Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set)

by Edwards, Scarlett

  We get there forty minutes later. It’s far from the city, in the middle of nowhere, really. A barn at one end of the lot has been converted into a small hangar. A long, straight, paved road runs out from the main doors.

  Abby’s friend has been expecting us. I see him waving our car over from beside the hangar entrance. He looks young. Really young. Only a few years older than Rich, at most.

  “He’s the pilot?” I hiss at Abby, incredulous.

  “Don’t worry. He’s been doing this for years,” Abby assures me.

  “How, exactly, do you two know each other?” Min asks.

  “We went to the same high school. He was sort of my first crush.” Dave tenses beside her. Abby pats his thigh. “Relax, babe. That was a long time ago. We’re just friends now.”

  Dave stops the car and we all get out. From up close, I feel like I should recognize Abby’s friend from somewhere.

  Then it hits me. He was one of the first guys she brought home when we moved to Oregon.

  I decide not to mention it for Dave’s sake.

  Abby runs forward and gives him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. Then she finds Dave again and takes his hand. My former landlord looks displeased at the exchange.

  “Howdy,” our pilot greets us. He rocks back on his heels as he looks Min and me over. “You must be the two girls in big trouble. Abby said you need someone who can get you to New York pronto.” He spits out the gum he’s been chewing. “And she said you don’t want anybody to know that you’re making the trip.”

  I step forward. “That’s right. That’s why we’re here.”

  “Good. Then we’re on the same page. I’m always happy to help a friend, but fuel ain’t free, you know? And my time’s not something I piss away, either.” He taps the outside of the hangar. “If you two need to get on the beauty in here, I’m going to require some sort of compensation.”

  I glare at Abby. She didn’t mention anything about that!

  Min takes a step forward before I can do anything. “Here,” she says, slinging her bag around and digging inside for her wallet. She counts out fifty hundred-dollar bills. “That’s enough to get us in the air. You’ll get the same again when we land.”

  “Deal,” he says, his eyes shining with greed. “Now, since y’all want to be hush-hush about this trip, I don’t think we need to exchange full names. You can call me J.” He turns around and slides the hangar doors open. “And this,” he says, “is my baby bird.”

  My jaw drops as soon as I see the plane. It’s barely bigger than a small car. There’s no way it can fly across the country.

  J laughs when he notices my expression. “Worried, darling? Don’t be. This is just the plane that gets us to a commercial airfield near Seattle. We’ll switch to a more suitable means of transportation there.”

  --

  Hours later, we’re flying through the air in a large cargo jet. There’s a FedEx logo on the outside. J sneaked us onboard without anybody noticing. Right now, Min and I are huddled next to stacks and stacks of various sized packages.

  “Bet you weren’t expecting this a week ago,” Min says when our gazes meet. A bit of turbulence shakes the plane.

  “When it comes to your brother, I know to expect the unexpected,” I answer. “Everything that’s happened to me still seems so surreal. I can’t decide if I’m in a dream or a nightmare.”

  “Maybe a bit of both?” Min comments.

  “Yeah. Definitely,” I agree.

  I close my eyes as the conversation lulls. Every minute we’ve been in the air, I’ve been worrying about Rich. Dark thoughts swirl inside me.

  Min touches my arm gently. “We’ll find him when we get there,” she says, as if she read my mind. “I promise.”

  I swallow. “I just hope we won’t be too late.”

  Chapter Five

  The floor beneath me rocks, jolting me awake. My eyes shoot open. I hear a grinding sound outside. My heart leaps to my throat as the cabin starts to shake.

  “We’re here!” J calls out from the cockpit.

  I exhale a sigh of relief. We’re landing.

  The plane taxis over to a spot away from the landing strip and comes to a stop. J opens the door. Bright morning sunlight streams inside, causing me to blink.

  “Well,” he announces, “this might not be JFK, but it’s as close as you’re going to get without flying commercial.” I can see other freighters around us, bearing the logos of their respective delivery companies. J points north. “Thirty minutes that way will get you to the heart of the city.” He looks at Min. “As for the rest of my payment…?”

