A Masterpiece Unraveled (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 2)

by Nikki Lynn Barrett

  "Not just because of your voice loss, either. Right?"

  The sadness in her eyes told him what he needed to know.

  "You want to know one of my favorite memories of you when you were younger?"

  "Dare I ask?" He already called it a win when she smiled. Good! He loved talking about old memories with Becca.

  "I remember coming to visit you when you were thirteen. Your aunt warned me that you were struggling. We showed up at her house after she picked me up at the airport and we found you on the ground, angry but determined. It didn't dawn on me right away, but I remember being stunned when I couldn't find your wheelchair anywhere." At that age, Becca had just wanted to belong and fit in. He remembered that year well. She used to call him so upset, and he'd talk to her for an hour and have her laughing again, forgetting all her troubles. It also helped him forget his own. She never really called to complain, either. He just always detected a certain tone in her voice and his stubborn streak wouldn't let up until she told him what was wrong.

  Her eyes lit up. "After you got over the shock of seeing me like that, you said something along the lines of how a lot of girls fell at your feet, but I took it to a literal level. Then you realized I was attempting to walk and scared me when you said you had a serious question to ask me."

  He chuckled. "Do you remember the question?" They'd all been tactics to make her laugh, and at the time he wasn't sure what would or wouldn't make Becca smile.

  "Yes! You asked if I would escort you to the swing. You helped me to my feet and held my hand as I walked the farthest I had since before the accident. I remember yelling at you for being a dork and for scaring me before we did that. Why is that one of your favorite memories?"

  Hunter cupped her face and kissed her lips. "Because you reached a milestone and I actually got to be a part of it. I was there watching you do something I knew you could do again. I remember you told me how hard it was being the different girl at school. What made me the proudest was even though part of you wanted to do it to fit in, you did it more for yourself. You beat the odds more than once, Rebecca Lange, and I know you'll do it again and again. I watch you struggle and it's hard on me. I think we should both remember to keep looking for the good through the bad." He held out his pinkie, wondering if she'd remember their old little shake on a promise. If she was reliving some of her hard childhood days, the least he could do was bring back some of the fun memories the two of them shared. "What do you say?"

  Becca's lips curved upward again as a spark of recognition flashed in her eyes. She did remember! She curled her pinkie over his and went through the rest of the motions. The symbol had been their own secret language. Their promise keeping shake. He'd taught her the promise shake on the island when she first started having trouble talking. It was something they kept up with years after, but had long forgotten about in their adult years. Well, he hadn't forgotten it, but they didn't do it in a long time.

  "Come here," he requested, pulling her in his arms for a comforting hug. Becca slid her arms around him and held on tight. "How about we get Sienna and Rissi, take some pictures and then dig into our lunch?" Tonight, he'd see if he could break even more of the tension and have a good talk with Becca. Get everything out in the open. As he let her go and looked toward the swings where the two had been just a few minutes ago, he tensed.

  Rissi and Sienna were nowhere nearby. Hunter scanned the playground, thinking they went to another play area.

  Becca pulled away and her eyes were full of curiosity. "What's wrong?"

  "I don't see Sienna or Rissi anywhere." He kept his voice calm. Don't overreact. His first instinct was to overreact, and he probably didn't need to.

  To add to his nervousness, Hunter noticed a ton of kids running to the other end of the playground, an area that had been empty prior. There were a bunch of trees there that a stone pathway led through. What happened over there?

  Odd. It probably had nothing to do with Rissi and Sienna, but curiosity got the better of him. They could have gone over there to see what the fuss was about. He shot to his feet. "I'm going to go see what that's all about. Will you stay here in case Sienna and Rissi get back? I wonder if they ventured over that way, too." Becca gave him a quick nod and then he darted off toward the crowd. Kids were shouting and he heard a few screams.

  Hunter tried not to panic, but his missing daughter and friend sent a chill down his spine.

