His Secret Heart (Crown Creek)

by Theresa Leigh

  “Sorry, I -.” I shook my head. “I just… that’s my Dad’s handwriting.” I swallowed and looked at him. “It just keeps hitting me, you know?”

  J.D. grunted. “I know.” He tapped his pen on the desk and then seemed to decide something. He pushed back in this chair and put his feet up on the desk. When he saw me watching, he gave me a small grin. “Dad never let me do this,” he volunteered. “Now that he’s not here to bark at me, I’m doing it every chance I get.”

  I swallowed and tried to smile back. “So what did you want to talk about?”

  “That envelope.” Livvy, J.D. and I all turned to see yet another Knight brother stepping into the office from the garage. He was broader than his brother, his hair closer cropped. “And what the hell you think you’re going to do with it.”

  “Rocky....” J.D. muttered in warning. He swung his legs down and fixed his brother with a look. But instead of threatening him like he had the other two, he just gave a small shake of his head. Rocky wrinkled his nose, but then gave a stiff nod back.

  “You want to be more specific?” Livvy piped up from behind me. I’d nearly forgotten she was here, I was so intent on watching my brothers’ every move. It was like seeing my father through a warped mirror, the familiar right up against the strange. “The envelope doesn’t concern you,” Livvy went on. “And before we go any further, you mind telling me what’s behind that door?”

  I looked where she pointed. A heavy metal door that was was set into the back wall of the office. It was so papered over with my father’s scrawl that I hadn’t noticed it at first. But Livvy was staring at it in white-faced horror.

  J.D. stiffened. He probably thought he’d hidden his reaction. But after a lifetime spent analyzing father’s every movement, I was overly equipped to notice my brother’s. Stranger or not, he moved the exact same way. And now he looked uncomfortable.

  “That doesn’t really have nothin’ to do with this matter, now,” he said, sounding overly casual. I caught the quick, wary glance he shot at Rocky.

  I leaned forward. “Are you hiding something in there?”

  “Back office isn’t part of the tour,” Rocky snapped.

  “Why is it locked?” Livvy demanded. “That deadbolt at the top there? Why do you have it bolted from the outside?”

  “So we can keep prying eyes off of it,” Rocky drawled. “But it ain’t working, apparently.”

  I sat up straighter. Every alarm bell in my head was going off at once. “You know this is fucking creepy, right?” I looked directly at J.D. “This isn’t helping your ‘I just want to talk’ case. Scary doors that lock from the outside? Is that your murder room, J.D.?”

  “Jesus fuck!” he spat. “Can we just -?” He paused and licked his lips, then spread his hands out in appeal. “Look. I just want you to understand where we are coming from.”

  “Oh, I understand just fine!” I rolled my eyes. “I understand you’ve been threatening me.” I glanced at Livvy. "And my friends. And my family. Motorcycle drive-bys? Late night visits? You’re all a bunch of bullies, aren’t you? But it’s not gonna work.” I pulled the envelope from my bag and waved it at them. “I have the paperwork right here. The house is mine.”

  “No it ain’t!” Rocky spat. “That’s not -.” J.D. silenced him with another shake of his head.

  I stood up. I’d had enough. "Look. You might not have known about me. Hell, I sure as shit didn’t know about you. But I do exist. I am his daughter. And I have a right to a piece of him.” The word got locked up in my throat and I was suddenly crying. “You guys had him,” I shouted, angry that my tears made me look weak when all I wanted was to take what was mine. “You had all that time with him, and I had to be happy with whatever scraps were left over.” I brandished the enveloped. “Well this is it. This is my scrap.”

  J.D. had been watching me during my whole tirade and when I finally fell silent, he sounded almost sad. “But it’s a pretty important scrap,” he said gently.

  “Whether it’s important to you or not doesn’t matter,” I spat. I was feeling selfish and mean and I wanted to hurt them because my Dad wasn’t around to yell at instead. “Your opinion really doesn’t fucking matter because it’s all down in the will. In black and white and fancy fucking insignia. The house belongs to me.”

  This time it was Rocky who sounded sad. “So maybe? Maybe we come to an agreement.” He looked at J.D. “We ‘ll buy it from you.”

  “I’m not selling. It’s my goddamned legacy.”

  He tented his fingers and pressed his lips together. The room was silent as tension filled it. So silent I could hear the flutter of papers on the wall.

  And the loud clang of an alarm bell.

  “What the hell?” I yelled, leaping to grab Livvy. “What was that?”

  J.D. looked at Rocky. “Is there a drop today?”

  “Not supposed to be.” Rocky shoved past me and went to the door. “I don’t recognized the car!” he called. “Check the cameras!”

  “Is everything locked down?” J.D. yelled into the garage. Maddox bounded into the office and handed his brother something. “Is that a gun?” Livvy shrieked.

  “Are we locked down!” Rocky bellowed. And turned to look at the bolted door.

