Hidden Secrets (The Hidden Series Book 3)

by Kristin Coley

  “How late…oh shit.” I cried glancing at the clock on his truck. “We should have been there half an hour ago.”

  “Yep,” Connor drawled, giving me a squinty eyed glare. “You know Jules. Everything’s a crisis right now. She’s convinced you’re both dead in a car accident and I should put out an APB on you. I’ll leave you to tell her the truth of it.” My cheeks had reddened in embarrassment, but the threat of telling Jules why we were late left me suddenly pasty. Connor chuckled at the change in my expression. “Yeah, that’s why I went looking for you. Now, can we get over there before she sends a search party after me?”

  “Too late,” Jake answered with a wince as we watched Danny’s motorcycle pull in the parking lot. “In a minute we’re gonna have the whole damn rehearsal party here.”

  “Nobody to blame but yourself, brother.” Connor swung his head toward Danny as he pulled the motorcycle alongside of us. A short nod of his head had Danny pulling off his helmet.

  “All good?” he eyed us and the truck. “Car trouble?”

  “Yes!” I grasped the excuse desperately. “Yes. We had car trouble.”

  “Oh, no,” Connor started shaking his head. “Hell, no. You are not getting off that easy.”

  “Connor, I swear to God if you don’t go along with it I will tell Jules how you paid for her engagement ring,” I threatened, leaning over Jake as I got in Con’s face. He held my eyes, gauging how serious I was, and he must have seen the desperation in my eyes because he backed down.

  To my relief.

  There was no way I’d allow Jules to have this kind of ammunition after I’d chewed her for being a bridezilla.

  “Fine, no need to throw threats around. We just need a cover story.” Connor nodded as Danny shook his head in confusion. Jake’s head dropped back on the seat as I balanced myself on the door in front of him. “By the way, you might want to fix your shirt.” I glanced down to see my cleavage on full display, giving Connor an eyeful. Jake reached over and yanked my tank top up and I settled back on my knees.

  “Do I even want to know?” Danny pondered glancing between the three of us.

  “Probably not,” I admitted, shaking my head.

  “No, but you and Wade need to stop by my place after the rehearsal dinner,” Jake told him as Connor and I glanced at him in surprise. He lifted his eyebrow at me and I caught his meaning, “Oh, yeah.”

  “Clueless here,” Connor grumbled, throwing up his hands.

  “That’s nothing new,” I told him, grinning.

  “We’ll fill you in,” Jake leaned out the window to indicate Danny as well. “For now, we need to get back to the rehearsal dinner. All Jules needs to know is we stopped to assist someone having car trouble. You two showed up right as were done. All clear?”

  “Crystal,” Connor muttered and Danny gave an easy nod. Connor gave me a suspicious glance which I answered with my most innocent one. “You’re gonna be coming over tonight, aren’t you?”

  “Why, thought you were getting an impromptu bachelor party?” I asked archly.

  “Maybe I still am and you’re the entertainment,” he retorted irritability. I knew he was still aggravated at not being able to throw me to Jules’ ire, but no way was I giving him that kind of leverage.

  “Dude, she is not and will never be your entertainment.” Jake growled in exasperation as Danny roared off. “Go, now, and don’t tell Jules we’re all meeting tonight.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Connor grumbled, walking back to his car. “But no hanky panky tonight with me around.”

  Jake hit the button to roll the window up, his jaw working as I pressed my lips together to control my laughter. Those two were closer than brothers and fought twice as often.

  “Seatbelt,” he said, shifting the truck in gear and I slid into my seat and buckled up.

  “You want to tell them?” I asked carefully, knowing that was why he wanted them all over.

  “If there’s a mystery, and with you there always is, it’s good to get everyone together. We can look it up in the police database, see what we can shake loose.” Jake answered, his inclusion of Danny showing how much he respected his opinion. I’d always thought Danny would be well suited for the police force but he disagreed. Too many past run ins with the law had soured Danny on the idea of a law enforcement career. He was excellent at blending in though and working undercover. I was well acquainted with his acting skills. He played the tough guy with zero qualms.

