Unlocking Shadows (Keys to Love, Book Four)

by Kennedy Layne

  He toyed with the idea of continuing to work as if he hadn’t heard the vehicles, but he relented and reluctantly made his way downstairs. It wasn’t that that he was opposed to Agent Thorne doing his job, but he sure as hell could have gone about it a better way than confronting every resident he’d wanted to question in front of the entire town. It was as if he purposefully wanted every local on edge.

  Agent Thorne had certainly achieved his goal, considering that his approach to the investigation had the townsfolk once again showing their displeasure. The man had all but branded himself a pariah among the very people he was trying to help, which meant that no one was being very forthcoming with information.

  “Gwen,” Chad greeted warmly, leaning against the pillar of the porch. He made no move to join them in the driveway. He shifted his gaze to the other individual attempting to illustrate his indifference, letting the man know in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t happy with this unannounced visit. “Agent Thorne. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

  “Good morning,” Gwen responded with a smile. It was good to see that she’d recovered from last night’s events unscathed, but why did she have Junior G-man in tow? “Agent Thorne is back in town today to speak with those left on his interview list. He heard what happened yesterday from Mitch and asked to see the barn.”

  Chad nodded, removing the handkerchief that he kept in his back pocket. He slowly wiped his hands on the dark rag. Agent Thorne had given Gwen a smile that wasn’t quite as professional as it should have been. The small gesture shouldn’t have bothered Chad in the least, but the fact was…it left him with the same impression as a new driver grinding the gears in a manual transmission.

  “Mr. Schaeffer, I didn’t realize you were working on Gwen’s new property.”

  Chad didn’t miss how the agent addressed Gwen by her first name, blatantly showing how familiar he was becoming with her.

  It was also hard to ignore the implications of his statement.

  “Noah Kendall is one of my business partners.” Chad wasn’t telling Thorne anything he didn’t already know. “I’d think it would be rather odd if our company wasn’t in charge of Gwen’s renovations. Wouldn’t you, Special Agent?”

  “Agent Thorne, why don’t we head down to the barn?”

  Chad ignored the curious glance Gwen shot his way, fully believing his hardened tone was warranted. Plus, he shouldn’t have to explain himself to her. He stayed where he was and observed the two of them walk down the small path toward the corral and what was left of the barn’s siding.

  What was it about Gwen that got under his skin?

  She was once again wearing knee-high boots, though today they were brown leather. She had on a pair of beige pants that conformed to the curve of her ass in a way that he was hard-pressed not to admire. The cream-colored blouse she was wearing flared out at the wrists, and the soft-looking material rippled with each step she took into the wind.

  There was no denying that her physical presence had an impact on him, but it was something more than just a physical attraction.

  Her laughter at something Thorne said was caught by the light breeze, spreading the melodic sound like seeds of a dandelion caught in a gust of wind that came across the meadow.

  “Fuck me,” Chad muttered, shoving the handkerchief into his back pocket. “Get your head out of your ass, Schaeffer. You have a job to do.”

  He’d been about to head back inside, telling himself it was better to mind his own business, when the rumbling hum of another engine broke through the tree line.

  What now?

  Within seconds, the tan-colored sheriff’s vehicle that was a staple of life in Blyth Lake came into view.

  Mitch Kendall.

  It didn’t take long for Gwen’s oldest brother to park the Crown Vic behind Gwen’s Jeep. He was out of the vehicle seconds after he’d shifted the car into park, not wasting time as he clipped the keys to his utility belt.

  “They’ve already headed down to the barn, Mitch.”

  “Join me,” Mitch said, the directive not coming across as a request in the least. The man was almost built like a linebacker closing in on an opponent, having a larger frame than the rest of his brothers. His size didn’t prevent him from moving quietly over the gravel, though. “I have a few questions.”

  Chad came very close to ignoring the request and walking back inside, having already made it known to Mitch last night that he didn’t want to be involved in the investigation any more than the Schaeffers already had been in the past few months. Unfortunately, doing so would only delay whatever Mitch had in mind to accomplish.

