Dirtiest Secret (SIN 1)

"Are we friends?"

I'd glanced at Liam, and we'd both nodded. "Sure we are," Liam had said.

"Forever," I'd added.

Forever.

The hollow echo of my childhood voice seems to fill this familiar, empty room.

Forever?

I'm not even sure what that means anymore. And I sure as hell don't know if Dallas and I are still friends.

Honestly, I don't know what we are anymore.

"Jane?"

His voice banishes the last of my memories, and I realize that I'd stopped right on the threshold, neither in nor out of this room.

"Are you coming?" He's still holding my arm, and I tug it free. The truth is that I don't want to go in--not all the way. I'm too raw here in this house so close to the man I lost. The man I could never really have.

I plant myself by the door, my back against the bookcases that line three walls of this cozy, familiar room. "I'm fine right here," I say.

Dallas doesn't try to urge me in farther. He must understand my hesitation, and I wonder if his thoughts have wandered to the past with mine.

He silently closes the door, then stands in front of me. "All right," he says. "What is it you couldn't tell me out there?"

"You're familiar with WORR, right?" I ask, grateful to get back on topic and away from my memories.

"Of course."

I'm not surprised. Dallas may have morphed into a guy who does nothing but party, but he's still a kidnap survivor, and I'd be shocked if he wasn't at least tangentially aware of the World Organization for Rescue and Rehabilitation.

It's a private group that consults with and provides investigative support to the FBI, Interpol, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Unlike UNODC, which addresses all manner of crimes and terrorist activities, WORR's single-minded focus is on rescuing kidnap victims, and then helping to heal their deep emotional and mental scars.

It's staffed by former police and FBI agents, along with attorneys and mental health professionals, among others. It's an incredibly worthwhile organization that I believe in strongly, and I'm glad to know that Dallas is at least aware of it, and that his knowledge of international events isn't limited to what's premiering this year at Cannes.

"Bill left the US Attorneys' office about a year ago to take a top-level position there." I draw a deep breath and cut to the chase. "Anyway, they just brought a guy in for questioning about the Darcy twins' kidnapping."

Dallas's brows draw together. "The Darcy twins?"

"Yeah. Their kidnapping and rescue is one of the focal points of the new book I'm researching, and Bill and some of the other folks at WORR are giving me a remarkable amount of access." He looks so confused that I elaborate. "You know about the kidnapping, right? Henry Darcy's girls? Dad's done a few deals with him."

"Of course I know the man." His voice is tight. "And I also know that the twins have been home safe for over a year. So what does WORR have to do with the Darcys?"

I wave away the question. "The point is that WORR is working the case with Interpol and they've brought in a suspect. A guy named Ortiz--no, Ortega." I glance at Dallas and see how stiff he's become, and I'm certain he realizes that this ties in to our kidnapping. After all, why else would I be here?

"Bill was interrogating Ortega, and the guy says he wants to cut a deal. Says if they give him immunity, he'll tell everything he knows about a secret kidnapping. A Sykes kidnapping. Dallas," I say, when he just stands there, obviously stunned, "he's one of the six guys who grabbed us, and he says he knows who's behind it all."

I wait for the reaction that I know is coming, because it was my reaction, too. I expect to see hope. The possibility of closure. Of answers.

But I don't see that. Remarkably, he looks angry.

"Dallas?"

He puts his head down and runs his fingers through his hair. "Bill knows we were kidnapped?"

I hesitate, my cheeks burning, as he looks up. "Not we," I say. "You." I lick my lips. "You know that the press was never really satisfied with Dad's statement that you ran away from school and ended up in a hospital. Nobody guessed kidnapping back then, but after this, Bill put it together."