by RJ Scott
Not a single person wept for Doc. There was shock and disbelief that one man had wrought so much pain, but there was also anger, and it was fury that was winning. People huddled in groups, exchanging wilder stories with each pass about the things that Doc had done. He’d murdered six women whose bones were in the sinkhole. He’d performed back alley abortions that were only just coming to light, and deliberately made the women bleed out. He’d stolen babies to give them away. The three boys he’d kept in the basement had all died from malnutrition, and how long they’d been chained to that bed was another black hole of information. He’d murdered them, and we’d found a stack of different bibles and prayer books in a steel box under the bed with pages marked. Added to that he’d killed Adam, Mayor Stokes, Joe Dwyer, and it could be said he’d driven Sandoval to commit suicide and Beverly Kirkland to commit a murder-suicide, and by extension, Pastor Bill.
The abuse, the lies, the cover-ups, it was all too much for an outsider like me to comprehend, but for the town it was hell. Overrun by tourists, journalists, even freaking coach tours, there was no way that Lancaster Falls could come out of this intact. Only yesterday I’d caught Sawyer sitting at his desk with his head in his hands, staring down at the report he was writing, Chris perched on the desk next to him, his hand stroking Sawyer’s hair. When Sawyer looked up at me, I pretended not to have seen his shoulders shaking or that his eyes were red. This had hit him the hardest because he hadn’t had time to come to terms with everything.
He was going to have to be the new normal in town, along with Logan and Heather. There had to be a change, better accountability. A new mayor, the bank needed help, decisions made on the church. Even limits to the number of tourists who wanted to visit the home of the Hell’s Gate serial killer. We had a documentary team in town right now, but Josh had refused to let them stay in the hotel. In fact, no one was allowed to stay, apart aside from me, Sadie, and her wife.
No more secrets, no more lies in Lancaster Falls.
Only that meant they were receiving calls about things that they would never have before. Kids playing ball in the wrong street, Jemima from the Garden Nursery who was apparently cheating people out of plants when it came to paying. Or even Ned the butcher who sold the best beef, and at least two people were suspicious if it was actually the best of beef. He’d have his work cut out for him, and I’d already requested a leave of absence to hang around and help him make a difference. And of course to stay with Josh for as long as I could. I couldn’t have the forever I wanted if I was in Washington and he was here.
That was part of why I was in Sawyer’s office.
“Can I have a moment of your time, Captain?”
He visibly shook off the tension and smiled up at Chris, who pressed a kiss to his forehead and then mumbled something about coffee.
Sawyer indicated the door. “You can shut the door if you need to.”
“It’s fine. I just wanted to say I’ve been given a leave of absence, actually…” Maybe he was right. Maybe I needed to have this conversation in private, so I turned and closed the door so we had privacy. “I’m rethinking my career.”
He nodded as if he understood, but he couldn’t really. I’d spent a long time talking to Josh last night, and some of what we’d talked about—as I fussed around him to the point he yelled at me to leave him alone—had been intense.
“Go on.”
He pressed a finger to his left temple and tensed his jaw, and I bet he was nursing the headache to beat all headaches.
“You and Chris are happy together.”
For a moment he was confused, and then he smiled. “We are.”
“And Logan with Drew. I know Drew works in the city, but they’re good together. You can see they have a peace between them.”
“Lucas, are you asking me if it’s okay to date my best friend, Josh?” he deadpanned.
“We’re already a couple,” I said with utter confidence. “But I’d like to stay around here if it won’t cause an issue, help you out maybe, rethink everything, see what I have with Josh and how much it could mean to us both.”
“First, any help is always appreciated. We have some rebuilding to do. Second, what are your intentions?”
“My intentions?” I was unsure what he was asking, and then he smiled again, and I knew he was teasing me. I really needed to get used to that. “I love Josh and Harry. Through everything, they are the constants in my life, and I think I could do a good job of stepdad, maybe. Josh has got this gig as a sanctioned hacker in local cybercrimes, but I feel lost. I don’t know… ” How did I phrase this?
Sawyer regarded me for a moment. “You any good with paperwork?”
I slumped in the chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “I live for it.”
Sawyer shoved a pile of folders toward me. “Find Logan. You can do it together.”
Josh
Two weeks later
“He won’t know me,” Lucas said for the tenth time since we’d gotten into the car. Or the fifteenth, I didn’t know because I’d lost count after six.
“But you know him, and you know he’d want you to tell him what happened to Carmen.” I thought that might have been the tenth time I’d said the same thing. We were going in circles.
When we arrived at the facility, it wasn’t what I’d been expecting. It was more of a hotel, only with security, a full-size pool, a gym, two beautiful restaurants. Grandpa Toby’s room was more of a suite with a bathroom, a bedroom, and a small sitting room with a view of parkland and a lake.
“Lucas,” he said immediately. I could feel the relief rolling off Lucas, who squeezed my hand. He crossed to Toby and they hugged.
“Grandpa, hey.”
