Dark Secrets

by Savannah Kade

  When she startled and looked at him, she saw that his right hand still aimed his gun at the dead man, just in case. His other arm was bleeding profusely. “Nate, you’re shot!”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Nate replied, in all seriousness, “It’s just a flesh wound.”

  Shaking almost too much to do the job, Grace checked him out then proceeded to rip up and old T-shirt to bind it. It was bleeding enough that she wouldn’t let him move until she had it tied off. Eventually she conceded that he was right. He’d been grazed and would get a scar, but that should be it.

  When that was done, Grace still wasn’t breathing normally, but Nate’s shock helped him spring into action. He called the Denver PD and reported the incident. They didn’t dare leave the house, having no idea who might be outside. They moved Slater’s body from the entry to the bedroom and found their guard shot and bleeding out just inside the front door. The only lucky thing was that the door was already closed.

  Grace checked to be sure he was dead but instead popped up, surprised. “Nate! He has a pulse. It’s faint, but it’s there!”

  They raced to get an ambulance for the man. Inside fifteen minutes, vehicles of every size and shape flashed a variety of light colors and practically encircled the small house. After the guard was taken to the hospital, and Slater X’s body was off to the morgue, Nate turned to Grace.

  Taking her into his arms, bandages and adrenaline and all, he hugged her tight. He knew what was coming next and he had to warn her.

  He kissed her once, then held her face in his hands. “They’re going to take us away. Separately. They’ll probably hold you for a while. There won’t be any charges against you, but they’re going to press you.” She nodded at him.

  Nate continued. Better she knew what was coming. “They’re going to make you tell each story at least three times. They’ll ask questions, maybe try to trip you up.”

  “But why? I didn’t do anything!”

  “It’s not about that.” He shook his head and hugged her again. “It’s that they have to build a court case and you may be a witness. They have to know you’re reliable, that your story won’t change. So when they question you, take a deep breath, take your time, and answer however you remember it. I—”

  “Detective Ryder? We need you to come with us.” An officer from the Denver PD was reaching out to motion them forward and the words were stuck in his throat. He didn’t get to say them.

  They weren’t handcuffed or anything, not shoved in the back of a squad car, but he and Grace were effectively separated. He smiled at her as they were led two different directions.

  Because he was an officer, his he was questioned much more intensely than she was. Though she was with GBI and had a badge, she was technically a consultant—a civilian and not an officer. Grace was released late that night, he heard. He couldn’t see her as his actions were still under investigation.

  He’d left his post. Not reported for work. Fired his weapon. Withheld evidence. And so on. He wasn’t even released from custody for three days. It was another three before he wasn’t called in at six a.m. and questioned until midnight. He understood. They were building a case. He had to account for every action, every threat that made him make the choices he had. He answered all of them. And he missed Grace more than he’d thought possible.

  They brought in Masuka and Zaragosa to confirm his stories. And even Sevier and Cantu. Nate had been walking over to thank them, when a rookie officer had come down the hall and told them Johnson was on the line from Arson for them. So Nate’s one possible interaction was stolen from him.

  When he finally got a chance to speak to someone, and ask after Grace, it had been almost six full days since the safe house incident. He found out she’d flown home to Georgia the day before.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Grace stood beside her parents, her black dress swirling around her knees in the light breeze. The funeral had been lovely, though a bit unconventional. There was no viewing, no coffin at the front of the church, no pallbearers. Just the lovely urn that Kevin had picked out and brought with him for the ceremony.

  He’d taken his portion of the ashes and held a small ceremony for Jimmy in Dark Falls. A few friends had scattered some of Jimmy’s ashes there, where he’d chosen to live. Kevin reported they’d gone all around town for three days, eating at Jimmy’s favorite spots. They visited the theater they always went to and the park where he and Kevin had met. The small group of friends left a smattering of his ashes at each location. They even left some at the base of his favorite roller coaster at a nearby amusement park. Kevin had left a little in the urn, not wanting it to be empty, and he’d flown in for the funeral here.

  Breathless, Georgia sat just far enough beyond Atlanta to feel like the small town it was. It was named for the stunning vistas and cliff-like drops that opened to wide lakes below. Grace and her family stood at the edge of one now—Lover’s Leap. She’d changed into flats for the walk up here and was bolstered by the number of people who’d come.

  After the ceremony at the church, she had announced the family’s intentions. Her parents would keep the urn with a small portion of Jimmy’s ashes. The rest would be scattered at Breathless Lake, from the top of Lover’s Leap. It had been one of Jimmy’s favorite places as a kid. Their mom and dad, and even Grace, had been afraid his daredevil, try-anything nature would eventually take him over the edge.