  “Gwen was only at my house for a drink,” Chad explained cautiously, getting this over with now so that he didn’t have to be subjected to Thorne’s digs. “Your sister needed to get away from here. She looked like she could use a drink after her run-in with whoever was on her property. It was nothing more than a neighborly gesture.”

  Mitch remained silent, continuing to follow the path Gwen and Thorne had taken. The duo was still within sight, not having rounded the fence that would take them to the other side of the barn. Chad weighed the pros and cons about falling into step, but he’d already made the decision not to put this grilling off any longer than necessary.

  “You’re assuming I have some kind of problem with you and Gwen spending time together.” Mitch’s gaze never varied from the duo ahead of them. “I don’t. Not in the least. What I have a problem with is the possibility that this goddamned serial killer has set his sights on my baby sister.”

  Chad had been in the diner this morning, so he’d heard quite a bit of chatter on and off about Gwen’s property being targeted by vandalism. Not once did any of the patrons assume it was anything other than teenagers playing around with another one of their own.

  Gwen certainly wasn’t a newcomer to the area.

  “And what makes you think it wasn’t the Keller boys or some other local juvenile delinquent?”

  “Do you believe it was Matt and Mike?”

  No, Chad didn’t believe for a second the Keller boys had anything to do with the vandalism to Gwen’s dilapidated old barn. It was the main reason why he’d taken a good thirty minutes this morning to scour the property line, looking for tracks or anything out of place.

  He’d found nothing but bent grass.

  Whomever it was had stayed off the soft ground where there was a chance he could leave a footprint.

  “Gwen wasn’t even here when Emma went missing,” Chad pointed out, wanting Mitch to clarify why he believed Gwen could be a target.

  “No, she wasn’t.” Mitch slowed his pace, his body language telling Chad that the newly appointed sheriff didn’t want his sister or the federal agent to overhear what he had to say. “Look, I get that Agent Thorne is just doing his job. He sure as hell isn’t taking my advice on how to approach the residents of this town, but that’s his own problem. The feds haven’t cut me out completely, so I’ll take advantage of the situation as much as I can.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I made a discreet call to an old friend of mine. She went over Thorne’s head and asked to be assigned as lead profiler, but there seems to be some politics involved that prevented her from joining the investigation.” Mitch shrugged, as if he hadn’t just put the woman’s career on the line. “I sent her the evidence I had anyway. She owes me one.”

  Chad wasn’t going to pretend to know how politics worked in the federal government. Truthfully, he didn’t care one way or another.

  “And this has to do with me…how?”

  “You’re going to be out here for at least the next two weeks.” They’d reached the corner of the wooden fence, but Mitch finally came to a stop. “I’m asking you to do me a favor—keep your eyes open for anything unusual. I don’t care if a leaf looks like it’s been disturbed and you can’t figure out why. You let me know. I’m having a deputy patrol the area hourly, but you’re going to physically be here eight to ten hours a day.”r />
  “Not a problem.” Chad didn’t bother to confess that he’d already done so and planned to continue to watch this property carefully while working on the house. For a brief moment, he’d been afraid that Mitch was going to ask that he keep an eye on Gwen. Last night had been nice…real nice. A bit too nice. It wasn’t wise for him to continue down that road. “I’ll reach out if I notice anything unusual. I’m going to head back to the house. I’ll let you talk with—”

  “Mr. Schaeffer,” Agent Thorne called out, having noticed he and Gwen were being followed. Chad didn’t doubt the agent had known all along. “Gwen mentioned that you pulled up in the driveway last night after she thought someone was trespassing on her property.”

  Again, the agent’s insinuation rubbed Chad the wrong way. This conversation wasn’t going to end with them being on good terms. For a brief moment, he contemplated giving Irish a call. Unfortunately, that would most likely be construed as premeditation for assaulting a federal agent.

