A second later, I was jerked backwards against a strong chest, my mouth and most of my face covered by a hard hand. I reached up instantly to yank the hand away from my face, my fingers wrapping around his thick wrist.
“Enough,” Jake roared, and the hand covering my face was gone. My heart raced as adrenaline pumped through me, flight and fight instincts warring inside of me from the sudden attack.
I waited till my heart slowed slightly, afraid a shaky voice would end the experiment prematurely. While it hadn’t been fun, I knew immediately the attacker wasn’t someone of Connor’s size or strength.
“It wasn’t Connor,” I joked morbidly as Jake’s hand rested on my back. “His hand practically covered my entire face. And something about it felt off.” I couldn’t put my finger on it but the attack had felt wrong.
“I guess that means it’s my turn,” Wade said grudgingly. He was taller and skinnier than the other guys, and would give a different experience.
I nodded, mentally preparing myself, and this time the attack wasn’t such a shock as I saw his reflection in the glass as he came up behind me.
Another jerk and again, my mouth and nose were covered. It didn’t seem to matter that I knew it wasn’t real, my hands came up again to pull the hand covering my face away. This time Wade let go within seconds, stepping back after steading me.
I shook my head. Wade’s fingers were more slender than Connor’s, but still not right. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but something was off about their attacks. They were different than the one Summer had been subjected to.
Jake and Danny were the only ones left and neither looked ready. I watched Jake steel himself, but at the last second Danny waved him away. This time I closed my eyes, trying not to anticipate the attack like I had with Wade.
When I slammed against Danny’s chest, something clicked. I reached up to grab his wrist and what I’d missed before dawned on me. Instead of reaching up, I reached across because Danny was left handed, and so was Summer’s attacker.
Danny released me and I spun around, throwing my arms around him in excitement.
“That was it! Danny, you got it.” I was almost bouncing in my excitement as he gave me a deprecating look.
“That’s me, the expert at attacking women.” His words were meant to be joking, but I heard the note of loathing underneath them and winced. To my surprise though, Carly came over and laid her hand on his arm.
“It takes strength to do what you did. We understand that.” Her voice was soft, but it was the closest she’d ever come to showing she was putting their past behind her. Danny seemed stunned, but managed a nod as Carly slipped her hand away and moved back to stand next to Jules.
“What exactly did I get, by the way?” Danny asked curiously, but it wasn’t me who answered this time.
“You’re lefthanded,” Jake observed and I nodded as I glanced over at him. He’d figured it out. “You’re the only one who’s lefthanded so when you attacked Addie, you came at her from the left and used your left hand to smother her. Connor and Wade both used their right hands.”
“So, our killer is lefthanded,” Connor said, satisfaction coating his voice at our discovery.
“Yeah, and so is my uncle,” I replied, sinking down on the couch. Connor’s satisfied expression slipped away at this tidbit and Danny clenched his fist.
“I noticed that myself last night,” he admitted. “Southpaws tend to recognize each other.” He shook his head at me. “But that doesn’t make him a killer.”
“Even Summer’s dad didn’t think Duke killed Summer, even when he accused him,” Wade reminded me, sitting down in the recliner.
“Yeah, but what if he did?”
“Do you really think your uncle killed Summer?” Connor was the one to ask the question and Jake glared at him. He lifted his shoulders innocently and I had to admit the truth to myself. It wasn’t my uncle I had my doubts about.
“I don’t think Duke killed her,” I finally said and they exchanged curious glances. “But what if David did?”
“Your dad?” Connor was incredulous but from the way Danny shifted, he’d wondered the same thing. “Was your dad lefthanded?”
I grimaced and Jake punched Connor’s shoulder.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Damn, Addie, I’m sorry.” Connor squeezed next to me on the couch in a space much too small for him and threw a heavy arm around me. “Do you really think your dad killed your uncle’s girlfriend? That’s kind of messed up.”
“Sweetie, I don’t think you’re helping,” Jules broke in, after her signals for him to shut up were ignored.
“I don’t know. Something Mr. Keyes said today bothered me.”
“That Summer was heartbroken?” Wade questioned and I nodded. “I wondered about that, but the man was also convinced his daughter committed suicide. I’m not sure we can believe him.”
“Suicide?”
“Yeah, apparently the police chief implied suicide and the mayor had him declare it a homicide.”
“But it was a homicide,” Danny stated and we nodded.
“Yeah, but I don’t think they knew at the time. Maybe they intended it to be an open and shut case, but the mayor didn’t want the world to think his daughter committed suicide.”
“So, it was ruled a homicide, but the cause of death was incorrect.”
“Yep, and Mr. Keyes was convinced his daughter killed herself over a broken heart.”
“Yet, your uncle never implied they’d broken up.”
“Why did Mr. Keyes think she had a broken heart?” Carly jumped in, her question sparking an answer.
“Because he heard her arguing with David,” I answered slowly. “Summer was upset and kept saying that Duke would never do that.”
“What did she think Duke did?”
“Cheat on her with another girl,” I replied, the knowledge clear to me.
“What a minute. Why would David say that about his brother? Unless it was true.” It was Connor’s turn and his question revealed something else entirely.
