Page 41 of Cole: Bloodlines

“Why was he coming over here?”

Another pause. “Abel is with us,” Dane said. “The… kidnapper… turned him loose.”

“What?” Max stood, eyes wide, as his heart pounded wildly. “Abel is safe?”

Horatio looked stunned. “What?” he swallowed. “Maddy? Savannah?”

“The kids?” Max asked anxiously. “Are they…”

“No,” Dane replied, his voice subdued. “We haven't got them back yet.”

“Why did he let Abel go?”

Dane exhaled. “Gabe traded himself for them,” Dane murmured. “He was supposed to give the kids back, too, but…” This time, the pause had an ominous feel. “… he didn’t. He only released Abel.”

A numbing terror gripped Max. “He has Gabe, too?”

Horatio stared at him. “Gabe…?”

“We will get them back,” Dane said. “All of them.”

Max didn’t like thatsomethingresonating beneath Dane’s words. There was something he wasn’t telling him. “Dane… what is it? What aren’t you telling me?”

Emotion strained the young man’s voice. “Nothing. I need to find Cole. If he shows up at your place, call me immediately.”

“Yes, of course,” Max murmured. “And you let us know right away if you find him.”

“I will.”

When Max set the cell down on the counter, Horatio looked at him fearfully. “Cole is missing, too?”

“I don’t know for sure.” Max sank onto the stool, so fucking tired.

“And Gabe?” Horatio whispered. “He has Gabe?”

Max nodded.

“But Abel… is safe?”

“Yes, thank God. But the kids…”

Horatio looked at him. “You think there’s something Dane isn’t telling us?”

Max sighed. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “I thought maybe… but I don’t know. It was just something in his voice.”

“Do you think it’s about the kids?” Horatio asked quietly. “Do you think he knows more about them than he’s telling?”

Max shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I’m sure he would tell us if he knew anything.”

A foreboding look crossed Horatio’s face. “Even if it was bad?”

Max looked at him, unsure of the answer.

Brother.Cole looked at the deputy through the dim interior of the man’s car. All those times he offered comfort and sympathy to Cole as a child… it was a façade?

“If you hated me so much,” Cole asked quietly. “Why were you nice to me?”

Roland shrugged. “I liked playing with you. It was fun. I had every intention of killing you, and the closer we were as friends, the sweeter the betrayal when I ripped your guts out.”