  Min hands him the money. He points us toward the terminal, where he says we’ll be able to get a cab. We walk there with him, say our good-byes, and get into the lone taxi idling outside.

  Min gives the driver an address and he takes off. When I see the metropolis rising in the distance, I get a queasy feeling. I’ve never been to this part of the country. If only the circumstances that brought me here were different…

  Our plan to find Rich, which we hatched yesterday morning, is simple. Since he used his real name on his flight, we assume that he wants to be found. Therefore, it’s unlikely he’ll go to great lengths to hide in New York. It’s more likely that he won’t hide at all. In fact, we think he’ll go straight to the one place anybody can find him: his father’s house.

  I desperately hope that things will be as easy as that. Otherwise, we’ll have a hell of a time finding him. In a city of eight million, it’s the only chance we have.

  We take a left before hitting downtown. Pretty soon, we’re driving through what is obviously the wealthy suburb.

  Glitzy sport cars are parked in the driveways, most of them next to luxury SUVs for the families. Every property has a gated entrance and a perfectly-manicured lawn.

  We wind our way up the street. As we top the crest of the hill, I see a magnificent mansion towering before us.

  “Home sweet home,” Min mutters when she catches me staring. She pays the driver and leads me through the gate after punching in the code. “This is where it all began.”

  I can’t get over the splendor of the place. So this is where Rich grew up. White marble statues in the shape of animals dot the lawn. A fountain spurts water up ahead. The house itself is enormous, with a wide veranda and a grand staircase leading to the main doors. All of it speaks of luxury I’ve never known, or ever, ever dreamt of knowing.

  “Come on.” Min directs me to the side. “We never use the main doors unless my father’s entertaining. We go round the back.”

  I trail after her, feeling distinctly out of my element. Usually, I’m good at coping with unfamiliar environments. This one is so far outside of reality I don’t know how to react.

  We reach a back door. Min looks at me before opening it. “This is it.”

  I can’t keep the worry from my voice. “Do you think he’s inside?”

  “We’re going to find out,” Min says, unlocking the door.

  The interior of the house is vast. I can’t think of any other word. The ceiling towers at least three stories above my head. The foyer is all white stone. There’s not much furniture, except for some stands with vases on top.

  “Wow,” Min breaths as she steps inside. “It’s exactly as I left it.” She trails a finger of the stairwell railing, leaving a clean path in the built-up dust. “Only grimier.”

  “Was all this just for you and your dad?” I ask.

  “After Rich left? Yes. We had a housekeeper, too. But she stayed in the guesthouse.”

  “It doesn’t look like there’s been anyone here recently.” My shoulders slump. All that just to reach a dead end?

  “Hold on,” Min says. “Let’s take a look around. It’s easy to get lost in this house. It’s not like Rich has a key. If he came here, he wouldn’t have used this door.”

  I remember the way Rich had broken into the bar to save me. “You’re right.” I force a smile. “No need to feel disheartened yet.”


  “Even if he’s not here, he’ll show up, sooner or later.”

  “I hope so,” I say.

  “He will,” Min assures me. “I know it.”

  I follow her up the stairs. Every step we take sends an echo through the house. It makes the place feel cold and lifeless.

  “If we don’t find him,” Min says, “we should think of some way to let him know we’ve been here. In case he comes after.”

  “Right,” I nod. “It’s—”

  “Penny? Min?”

  I spin around and see him.

  Rich.

  His eyes are red, his hair tousled. He’s wearing the same clothes as two days ago. His cheeks are lined with dark scruff. He looks menacing and tired and surprised and, above all, like… like him.

  Without thought, I break into a run. The anger I’d been expecting doesn’t come. All I feel is relief. Rich is safe. We found him in time. That’s all that matters.

  I slam into him and almost bowl us over. I bury my face into his chest and hold him tight. I can smell him again, and I fill my lungs to the brim.