  “What the hell is in there?” I gasped.

  Rocky ignored me. “Check on them,” he ordered Maddox.

  “There are people in there?”

  Rocky still wouldn’t look my way. “Tell them they’re okay, you hear me? Hey Aaron!” he called when Maddox opened the door. “Don’t worry, okay?" he called to the unseen man inside. "Just don’t talk. We’ll do the talking.” He nodded at J.D.

  J.D. nodded back and then pressed his finger down on a a call box next to the phone. “Who the fuck is this?” he snarled.

  “Hey! Dinah sent us!” came the garbled, staticky answer over the intercom. “Don’t fucking shoot me!”

  J.D. shook his head and backed away. “That’s not him,” he warned. “That’s not the usual guy.”

  “But he said Dinah sent him,” Maddox pointed out.

  “I’ve never in my life heard someone from the Chosen say ‘hey’” Rocky mused. “Or drop f-bombs. It could be a new guy?”

  “You want to risk it?” J.D. snarled. “What would Susanna say?”

  “She’d say let’s see what he wants.” A woman I hadn’t seen until just now stepped into the office. Her long hair was so blonde it was almost white. She moved like a dancer, all floating limbs and careful motions. But the look in her eyes was pure steel.

  Rocky swore when he saw her. “Baby, we’re on lockdown, get the fuck out of here. Please. No women allowed.”

  “And them?” she gestured to me and Livvy.

  “That’s my new sister,” Rocky sighed. “She doesn’t count.”

  Susanna stared at me. “Have you asked her yet?”

  “We were getting to it,” Rocky grunted impatiently. “And then got interrupted by an unscheduled drop."

  She walked over to him and touched his face. “You’ll keep me safe though.”

  “Always,” he promised, and pressed a desperate kiss to her lips.

  Then he swallowed and nodded to J.D. “Do it,” he said. “Open it up.”

  J.D. looked at his brother. And then looked at me.

  “Welcome to the family, Sis,” he laughed.

  And then he pressed the button.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Finn

  I jerked awake again, checking the passenger seat with my heart in my throat.

  Anna was sleeping slumped against the window. I blinked when I saw her and realized why I could see her.

  The sun was up. We’d stayed hidden in the cornfield the whole night long and no one had found us.

  I’d kept my promise to keep her safe,

  But I had no idea what to do next.

  I shifted in the seat, trying to roll the stiffness out of my neck. Anna stirred and then stretched.

  And then we both jumped a
mile when my phone buzzed in the pocket of my jacket. “Jesus,” I muttered, dragging my hand down my face. “Talk about a wake-up call.”

  Anna gave me a shy, delighted grin. “That was funny,” she said.

  “I’m not usually,” I informed her, then pressed the call button. There was only one person who had this number. “Are you okay?” I asked by way of greeting.

  “Finn?”

  “Dinah? Are you hurt?”

  “Do you have her?”

  “I do.” I looked over at Anna and smiled. “She’s safe.”

  Dinah blew out a long exhale and then laughed. “You’re something else,” she marveled.

  “I’m not.”

  “I’m too tired to have this argument with you, Finn. I’ve got an address for you, are you ready?”

  “Is it safe?”

  “The safest I can manage at this hour.” She sounded worried. “I’m still trying to get things final with them. But they have a fence and guard dogs, and knowing this crew, they have a lot of guns on hand too. If they’re there, and God willing they are, they're the best people to make sure she's protected." She paused. “Next to you, of course.”

  “Guard dogs and guns?” I stared at Anna again. Her hands were still folded, but her knuckles were white. “Who is she, Dinah?”

  Anna cleared her throat. “I’m the daughter of the Prophet,” she declared in a clear, cold voice.

  I blinked. “The Prophet?” I rubbed my knuckles. “The guy whose jaw I broke?”

  “No.”

  “You called him Father, though,” I pointed out.

  “That man is my husband,” she sighed. Then unclenched her hands and looked at me. “Was my husband.”

  "They were married last night," Dinah explained over the phone. “I took her before it could be consummated.”

  I gripped the steering wheel tighter. Then looked at Anna. “How old are you?" I asked.

  She lifted her chin. “Thirteen.”

  I saw red. “I should have broken more than just his jaw,” I growled.

  “You see why we’re taking extraordinary measures?” Dinah asked. “Finn?”

  I pulled my thoughts away from slow murder. “Yeah?” I barked.

  “Take her to this address. They’ll know what to do next.”

  “You got it, boss.” I ended the call. “Shall we get the fuck out of this cornfield?” I asked Anna.

  My wayward past came in handy again. I alternately rocked the car and gunned the engine and dug Cutter’s field all to shit to get us out of there. I promised myself I’d send a Cutter a check for the damage I was doing, and then cut a wide U-turn back out onto Highway twelve.

  Mud and broken pieces of cornstalks covered the windshield. “After I drop you off,” I muttered. “I’m heading to the car wash.”

