by Regan Black
Deadly Reflections
Behind Closed Doors: Family Secrets Series
Regan Black
Deadly Reflections
Copyright © 2020 by Regan Black
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, transmitted, or distributed in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without specific written permission from the publisher. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher are illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is coincidental.
Published by Getaway Reads, LLC
Print Edition ISBN:
Digital Edition AISN: B08BWGQP2F
First Edition 2020, Printed in the USA
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Contents
FamilySecrets.Life
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
FamilySecrets.Life
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
FamilySecrets.Life
Sneak Peek
Behind Closed Doors: Family Secrets Series
About the Author
Also by Regan Black
Don’t Miss StormWatch
Don’t Miss Breakdown
FamilySecrets.Life
When questioning a family member about the past, it is vital to be prepared to listen.
The fewer expectations you have for that conversation, the more likely you are
to discover sincere answers.
FamilySecrets.Life
Chapter One
Paige Coker stared at the bustling activity behind the uniformed police officer at the front desk of the station. The flurry of voices and movement struck her as chaotic, though that couldn’t really be the case. Several men and women were seated at desks, islands of calm surrounded by the constant, swirling hum of activity.
“Can I help you?” the officer asked.
“I’m Paige Coker,” she replied with a smile. “Detective Lewis asked me to come by.”
The officer lifted his chin toward the chairs lined up against the wall. “Have a seat.”
She sat down to wait, her mind wandering. She remembered visiting this same police station on school field trips through the years. They’d come by in fourth or fifth grade the first time. Years later, her high school criminal justice class toured this station, as well as the courthouse, in order to observe the system in action. The detective she was meeting today had been a classmate and friend on that trip.
Those visits had left her feeling proud of the people who served her community and several of her peers had been inspired to study law or go into police work, like Ronnie. Paige had known she would need to find a different way to contribute. The front lines weren’t the right place for her, an only child groomed from the cradle to take the safe and secure path through life.
Not that she didn’t crave her share of adventure, she just chose her battles carefully. The daughter of wealthy parents who often hosted or headlined the guest list of elite Charleston, South Carolina events, her dreams were carefully analyzed and moderated for risk factors. Anything that had the potential to stir up scandal or, more importantly, to upset the delicate emotional balance at home was set aside.
Her mother, Cora Alden Coker, had a history of debilitating depression that went back to before Paige was born. She recalled times as a child when her mom was off limits for a few days. Her dad, Jack, always made the best of it, taking time off work or inviting his sisters to come and stay with them. Paige had been trained to always be cautious and thoughtful with her mom and though Cora hadn’t had an episode in several years, those habits were set in stone now. Whenever Paige and her dad could shield her from potentially upsetting news, they did.
Cora wasn’t a burden, but her tolerances always factored into Paige’s choices from education to career to where she chose to live.
There had been private academies from kindergarten through high school. She’d been encouraged to choose an in-state university where she earned both her bachelor’s degree and an MBA. And while she enjoyed her time not-too-far-away, her parents cleared a corner of the estate and built a house for her to come home to.
She didn’t resent those allowances because she adored her mother. And when she had to compromise, Paige considered the trade-off of a happy and content family worth the effort. It never occurred to her to press for more independence. She had the freedom she needed and she was close enough to help her dad if her mom’s depression started to take over.
Her dad’s retirement party—a big surprise in the works—was the most current example. Jack Coker was wrapping up thirty years with his financial firm and looking forward to shifting his priorities away from the office to more relaxing pursuits. Cora had started making the arrangements for the event from the menu to the guest list, but after their first meeting with his assistant, she panicked and asked Paige to take the reins. Cora had been overwhelmed by the details and though she was excited, she feared making a mistake with the very public event.
Naturally, Paige adjusted her schedule. She handled similar events for her clients all the time and she’d been honored to create a memorable send off for her dad. Her mom’s excitement for the event, and what retirement would mean for them as a couple, was growing now that Paige was handling the details.
And today she had a long list of tasks to follow up on. Some personal and some for the party. Last night her mother had finally narrowed down the dessert options, so she pulled out her phone and sent the final choices to Melissa Renner, the chef and owner of the catering company handling the party. They’d reached crunch time with the party just ten days away. Her dad believed the party was the typical firm holiday event and with luck no one would slip up and spoil the surprise.
