosie asked.

“Not yet. My boss has a friend who owns a security company, hires only former SEALs. K2 Special Services, I think is the name. Anyway, Rothmire says they’re the best there is, and his friend sent two of his men to us. They’re going to stay with you and the girls until this is over.”

“Oh, I don’t know about going off with strange men. Why can’t that nice Josh go with us?”

“With this case and a few others going on right now, we’re stretched thin. Rothmire trusts these men, and I trust him. It will be okay, Rosie. Besides, I understand their nicknames are Doc and Saint.” She smiled at her foster mother. “How can you not trust a man his friends call Saint?”