  Instead of just a few people, almost everyone had come. With a look to her parents, Grace asked if they were okay if everyone who wanted to could have ashes to cast into the wind that was blowing today. Her mother nodded, though her father didn’t speak.

  Having to be more organized than she’d planned, Grace went down the line, trying to dole portions out so there were some left for her. She’d thought it would be herself, her parents, Kevin and maybe a few close people, but the crowd was a testament to Jimmy’s life and she couldn’t be happier that everyone was here.

  She spoke to each person as she gave them ashes. A few refused, but as she hit the end of the line, she recognized the hand held out, palm up. “Nate?”

  “I wouldn’t have missed it. I owe him a debt.”

  Grace nodded and tried to smile. She hadn’t seen him at the funeral, but he was here now. She’d made it through most of the ceremony managing to keep herself together, but now, tears formed in her eyes as she looked up at him.

  At the end of the line, she stood with the urn cradled in one arm and her other hand raised to the wind, letting it carry the ashes away.

  And that was the end of it. People came up and hugged her one by one as they left. They offered their condolences and their well wishes. Nate stayed quietly by her side the whole time.

  When the last guests were gone, she turned to him, not failing to notice they stood at the top of Lover’s Leap. “My parents.”

  It was all she could say. Other words wouldn’t come. Nate beckoned over her shoulder.

  Turning, she handed over the urn with the last of Jimmy’s ashes that they would keep. Her mother drew her into a tight hug and whispered in Grace’s ear. “I assume that’s Nate that you’ve been talking about.”

  Grace nodded, her tears now flowing freely.

  “If he can give you a ride home, you should stay and talk to him. Your father and I will take the limo back.”

  Nate must have heard. “I’ve got it covered, Mrs. Lee. It’s just up to Grace.”

  She nodded to her mother who was holding one of her hands, just like when she was a little girl. Grace wiped her tears, though it didn’t do anything. They kept coming. Then she hugged her father goodbye and watched as the two trekked down the hill, hand in hand.

  At last, Grace turned back to Nate. “Thank you for coming.”

  He nodded absently and looked out over the cliff. “I couldn’t not come. I never met Jimmy, but he did a lot for me. He solved several of my cases with that notebook of his.”

  Grace smiled at that. Of course Jimmy
had.

  “And he brought me you.” Nate was looking at her now. She didn’t know what to say. Where did they go from here? Nate seemed to know, though. “You left without saying goodbye.”

  “They wouldn’t let me talk to you. I had a case here. I had to come back for the funeral.” She shrugged. It had seemed the only option at the time. “You didn’t ask me to stay.”

  It hung in the air for only a second before Nate replied. “You didn’t ask me to come with you.”

  Her heart flipped over. “Would you? Would you stay here?”

  He laughed, though it sounded a little self-deprecating. “I’m sure it’s too forward of me, but I already checked out jobs with the Breathless and Atlanta PDs. Breathless doesn’t need any detectives right now, but I could work my way up quickly. With my experience the chief thought I’d be next in line.”

  Grace felt her chest constrict, and she tried to stay in the conversation. “Atlanta’s a little too far for a commute. You’d do that? Go back to being uniform to stay here?”

  “You haven’t figured it out? I’d do anything. That’s hardly a sacrifice.”

  “Is that what you want?” Her heart was beating stronger and stronger, not racing, just a steady confident beat at what he was offering her.

  “I don’t know anything about the place except that it’s where you are. Tell me what you want.”

  She nodded. “What if I went to the CBI as a consultant? I travel a lot. There’s no reason for you to be stuck in a town where you don’t know anyone at a demotion when I can go anywhere easily.”

  “You’d do that?” He was holding her hands now, the world shrunk down to only the two of them.

  “You haven’t figured it out? I’d do anything.” She mirrored his words back at him.

  “I love you, Grace Lee. I was trying to tell you when they split us up. I meant to tell you days ago.”

  She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. When at last they broke apart, she smiled at him. “So I’ll apply at the CBI and move to Dark Falls. I’ll find a place to live and we’ll try this.”

  Nate shook his head. “No, Grace. No finding your own apartment. No ‘trying.’ Let’s really do this. Move in with me. Marry me. We’ll give your parents some time to get used to the idea before we make it official, but I want everything.”

  “Everything? Are you proposing?” She was grinning ear to ear. She’d just buried her brother but solving his case had helped her deal with his death. This man in front of her had made it possible to get through the hardest thing in her life. He was ready for anything. So was she.

