Free Sacrifice by Denise Grover Swank

door closing behind him. James picked up the tray and set it on the cot. “Eat it slow.”
    “I know, James.” Irritation bled through his words and he hoped James thought it was crabbiness from hunger. James was up to something.
    Although Will knew he should eat slowly, once he saw the rice and chopped meat on the plate, his stomach growled in protest. Will sipped from the bottled water first, coating his dry mouth and soothing his throat. He had to resist the urge to guzzle it.
    James settled on the floor next to the bed. “So you don’t remember anything? You have no idea who took Emma?”
    Will capped the bottle with shaky fingers. “Why do you think someone took her?”
    “Because in spite of all of her other flaws, she’d never leave you here if she knew you were in danger.”
    Rice spilled on the mattress as Will tried to scoop it into his mouth with a spoon. “What flaws?”
    James hesitated and started to raise his hand to his mouth before he caught himself and put his hand back down. “Look, I’m not here to bash your girlfriend.”
    “Why are you here?” Will didn’t hide the hard edge in his voice.
    James’s eyes flew open. “I told you already.”
    “You told me the first part—that they thought you could get information. But you forgot the second part, James. What kind of deal did they give you?”
    James jumped to his feet and paced again. “Goddamnit, Will. I got us both a deal. Both of us . They just want Emma. They told me your mark was gone and they don’t need you anymore. Just help them find her and they’ll let you go.”
    “Are you really that fucking naive, James?”
    James’s eyes blazed with anger. “No, Will. I’m not. That’s why I have insurance. If we’re not released, I have information on them they don’t want made public.”
    Will’s hand fisted around his spoon. “So why not use that information now, James?”
    “Will, you don’t even remember her. Why are you protecting her?”
    He didn’t answer, taking several bites of food. “Why do they want her? What’s so special about her?”
    James paused. “They want her baby.”
    “And you’re just handing her over?”
    James’s eyes hardened. “It’s an easy choice, Will. Her or you. I’ll pick you over her any damn time.”
    “You forgot a minor detail. You’re handing over my baby, James. My baby .”
    The color drained from James’s face. “You don’t know that. I always suspected she lied to you about that.”
    “ You have to protect her .”
    Will swallowed the lump in his throat. “I do know, James. The baby is mine.” It was a pointless conversation. There was no baby now, but he’d be damned if he was the one to tell them.
    “I’m sorry, Will. I didn’t know.”
    But he did.
    Will thought he’d hit bottom, yet it kept going deeper. James. But he needed James to get out of here. He took a deep breath. “So now what? I don’t know anything. I can’t give them any information. What does that mean for you?”
    “You obviously have some limited knowledge if you know the baby is yours.”
    “Kramer told me it’s mine. He said I admitted it sometime in my not-so-distant-yet-elusive past.”
    “You said you were with her before you were captured. What do you remember?”
    “ Tell him about Raphael .”
    Raphael. Was that the man with her? Did he have her now?
    “ Tell him about Raphael .” The voice was more insistent.
    Tears burned Will’s eyes, his control dangerously close to the edge. He was losing his mind. “There was a man.” His voice shook and he cleared his throat.
    James glanced up with an anxious look.
    Will refused to betray her and James’s eagerness to do so made the few bites of food in Will’s stomach churn.
    “ They can’t touch Raphael .”
    Will took a deep breath to steady his fear. “He was in the woods and he insisted that Emma escape.” He reached for the bottle of water so he didn’t have to look James in the eye. “He might have