A man from her past is back—
to help her solve a holiday murder case.
A friend is missing and presumed dead, and detective Jade Hollis is determined to track down the killer. To do that she must team up with private investigator Bryce Kingsley—who doesn’t know he is the father of her child. But she’ll have to put personal secrets aside because the killer will strike again to keep the truth from being exposed.
The taillights in Jade’s rearview mirror were closing in fast.
She frowned, tension threading from one shoulder to the next. The driver was going way too quickly. She flipped on her blue lights and slowed. The taillights grew brighter and her stomach dipped as she realized the person was going to hit her. She jammed the gas pedal and shot forward. However, the car behind her stayed right on her tail.
And then the lights disappeared.
“What are you doing?” Jade whispered.
The slam into her rear bumper threw her forward against her seat belt and she hit the brakes out of reflex. The wheel spun under her grip and the SUV whipped sideways. She jerked against the seat belt and slammed her head on the window. Stars flashed, the vehicle tilted on two wheels then crashed onto the asphalt.
Stunned, Jade hung suspended by the seat belt, her only thought that she and Bryce somehow missed one. The most important one had gotten away. The one who wanted her dead...
Lynette Eason is a bestselling, award-winning author who makes her home in South Carolina with her husband and two teenage children. She enjoys traveling, spending time with her family and teaching at various writing conferences around the country. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers. Lynette can often be found online interacting with her readers. You can find her at Facebook.com/lynette.eason and on Twitter, @lynetteeason.
Books by Lynette Eason
Love Inspired Suspense
Holiday Homecoming Secrets
True Blue K-9 Unit
Justice Mission
Wrangler’s Corner
The Lawman Returns
Rodeo Rescuer
Protecting Her Daughter
Classified Christmas Mission
Christmas Ranch Rescue
Vanished in the Night
Holiday Amnesia
Military K-9 Unit
Explosive Force
Classified K-9 Unit
Bounty Hunter
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
Holiday Homecoming Secrets
Lynette Eason
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
—1 John 5:4
Dedicated to Emily Rodmell, my fabulous editor of over thirty books with Love Inspired Suspense. Thank you for pulling me out of the slush pile!
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
EPILOGUE
DEAR READER
EXCERPT FROM CHRISTMAS WITNESS PURSUIT BY LISA HARRIS
ONE
Detective Jade Hollis pulled her unmarked SUV into the parking lot of the deserted textile mill and parked. Five minutes ago, a call had come in from someone seeing “strange lights” in the crumbling building. Even though she was off duty, she’d only been half a mile away from the address and had volunteered to stop by.
No doubt Wally Benjamin, one of the small town’s homeless, had decided to seek shelter in the place once again. It seemed to be a favorite of his, and she couldn’t say she blamed him.
December nights were cold—and tonight the forecast called for temperatures in the high twenties with snow. She’d pulled Wally—and a few of his homeless friends—out of the building more than once last winter and taken them to the shelter on the edge of town. Jade blew out a breath and turned off the car. The heater fell silent and she sat for a moment, dreading the idea of trading her warm spot for the frigid wind.
She grimaced. The quicker she took care of this, the quicker she could get home. At least she had a home—one that was finally in the same city as her daughter. She slipped out of the driver’s seat and into the swirling snow. For a brief moment, the wind settled and dead quiet surrounded her. She heard a scraping noise coming from the interior of the old building before the wind whipped her ponytail across her face and shivers wracked her. She grabbed her coat, gloves and hat from the back seat.
After pulling everything on, she made sure she could reach her weapon. She wasn’t terribly concerned about needing it but wasn’t going in unprepared even though she was almost a hundred percent sure it was Wally in there.
But there’d been several drug-related deaths over the past three months and the suppliers were as slippery as eels, moving from one place to the next, never landing long enough for the police to find them and bust them. They always seemed to be one step ahead of law enforcement which was frustrating to everyone involved.
Jade carried the portable radio, ready to call an ambulance if Wally needed medical treatment—should it be Wally in the building. Last year, he’d suffered frostbite as a result of his refusal to go to a shelter on one of the cold nights. She lifted her chin, deciding the man didn’t have a choice tonight. She’d arrest him for...well...something...if she had to. For his own good. A heated holding cell was better than a dirt floor in a freezing cold building that had been declared a danger zone. If it was Wally. She really shouldn’t assume.
The beam of her high-powered flashlight guided her steps to the space where the front door had been. She stepped inside and swept the light over the area, then lifted the radio to call the dispatcher. “Darlene, this is Jade. Did the caller say in what part of the building he saw the lights? This place is huge.”
The radio popped, and Darlene came on. “In the main building where you usually can find Wally. The person called back and said that not only were there were lights, but possibly a small fire. Fire trucks are en route.”