  It didn’t really surprise her when he said, “Yes, I am. I even have a ring. I wasn’t planning on getting it out now, but nothing about you has been according to my plan. It’s all been better. I’m not ‘trying,’ Grace. I’m all in.”

  Dark Legacy

  An excerpt from the next Dark Falls book

  When it came to murder, every avenue was investigated.

  Assuming the victim had been murdered.

  Rhys suspected she had been. His instincts had been humming since he’d gotten the call an hour earlier. The location and markings were too damn suspicious for anything else. Unless…unless some malicious prick had found a dead drifter and decided to play a nasty prank on the town.

  He crunched his way across the first perimeter, his skin and chest tightening beneath the constant furtive glances that followed him. Sevier was waiting at the second perimeter tape—red this time.

  “You’re late.” There was no accusation in the comment, instead concern narrowed the light brown eyes studying him. “You okay?”

  The question stopped Rhys in his tracks and tensed the muscles of his back. Fuck…he’d expected the concern…the questions…those little sidewise looks everyone was giving him. He just hadn’t expected them to dig under his skin like slivers of ice.

  “I’m fine.” He kept his voice neutral, his face blank and ducked beneath the tape to join Sevier. “When did you start buying into Cantu’s theory of over sharing?”

  Eric Cantu was Sevier’s partner. He was also the Major Crime units company comic and pop psychologist. Christ, it was bad enough having Cantu mothering the hell out of them, encouraging everyone to express their feelings. Having two dithering hens in the unit, would be two too many.

  Sevier simply shrugged. “The boss fill you in?”

  “About the carvings? Yeah.” Rhys buried his immediate visceral reaction. But remnants of the nightmare slipped through.

  A white face frozen in terror…glazed blue eyes…icy blonde hair stuck to the snow…a dark red X-9 carved into a bleach-white forehead…

  He locked down the corresponding surge of rage and horror. Even now, so many years later—those early, raw emotions dug their claws into him sometimes, catching him unprepared. He’d spent the past forty-five minutes drinking coffee and girding himself to make sure they didn’t latch onto him here…now.

  “Whoever did this…the perp? He’s a mimic. A fucking copycat.” Sevier scowled and blew out a deep breath that hung in the air like a frosty question mark.

  Rhys grimaced. No shit.

  While he’d been a clueless kid when Kenneth Hamilton had been carving up young women and dumping their bodies in this section of the Colorado State forest, he knew many of the detectives who’d been instrumental in catching the bastard.

  Hell, Gerald Osborn and Craig Patel had been the lead detectives on the case back then. They were sharp as needles, methodical, and unbiased. They didn’t jump to conclusions, they followed the evidence. There was no fucking way Hamilton would have been arrested and convicted without a sea of evidence supporting the case.

  The bastard had been guilty. There was no question of that in Rhys’s mind. Regardless of how vehemently Ariel had insisted that her father wasn’t the killer…couldn’t possibly be the killer—

  Rhys swiped a hand down his face. Christ, he needed to get his mind under control. These damn memories were not helping.

  He sighed and pinched the flesh between his eyebrows. This new victim with her blonde hair and blue eyes and the X-10 carved in her forehead had just muddied the Hamilton case significantly.

  Someone was out to fuck with them.

  Get DARK LEGACY now!

  * * *

  Enjoyed this book?

  Savannah Kade also writes suspense as

  A.J. Scudiere.

  The NightShade Forensic Files

  Book 1 - Under Dark Skies

  Book 2 - Fracture Five

  Book 3 - The Atlas Defect

  Book 4 - Echo and Ember

  Book 5 - Salvage (A Shadow Files Novel)

  Book 6 - Garden of Bone

  Book 7 - The Camelot Gambit (Available Apr 2, 2019)

  FORTUNE (red)

  FORTUNE (gray)

  The Vendetta Trifecta

  Vengeance

  Retribution

  Justice

  Resonance

  God's Eye

  Phoenix

  The Shadow Constant

  Other books by Savannah Kade:

  The WILDER Books:

  Our Song

  Heartstrings

  Love Notes

  Music & Lyrics

  The Wilder Complete Book Set

  The TOUCH OF MAGICK Series:

  WishCraft

  DreamWalker

  LoveSpelled

  SoulFire

  ShadowKiss

  The Touch of Magick Series: Complete Set

  The HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS Series:

  Wildest Dreams

  Sunset Promises

  Shooting Star

  Hollywood Ending

  Hollywood Nights Complete Set

 

 

 
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