“Because he was in love with Summer too.” Wade’s response startled all of us, but I nodded. He was right. David had been in love with Summer and I suspected his reluctance to help Duke solve Summer’s murder had something to do with that fact.
“Are we thinking David killed Summer over some unrequited love thing?” Connor’s question was disbelieving and I gave him one shouldered shrug.
“I don’t know, but it’s possible.”
“Could he have been the stalker too?” Carly’s voice was hushed but my reaction was immediate.
“No, my dad’s dead. Whoever stalked her is still alive and is stalking us.”
Jake sighed behind me, his hands resting on my shoulders as he massaged gently.
“Maybe we need to focus on one thing at a time.” His thumbs pressed into a knot in my neck and I barely suppressed an embarrassing moan. “We still don’t know if the stalker killed Summer and from past history, we know it’s a strong possibility, more so than your father as the killer. The stalker is also more of an immediate threat. He’s already acted out against us. We should concentrate our attention on him.”
Everyone nodded and I knew it was partially to make me feel better about the fact that my father was now a suspect in Summer’s murder, a fact I had no desire to mention to my uncle.
“Yeah, but he’s not the only threat,” Carly added, her hands tucked under her legs as all of us looked toward her. “Someone messed with the lights here. Not a big deal, but someone wants us gone.”
“True, we have two enemies at the moment,” Jake agreed and I spoke up.
“Do you think they’re enemies?”
“If they threaten us, yes.” His response was immediate and I could see the agreement on the other guy’s faces. They all considered them threats that needed to be dealt with. A rather uncomfortable truth since we didn’t know who we were dealing with.
Chapter Fifteen
“Hey,” the soft vo
ice jolted me from my thoughts and I watched Carly step through the sliding doors onto the deck. To my surprise, she was followed by Jules, who closed the door behind her. “Want some company?”
“Sure, I could use a break from my thoughts,” I answered truthfully. Dawn had yet to break over the horizon, but I’d been awake for hours. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Jake about everything Wade had brought to my attention the day before and it was weighing on me. I’d contemplated waking Jake up and hashing it out, but chickened out at the last second and found myself on the deck instead.
“I can only imagine,” Carly said sympathetically and I figured she thought I was talking about Summer and my family so I didn’t correct her.
“We haven’t had much chance to talk,” Jules said quietly, making me squirm with guilt.
“Yeah about that….” I started, but she waved her hand.
“Don’t bother apologizing.”
“Yeah, we’re kind of used to it,” Carly added, smiling to lessen the sting.
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” I cried, flushing with a combination of guilt and shame.
“You shouldn’t feel bad,” Jules told me, sliding her arm around me as she sat on the swing with me.
“Yeah, we didn’t mean it that way,” Carly chimed in, perching on the edge of a deck chair. “You’ve got a lot going on and guys pulling your attention left and right. Add in your uncle….”
“And it’s totally understandable,” Jules finished with a grin and I threw my arms around her.
“I don’t deserve friends like y’all,” I told them, barely keeping myself from blubbering like a baby. I reached out and yanked Carly into our impromptu group hug, one ear listening for Connor to come out and comment about girl hugs.
“I can only imagine what Connor would say if he saw us,” Jules mentioned and we cracked up as Carly said “Oh my God, I was just thinking the same thing!”
They glanced at me and I rolled my eyes, “Of course that was the first thought I had.” I shook my head as we giggled helplessly, the laughter melting some of my tension.
“So, I know why I’m out here, but what brings you out here?” I asked as we settled back into our seats. Jules and Carly exchanged a conspirator’s glance and intuition hummed through me. “You’ve been plotting.”
“Maybe,” Jules admitted, holding her fingers an inch apart. “A little.”
“We had an idea,” Carly added, eyeing me. I nodded for them to continue, curious what they’d come up with while the rest of us spun in circles.
“We want to draw the stalker out,” Jules said as she gauged my reaction, but I kept my face expressionless. Their idea wasn’t surprising. None of us were the type to sit and wait for someone else to attack.
“With me as bait.”
I exhaled, understanding why they’d waited to mention their plan to me when the guys weren’t around. There was no way in hell Connor or Jake would agree to that.
However, I wasn’t them.
“When do we do it?”
They exchanged high fives at my reply and we got down to business.
“You said he watched her when she went to the lake in the mornings.”
“He did, at least from that one memory I had.”
“He watched us on the boat,” Carly reminded us and we nodded. “Obviously he observes the lake.”
“Yes, but how are we going to lure him out?” I asked. “It won’t be enough to have him watch, we need him to actually attack if we want to nab him.”
“I’ll do exactly what Summer did,” Jules stated and I sat back.
“I don’t think that’s the best plan.”
“Well, not exactly what she did. I’ll have you two to watch my back.”
I glanced at Carly. I was sure between the three of us we could handle him, but Carly wasn’t one to jump into a dangerous situation willingly.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she pouted and I laughed. “But I can do this. I need to. This guy can’t get away with stalking women. It’s not right. Someone has to stand up to him, catch him in the act, and that’s us,” she finished passionately, a flash of the old Carly surfacing. The one who believed in fighting every injustice and saw the good in bad boy Danny.