  Rich hugs me awkwardly with one arm. I can feel the restraint pulsing through him. My body does not melt into his the way I’m used to. He’s stiff.

  “Penny.” Rich takes me by the shoulders and pushes me back. I’m so happy I can laugh. But I find myself sniveling instead. Now that Rich is here—here, with me!—I can confront the fear I’ve been harboring while we were apart.

  I was terrified of losing him. Scared witless. I didn’t let myself feel that, because of what it would do to me. I’d have been useless. But now, with him here, here in the flesh, now I can let myself feel.

  All the emotions I’ve internalized flare within me. I’m crying. The thought of losing the one person I love is too much to bear. I will never let him leave me again.

  Rich does not comfort me. He holds me there, at arm’s length, looking at my face impassively. I dab at my eyes. I feel like an idiot. Why should I be crying?

  Only after I compose myself does Rich lower his head so our eyes are on the same level. There is no joy reflected in his pupils. His stare is cold and hard.

  “Penny.” He says my name softly. His voice is like the sound a knife makes through the air just before digging into a throat. “What. Are you. Doing. Here?”

  “We came to find you,” Min tells him, coming up to us before I can speak. She places a hand on Rich’s arm.

  “I DID NOT ASK YOU!” Rich roars.

  Min gasps. I flinch back, only to find myself unable to move with Rich’s fingers biting into my shoulders.

  Rich turns to me again. His face is a contorted mask of emotions. I’ve seen him angry before. But this… this doesn’t compare. A vein pulses in his neck. His jaw muscles contract over and over as if he’s chewing something. His lower lip trembles with intensity. And his eyes are sharp. Always, his eyes are sharp.

  I swallow before I speak. I know I have to choose my words carefully here. Every second I delay, Rich’s fingers dig deeper into my flesh.

  “Min’s right,” I say, glancing at her. She looks furious. “We came here for you.”

  “For me.” Rich’s tone sends an icy shiver down my spine. He speaks so softly I can barely hear. “And what about—” Rich closes his eyes for a moment, suppressing a terrible shiver, “—the promise you made me?”

  “You broke it first!” I challenge. “You said you would consult me before making any big decisions. I wasn’t going to sit on my hands while you run off and get yourself killed, Richard! Neither was Min!” She harrumphs in agreement. “What’s more,” I continue—

  “Enough!” Rich silences me with a violent slash through the air. “Penny. Do you understand the type of danger you put yourself in?”

  “Of course I understand it, Rich,” I fire back. “It’s the same type you put yourself in when you came here alone! Did you really think I’d let you go like that?”

  “You gave your word.” His tone is harsh with disapproval.

  “The hell with my word, Richard! You broke my trust. You knew I wouldn’t let you go by yourself, so you snuck out in the middle of the night while I was asleep.” I feel my anger rising. “What type of coward does something like that?”

  Rich struggles to keep his voice calm. “I made arrangements to keep you safe.”

  “Arrangements I did not ask for!” I feel like tearing out my hair. I chase all the way across the country after this man, and this is how he greets me? “All I asked is to be close to you! To be close to the person I love. Not to be left behind like some dockside whore!”

  My breathing is sharp and hollow, now. “You do this again and again, Richard. You make decisions for me that you have no right to make! It’s like you don’t even respect me.”

  That was the final straw.

  Rich snaps. I see the rage erupt in his eyes. “You DARE talk to me about respect? Everything I do, I do for you! Yet you always find some way to undermine it! No. No, you’re the one who doesn’t respect me, Penelope! You, and your over-inflated sense of worth!” He turns his back. “You’re right. I did leave you like a whore. Because you wouldn’t understand anything else!”

  What the—? Yes, we’ve yelled at each other before. But Rich has never been this mean…

  Then it hits me like a splash of cold water. “I know what you’re doing,” I tell him quietly. I force all the emotion out of my voice. “You’re trying to get me to leave again.”

  Rich turns, and falters for a second. That is all the confirmation I need. The bastard thinks he can get me to leave by making me upset.