  Chapter Nine

  Becca sighed, pulled out her phone and planned on sending a quick text to Rissi to find out where she went. Her attention was glued to Hunter rushing toward the crowd. Was he as panicked as she felt and didn't want to alert her? Most likely it was kids looking at an animal, or a fight, or something minuscule and dumb compared to what the two of them were probably thinking.

  Before she could send the text, her phone rang. The caller ID registered Vince's number. Why would he be calling? He knew she couldn't talk to him on the phone! Whatever. If he wanted something that bad, he'll leave a voice mail and she could check it later.

  The ringing stopped. No voice mail yet. Becca stared in the direction Hunter ran, wondering what the crowd had gathered for. Where did Rissi go with Sienna? Maybe a drink of water? Well that wouldn't make sense. They had drinks right here. Another playground? There were several areas with different playgrounds. The bathroom maybe? Did Hunter feel the same unease she did?

  He was right. They were both on edge and falling apart. After twenty years, this was the worst few weeks they'd ever had in terms of arguing. She couldn't recall ever feeling such frustration with him before. She didn't want to lose Hunter. She sure as heck didn't look forward to telling him about four years ago or admitting to how angry she'd been. But it had to be dealt with.

  The voice mail notification finally went off. Curious, she played it, still looking for Hunter, Rissi and Sienna.

  When the message began, she could barely hear Vince's voice. There were loud sounds in the background and everything was muffled. What was going on? Maybe he had his phone in his pocket and had butt dialed her. She was about to delete the message, resigned to the idea that's what it was when the voices came in more clearly. She froze, her stomach flip flopping as she heard Vince and her grandparents.

  "Never did I realize how much you were hiding!" Vince shouted. He sounded so ticked off. "I don't think you can keep it in any more. Had I known just how much you kept from her, I just ... This is bad."

  What was he referring to? Becca clutched the phone to her ear, pressing hard as if she'd be able to hear even better. There were other voices, but she couldn't make them out easily.

  "What makes you so sure Becca isn't Rusty's biological child?" Vince snapped. More strange sounds. His phone had to have been in his pocket, and he had no idea this message was on her phone now.

  Becca's grandmother's voice rang out loud and clear somehow. "I heard Anne lost a child, and then all of a sudden they had another baby. In that time frame, I barely heard a word from Anne or Rusty. Then they disappeared from our lives completely. That new baby had to be Rebecca. I think Anne was so desperate, she stole a baby. And I think the Beckmans-"

  The message cut off, running out of time.

  No! No!

  Becca held back a wave of nausea and saved the message.

  Stolen?

  Could this be true? No. No way! And what about the Beckmans? Did Hunter's parents help steal her for the Langes?

  This just went from bad to worse within seconds.

  "Becca? What's going on? Where's Hunter?" At the sound of Rissi's voice, Becca jumped and almost dropped her phone. Sienna let go of Rissi's hand and ran to her, throwing her arms around her legs.

  "Where in the world did you two go?" Hunter returned, out of breath. He sounded more concerned than angry.

  "I'm sorry. Sienna said she needed to go to the bathroom badly. I tried to wave you down and let you know, but you were lost in conversation." Rissi frowned. "I didn't mean to scare you."

  "I know you
didn't. I'm just on edge and then I saw that crowd over there-" Hunter pointed. "I don't know what I thought." Then he finally noticed Becca. "Hey, it's okay, Bec." Sienna let her go and he wrapped his arms around her. "Everyone's okay. There was a fight between a couple teens and that's why everyone was gathered around."

  Oh, if only that was all that scared her. She struggled in his arms, trying to hold up her phone to show him.

  "What is it?" He took a step back.

  Still shaking, Becca dialed her voice mail and handed the phone to Hunter. He listened to it, the color draining from his face.

  Hunter slowly removed the phone from his ear and handed it to her. "Save that message," he directed, his voice coming out strangled.