  “Yes, Chad was here last night,” Gwen responded for him, basically shoving his ass into the fire. What the hell did she think she was doing? It was then that he noticed her smile not quite meeting those baby blues of hers, though. It was good to know that she rated him a bit above Thorne, who was virtually a stranger to everyone else in town. “I’m grateful that he pulled into the driveway when he did. Who knows what would have happened had he not shown up.”

  Gwen had just displayed a claw or two, causing Chad to let go of some of the tension that had settled in between his shoulder blades. He didn’t doubt for a minute that she would have been able to handle anything thrown her way, but she’d shined a bit of light on him that the agent didn’t seem to appreciate.

  That was good enough for Chad.

  “Agent Thorne, may I have a word with you in private?” Mitch didn’t appear to like these verbal exchanges any more than Chad. “Gwen and Chad, we’ll meet you up at the house shortly.”

  Chad waited for Gwen to reach him before he turned to walk back in the direction of the house. He had work to do, and it sure as hell wasn’t getting done by him standing around chatting with the client and basically being a punching bag for a federal agent.

  “Agent Thorne really isn’t that bad,” Gwen said once they were out of earshot. She glanced over her shoulder. “He’s just not a very good people person.”

  Chad thought about making some joke that the only reason she liked Thorne was for his habit of always taking notes. It had been hard to miss the notepad and pen in his hand as he was shoving them back in his inner suit pocket. But Chad’s freedom was no laughing matter, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to be railroaded by an outsider looking to score a win quickly before moving down the road.

  “He’d throw my ass in jail for littering, if he could,” Chad muttered, determined to get back to his work.

  The sun was beginning to disappear behind the gathering clouds, but it would be a while before the rain moved into the area. The unsettled air around them didn’t help Chad’s mood. His morning hadn’t gone as planned, and now here he was being delayed by the one thing that had plagued him most of his life.

  “Chad.” The rest of the walk to the house had been made in silence, so the light touch of her hand on his arm was unexpected. The contact of their skin had him wishing he was still wearing his long-sleeved shirt. “Agent Thorne and I ate an early lunch at the diner earlier. I heard that you had breakfast with your dad and brother.”

  Well, it looked as if Molly had shared quite a bit of information with Gwen…and the fed.

  “No wonder Thorne thinks I had something to do with the vandalism on your property.” Chad hated that the Schaeffers had been given a bad rap over Clayton’s bad choices. “Wes has decided to come back to town at the beginning of the year. That was about the size of what happened. Tell your new friend that he has nothing to worry about from us. Clayton has decided to stay in the city.”

  “Chad, that wasn’t why—”

  “What do you want from me, Gwen?” They had reached the porch, but it was best that he get back to work. He was beginning to think that finishing this job early would be for the best. He’d keep his word to Mitch, but then it was back to a bit of normalcy. If Chad wasn’t careful, he’d end up in Clayton’s shoes with a case hanging over his head. “Agent Thorne clearly believes that the Schaeffer family is involved with these murders somehow. The best thing for me to do is keep my head down.”

  Chad hadn’t been expecting Gwen to follow him up the steps, nor did he anticipate the way she’d cut in front of him so that he couldn’t open the screened door. The sweet fragrance of her perfume merged with the autumn air for an intoxicating scent.

  “I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Gwen said softly, her blue eyes searching his for the answer.

  Did she have to be so damned beautiful?

  He was still struggling to keep himself in check.

  The rest of the tension left his body. Even though it wasn’t in their best interests, he’d give anything for them to be able to go back to last night when she’d been sitting on his couch and sharing details of her life. He wouldn’t lie. It had been nice to have someone to talk to who didn’t judge him for his family’s actions.

  “I could definitely use another shot of whiskey.”

  “Eight o’clock sound good?” Gwen asked, not blinking an eye at the subtle invitation. Damn if that didn’t make her even more tempting. “Dad’s having Sunday dinner at his place, but I’m free after the dishes are done. I’m up in rotation.”