  “By the way, you’ll be spending your vacation at a cabin on Lake Verret,” I informed Jake, clasping my hands between my knees. He shook his head, and let out a low chuckle.

  “Can’t wait.”

  Chapter Four

  “Man, it’s like the good old days,” Connor exclaimed, flopping back on the leather couch with his arms spread. “Late night meetings, an investigation - we just need pizza.”

  I shoved his feet off the coffee table so I could squeeze past him.

  “You just ate enough Mexican food to feed a family of four for a week,” I muttered, disgusted and somewhat impressed by his ability to put down food.

  “Yeah, but if we’re going to be working late in the night we’ll need fuel,” he argued, breaking off when there was a knock at the door. “Come on in, it’s open,” he shouted and I rolled my eyes.

  Jake came from the kitchen with two beers in his hand, but as Wade and Danny walked in he spun around to go get two more. Wade held up the sketch of the cabin and said, “Can I assume this is what our meeting is about?”

  Connor reached up with his monkey arms and snatched the drawing from Wade’s hand. Wade glanced down in irritation, but let it go with a sigh.

  “Con, you’re damn lucky you’re such a good natured guy,” Wade muttered, accepting the beer from Jake. Connor jerked his head around, startled as I laughed.

  “What do you mean?” He demanded, looking offended.

  “It’s a good thing I’m not an asshole,” Wade answered as Danny started grinning. “And I can read auras or I’d assume you were a shitty person.”

  “Me?” Connor’s disbelief was amusing since we were all used to his childish ways, and most of us never bothered to call him on it. “I’m a nice guy.”

  “We know. But sometimes you act like a child,” I answered for the group.

  “I do not,” he protested, pouting and proving my point. I tilted my Diet Coke can toward him and the others laughed. “I don’t!”

  “Yeah, moving on.” I tossed my picture of the cabin on the coffee table and sat down. Danny folded himself on the couch next to Connor and reached for the photo. Wade eased into the recliner, already familiar with both. “So my dad died,” I stopped as Connor interrupted me.

  “Aww, Addie, I’m sorry to hear that. You okay?” I shook my head at Connor’s immediate sympathy and chuckled.

  “And this is why everybody likes you, Connor. You’re genuine.” He smiled happily at my compliment and I continued, “I’m fine with his death. However, he left me a cabin. A cabin Wade sketched with a dead girl.”

  “Huh,” Connor muttered, glancing back down at the sketch he held and then leaning over to look at the photo still in Danny’s hand. Danny lifted his eyebrows at my words, a strong reaction for him.

  “I’m going to guess the murder was never solved, hence Wade’s sketch and now you’re involved. Which means we’re involved,” Connor elaborated after comparing the two. “Do these boys have something to do with it?” His question was the absentminded one of a detective working out the particulars of a case, but it had a profound effect on me.

  “Addie?” Danny’s prompting alerted Connor to his question and I heard him mutter, “Shit.”

  “Hey,” Jake squatted down next to me. “Tell us what you know.” He purposefully avoided wording it as a question to my relief.

  “They fought over her,” I murmured, shifting through the new knowledge. “But not over her, over her death?” I was unsure why they fought, only that it had to do with the dead girl. />
  “Did they both love her?” Wade asked pointedly.

  “No,” I answered instantly, absolutely positive. “Duke loved her.”

  “What did they fight about?”

  “Answers. They fought over the truth.” The emotions were hazy, but disappointment and frustration filled me, remnants of a battle fought long ago between brothers.

  “Okay, enough questions for now. Let’s look up any cases of a dead girl around Lake Verret,” Jake commanded, standing up after assuring himself I was okay. “Research will lead us to better questions.”

  He didn’t say it but everyone knew he wanted to avoid potentially volatile questions that might produce a strong reaction in me. I rubbed my forehead, frustrated with myself and the relief I felt.

  “Hey, he’s right,” Wade spoke up, startling me. “You have a gift, but it’s not meant to solve decades old crimes. You don’t need to know the answer to every question and no one here expects you to.”