Lucas tugged me over, and I held out my free hand to shake, but Toby held his arms up for a hug, and when he embraced me, he was strong.
“Josh, sir,” I said.
“He’s my partner, my boyfriend, Grandpa.”
Toby smiled, and it reached his pale eyes so much like his grandson’s. “That’s wonderful. When is the big day?”
I tensed because that was something we hadn’t talked about. Yes, we’d discussed him moving in or the two of us buying that place on the corner of Lincoln and Grant, but the M-word?
“I love Harry, and I love you,” Lucas said and turned me to face him.
I realized through everything I’d only ever really said the L-word in that cellar, not like this when we weren’t having sex or teasing each other. Of course I loved him, but maybe I didn’t say it enough. Here in front of his grandpa, this was real.
“I love you too,” I said.
We were lost for a moment, staring at each other with stupid grins. Then Toby cleared his throat. He stood up with difficulty and shuffled to his closet, opening it and pulling out a small wooden box, which he passed to Lucas.
“Before I forget, and don’t ask me again, I won’t recall… I can’t wear this. I lose it … look… this is for you to give to your young man.” Lucas opened the box and inside were letters and a ring box. He took it out and opened it, a solid heavy ring that I guessed had once been his grandpa’s. Lucas stared at me expectantly, but we weren’t here today to get engaged. We were here to tell Toby a story. He shut the box and pocketed the ring.
“Later,” he murmured.
“Later today,” I replied.
We stole the quickest of kisses, and then Lucas sat down with Toby and began to explain how the killer of Carmen had been found, how her family had closure.
Toby was sad, his rheumy eyes filled with tears, and he held Lucas’s hand and thanked him, and it was the most emotionally perfect moment I’d ever seen. Then just as quickly, Lucas went quiet, and Toby’s expression changed to one that was blank as he looked around the room frantically. But when his eyes alighted on Lucas, he grinned.
“Lucas!”
“Hi, Grandpa.”
“What brings you here?”
“I wanted you to meet the man I’m going to marry.”
> Toby held out his arms for another hug, and then he stood up to go to the closet.
“We have the ring,” Lucas murmured, and Toby smiled after a moment of confusion.
“Did your Grandma give it to you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so pleased for you both, I’ll tell your grandma when she gets here, that we need to have my suit cleaned. What is your young man’s name?”
“I’m Josh, sir,” I said, and took the offered hug as if it was the first time.
He frowned at us. “Lucas?” he asked, and I could see the cloud of confusion.
“I have something for you,” Lucas added and took out a pen, adding a line to the sheet of information, which he then placed on a note board with sticky tape. Right next to a sign reminding Toby that today was Friday. “You can read that every day and remember.”
We visited a while, and I thought Lucas told his grandpa the Carmen story at least four times, and that same four times told him that I was the man he was going to marry. We stopped him each time, saying we had the ring. We left after an emotional good-bye when Toby was yawning and saying he was tired, I stopped for a moment to read the note on the sheet.
It was a photo of me, Josh, and Harry, taken in the back yard of the hotel, and next to it he wrote a list of how Carmen’s missing person case had been solved. That she was at rest and her family sent their thanks to Grandpa Toby. He could read that over and over, and it would be new each time.
And at the bottom it simply said:
I’m marrying Josh. He’s the perfect man for me with gorgeous eyes and a beautiful smile. He has a son called Harry, and I’m going to try and be a good dad. We’ll visit soon with Harry. You gave me your wedding ring and said you wanted me to have it. Thank you, it means so much.
I love you, Grandpa.
Lucas.
THE END
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A letter from RJ
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading All That Remains, the last book in the Lancaster Falls Trilogy.
This story was inspired by my fear of reservoirs. I’m being serious! I don’t like open water where you can’t see the bottom, and the thought of a town being swallowed as a reservoir is built makes me shudder. In the UK we have Derwent which was a village 'drowned' in 1944 when the Ladybower Reservoir in Derbyshire, was created.
The village of Ashopton, Derwent Woodlands church and Derwent Hall were also 'drowned' in the construction of the reservoir. In 2018 Ladybower Reservoir's low water levels revealed the abandoned village.
What better way to be inspired to write a romantic suspense than to play on the secrets that lower water levels could reveal.
The town of Lancaster Falls is partly drawn from a town in Pennsylvania that I stayed in for a week a few years back. I loved the town, and while Lancaster Falls is smaller, the church is still the same, and the PD is as well!
For the inspiration behind these books you can visit my Pinterest board to see the stories that I collected and the images I referred to.
If this is your first foray into RJ Scott’s writing then you can check out all my books on my website rjscott.co.uk, but if you are looking specifically for romantic suspense then you could try my Heroes series or my Bodyguards Inc series. If you like Single Dads, as a lighter recovery from this darker series, then they are fun easy and were a joy to write! Or try my co-authored hockey series Railers.
Happy Reading!
Hugs, RJ X
What’s next for RJ Scott?
Always (Single Dads Book 4)
Lives change in an instant, and finding love might seem out of reach, until Adam meets Cameron, and sparks fly.