  *****

  Hunter promised Sienna a picnic and that's exactly what they were going to do. Becca agreed with him. But he couldn't erase the words from his mind. He debated on calling Vince back and finding out exactly what the hell he knew. Or maybe he'd run with it and give this information to the investigator without letting on to Vince or the Langes that he and Becca knew of this conversation. If they found out, there was no telling what they'd try to do in terms of stopping them from finding the truth.

  When Sienna rubbed her eyes and let out another yawn, Hunter figured it was time to head back. She climbed up in his lap and leaned against him. He kissed her head. If only life would quit throwing curve balls at them so that he could enjoy some good quality time with Sienna and Becca. "I guess it's time to head out."

  "Might as well." Becca sighed. She didn't eat much. She was probably just as preoccupied.

  Rissi and Becca packed up the remainder of what they brought. When Rissi went to throw the paper plates in the garbage, Hunter picked Sienna up and stood beside Becca. "You okay?" What a stupid question. He couldn't think of anything better to ask.

  She shook her head, picking up her purse and camera case before walking away. Shut out again. Another almost breakthrough with her earlier, and now this. Becca was back to not opening up much. Damn it!

  He said his good byes to Sienna at the Sundstrom's, not ready to let her go. She was half out of it and a little fussy, so Beverly took her inside right away to get her down for a nap. She'd invited them in. Hunter explained why they were in a rush to head home, but he was looking forward to the weekend of having Sienna.

  As he was about to go back to the car, Eva appeared in the doorway. "Are you sure it's a good idea to take her this weekend?"

  He stopped and whirled around. "What do you mean?"

  "I heard what you told Mom. You guys are distracted. I'm really not trying to start anything, but..." She darted a quick glance at the car.

  Was she honestly concerned, or was Eva playing games because she was jealous of Becca? He hadn't forgotten the look she'd given them all when Sienna tried to make Becca's voice better earlier.

  "Eva. Come on." Keep calm, keep calm.

  "I'm just looking out for our daughter!" She raised her voice, folding her arms across her chest.

  Anger curled like a tight fist in his chest. He puffed out a breath, not ready at all to have a fight with her. "Can I call you and talk about this later? I get your point, but I need to see her too, you know."

  Eva narrowed her eyes. "Fine. Guess I'll talk to you then." She rushed inside and closed the door, leaving him a little confused. No, make that more than a little.

  Hunter shrugged it off and headed back to the car. With Eva, who knows any more?

  Back at the house, he wasn't sure if Rissi was actually exhausted or just wanted to give them time to talk, but she said she was going to rest, since the sleepwalking incident startled her so bad that she had a hard time getting back to sleep last night. She hugged Becca, then went upstairs.

  "How long does your phone save voice mails?" Hunter asked.

  Becca turned her gaze to him. "I'm not sure. A couple weeks maybe."

  "What do you want to do? Confront Vince? Or maybe give this information to the PI I hired and let him find out?" Hunter bridged the gap between them and kissed her forehead. He'd hug her right now, but he had to wait for her to reply.

  "Part of me wants to confront him, but of course I can't call." She moved her hands in angry motions. "Call the investigator. Let's let him hear this message before it's not available any more. We can go from there I guess."

  Could any of it be true? What were her grandparents going to insinuate about his family? Did they think his parents had something to do with stealing a child? This whole thing ended up messier by the day. Maybe that's why they were on the same plane. Carrie could have found out about Becca and because she was so angry at her family and at Rusty, she threatened it all. It would possibly explain the comments about Rebecca Lange not existing. The whole concept make him sick to his stomach, but they had to find out even more now.

  "I'll call him then." Hunter looked down, noticing Becca's clenched fists again. Her knuckles were white. Gently placing his hands over hers, he whispered, "Brace yourself, angel. I don't know what we're going to find out." He went to hold her, but she moved her hands from his.

  "The truth terrifies me considering what we've heard. Just tell me no matter what we find out, you won't leave me because of it."

