Holiday Homecoming Secrets

by Lynette Eason

  She hated breaking her promise. Most days she was home when she said she was going to be, but every once in a while she had days like today, and it meant changing or postponing plans. Mia had learned to roll with it, but Jessica and Gage hadn’t. If her parents wound up adopting them, they’d learn their big sister sometimes had to change plans. It was disappointing, but not the end of the world. Still, with their background, it might seem like she was just another adult not to be trusted. What a fine line to have to walk.

  Back in her small den area, she found her dad scrolling on his phone. He was a handsome man in his midfifties. And while his hair had turned gray around his ears and he had a few wrinkles around his eyes, he still looked much like he had when he’d walked down the aisle with Jade’s mother thirty years ago. He glanced up when she entered and tucked his phone into his pocket. “I’m sorry about Frank, hon.”

  “Thank you. Me too.” She rubbed the back of her neck with a groan. “It’s been a very long day.”

  He walked over to massage her shoulders. “You’re wound up tighter than a spring, kiddo.”

  “I’m sure.” She dropped her chin to her chest. “Mia mentioned my friend. Mom didn’t tell the kids who it was?”

  “No.” He dropped his hands. “Just that you had a friend who was hurt and had to go help.”

  “I see.” She rubbed her eyes. She’d have to tell them. They knew and loved Frank and would wonder why he wasn’t coming around anymore.

  “Heather didn’t want to come stay with you?” he asked. “With us?”

  “No. I tried to get her to come and even told her I’d stay at her place, but she said she was going to stay with her mother tonight, and then at Frank’s house—what was supposed to be their house—after the crime scene people do their thing and release it. She said she needed to be with her mom, to process and grieve.” Jade bit her lip and shook her head. “I don’t understand it. I talked to Frank on a weekly basis, sometimes more, and I never knew he was doing something this dangerous.”

  “Probably didn’t tell you because he was afraid you’d tell Heather.”

  “Maybe.” She shook her head. “He took Mia and the twins to his niece’s birthday party two weeks ago. Were they in danger when they were with him? Would he have risked that?”

  Her father took her hands. “No, honey, you know Frank. He wouldn’t have put those kids in danger. Not knowingly.”

  She pulled away from him and looked at the ceiling as though she might find the answers written there.

  A gasp pulled her gaze back to her father. He was staring at her throat. “What happened to you?”

  She touched the area with a grimace. “I got caught in a strand of lights.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Caught how?”

  “I... Someone at the tree lot attacked me and wrapped a strand of lights around my throat.”

  He blanched and his face paled. “Jade,” he whispered. “Did they catch him?”

  “No. Not yet. We’re hoping to get some footage from the security cameras there.”

  He shook his head. “You’ve had too many life-threatening things happen lately, from getting attacked at the mill to the shooting at the range. Now this? It’s too much.”

  “No kidding.”

  He paused. “Take a shower and go to bed. I’ll stay here tonight.”

  “We have officers watching the place, Dad. We’ll be okay.”

  “Are you willing to risk Mia’s life on that? Yours?”

  She hesitated. Then sighed. “I’ll get you some blankets and a pillow.”

  “And I’m going to get my gun.”

  * * *

  Bryce climbed the stairs to his room with Sasha on his heels. She’d missed him and now didn’t want to leave his side. In his bathroom, with Sasha lying in front of the door to keep an eye on him, he removed the prosthesis with a groan and massaged his stump until the worst of the ache eased.

  The ibuprofen had helped, but he considered taking something a little stronger. Then dismissed the idea. He didn’t want to be less than alert while they were looking for Frank’s killer.

  Once he’d showered, he grabbed the crutches, made his way to the window and looked out. Even though it appeared the attacks hadn’t been aimed at him, he couldn’t help being on edge, antsy and worried about Jade.

  “She’s a cop,” he told Sasha. “She’s trained to take care of herself, right?”

  Sasha yawned.

  The fact that she had fellow officers watching her house was the only thing that allowed him to go to his bed and collapse on it in an exhausted heap.

  Sasha settled herself on her bed next to him.

  It was only when he was getting nice and comfortable that he realized he’d left his phone in the bathroom. With a groan, he sat up. Sasha jumped to attention. “Sasha, phone.” He pointed to the bath. She ran to the room and disappeared inside. When she returned, she dropped his phone onto the bed next to him. He wiped the doggie drool off on his sleep pants and scratched her ears. “Good job, girl. Now go get in your bed.”

  Sasha obeyed. Sat there for less than three seconds, watching him before she got up and joined him back on the bed with a hopeful look. “Oh, fine,” Bryce said. “You can stay, just don’t tell Kristy.”

  He knew Kristy really wouldn’t care, and he was glad for the company. When the dog realized he wasn’t going to make her get down, she rolled to her side with a contented sigh while Bryce stared at the ceiling and let the grief flow over him.

  He shifted and closed his eyes. Which brought Jade’s beautiful face front and center in his mind. Someone had tried to kill her tonight and would have succeeded if he and Clay hadn’t finished strapping the tree to the car and gone looking for her.