  Anna didn’t find that joke quite as funny.

  We drove in silence to the address Dinah had given me. I slipped past the still sleeping houses with my eyes straight forward. If I can’t see them, then they can’t see me the irrational part of my brain insisted. But then I turned and snuck a glance out the window anyway. After the night I’d had, I was almost hoping I’d run into Beau. Or Claire. Or… dare I even hope it?

  Sky.

  My thoughts were tangled up in her, so I drove without thinking. I took the turns out of town on instinct, passing by the old warehouses and the mills that stood empty but had once taken their power from the creek. We were out of the pretty part of town and entering the part where the pawn shops and the used car lots hunkered in front of a backdrop of more dead corn.

  I'd thought the address sounded familiar when Dinah told it to me.

  But when I rolled in front of the Knights’ garage and double checked it, I swore for a long, long time.

  “What’s wrong?” Anna whispered as I cursed.

  Her voice was quivering. I’d scared her. And she didn’t need any more scaring for the day. “Nothing.” I swallowed down the impulse to rage at the irony. I fought the need to jump from the car and rain down justice on the people who’d scared the woman I still thought of as mine. Hell, I'd flattened three guys for Anna’s sake. I’d gladly take on one hundred for Sky.

  But if Dinah had sent us, that meant the Knights were somehow involved in the Underground Railroad. I couldn't punch them.

  Yet.

  “Let’s get you inside,” I told Anna. “Get you safe.”

  I pulled up to the gate and heard a faint alarm ring out from the low slung building. “Dinah was right,” I told Anna. “This place has security.” I didn’t tell her it was because the Knights were a bunch of lowlifes with plenty of people after them wanting to settle scores. Me being one of them.

  The speaker hanging on the gate crackled to the life. “— fuck is this?”

  It was J.D. Even over the tinny speaker, I recognized the voice of the most reasonable of the Knight brothers. “Hey!” I greeted him. “Dinah sent us! Don’t fucking shoot me!”

  I sat back and tapped my fingers on the wheel. Then caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and wondered why I was suddenly smiling. I wasn’t at all happy to see J.D., or any of his idiot brothers. I had no idea how they’d gotten mixed up in the Underground Railroad Dinah and I were running, but I suspected their motives weren't exactly pure of heart.

  But I knew them. And that had me almost whistling with relief.

  And then, like an anvil dropped from on high, it hit me.

  I was ready. Ready to come back. To make my amends and ask for forgiveness.

  I was ready to be a King again. I was ready to show how I’d changed.

  When this was over, I would call Dinah and let her know Anna was safe. Then I’d thank her for giving me the purpose I’d spent my whole life searching for. But I wasn’t coming back to the campground. She’d probably be relieved to hear it.

  The gate slid open with a terrible screech that made Anna clap her hands to her ears. Sliding through it felt like turning a page in the book of my life.

  Ready to start a new chapter.

  “I’ll go first,” I told Anna, then jumped from the car. The day was the warmest we’d had in a long while, and the sun was now beating down from a brilliantly blue sky. I shielded my eyes and inspected the low white building. “Ready?” I called. “Stay close to me.”

  I held out my arm to guide her behind me. But she grabbed my elbow instead.

  “King?” There was a shadow in the doorway. “Is that you?”

  “Rocco?” I called out. “What the fuck is going on? Why’d Dinah send me to you?”

  He opened his mouth to answer, but turned his head, distracted by a sudden commotion from inside. There was a shout and then a chorus of voices, and then Rocky was suddenly yanked from my view.

  A familiar silhouette took his place. A jolt went through my body before I even saw her face. Because I’d know her body anywhere. She hadn’t changed.

  But I had.

  “Sky?” I called.

  “Finn?” she cried.

  “The fuck?” Rocky yelled, muscling his way back out the door again. “How the fuck do you two know each other?”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Sky

  I heard his voice out in the lot and turned so quickly I made myself dizzy. Without even thinking, I grabbed Rocky by his beefy forearm and yanked him out of my way.

  It took several blinks before the backlit silhouette resolved itself into a familiar shape.

  He was here. Standing right in front of me, his arm around a frightened young girl. “Sky,” he said my name again.

  All around me was a frenzy of action. Susanna appeared at the girl’s elbow and gently coaxed her inside. My brothers all surrounded Finn and demanded to know what had happened - why did the drop go bad? what was Dinah doing? and a whole lot of other questions that made no sense to me. My cousin emerged from the office and her mouth fell open when she saw Finn standing there.

  I was aware of all these things. But I couldn’t tear my eyes away from
the hazel ones I’d missed do much. “What are you doing here?” I whispered.

  “Missing you,” he murmured, brushing his finger under my chin.

  His kiss was as soft as a feather, hardly the soul-searing assault I craved from him. I pulled back and stared at him, thrilled that every single gold fleck I’d remembered still glinted in his eyes.