  Why would she ever think that? He was more afraid of her walking away! Hunter held out his pinkie, staring intently at her. "I'm here for the long haul. I don't care what your past is or how we came together. You're a permanent imprint on my heart and I won't lose you. I know this pinkie promise thing we started years ago is silly, but I mean it, Bec. I'm always yours for as long as you'll have me around."

  For the second time today, their childhood promise seal was exchanged. Hunter wrapped his arms around the woman he loved and held her tight, wishing all hell wasn't going to break loose like he knew it would.

  "Come on. Let's go make that call." He led Becca to sit beside him, pulled out his phone, and made the call.

  *****

  Becca's head pounded as the pain increased. Hunter was on the phone for a while with the PI and she could tell from the side of the conversation she heard that this was going to be one heck of a process. When Hunter hung up, he set the phone on the couch's armrest. "He's going to come by tomorrow to listen to the message," he informed her.

  Did her grandparents push Vince in her life to keep their secrets? Marry her off, make sure he got control of her money and everything else? They'd threatened her more than once to have her checked in to a hospital over things. If she'd married Vince, he would have had a say, wouldn't he? Then they'd never have to let out some big family secret that she'd been a part of and never knew. The whole thing made her blood boil. She never loved Vince, never wanted to marry him and had a feeling he had his own motives, but she never would have guessed anything of this magnitude!

  She'd never felt so alone in her life!

  "What happened during our years apart, Bec? I think now more than ever, I need to know. Vince is in your life for a reason and I think it's only beginning to come to light. Please don't hold back any more. Let's put it all on the line so we can move forward. You know I'm not going to judge, no matter what your feelings were."

  She wasn't ready for this conversation, but Hunter was right. She'd held back so much. "You already know I thought you stopped coming because something changed with us that last year. Then those months after, we hardly talked, and then it stopped all together. I went to the island, hoping for the best, expecting the worst. You were always the one person I could count on. Always. When I lost you, or thought I did, it was a blow to the gut. I struggled with feeling angry at you, and guilty because I thought I pushed you away with feelings you'd never return. Feelings I didn't understand myself."

  "But to think you'd lose me if you told me how angry you were?" He shook his head. "Well, I guess after four years apart and me showing up like I did, I might have done the same thing."

  "It hurt. Everyone around me ended up leaving or acted like I was a burden. It messed with my mind and I had
a hard time. So I came home confused and lost. You already know my grandparents always expected me to be perfectly imperfect." She made a face. "Does that even make any sense?"

  "I get what you're saying. Basically, they wanted to mold you into who they thought you should be. Strong, but still incapable, which is why I've always questioned their motives. They didn't want to take you in, but they still keep you close even though you're on your own."

  "I suppose since Rissi told you I had a breakdown when Vince was brought into my life, she told you what they threatened me with." She'd promised herself when she returned from the island that year that she'd get over it, that it didn't bother her. Coming home to even more memories and things from Hunter changed that. When the first round of tears fell, they didn't stop. She'd been all mixed up with how she felt until she couldn't take it any more.

  Hunter licked his upper lip and closed his eyes for a second before nodding. She could tell he was holding in his anger over all of this. "She did."

  "What I didn't know at first was that Vince is a psychiatrist."

  Hunter straightened. "You're kidding! No, what the hell am I saying. You wouldn't kid about that. Bec, this really gives me warning signals."

  "Me too. I wish I'd pushed harder to get away. I should have fought instead of sucking it up and pretending I was okay. If I'd had the courage, I could have moved and started fresh somewhere. All I know is they were so against you, always had been, and they wanted me to forget all about you. I wasn't supposed to succeed, but I wasn't supposed to cry or feel anything over my past- including the accident."

  "If you gave in and married Vince, none of these secrets they're trying to keep would come out, because he would have a say in your mental well being. With his credentials, he could have gotten away with it and no one would know any better, other than someone close to you. Like me." Hunter ran a hand through his hair. "I knew he had ulterior motives. Question is, what's in it for him other than possibly gaining access to your money? Didn't you say he was well off when we talked about him the first time?"