Silent Run

trust her any more than she trusted him. He would bet his life that Catherine knew how to run and hide as well as Sarah did.

Chapter Twelve

    Sarah felt much better after their late lunch. Jake hadn’t said anything while they ate, and for that she was grateful. She needed a break from the constant onslaught of questions. A lot had happened in the past few days. She needed to process the odd facts that had come back to her and see if they made any sense. She started to clear their plates, but Jake waved her back.
    â€œI’ll clean up,” he said. “You sit. Save your energy for the big stuff."
    â€œThanks.” She watched him take care of the food and dishes with quick, quiet competence. There was a confidence about his movements, as if he were used to taking care of himself -- which she supposed he was.
    She wondered what his life had been like before they met. Aside from his job, she knew next to nothing about him.
    â€œHow old are you?” she asked.
    â€œThirty-three,” he said shortly as he rinsed off a plate and set it on the counter to dry.
    Which made him five years older than her. “Where did you grow up? San Francisco?"
    â€œYes."
    â€œWhat did you like to do in your free time?"
    Jake walked back to the table, looking none too pleased by her questions. “Why do you want to know about me? It’s not going to help you remember your life."
    â€œProbably not, but I’m curious. And you never know -- something you say, something you shared with me before, might spark a memory."
    â€œYou’re reaching, Sarah."
    â€œOkay, so I just want to fill in some blanks. Are you going to talk or not?"
    Jake sat down with a sigh. “You never used to be so nosy."
    â€œI didn’t?"
    â€œNo. You weren’t one of those women who wanted to know every last thing about me. I thought at the time how lucky I was."
    â€œBut you don’t anymore."
    He shook his head. “Because now I understand that you didn’t ask me about my life so that you wouldn’t have to answer questions about yours. You said, ‘Let’s keep the past in the past,’ and I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ I had no idea that you had so much to hide."
    â€œWhat about you? Were you hiding anything from me?"
    The odd look that flashed through his eyes surprised her. And when he said, “Of course not,” she didn’t believe him.
    â€œJake?"
    â€œI didn’t have a great childhood. I don’t like to talk about it. I’m not hiding anything.” He frowned. “Fine, here’s the abbreviated version of my life. As I told you before, my parents divorced when I was ten and Dylan was seven. My mother left, and my father raised us, so to speak. He wasn’t really around that much. He was a businessman, an investment banker. Everything for him was about numbers and bottom lines. He didn’t have patience for anything that didn’t add up. He had high expectations that were impossible to meet, especially for Dylan. He was rough on my brother. He made life impossible for him. Every night the dinner table was a battlefield."
    â€œSo you tried to make things easier,” she ventured.
    â€œIt didn’t work. My father and brother couldn’t get along, and to be honest my father was a bully. He’d go after any sign of weakness. Even when Dylan was just a little kid, my father would taunt him about his failures, if it was missing a ground ball at second base or marking the wrong answer on a math quiz. Sometimes I’d try to distract him by doing something even worse."
    Sarah leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. “Like what?"
    He shrugged. “Anything, spilling something on the floor -- he hated that -- turning on the TV when we were supposed to be studying.” Jake stared down at the floor. “Whatever."
    â€œYou are totally lying,” she said. “You didn’t do those things -- Dylan did. You just tried to take the blame for him."
    His head jerked up. “That’s not true."
    â€œI don’t think it’s in you to screw up. You have this innate sense of right and wrong."
    His gaze burned into hers. “When it comes to you, yes."
    â€œWhen it comes to everything,” she countered. “Even if you tried to mess up to distract your father, I bet you didn’t do a very good job."
    â€œOkay, we’re done."
    â€œNo, no, wait,” she pleaded, realizing she’d shut