  Jade. What was he going to do about her? She’d always gotten under his skin, even as a teen. He’d stayed away from her, thinking she was too young for him, but when he’d seen her that day at the college...

  He sat up and slid his legs to the edge of the bed. Well, leg and a half. The half was a good reminder why he needed to stuff down any feelings he might have for Jade. She deserved better. Someone whole. Someone who wouldn’t be a burden to her.

  Sasha raised her head and eyed him. “Sorry, girl. I’m restless tonight.”

  If he couldn’t sleep, he might as well work. He sat down at the small desk in the corner and pulled the pad and pen over. He wrote everything he knew about what Frank was working on and names he’d heard the man say. When he finished, he sat back and read over it, disgusted to see it wasn’t much. But he’d give it to Jade, and maybe she could make some sense out of it.

  Bryce returned to his bed and lay down. Sasha raised her head once more, and Bryce thought she might very well be frowning at him.

  He grabbed his phone and texted Jade. Are you awake?

  No answer.

  Okay, so I was thinking. Maybe we can decorate the tree sometime after lunch. Make an afternoon of it if you feel up to it. Just text me in the morning and let me know what you think.

  He set the phone back on his end table and shut his eyes, praying he wouldn’t dream, but knowing Sasha would wake him if he did.

  SEVEN

  The next morning, Jade rolled out of bed with a groan. She’d slept late, but that wasn’t the main reason for her audible protest at moving. Her throat ached, her head pounded, and she had sore muscles in places she didn’t realize had muscles.

  Popping more medicine for her aches and pains, she checked in with Captain Colson, but he told her nothing new had been learned last night about Frank. A call to the hospital informed her that Tony Swift had taken a turn for the worse and was in a medically induced coma.

  For now, there was nothing to be done until he woke up—and she prayed he would—or one of the other detectives came up with a lead. “Take some time, Jade,” her captain said. “Heal. You won’t be a
ny good to anyone if you’re not a hundred percent. And that’s not a suggestion. It’s an order. I don’t want to see you anywhere near the office today.”

  She grimaced, loath to admit he was right, but...he was. Fine. She’d take today and rest. Heal. Be with her family. She’d let the other detectives work the case and trust they’d keep her in the loop. And she’d check on Heather.

  She read the text from Bryce once more and it made her stomach hurt, but she couldn’t put this off forever. He had to know about Mia. After an answering text to Bryce saying, After lunch sounds good, she walked into her kitchen to find a note on the counter from her father.

  Sleep as late as you can. Mia is with us at the main house. Your watchdogs are being very vigilant so I’m comfortable that you’re safe sleeping here.

  God bless her parents. She honestly didn’t know what she’d do without them. A glance out the window confirmed she still had her security on the house. It made her feel slightly better, but she was terribly confused as to why someone would attack her. Had it been just some random thing? Someone who’d been looking for an easy victim to rob? Or was the attack more deliberate?

  Did they think because she was Frank’s friend and a cop that he’d confided in her about whatever he was working on? That she knew something about dirty cops protecting that drug ring? She wished she knew something. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a clue.

  But if the attack was aimed at her, that meant the person had been following her and simply waiting for a chance to strike. She shivered at the idea and went to the den window to look out. Her small apartment overlooked the back of the property, with her parents’ home to the left. She looked out in the distance to the sloping hill overlooking the large pond between her parents’ home and the pasture beyond it. She’d always thought it would be a perfect spot to build a house. “Maybe one day,” she whispered to herself.

  Her phone chimed, bringing her back from her dreams of a life that didn’t include someone trying to kill her. A text from Bryce. Tell me what time to be there.

  A little after one. That would give her time to make herself presentable and make sure the medication had kicked in, have a chat with Jessica—and try to come up with a way to tell Bryce that Mia was his child.

  See you then.

  Jade dialed Heather’s number, and her friend picked up on the first ring. “Hello?”

  “It’s me.”

  “Yeah, I kind of recognized the number.”

  A tiny smile curved Jade’s lips, then fell away. “How are you this morning?”

  “Awful. But my mom is here. So maybe slightly better than awful.”

  “Of course.” Jade refused to be hurt that Heather hadn’t wanted her to stay with her, but she could certainly understand the woman preferring her mother.

  “Did you see the news this morning?” Heather asked.

  “No. I just woke up about ten minutes ago. Why?”

  “Another overdose. A teenager this time. She was found in the alley behind O’Sullivan’s bar. Peter and Sarah snagged the case shortly after Frank was found.” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she cleared her throat. “He was investigating the drug ring,” she said. “They must have found out and killed him.”

  “Possibly,” Jade said, “but what did he know? How did he even know who to look into? He had to have an inside source to even begin investigating, but who? And I know it wasn’t you or me.”

  “Of course it wasn’t. There’s no telling,” Heather said. “He had his secrets. But the police are releasing the house this afternoon and, as much as it’ll kill me to be in there, I’m going to search it from top to bottom and see if I can find anything that will help us figure it out.”

  “You think there’s something the crime scene unit will miss?”