It dawned on her as she continued waiting that someone might have seen her entering the police station and could mention it to her mom. An unlikely scenario, but definitely possible and Cora was a devoted worrier. Paige started to send a text to her mom and realized she didn’t really know why Ronnie had called. Being vague would make things worse and a fib would be one more thing to keep track of, so she closed the app and hoped for the best.
Glancing around, she didn’t see any sign of Ronnie. She shifted her attention to her email app. She and Gloria Pelham, her father’s assistant, had reached out to dozens of people over the past few months, gathering anecdotes and pictures. Gloria had even managed to get her hands on some of her father’s more personal mementos, using the guise of helping him pack up his office.
The materials to finalize the event scrapbook were in her home office and she still had to make some tweaks to the slides and script for the video they’d been working on. She wanted it to be special, to honor his hard work and dedication to his clients and the firm. When he saw it, she wanted him to feel loved and appreciated. She wanted to put a beautiful cap on a ste
llar career.
And when the party was over, she wanted him to answer some serious questions about a few items she’d found in that box from his office. All her life she’d believed she could go to her dad with anything, anytime. Not this. Not right now.
There had been photographs of her father tangled up with another woman and an envelope with receipts from a hospital stay and doctor visits for psychiatric concerns when her mother should’ve been pregnant with Paige. Not a single statement from an obstetrician.
Her father’s assistant had explained the photos easily enough. Although Gloria couldn’t recall the name of the woman in the pictures, she remembered that the woman had worked at the firm for several months and earned a reputation for flirting with the executives. It was generally assumed that the woman had been let go after the holiday party when she’d been caught on camera draped all over Jack.
Gloria hadn’t seen the receipts and she seemed oblivious to what had shocked Paige. The woman in the pictures bore a striking resemblance to Paige. For as long as she remembered, she’d been told she resembled Jack’s side of the family, with his dark hair and blue eyes. But the more she studied those pictures, the harder it was to deny that she looked a lot like the woman hanging all over her dad.
Uncertain how to interpret any of it, she’d been surfing the web and making a few anonymous inquiries about how to proceed. At FamilySecrets.Life, a website known for straightforward articles and common sense advice on family dynamics and relationships, she’d reached out for suggestions on how to cope with unexpected family discoveries. The best advice so far had boiled down to starting that conversation when she was in a place to listen. Paige wasn’t in that place yet.
She couldn’t just walk up to her dad—she wouldn’t dare approach her mom—and ask if she was adopted. The receipts implied that was the only possible answer, and yet… What if there was more to the story?
And did that “more” play into her mother’s emotional issues? It had to be connected somehow. The timing was too close.
Only after spending time with friends, hearing their families tease and joke and tell stories, did she understand how often her mother avoided similar reminiscing. The one time Paige had worked up the courage to ask what had happened that left her mom so vulnerable to stress and emotional struggles, her father hadn’t volunteered much information. It would’ve been the perfect opportunity for him to admit she’d been adopted. If that was the case. Instead, he’d stuck with the story that starting a family had taken a toll on Cora emotionally and physically.
Thankfully, Cora had embraced motherhood wholeheartedly. The vast majority of Paige’s childhood had been bliss, interrupted by the brief bouts of depression that her family managed until Paige was old enough to join the team.
Normally patient in all things, Paige wasn’t doing herself any favors sitting here with her wheeling thoughts. She needed to get back to the immediate task list to mute the nagging questions that had to wait for a more appropriate time. She stood up and walked back to the information desk. “Could I leave a message for Detective Lewis, please?” Whatever was going on, she and Ronnie could catch up another time.
“Take a seat,” the officer said. “He’ll be right up.”
“I’m afraid I really can’t stay any longer,” she said.
“Paige!”
She turned, watching Ronnie stride into view. Tall and lanky, he hadn’t changed much since he led their basketball team to a state championship in his senior year. She remembered him as the friendly guy with the big smile who knew how to handle pressure. He’d never missed a free throw, no matter how tight the circumstance. She figured that trait served him well as a detective.
He wasn’t smiling this morning and he carried a tablet rather than a basketball. She took it upon herself to lighten his mood. “Wow. You look as handsome as ever,” she said, extending her hand to greet him.
The stern expression, punctuated by the crease between his eyebrows eased, and a flicker of warmth came into his deep brown eyes as he shook her hand. “Well, you haven’t looked too closely,” he replied.
When she did pause for a closer look, she thought the faint creases fanning from the corners of his eyes and the brackets around his mouth gave him character. Added to his authority and appeal. “I stand by my statement.” She beamed at him, determined to be cheerful.