  Chad was saved from responding when Mitch and Agent Thorne’s voices carried in the light breeze, signaling that this somewhat casual visit was about to end.

  “This can’t be good,” Gwen said underneath her breath, stepping away from the front door and closing the small distance to the top step of the porch. “Mitch? What’s wrong?”

  “We got identification back on one of the three remaining victims we pulled from the lake.” Mitch didn’t break stride as he continued to walk to his car, telling both Chad and Gwen that there was something more to the discovery of the young girl. He should have known that this day wasn’t destined to end well, especially when Agent Thorne’s attention was aimed in his direction. “Nora McCleary—Irish’s baby sister.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Do you ever sleep?”

  Gwen startled at the deep voice that came out of the dark behind her.

  “Damn it, Lance.” She spun around and would have shoved her baby brother had he been closer. A quick glance at one of the upstairs windows told her that their father was still awake. “You should know better than to sneak up on someone. The last time you almost lost an eye.”

  “I have a spare,” Lance said with a shrug and an infectious smile. Usually, she returned one in kind. Not tonight. “Let me guess. You were spending time with Chad Schaeffer.”

  “We’re just friends. Nothing more.” Gwen closed the door to her Jeep as quietly as possible. “What are you doing here on a Friday night, anyway? Shouldn’t you be helping Brynn at The Cavern?”

  Almost two weeks had passed since Gwen had returned to town, and nothing out of the ordinary had happened besides the barn incident. Unfortunately, it had taken this long to schedule the moving company to finally deliver all of her belongings to the house.

  Tomorrow was the official moving day, but there had been a lot of debate on whether or not she should leave the family homestead in light of that one event. It wouldn’t surprise her if Lance wasn’t here to give her a list of pros and cons—heavier on the cons—to dissuade her decision.

  “You have to ruin everything, don’t you?” Lance shoved both of his hands in the front pocket of his sweatshirt before he rocked back on the heels of his work boots. “Your housewarming present needed a few finishing touches. Since you’re being stubborn about leaving Dad’s place, I figured I better have it ready to be delivered tomorrow.”

  Gwen had already seen the beautifully crafted dinin
g room table her dad and Lance had been working on long before she’d returned to town. It had been hard not to notice the large tarp being draped over a piece of furniture every time she’d get anywhere near their woodshop.

  She might have wanted to see what kind of wood they’d used in order to choose the butcher block for the kitchen. She might have looked under said tarp, but no one had been the wiser.

  Unfortunately, she’d taught all of her tricks in finding their Christmas presents to her brothers when they were younger. Lance was well aware that she was impatient when it came to surprises.

  “Well, seeing as you brought up the subject of moving…” Lance let his voice trail off, and she just knew that she was in for another lecture. He shrugged his indifference to her annoyance and fell into step by her side as she crossed the gravel drive to the wraparound porch. “Would it really be so bad to stay with Dad a bit longer than you’d planned? I know it goes against those lists of yours, but it’s not like your place doesn’t need a little bit more work before you need to move in. Why not wait another week?”

  Gwen didn’t want their dad to overhear the upcoming conversation, especially when she got to the part where she was just as capable to taking care of herself as her brothers were. They seemed to forget that she served her country and had the means and capability of defending herself, if the need ever arose.

  The heavy sweater she’d chosen to wear today wasn’t enough to keep the chill at bay indefinitely, but she wasn’t about to head inside for a jacket. She wanted this discussion over and done with.

  “Did you, Noah, or Jace wait another week to move in when shit started happening at your places? I didn’t think so. I’ve waited longer than any of you combined, so I don’t want to hear any more lip from you.”

  “Well, we also didn’t have that fucker basically painting a bullseye on our back,” Lance countered wryly. He took a seat opposite her in one of the porch chairs that was able to lean back. “We’re worried about you, sis. This guy is a killer who acts without remorse. He won’t hesitate. He’s as deadly as they come.”