  “I won’t know until I get in there and look.”

  “Of course. Do you want some company?”

  A pause. “Maybe. I’ll call you if I decide I need help or if I just want to do this alone.”

  Jade bit her lip, then sighed. “Heather, don’t shut yourself off from people. From me. I just want to help. We all do.”

  “The problem is, no one can help.” A sob slipped across the line and speared her heart. Heather cried, and all Jade could do was listen. Finally, her friend sniffed and fell silent. Jade waited, trying to think of what she could do or say and came up empty.

  “Sorry,” Heather said. “I’m sorry. Sometimes it just overwhelms me.”

  “No need to apologize. I know.”

  She heard Heather take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “All right,” Heather said, “let’s think about this. We’ve got access to resources Frank didn’t. If he tracked down these drug runners, how come we haven’t been able to yet?”

  “I don’t know, I just know the drug task force is working on it.” Jade paused. “Bryce is coming over later. Do you want to join us?”

  For a moment the line was silent. Then Heather sighed. “Maybe. How’s that working out for you? Seeing Bryce again?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, he’s Mia’s father, isn’t he? I’d think it’d be a little uncomfortable being around him again.”

  Jade froze, her insides turning to ice. She hadn’t told a soul who Mia’s father was. “What makes you say think Bryce is Mia’s father?” She forced the words past her lips, rather proud that she managed to keep her panic out of her tone.

  “Something Frank said.”

  Her heart had done a fast thaw to thud out of control in her chest. “What exactly did Frank say?”

  “Something about that weekend Bryce went to say goodbye to Kristy. Frank rode with him and said Bryce wound up spending more time with you because of your grandmother dying. He also said that he didn’t remember Bryce returning to where the guys were crashing that night and that Bryce was tight-lipped when he showed up to go home. I did the math and it fits.”

  “You never said a word.” If Heather had done the math, Frank probably had too.

  “Wasn’t my business.” She paused. “So it’s true?”

  Jade closed her eyes and considered lying. But couldn’t. “Yes, Heather. It’s true.”

  “Are you going to tell him?”

  “Of course I am.”

  “But you haven’t yet.” Another pause. “Why not?”

  “When has there been an even halfway right time to tell him? When bullets were flying at the shooting range? Or maybe when someone was trying to strangle me in the Christmas tree lot?” And he had PTSD—which wasn’t even the problem. The problem was his refusal to admit it. Silence from the other end of the line. Jade pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap, but I can’t get into this right now, okay? As you well know, there’s a lot going on and I just... I can’t talk about this yet. Not because I don’t want to tell you, but because I simply need to think things through before I say anything.”

  “Sure. Of course. You’re absolutely right. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

  “It’s fine,” she said.

  “Oh, by the way,” Heather said, “I talked to Abby. She said as near as they can figure, the church was the last place Frank was seen.”

  “Any idea where he went after that?”

  “CCTV footage shows him leaving the parking lot and turning east on Yancey Street.”

  “Which would take him toward home,” Jade murmured.

  “Or a lot of other places along the way. But, yes, since his car is in the garage, I’m assuming he got there safely.”

  Jade nodded even though Heather couldn’t see her. “Then he disappeared from home.”

  “That’s what it looks like, but Abby said she and a few uniformed officers are going to stop at businesses along the route between the church and his home to see if he stopped in. She said she’s also going to ask for security
footage from any cameras facing the street to see if his car passed by after his visit to the church.”

  “Sounds like she’s got everything covered.” Jade paused. “Unless someone came by and picked him up.”

  “Maybe, but there’s no way to tell. His security system wasn’t armed, and he doesn’t have cameras.”

  “What about a neighbor’s system? Maybe one of them caught something.”

  “Already thought about that,” Heather said. “The officers who went house to house asked and no one has a camera facing Frank’s home.”

  Well, that was just fabulous. Jade sighed. “Okay, thank you for the update. Hang in there, my friend. We’ll figure it out.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And Heather?”

  “What?”

  “Please don’t say anything to Bryce about Mia. I’m going to tell him, I’m just biding my time right now.”

  “You know I wouldn’t say anything.” Jade grimaced at the hurt in Heather’s voice.

  “I didn’t mean to imply that you would, I just—ugh. You know people only say that to make themselves feel better. It’s no reflection on—” She rubbed her eyes. “Never mind. I can’t say anything right.”

  “It’s okay, Jade. I know you didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just super sensitive right now. We’ll talk later, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  Jade hung up, texted the information to Bryce, then went to get ready to face the day.

  An hour later, she stepped into her parents’ house to find the tree standing in the den ready to be decorated. The scent of fresh popcorn greeted her, and she drew in a deep breath. “Hello, anyone here?”

  Mia’s head popped out of the playroom at the end of the hall, and she bounded out to greet her. “Hi, Mommy.”

  Jade caught her up in a hug. “Hi, sweetie. Wow, you’re getting heavy. Have you been eating popcorn?”

  “No way. That’s for the tree. I’ve been eating cookies.”

  “Oh, my bad. Of course.”