“10-4. Thanks. But you can cancel the trucks. There’s no sign of a fire.” At least not in this part of the building. “Or lights.” Although she did wonder what the noise had been. Rats probably. “If I’m wrong, I’ll call you back.” The trucks could be on site within minutes if needed.
“10-4. Stay safe.”
A fire could be Wally’s attempt to stay warm, but she didn’t smell smoke. Jade cast the beam over the ceiling, noting it looked solid enough. Industrial pipes ran amok in no discernible pattern—at least the ones that were still attached—but the rows of spindles stood neatly as though waiting for someone to put them to work. Debris from the past littered the floor. Mostly broken equipment.
Jade stepped farther inside. Even with the gaping windows, the interior offered a bit of relief from the bite of the wind.
A click, then a scrape sounded somewhere from inside the vast cavern of space, and Jade shivered. This time, the chills had nothing to do with the weather. “Wally? You here?” Her voice echoed. “It’s me, Jade Hollis.”
A soft thud reached her, then silence.
The hairs on her neck spiked and her hand went to her weapon. She palmed it, taking comfort in the solid weight of it, and lifted the radio. “Darlene, send backup to the mill, will you.”
“10-4.” She made the request, then came back. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” For now. “Just being cautious. I’m hearing noises but can’t pinpoint where they’re coming from or what’s making them.” Jade backed toward the door, sweeping the light from side to side. When it landed on an old trunk against the far left wall, she walked toward it, noticing the freshly mounded dirt and large pile of bricks next to it. “Weird,” she muttered. She glanced over her shoulder, straining to hear, hoping that backup would soon arrive.
A scuffle against the dirt swung her attention to the left. “Who’s there?”
No answer.
“This is Detective Jade Hollis. Show yourself!”
Movement caught the corner of her eye, and Jade spun, only to be greeted with a glancing blow to the side of her head and a hard shove that sent her stumbling backward against the empty spindles. Pain shot through her as pounding footsteps faded.
With a groan, Jade rolled and fumbled for her radio.
* * *
Private investigator Bryce Kingsley hadn’t planned to be in the patrol car when the call came in. He’d planned to return to Cedar Canyon and open his own PI business—an idea his sister and therapist had wholeheartedly approved of.
But when his high school buddy and journalist, Frank Shipman, had asked him to put the PI business on hold for a short time in order to help him with a story he was looking into, Bryce hadn’t been able to say no.
“What’s going on?” he’d asked when Frank had presented him with the idea.
“There are crooked cops on the force protecting those manufacturing and dealing drugs. I need your help to figure out which cops.”
According to Frank’s sources, there’d been two attempted stings. The first place had been emptied out before they got there. The second time was an ambush. One DEA agent, Cooper Peterson, had been killed during the second sting.
“People know you in this town,” Frank had said. “They know you disappeared for a while, so when you come back, they’re going to be curious, but they won’t expect you to be undercover.”
Bryce got it.
“Cops don’t trust reporters. I’m not saying they don’t have good reasons for that, but truly, I’m not trying to hurt the honest cops. I want to take down the dirty one—or ones. Just pretend like you’re trying to decide if you want to be a cop, and no one’s going to protest you riding along with them.”
The truth was, he’d love to be a cop, but with part of his leg missing, that wasn’t going to happen.
“Frank—” He’d stopped. It could work. No one would know about his prosthesis unless he told them—or lost his balance doing something stupid. “That’s not why I’m coming home. I...have amends to make.” Jade’s pretty face had flashed to the forefront of his mind. And then his sister’s.
“All I’m asking is that you arrange for the ride-alongs and see if you notice anything suspicious. If not, fine, but something’s going on with the police and a local drug ring, and I need help figuring out what—and who—is involved.”
“Well, I—”
“Seriously, your job would be to keep your eyes and ears open. Make note of anything that looks suspicious. That’s it.”
Bryce had given up trying to argue. The truth was, his adrenaline had started to flow at the thought of the new challenge.
And so here he was. Fake leg and all. The lower half of his left leg just below the knee sported a high-tech prosthesis thanks to an IED he’d run into six months after he’d deployed. He’d finally accepted it as part of who he was now. Finally. Most days.
Bryce shook his head even as Officer Dylan Fitzgerald spun the wheel and turned in to the parking lot of the old mill. The headlights cast two strips of light onto the building, and he shivered. It was as spooky as he remembered from his teen years. Wipers battled the snow falling, and Bryce thought they were having a harder time of clearing the windshield than they had just ten minutes ago.