“That’s the Paige I know, always looking for the bright side. I appreciate you coming in.” He turned back toward the bullpen. “I just need to have a conversation. Easier to do it here.”
“Sure.” She fell into step beside him. “How’s Diana?” she queried. He and his high school sweetheart were newlyweds as of Labor Day.
“Running herself ragged with updates for the house,” Ronnie replied easily. “She’s turned my bachelor pad into a home.”
“Good for both of you.”
“It is,” he admitted. He guided her down the hall and back to one of the small interrogation rooms. “Let’s talk in here.”
Her skin prickled with nerves. “What is this?” She stepped into a room that was varying shades of drab from the walls to the table and chairs to the floor. The only change in color palette was the big rectangle of reflective glass framed by cinderblocks on one wall.
“A conversation,” he said again. “Have a seat, Paige. Thanks again for coming in today.” He placed the tablet and a notepad on the table and took the seat across from her.
It was like something out of a television show and she wasn’t feeling like the hero. Her chest went tight and under the table her fingers locked around the strap of her purse. “Ronnie, you’re starting to scare me.” He couldn’t possibly think she’d done anything illegal. Didn’t the police come to the suspect in those situations? But he wouldn’t use city resources for a prank, either.
That furrow between his eyebrows returned. “Look, we’ve known each other a long time.”
“And we’ve been friends a long time as well,” she said. “Since school.”
“Yes, but this isn’t about being old friends.” His voice took on a distinct chill. “This is a case and I am a detective. Do not doubt for one second how serious this situation is. I have several questions for you and I encourage you to cooperate.”
A tremor rattled down her spine. “Do I need a lawyer?”
“You’re not under arrest. This is just a conversation.”
His insistence on that didn’t match up with his tone or body language or anything else in this cramped room. “Then why aren’t we talking somewhere other than an interrogation room?”
“More privacy.”
She glanced to the dark window, not nearly convinced.
“Paige.” He rested his hands on either side of the tablet and sat back in the chair. “Can you please tell me where you were last night? Specifically where you were between nine p.m. and midnight.”
“I was home,” she replied. He knew her parents had built her house on their property. He and Diana had come to her housewarming and admired how cleverly the bungalow and landscaping were designed so it didn’t detract from their view of the marsh and the river beyond. “What is this about?”
He ignored her question in favor of his own. “Can anyone verify you were home?”
“I’m sure someone can,” she said, though she didn’t know that for sure. “My alarm system logs when I come and go. It was a typical night.”
“Meaning?” he prompted. “Walk me through it.”
Okay, this was weird. “I got home around seven-thirty after meetings all day for an event I’m working on. When I came home, I stopped at the main house to catch up with my parents. I do that most nights. Then I went on back to my place.”
“No visitors or calls after that?”
“My days of sneaking out of the house are long over, Ronnie. Detective,” she corrected quickly. His scowl made her quake inside. She didn’t appreciate being the object of the sharp, intense focus he’d demonstrated as an athlete. “I was in my home office l
ast night working on a client until about eleven, but no visitors or phone calls.”
“Must be some event.”
“It is. You know how the holiday season is.” She didn’t want to volunteer more information on the retirement party unless she had to. Her dad had friends everywhere and she didn’t want his surprise ruined. “The property has security cameras from the front gate to the boathouse. Check those.”
Jack and Cora wanted her to have her freedom and independence after college. Cora just couldn’t bear for that freedom and independence to be more than a stone’s throw away. It wasn’t as though Paige didn’t want to sever the apron strings, but she was worried it could send her mom into a tailspin. After seven years, she supposed most people would feel stagnated or smothered with the arrangement. For Paige, it was a small price to pay to keep her mother happy and content.
“We will.” He leaned forward. “But we both know there are ways around those cameras,” Ronnie said.
What a low blow. It wasn’t fair for him to use their high school nonsense to undermine her character now. “Both. That’s a good word.” Her anger swelled, a welcome detour from the cold fear gripping the back of her neck. “You only know that because you snuck around in those days, too.”
He had the grace to look sheepish for all of a split second. “I’ve called your father in, too,” Ronnie said. “He’s in another interrogation room. We’ll be asking him to corroborate your timeline and alibi.”
“Alibi?” That grip of fear was back. She couldn’t suppress the shiver. “For what? Come on, you have to give me more information.”