Impetuously putting his life on the line, Adam saves a child trapped in a car wreck and suffers career-ending injuries. No longer able to do the job he loves, he struggles to come to terms with his new life, and at his lowest moments he wonders why he’s fighting for a future that is nothing like he expected. With friends who won’t let him give up and a family who has his back, he fights hard to find a new way of making a difference. Now he’s working with children who have lost family in tragic circumstances, and contentment is within his grasp.
When Federal agents arrest his husband, Cameron goes from devoted husband to single dad overnight. Heartbroken and homeless, he takes the offer of a job working maintenance in a beachfront gated community. It’s not private schools, chauffeurs, and maid service but it’s safe and, despite everything, he and Finn have a roof over their heads. But what if he fails at this new normal and, worst of all, his son ends up hating him?
Coming August - sign up for a release reminder
Sugar and Ice (Arizona Raptors, Hockey Romance, Book 3)
Coming July - sign up for a release reminder
When love is on the line, the worst decisions can end up having the best endings
Tate Collins, an all-American hockey phenomenon, was the highly marketable face of Dallas hockey. Loaded down with endorsements and playing his best game, he was a superstar and a household name. No one ever expected him to fail, but overnight, after the worst decision of his life, everything spirals out of his control. Abruptly, his reputation is in tatters, and he’s traded to the Arizona Raptors in a shocking move. Brushing off the wild and unfounded accusations that he faces on social media, and stuck on the second line, he keeps his head down and works hard to earn his spot. Tate knows he can make a difference if only his teammates would let him. Something has to change for him to earn their respect, but falling for the captain might not be his best move.
Vladislav Novikov has been called many things over his long and illustrious career, but the new nickname of Iceberg seems to fit best. Perhaps it’s due to his icy blue eyes, or the way he rams into opposing players as he defends his goalie. Or maybe it’s because of his cool demeanor when not playing the game he loves. Whatever the reason, it’s why he’s the perfect team captain for this wild bunch of puck-pushers. His perfectly controlled life is smooth as ice until Tate Collins rides into Tucson with his apple pie ways and those damn dimples. The young superstar immediately catches his eye. Despite knowing better than to start something with a teammate, the big, bad Iceberg is about to have that chilly veneer around his heart melted away by Tate one sweet kiss at a time.
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Books from RJ Scott
Single Dads
Single | Today | Promise
Lancaster Falls
What Lies Beneath | Without a Trace | All The Remains
Montana (Cowboys, Ranchers, Mystery)
Crooked Tree Ranch | The Rancher’s Son | A Cowboy’s Home | Snow In Montana | Second Chance Ranch | Montana Sky
Texas
The Heart of Texas | Texas Winter | Texas Heat | Texas Family | Texas Christmas | Texas Fall | Texas Wedding | Texas Gift | Home For Christmas
Legacy (spin-off from Texas series)
Kyle | Gabriel | Daniel
Harrisburg Railers (Hockey Romance)
Changing Lines | First Season | Deep Edge | Poke Check | Last Defense | Goal Line | Neutral Zone | Hat Trick | Save The Date
Owatonna U Hockey (Hockey Romance)
Ryker | Scott | Benoit | Christmas Lights
Arizona Raptors
Coast To Coast | Across the Pond | Shadow and Light | Sugar and Ice
Bodyguards Inc
Bodyguard to a Sex God | The Ex-Factor | Max and the Prince | Undercover Lovers | Love’s Design | Kissing Alex
Sanctuary
Guarding Morgan | The Only Easy Day | Face Value | Still Waters | Full Circle | The Journal of Sanctuary 1 | World’s Collide | Accidental Hero | Ghost | By The Numbers
Sanctuary Box Set (including Books 1-5 in the Sanctuary Series
Ellery Mountain
> The Fireman & the Cop | The Teacher & the Soldier | The Carpenter & the Actor | The Doctor & the Bad Boy | The Paramedic & the Writer | The Barman & the SEAL | The Agent & the Model | The Sinner & the Saint
In the Shadow of the Wolf
Shattered Secrets | Broken Memories | Splintered Lies
Kingdom
Kingdom Volume 1 (Vampire Contract, Guilty Werewolf, Warlock’s Secret) | Kingdom Volume 2 (Demon’s Blood, Incubus Agenda, Third Kingdom)
Fire
Kian’s Hunter | Darach’s Cariad | Eoin’s Destiny
End Street Detective Agency
With Amber Kell
End Street Volume 1 (Cupid Curse / Wicked Wolf) | End Street Volume 2 (Dragon’s Dilemma / Sinful Santa) | End Street Volume 3 (Purple Pearl / Guilty Ghost)
Oracle
Oracle | Book of Secrets
Wyoming
Winter Cowboy | Summer Drifter
Sapphire Cay (Tropical Island Romance)
Follow the Sun | Under the Sun | Chase The Sun | Christmas In The Sun | Capture The Sun | Forever In The Sun