From his seat, he peered at the mill. The place should have been demolished years ago. However, the historical society members had screeched at the top of their lungs about wanting to have the building placed on the registry for historical landmarks. He had no idea whether they’d done that or not, and frankly, didn’t care. At the moment, his only concern was the fact that his former friend, Jade Hollis, had called for backup. Former friend? No, she’d been more. Much more. Only he’d discovered it too late to do anything about it. Two weeks before he’d deployed overseas, he’d gone to tell his sister goodbye at her college. Jade had been Kristy’s roommate and her grandmother had passed away that day. He’d found her crying, meant to comfort her and had wound up sharing one unintentional night they both regretted the next morning. But it was then he’d realized just how much Jade meant to him. Too late. “Is she all right?” he asked, reaching for the door handle and shoving aside the memories.
“I’m going to find out,” Dylan said. He pointed at Bryce. “You stay put.”
“We’ve been over this. I’ve got training. I can handle myself.” Bryce had signed a waiver absolving the department of any harm he might come to, so instead of arguing, Dylan rolled his eyes.
“Then bring that flashlight. We might need it,” the man said.
Bryce grabbed the light and followed Dylan to the door just as a noise from the end of the building caught his attention. A figure dove out of a broken window, rolled to his feet and sprinted into the wooded area behind the mill.
“You see that?” Bryce asked.
“I did.” He took off after the person. “Check on Jade! And watch your back!”
Bryce bolted toward the opening and stepped inside, keeping one hand on the weapon at his side. He flipped the light on and swept it around the interior. “Jade?”
“Back here.” Her voice reached him, sounding weak, shaky.
He hurried to her, keeping an eye on the surrounding area in case the person who’d run had company. Bryce rounded the end of the spindle row to see Jade on the floor, holding her head. Blood smeared a short path down her cheek. “You’re hurt!” For a moment, she simply stared up at him, complete shock written across her features. “Jade? Hello?” He waved a hand in front of her eyes.
She blinked. “Bryce?”
“Hi.” He glanced over his shoulder, then swung the beam of the flashlight over the rest of the interior. When he didn’t see anyone else, he focused back on Jade. The shock hadn’t faded.
“You’re here?”
“Yeah. This wasn’t exactly the way I wanted to let you know I was coming home, but—”
“What are you doing here?”
“Can we discuss that later? Let’s focus on you and the fact you’re bleeding from a head wound.”
“I... I’m all right. It was a glancing blow, but it made me see stars for a few seconds.”
“Did you get a look at who it was?”
“No. I thought you were in Afghanistan. Or dead. Or something.”
“Nope. None of the above.” He paused. “Well, the ‘or something’ might be accurate.” He could understand her shock. It had been six years since they’d seen each other—and that hadn’t gone exactly well. “Anyone else here?”
“I don’t think so.”
A car door slammed. Blue lights whirled through the broken windows and bounced off the concrete-and-brick walls. Bryce helped her to her feet. “Let’s get that head looked at.”
“Wait.” He could see her pulling herself together, the shock of his appearance fading. “I need to take a look at something.”
He frowned. “Okay.” She slipped away from him and went to the old trunk next to the wall. He stayed with her, and when she
went still, he let his gaze follow hers. “What is it?”
“The person who hit me was very interested in whatever was over here.”
Bryce nodded to the shovel and disturbed dirt in front of the trunk. “Looks like he was trying to dig something up.” Footsteps sounded behind them and Bryce whirled, pulling his weapon and aiming the flashlight.
“It’s just me,” Dylan said, raising his hands and turning his head from the full force of the light. When Bryce lowered the gun, Dylan swiped an arm across his forehead and blew out a breath that was visible in the beam.
Bryce slid the weapon into his shoulder holster. “You catch him?”
“Afraid not. He had too much of a head start.” Dylan stepped forward, brows together over the bridge of his nose. “You okay, Jade?”
“I’m fine.” Her low voice pulled Bryce’s attention back to her. With the shovel, she’d moved dirt from in front of the trunk. “What does this look like to you?”
“Looks like someone’s been digging.”
“Yes, but why? What could they possibly be looking for out here?”
“Who knows?” Bryce studied the pile of dirt and the bricks. “Actually, I don’t think they were looking for anything. I think they were in the middle of burying something.”
* * *
Bryce was here. Bryce. Bryce. The father of her child. The child he didn’t know about. Six years ago, Bryce had shown up at her college to tell his sister, Kristy, goodbye before leaving for army boot camp. Jade remembered that day like it was yesterday. Just before he was supposed to leave, she’d received word her grandmother had died. Bryce had offered comfort. Then kissed her. A kiss that had led to them going too far and making a mistake that had resulted in Mia. She’d never regret having Mia, but that one impulsive action had been completely out of character for both her—and Bryce. Since then, she’d kept men at arm’s length.
Jade kept her face as blank as possible, raised a brow and took another look at the scene in an attempt to gather her composure. “I think you’re right,” she said slowly, doing her best to ignore the pounding in her skull and the rush of memories she’d had tucked away for so long. “But what? It’s not big enough for a grave.” He grimaced, and she shrugged. “Just an observation.”
Holiday Homecoming Secrets Page 1