If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

crazy—knew people believed her. All good things.
    So why was she still so terrified?
    There was a thunderous bang at the front door and she jolted, barely managed to suppress a whimper. She hadn’t even made it to her feet when Law said softly, “I’ll get it, Lena.”
    She didn’t bother arguing. Why should she? There was only a handful of people she’d let in right now anyway and two of them were already in here. The other three were her husband—and he lived there, so he didn’t entirely count—Roz, and Remy.
    And it turned out to be Remy, she learned in under twenty seconds. Hope’s relieved sigh told her that without anybody even having to say his name. Lena smiled as she heard her friend rushing across the floor to him. “Oh, man, am I glad to see you.”
    “You, too,” Remy murmured.
    His voice … he sounded like he’d aged ten years. Poor bastard.
    “Hey Remy.” Resting her head on the back of the chair, Lena said softly, “I take it you’ve been told what’s going on.”
    Silence fell, heavy and tense. Then he said, “Yes.”
    Lena nodded. “Don’t suppose you know where Roz is, do you? I haven’t been able to get ahold of her all day.”
    “She … is in the hospital. And don’t ask anything else right now, because I don’t know.”
    Roz
—hospital—
    Lena’s heart leaped into her throat.
    “Don’t
ask
anything else?” she snarled, shoving upright. Next to her, Puck tensed. “Excuse me, but did you just tell me not to
ask
?”
    “Yeah. I did. I can’t tell you shit, so save us the headache and don’t ask,” he bit off.
    “That’s one of my best friends, damn it. You want me to just meekly sit here and not wonder why she’s in the hospital?” Her hand curled into a fist and she all but shook with the need to do something violent.
    “She’s my cousin’s wife and I’m
still
trying to figure out why she’s in the damn hospital. I’m still trying to figure out a whole hell of a lot of things, Lena, and guess what, nobody’s giving me any answers, either.” He paused and then suggested, “Deal with it.”
    Her nails bit into the flesh of her palm. She wanted to hit him. She knew where he was standing and she suspected she could probably aim for that oversized, arrogant head of his just fine.
    But then a hand touched her arm. Law said quietly, “Lena … enough.”
    “Enough?
Enough?
” She jerked back. Fury burned inside her, hot and brutal and ugly. She shook her head. Next to her, Puck tensed, snarled. She rested a hand on his head. “No.
Not
enough—”
    “You didn’t just find out your cousin was out killing people,” Hope said. “And considering what all is going on, whatever
is
wrong with Roz, chances are it’s from something Carter did—I think Remy’s got enough to deal with. Give him a break.”
    Lena scowled. Then guilt started to settle in, slippery and nasty. “Well, hell.” Dropping back into her chair, she pulled her knees to her chest and closed her eyes. Puck rested his head by her feet, whining gently. “It’s okay, boy.”
    “This day isn’t ever going to end, is it?”
    Despite himself, despite the misery and grief and guilt that had choked him for the past few hours, Remy was able to look at Hope with something of a smile. She hada light glinting in her eyes as she stared at Lena, all but daring the other woman to say anything else.
    Across the room, Nia said with a smirk, “Look at Tinkerbell going all mama-bear.”
    Hope snapped, “Oh, shove the Tinkerbell crap up your ass.”
    For about two seconds, Nia just stared at her. Then she started to laugh.
    Ignoring her, Hope hooked her arm through Remy’s and led him out into the hallway. “Where have you been all day?” she asked quietly. “I’ve been trying to call.”
    “I … I know. I should have called, but once we found Roz, I … shit. I needed a few minutes. I don’t feel like I can breathe, Hope. This is choking me,” he said, looking away. “I knew you were over here with Law, knew you were safe. I … uh. I’ve texted him a few times, asked him not to tell you. I just needed a few minutes.” Then he sighed and rubbed his hands up and down his face. “Shit, I still can’t believe this is happening. How can this be real?”
    Instead of saying anything, she just leaned her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.
    Remy tucked her head under his chin and held her tight. For a few seconds, he allowed himself that luxury.