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She couldn t believe her uncle would treat a child like that. But people on drugs weren t especially
reasonable.
 You look like my mom, Matt said suddenly, staring at Winnie.
 I guess I should, Winnie said, smiling despite the lump in her throat.  I m your sister.
9
Matt studied her with open curiosity.  We went to see you down in Jacobsville, he recalled.
 Mom said I might get to meet you, but when she came back out, she was all quiet. She said it wasn t a
good time.
Winnie could have gone through the floor. While she d been shouting at her mother and cursing
her for the past, this young, disabled boy had been hoping to meet his family. Nobody knew anything
about him. She and her brothers hadn t even known that he existed. She felt her sins line up and laugh
at her. She d never felt quite so low.
 It wasn t a good time, Winnie said, swallowing her regret.
He cocked his head as he looked up at her.  Mom said I had brothers.
 You do. Two of them. Winnie pulled out her cell phone.  I think it s time you met them, too.
She started punching in numbers.
WHILE THEY WAITED FOR B OONE, Keely and Clark to show up, Kilraven sat down with
Matt and played one of the games with him. Matt had a spare controller, a present from one of his
mother s coworkers.
 Hey, you re pretty good. Matt laughed when Kilraven fought him to a draw.
 Sometimes my job takes me to places where there isn t much in the way of entertainment.
 What do you do?
Kilraven grinned.  Sorry. Classified.
Matt was impressed.  Can you tell me who you work for?
 Sure. CIA.
 Wow! You re a spy!
 Not really, Kilraven said easily.  I do all sorts of covert jobs. Last one was trying to break a
kidnapping ring.
 Did you have to shoot anybody?
 I don t shoot people, Kilraven assured him.
 Then why do you carry a gun? came the wry reply, because the holster of a small automatic
handgun was visible under Kilraven s jacket when he used the controller.
 So people won t shoot me, the tall man replied with a grin.
Matt laughed and they went back to another round of the game.
Winnie watched, sitting on the wreck of a sofa. The whole place was no-frills. The pictures on
the walls were cheap, like all the furnishings. The only expensive thing in the room was that used game
console and games for it. Her mother s priorities were obvious Matt came first. It touched her and
made her feel very guilty that she had anything she wanted while her half brother and her mother were
living almost at subsistence level on a police detective s salary. It was a good-paying job, she knew
from talking to Marquez; but anyone with a handicapped child had more expenses than parents of
healthy kids.
The knock at the door was surprising. Boone must have flown up from Jacobsville.
She went to open the door. She grinned at Boone.  What did you do, put a jet under that
Jaguar? she asked.
He chuckled.  Just about. I noticed Kilraven s car out front, too. He paused.  Where is the
boy?
She opened the door. Matt stopped playing in midjump and turned to look at his visitors with
wide, surprised eyes.
 You look like me, he said when Boone moved into the room, dark haired and dark eyed, very
imposing in his boots and white Stetson.
 I do, Boone said, surprised. He moved closer, his eyes on the wheelchair.
 Don t let the wheels fool you, Matt said easily, when he perceived the big man s reaction to
the wheelchair.  I m faster than you are.
 You like video games, huh? Clark asked, moving forward. He smiled at Matt.  We haven t
introduced ourselves. I m Clark. That s Boone, he indicated the tall man.  That s Boone s wife,
Keely. He introduced the smaller woman who was hugging Winnie.  We re Sinclairs.
 I guess I m your brother, Matt said hesitantly.
 I guess you are, Boone replied. His glance around the room took in everything Winnie had
already learned about their half brother.
 Why didn t you know about me? Matt asked reasonably.
 Because we weren t on speaking terms with your mother, Winnie said for all of them. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]