  “It would be helpful to know when we should search for a case of a dead girl,” Connor mentioned, eyeing me exaggeratedly.

  “Why don’t you ask me then?” A faint grin formed at his theatrics.

  “How far back should I look for this case?” He asked promptly, his fingers hovering over the keyboard of his laptop.

  “Twenty-five years ago.”

  He whistled, his fingers typing rapidly. “You and your cold cases.” He hummed, scrolling through the list he’d pulled. “Here we go, Summer Keyes, twenty years old, drowned on July 27th, timeframe looks right.”

  “Summer,” I whispered, the name echoing in my head. Connor glanced up for a second before going back to the case file.

  “Okay, it looks like a Duke Michaels was the prime suspect in her death.” He read silently for a minute and his forehead wrinkled. “Check, make that the only suspect and he was never charged. Lack of evidence.”

  “That is weird.” Danny’s voice was low, but drew our attention. “It wasn’t considered an accident but they had no evidence.”

  “It’s usually the boyfriend, spouse, or a loved one,” Jake mentioned causally. I nodded, knowing it was true after the cases I’d worked with him. It did tend to be someone the victim knew well, especially in the case of missing people.

  “Yet, no evidence to convict.”

  “I gotta go with Danny on this. Everything about this feels fishy,” Connor said, scooting over on the couch as Jake came to sit beside him. Danny shifted over, looking uncomfortable at the suddenly crowded seating arrangement. “The coroner’s report was inconclusive, there were conflicting statements from witnesses even though there were no actual witnesses to her death. I mean, everything about this screams coverup.”

  “Shit,” Jake muttered, rubbing his jaw. “We need to talk to the captain.”

  “Are you going to go out there and work the case?” Connor questioned. “It’s been over two decades. Any evidence will be gone or ‘lost.’ What do you hope to find?”

  “The truth,” I replied even though the questions were directed at Jake. “She deserves the truth and so does Duke.”

  “What does Duke have to do with this? Who is he?” Connor was exasperated and Jake nudged him as he asked questions. Con stopped short, realizing what he’d done but I was fine.

  “Duke has everything to do with it. And he’s my uncle.”

  “Your gift leaves a lot to be desired, you know.” Connor hunched back over his keyboard, shaking his head at us.

  “I know, but we’ll solve it.”

  Connor shook his head at my certainty and told Jake, “Captain is gonna be pissed if you go waltzing into someone else’s jurisdiction asking questions about a twenty year old case.”

  “Yeah,” Jake drawled, staring at the phone in his hand. “But since it’s Addie….”

  Connor harrumphed and rolled his eyes, “He loves Addie.” Wade laughed and I crossed my arms.

  “It’s not my fault the captain and I have an understanding,” I defended myself, because we all knew Connor was right. Jake and Connor had a hard time accepting their new captain after the old one had been convicted of running the drug ring they’d been after. Only my gift had revealed the truth and the betrayal had stung them deeply. When the new captain came in he was especially hard on the two of them, creating a rocky relationship. I’d been able to smooth things over and it didn’t hurt the captain considered paranormal gifts useful.

  It was a joke among them that I could get the captain to agree to anything. I had no desire to put that to the test though.

  “We don’t need to involve him,” I added hastily as Jake went to call. He paused and they all looked at me. “We’re going up to the cabin to inspect my new inheritance. People gossip and when they mention Summer and Duke, and they will, it’ll be normal for us to ask questions.” I nodded, satisfied with my plan and Connor lifted his shoulder.

  “It could work. Deniability and all.”

  “Except we’re looking it up before we even get there,” Jake said drily.

  “Technically, I am,” Connor mouthed off and Jake elbowed him.

  “Fuck, dude, you know the captain considers whatever either of us does as a joint thing.”

  “This is true.” Connor nodded, accepting his answer.

  “I’m going.” Wade’s sudden decision drew our attention to him. “I need to go. I’ve always drawn these, but never had the chance to solve one before. I want to be there.”

  “Okay,” I shrugged, not seeing an issue with him going.

