Free Saving Ren (Barretti Security Series, Book 3) by Sloane Kennedy Page B

last night but Jagger had never been dismissive or shown any signs of frustration. He’d simply led Ren to the place where they’d dumped the baking soda to look for footprints or any kind of disturbance and then he’d led him, flashlight in hand, through the dense woods surrounding the cabin. And he’d waited until Ren was satisfied before leading the way back to the cabin.
    “How do you know Jagger?” Ren asked.
    To his surprise, Declan tensed next to him and he wondered at the cause.
    “He works for your brothers,” was all Declan said.
    “So you two are friends?”
    “No,” Declan said quickly. Too quickly.
    Confusion went through Ren. “Then how did you both end up here?”
    Declan glanced at him briefly and Ren saw in that moment that Declan knew he’d been found out. Declan sighed. “He followed me up here.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    Declan scrubbed his hand over his face. It was a move Ren noticed he often did when he seemed agitated.
    “I was drinking in his friend’s bar one night last week. I had a little too much and Jagger took me home. I guess I mentioned you at some point so he started following me. He knew your brothers were worried about you so I guess he just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
    Ren could tell by the fact that Declan refused to meet his gaze that there was plenty he wasn’t telling him but he decided to let it go. “Why’d you help me that day, Declan?”
    “You mean after the shooting?” Declan asked.
    Darkness swept through Ren at the reminder of the man he’d killed. It wasn’t so much the man he was thinking about but the reason Ren had been in that deserted parking lot at all. But he didn’t want to think about that too much so he just nodded when Declan glanced at him.
    “We go a long ways back,” was all Declan said.
    “You and my brothers go a long way back,” Ren corrected. “I can count on one hand the number of times you and I have talked.”
    “We’re family,” was all Declan.
    Ren suspected he wasn’t going to get anything else out of Declan on the subject and he wasn’t sure he really wanted to. He was afraid that the answer might disappoint him.
    “I’m sorry about Sylvie,” Ren said as his thoughts drifted to the blonde beauty who’d stolen his brother’s heart. She’d been full of life and energy and it broke his heart to think about the agony Dom must have experienced when he lost her. And he couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain Declan must have gone through at losing his baby sister. “I didn’t know she was sick again.”
    “She got the diagnosis a year ago. June 20 th . Her birthday.”
    Ren felt a wave of pity go through him. June 20 th was a week ago. The day before Declan and Jagger had shown up at the cabin. Probably the day Declan had gotten drunk.
    “I didn’t go to the appointment,” Declan continued. “I knew I wouldn’t be strong enough this time around.”
    “This time?” Ren asked softly.
    “First one was when she was 12. She kept asking me if she was going to die. I promised her she wouldn’t.”
    “How old were you?”
    “Twenty-two,” Declan said.
    “Your parents?” Ren asked.
    Declan shook his head. “Too busy making all the right political connections to be bothered with a little thing like leukemia – especially when Sylvie had a nanny that once worked for an unnamed royal family in Europe,” Declan bit out. “Didn’t stop the bitch from hightailing it out of there when she found out she’d be expected to take care of a kid undergoing chemo.”
    “You took care of Sylvie by yourself?” Ren asked.
    Declan nodded. “I was so scared I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise,” he said. “The vomiting, the hair falling out, the exhaustion, the constant nausea…the doctors tried to prepare us for what to expect but you just can’t prepare for something like that. She was so brave. She didn’t even cry when I shaved her hair off.”
    Declan suddenly laughed again but this time the