  I won’t fall for it.

  Min steps in. “You presume to know everything there is to know about danger, don’t you, Rich? You’ve got it all figured out? You don’t know a tenth! You don’t know what it’s like to be chased across the country by hired thugs, looking for a brother you haven’t seen in seven years! You don’t know what it’s like to be locked in a dark freezer, not knowing whether you’ll ever be able to feel the sun on your face again.” She gives me the barest look. “You don’t even know that your ex set fire to Penny’s apartment.”

  Rich stops cold in his tracks. Worry replaces all the other emotions on his face. “Amanda?”

  “Yes,” I say.

  In a heartbeat, Rich is beside me. The mask he’d been wearing evaporates. He looks into my eyes, and I see the consuming love he possesses for me. “Are you hurt?”

  I answer him with a full-arm slap across the face.

  Rich staggers back, gaping.

  “That,” I announce, “is for pretending you don’t care. And this—” I sweeten my voice, “—is for finally showing that you do.”

  I pull on the neck of his shirt and bring his lips to mine.

  Time stops as he kisses me. It’s the same kiss as the night we first met. The one reserved for a lover you haven’t seen for a decade. Except, this time, it holds real meaning for me.

  I feel my knees go weak, and throw my arms around his neck to avoid falling. He takes me by the waist, and ever-so-slightly dips me back.

  I did not know if I would ever kiss him again. I can tell he did not, either.

  When we separate, I remember abashedly that we have an audience. “You should apologize for yelling,” I tell Rich. Min looks surprised for a second, then crosses her arms expectantly.

  Rich clears his throat and runs a hand through his hair. He’s him again, with all his flaws and uncertainties and imperfections. The caricature he’d pretended to be minutes ago is gone.

  “Right.” He looks at his sister. “Listen. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. I wasn’t angry with you. More like… emphatic…”

  Min snorts. “If that’s the best apology you can come up with, you’re lucky Penny doesn’t demand more of them from you. You were at each other’s throats a minute ago. She has every reason to be pissed. But, look at her. She’s not. Maybe now you’ll get it through your thick skull just how much the girl cares for you, Rich.”
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br />   “I know she does.” He addresses me. “Amanda really set fire to your apartment?”

  “As far as we can tell,” I answer. “Min and I stopped to see my old roommate before making the flight here. She said somebody broke into our place and started a fire, the day before you left. Whoever it was wasn’t caught, but the next day Abby saw a man and woman asking questions about me. Her description of them fits Victor and Amanda perfectly.”

  “And Tam?”

  “I don’t know. Abby only mentioned the two.”

  Rich breaks away from me and starts pacing the room. “Let me get this straight. Not only did you follow me here, but you also stopped by your old apartment on the way? Didn’t you think that would be just a little bit dangerous?” He stares at Min. “You, of all people, should have had the sense to know better.”

  Min draws herself up. “You shouldn’t have left without us.”

  “I came to talk to our father. I need him to tell me where the documents he stole are. I was planning on finding you two after.”

  “And what if just giving up the documents wasn’t enough, Rich?” Min poses. “What if they wanted retribution for what happened to Victor? For embarrassing him and Tam with Penny?”

  “Then I would have faced the consequences. Alone.”

  “Not without me, you wouldn’t,” I tell him. I thread my fingers through his. “Wherever you are, I want to be there with you.”

  “Penny…”

  “I’m here to help, too,” Min says.

  Rich looks at me. He looks at Min. He closes his eyes. “I’m not going to be able to get you two to leave, am I?”

  “Not unless you tie us hand and foot and throw us on a plane.” I say. I pause. “Which, considering all you’ve done, doesn’t sound that far-fetched now that I’ve said it out loud.”

  Rich laughs. “I promise I won’t do that, then.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m not good at this, Penny. I thought maybe, if we were apart, you’d see how staying with me isn’t your best option. I’ve always been there with you, before, when you had to make the choice. I thought that maybe this time, if I removed the pressure…”