“But we can’t tell the guys,” Jules added quickly and I gave her an uneasy glance. That was the only part of the plan I didn’t like. “You know they’d never agree. Not even Wade or Danny.”
“Yeah, but they will find out eventually.” And I could only imagine the hell they’d give us when they did.
“But by then we’ll have caught the bad guy and they’ll see we’re fine.” Jules smiled brightly and I wondered what she was smoking.
“You have far more optimism than me.”
“You do remember you’re the one who dragged me into a hostage situation to save Jake and Connor?”
“Touché.”
“The guy won’t suspect us. This will work.” It was Carly’s turn to spout encouraging words and I rubbed my forehead. It wasn’t that I doubted our abilities, it was more the tongue lashing we were in for when the guys found out. Not that I would blame them. Our plans had a tendency to backfire.
“We’re the only ones who can do this.”
“I know,” I said with a sigh. “I’m just not looking forward to the lecture.”
“So we’re agreed?” Jules bounced with excitement and I nodded, holding my hand out. Carly set her hand on top of mine and Jules finished out the tower. “Operation Stalk the Stalker commences now!”
“Stalk the stalker?”
“What? I thought it had a nice ring and every op needs a code name.”
“That might be the worst code name in the history of code names.”
“Oh, so what would you call it?”
I scrambled at being put on the spot and blurted out, “Eagle Rising.”
“We are not protecting the president,” Jules scoffed as she stood up. “Let’s get our Tasers and get going. The sun will be up soon.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Carly saluted her, the shortest among us even with my barely average height. Jules rolled her eyes and opened the sliding door. We immediately quieted down, not wanting to wake the guys because they would instantly be suspicious.
We gathered our weapons and slipped from the cabin, splitting up before we reached the lake in case our guy was watching. Jules kept walking along the shoreline, appearing lost in thought as Carly and I blended into the woods, making sure Jules remained in our line of sight. The hope was we were early enough to get in position and catch the guy as he came closer, if he actually saw Jules.
“There are so many things wrong with this plan,” I murmured to Carly and she lifted her shoulders almost imperceptibly.
The woods around us were silent as our eyes adjusted to the predawn light. Jules kept her back to the woods, trusting us to keep watch over her and I steadied my nerves by running through every attack scenario Jake had ever taught me. Carly slid her hand in mine and I felt her fingers trembling so I squeezed them reassuringly. I wouldn’t allow anything to happen to either of them.
A snapping branch caused my heart to jump and Carly squeaked. The shadows seemed to loom larger as my eyes darted around trying to find the source of the noise.
“Taser,” I hissed and Carly fumbled with her pocket.
The press of a cold barrel against my back caused my heart to stop.
“You’d be dead.” The words kick started my heart and I almost melted into the ground with relief. Carly’s eyes rounded as she gazed behind me and I felt her waver. I gripped her hand tighter to keep her from running since I could only imagine the pissed off expression she faced.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
He had no idea what our plan was, which only made what I was about to say that much worse.
“Waiting for the stalker to come after Jules,” I answered faintly.
The silence that followed my reply seemed to go on forever and the petrified expre
ssion on Carly’s face wasn’t helping matters.
Finally, the cold gun barrel left my side and I heard him mutter, “You don’t tell Jake I pressed a gun to your back and I won’t tell him what you three were up to.”
“Deal,” I accepted instantly, relief making me shaky. Dawn had arrived during our tense showdown and Jules was scanning the woods for us. It didn’t look like our stalker had taken the bait this morning. We walked from the woods and Jules took a step back as she saw Danny follow us.
She opened her mouth and I shrugged.
I had no idea how he’d known we were out here, but his newly discovered ninja skills meant I’d never try to pull one over on Danny.
“I don’t even want to know what you three were thinking.”
“Are convicted felons supposed to have guns?” Carly asked, keeping a wide berth around the irritated Danny.
“I was never convicted,” he corrected, his eyes sliding away from her as she kept her distance. “And that’s beside the point. You didn’t hear me. So what makes you think you’d hear a guy who has been doing this for years?”
“Well, when you put it like that,” I replied, embarrassed at being caught so easily.
“Did you even have a plan?” His derision made me fidget and my words sharp.
“Could you keep your opinion of our plan to yourself?” My heart still hadn’t settled from the moment I’d felt the gun barrel against my back, and I understood how close death was.
He exhaled and gestured back to the cabin. His eyes were darker than I’d ever seen and his jaw could have been chiseled from stone it was so hard.
“You could have been killed, or at the very least hurt.” His anger masked the fear he’d felt when he realized what we were up to and I had a hard time arguing with him.
Carly didn’t though.
“We had it,” she growled, practically hopping to keep up with his long legs. “We knew what we were doing.”
“Did you?” Danny came to an abrupt halt as he turned on Carly. “You looked scared to death and the gun was on Addie. What would you have done if I was an actual bad guy? If I’d pulled the trigger?”
Hidden Secrets (The Hidden Series Book 3) Page 16