  “Be glad to have you, man,” Jake told him as he punched Connor’s shoulder. “Especially, since this guy won’t be coming. I’ll need backup.” Jake’s eyes slid toward me and away so quickly I almost missed it, but I knew he worried. Everything about the situation screamed red flags, but I wasn’t going to turn my back on this case even if it did cost me.

  “Danny, any chance you can come?” Jake’s offhand question made me shift uncomfortably because I suddenly knew he would be coming.

  “I gotta work,” Danny replied apologetically. “I don’t have any time off and I’m still on thin ice from the time I used to help you out.”

  “Alright.” Jake smiled understandingly and I debated telling Danny what I knew, but I couldn’t bear to be the one to break the bad news so I kept my mouth shut. Sometimes, my gift was shitty. Something as simple as Jake’s question revealed so much more than anyone here could have imagined. I knew Danny was going to go into work on Monday to find out he’d been laid off. The decision had already been made and nothing he said would change it. He’d show up at the cabin a day after us, since he had no reason not to anymore.

  Wade’s eyes narrowed on me uncomfortably as he took in the swirling emotions surrounding me. He didn’t comment to my relief, but instead redirected the conversation.

  “When are we going?”

  “Monday,” I piped up.

  Jake smiled at my quick reply and looked at Wade, “Monday, apparently.” He glanced over at me as he said, “I’m off for two weeks so we’ll plan to stay at least that long. Hopefully, we can get this wrapped up quickly and have time to enjoy the cabin.”

  I nodded, resting my chin on my hand as I looked at the pictures on the table. Something was pulling us there and I hoped it was only the need to solve a decades old death and nothing more sinister.

  The next morning dawned bright and clear, a perfect day for a wedding. I’d wound up leaving Jake’s and spending the night at home after Connor’s many pointed hints. I’d left all the guys there drinking beers, content to leave the mystery I’d embroiled us in until Monday.

  I stumbled down the stairs after being woken up by an entirely too early alarm Jules must have set on my phone. Mom laughed at my zombie like appearance and I shook my head.

  “You’ll be relieved to know if I ever decide holy matrimony is for me it will be in the presence of a justice of the peace at the clerk of court’s office.” I plopped down at the table, blinking heavily as I yawned.

 
; “Noted.” She slid a glass of water toward me and said, “I made you sticky buns. Figured you’d need the sugar.”

  “Aww, did I tell you what an awesome Mom you are?”

  “No, but go ahead.” She said, scooping some onto plates for us.

  “You are the world’s best Mom. Second to none. Top of the line. The word awesome was invented for you.”

  “Okay, that’s enough. The bullshit’s getting a little deep in here,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. She sat down across from me, a little frown marring her expression. “Are you still determined to go to the cabin?”

  Behind her question was a hint of worry and maybe a little fear. I wondered for a moment if she knew more about what had happened there than I thought, but let it go when I realized her emotions were all tied to me.

  “I am. You know it needs to be done. If nothing else so we can sell it and use the money,” I reminded her, already determined to sell it and split the money with my mom. She’d had the cost of raising me on her own so the least I could do was give her a little of it back.

  “You keep the money,” she insisted, the tension not leaving her at my words. “I don’t need it, but you might.”

  “You can argue all day, but it won’t change my mind,” I told her, shoving a piece of a bun in my mouth. “I’m only going to poke around, clear out anything personal, and maybe use it as a little vacation. Jake is off because of Connor, and Wade is going. Actually, so is Danny.” I tapped my finger against my mouth. “I should invite Carly.”

  “Are you still trying to get them together?” Mom asked, distracted by the ongoing saga of Carly and Danny.

  “I’m determined,” I replied, finishing off a bun. “I’ve never met someone as deserving of a little happiness as Danny and I kind of feel responsible for their issues.”

  “It’s not your fault, and you can’t take it to heart if they don’t work out,” Mom said, concern in her eyes.

  “I won’t.” I totally would, but I’d spare myself that lecture. “Anyway, think of this cabin as a vacation. Maybe you can take some time off work and we can go, bring Paw Paw?”