The Prime Objective. Ginna Gray

and sent a chill down her spine. She couldn’t stand for her to be so terrified. “All right. I promise.”

      “Oh, thank God,” Colleen panted, and Kate could tell that she was almost faint with relief. “Now get out of there. Now. Please! I’m begging you.”

      “Okay. I just unpacked from my trip, but I’ll throw some things in a bag and—”

      “No!” her sister shrieked again. “There’s no time to pack! They’ll be there any second. Just go! Go! Go! Now! Go!”

      “All right, all right. Calm down. I’m going. But you stay on the line, okay?” Kate grabbed her purse and bolted out of the door, pausing only long enough to lock it behind her. “I’m out. I’m heading for my car.”

      “Good. Hurry. And take the stairs. Those men could already be in the elevator.”

      “Oh. Right. Good point.” As if on cue, Kate heard the ping of the elevator, located down the hall and around the corner in the center of the building.

      It could have been Miss Lula Belle from next door, or one of the other tenants on the seventh floor, but she wasn’t willing to chance it. Reversing course, she made a dash for the fire exit at the opposite end of the hall. Once inside the stairwell she flew down the concrete steps as fast as her feet would move.

      “Okay, I’m heading down to the parking garage,” she said into the cell phone. “Now talk to me. What’s going on? What’s behind all this?”

      “Oh, God, Kate. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I handled this wrong. This is my fault.”

      “What’s your fault? What did you do?”

      “I should have told you, no matter how angry it made you. You would have known what to do,” Colleen sniffed. “I see that now. But…well…you said you wanted me to make my own decisions. And I really thought I could handle it. Now look what a mess I’ve made of everything.”

      “Handle what? What are you talking about, Colleen?” Kate’s patience was wearing thin, but she strained to hold her temper in check. She knew from experience that if she pushed her sister too hard she would dissolve into hysterical tears and that would be the end of the conversation. Besides, the last thing Kate wanted to do was to upset her any more than she already was. Especially when she was driving.

      “Look, take a deep breath and calm yourself. Then explain to me, nice and slow, what has happened.” Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Kate eased the door open a crack and scanned the parking garage. Satisfied there was no one around, she slipped out into the cavernous space and made a dash for her car, beeping open the locks on the way.

      “I…I can’t tell you. The less you know, the safer you’ll be.”

      Kate detected the obstinate note in Colleen’s voice and almost groaned. Her sister may not have much self-esteem or confidence, but she had stubbornness and guilty conscience down to an art form.

      “I’ll handle this,” Colleen declared shakily. “I got us into this mess, and I’ll get us out of it. Somehow. Just go to Tralee and stay out of sight. I’ll call you when I’ve figured it all out.”

      “Look, why don’t you meet me somewhere and we’ll both go to the farm. We’ll put our heads together and come up with a plan.”

      “No. If we’re together and they track us down we’ll both be killed. If we split up there’s a better chance that one of us will survive.”

      “It won’t come to that. C’mon, sis, let me help—”

      “No. I’m not going to put you in any more danger than I already have. I’ll take care of this.”

      “But—”

      “You’re in your car, right?”

      “Yes.” Kate realized that her sister had heard the car door close and the engine start. She backed out of her parking slot and headed for the exit. “I’m on my way.”

      “Good. Stay safe. And, Kate…I really am sorry.”

      “No, wait! Colleen! Don’t hang up!”

      

      Kate looked at Jack and spread her hands in a helpless gesture. “But it was too late. She’d already disconnected.”

      “That’s a helluva story.”

      “I know it sounds crazy. And I’ll admit, at first I was merely humoring her to calm her down, but the longer we talked the more I began to believe that we both really were in danger.”

      “What convinced you?”

      The back road ended at State Highway 19, and Jack turned right toward Palestine, but Kate was too distracted to notice.

      “For one thing, the state she was in.” She met Jack’s gaze in the dim glow from the dashboard. “I’ve seen and heard my sister when she was afraid before. Hundreds of times. You know what a timid soul Colleen is. But I swear, Jack, this was different. She was terrified out of her mind. Almost incoherent.”

      “So you believe that Bobby really was shot? That he’s dead?”

      Blinking back tears, Kate nodded. “After tonight, I don’t think there’s any doubt. Poor, sweet Bobby. He never hurt anyone in his life.”

      Three generations of Mahaffeys had owned and operated Mahaffey’s Interiors, a wholesale building and decorating supply store in Houston. Bobby Sloan had worked at the store for thirty-six years. Kate’s grandfather had hired Bobby as a favor to his mother, Margaret Sloan, an old family friend.

      Bobby had been slow and in many ways childlike, but he’d been hardworking, reliable, honest and he was absolutely loyal. Over the years, especially after Margaret passed away, he had become almost one of the family.

      “Where was Ed during all this?” Jack demanded. “Didn’t he come to Bobby’s aid at all? And where is he now? With Colleen?”

      “Ed? Why would he—Oh. That’s right. You don’t know. Colleen and Ed are separated. She filed for divorce four months ago.”

      “No kidding? Good for her. It’s about time.” Jack frowned and sent Kate a piercing look. “Wait a second. What did that bastard do to her? God knows, Colleen should have kicked Ed’s ass to the curb years ago for the way he treated her, but she didn’t. So what happened that changed her mind?”

      Kate twisted her hands together. Her sister was a shy, private person. Humiliated by what had happened and disgusted with herself for not getting out sooner, she wanted to keep the details quiet, but if anyone had a right to know it was Jack. After all, in the past, he had done all he could to protect Colleen from Ed.

      “Well?” Jack prodded.

      “Five months ago Ed beat Colleen again,” Kate replied in a subdued voice. “Despite your warning, the abuse never really stopped. He was just careful to hit her where the bruises weren’t obvious. This time he nearly killed her.”

      Jack shot her a steely-eyed glance. Only the tiny muscle working along his jaw and his white knuckles revealed his anger.

      “And?”

      “Afterwards he left her, barely conscious, and went out for a drink. To cool off, he said later. And, of course, he blamed the whole thing on her. He said that Colleen had provoked him.

      “Yeah, right.” Kate snorted. “Like that was difficult. All she had to do to set him off was exist. The sorry, vicious, lowlife son-of-a—”

      “You’re getting sidetracked, Mick. You don’t have to convince me that Ed Baxter’s an asshole. Finish your story.”

      “Oh, right. Well…if Colleen hadn’t somehow managed to knock the telephone receiver off the hook and pressed the speed-dial button for my number I’m not sure she would have survived.

      “When I picked