Holiday Homecoming Secrets

by Lynette Eason

  “Maybe it’s the start of a grave,” Dylan said, pulling on blue vinyl gloves. He passed a pair to Jade, and she slid off her warm thermal ones to don the others. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” Dylan shone his light into the hole in the ground and grunted. “Looks like there’s something in there.”

  A wave of light-headedness hit Jade, and she stumbled backward. Bryce grabbed her arm. “Whoa. Come on. We can deal with this later. Right now, you need medical attention.”

  Dylan eyed her with concern.

  She waved a hand. “It’ll pass. I want to know what was so important that someone was willing to attack me over it.”

  “You’re so stubborn,” Bryce said.

  “I learned from watching you and Frank.” The retort rolled off her tongue effortlessly. Some habits were hard to break.

  “I think you have that backward,” he muttered.

  This time it was Dylan who rolled his eyes. “You two sound just like you did back in high school—like an old married couple.”

  Bryce coughed.

  Heat invaded Jade’s cheeks at the taunt.

  “Not quite,” Jade snapped then drew in a deep breath. She wrinkled her nose and tried not to think about the fact that Bryce was back. Here. In Cedar Canyon. One of her best friends turned...what? Turned into the biggest mistake of her life?

  No. She couldn’t think that. She’d do it all over again for Mia. “You never called,” she said softly, her stomach knotted. “Six years and I never heard from you.”

  Bryce snagged her gaze. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry. Right.”

  So, her messages to him sent through Frank had meant nothing. He’d ignored her requests for him to get in touch with her, to call, write, send homing pigeons. Whatever he had to do, she needed to hear from him. And he’d blown her off. That hurt.

  He frowned. “I was undercover a lot. On missions that...” He shook his head. “Without going into detail, communication was spotty at best most of the time.”

  “Of course.” But he’d had no trouble staying in touch with Frank.

  Dylan snapped his fingers and she jumped. “Anyone remember we have a possible crime scene here?” He glared at Bryce. “One you shouldn’t be privy to.”

  “I have training. I was with the Criminal Investigative Division, CID, remember? And Captain Colson gave me permission. Good PR for the force and all that. So let’s focus, shall we?”

  Dylan’s scowl stayed firmly put. Jade ignored him, stepped up to the edge of the hole and looked down. “It’s clothing. Only reason to bury clothing is to hide something. Let’s find out what.” She looked at Dylan. “You got a bag?”

  “In the cruiser,” Dylan said. “Hold tight and I’ll get it. While I’m out there, I’ll put the paramedics on alert that you need attention.”

  She started to argue, but the pounding in her skull had increased to the point that she wouldn’t mind some ibuprofen. “Fine.”

  Bryce’s head snapped up. “It’s hurting that bad?”

  “Bad enough. The sooner we get this taken care of, the sooner I can find an ice pack.”

  He nodded, all traces of annoyance gone. In its place, worry peered at her. She swallowed and looked away. So many memories were attached to those eyes. That face...

  Bryce aimed the beam of the flashlight to the hole in the ground and sucked in a breath.

  “What is it?” Jade asked. Dylan returned with the bag, and she took it from him. He also handed her a water bottle and four little orange pills. “Thanks.” She downed them and turned her attention back to Bryce, who was on his knees, his face pale. “Bryce?”

  “That looks like Frank’s jersey.”

  Jade dropped beside him and squinted. She reached in, snagged the shirt and pulled it from the dirt. The Panthers jersey was achingly familiar. “Well, he has one like this, but so do a lot of other people. Doesn’t mean it’s his.” Number nine. Frank’s favorite kicker.

  “Look at the left sleeve,” Bryce said, his voice low and tight. “Frank’s was autographed.”

  She inspected the sleeve and bit her lip. “Yeah, it’s autographed.”

  “Then it’s his.”

  She turned it over and sucked in hard. “No. Oh no.”

  “What?”

  She swallowed. “Holes.”

  “What kind of holes?” Bryce narrowed his eyes and drew back.

  “Bullet holes, I think,” she croaked. “Two of them. In the chest. And...” Her tight throat wouldn’t allow any more words to pass.

  “And?” Dylan and Bryce nearly shouted the words as one voice.

  “And,” she said, “the front is soaked in blood. It’s dry, but it’s blood.”

  TWO

  Bryce turned the flashlight on the shirt. Outside, doors slammed and footsteps headed their way. Two holes, just as she’d said, with brown blood staining the front. Frank’s shirt. “I saw him yesterday,” Bryce said. “And I talked to him on the phone this morning.” The conversation that led him to where he was now.

  “Maybe he loaned the shirt to someone,” she said.

  “Maybe.”

  “Or maybe he donated it to the church fundraiser.” Bryce arched a brow at her and she rubbed her forehead. “Yeah, probably not.”

  He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Frank’s number, muscles tense, waiting, praying for his friend to pick up.

  Voice mail.

  “Hey buddy, give me a call when you get this. We need to talk.” He hung up.

  Jade was rubbing her head and staring at the jersey. “I’ll call Heather.”

  “Yeah,” Bryce said. “He may have gone over to her place and fallen asleep on the couch or something.” He didn’t think so, though.

  Jade’s frown said she wasn’t buying that explanation, either. She dialed Frank’s girlfriend’s number, listened, then hung up. “Voice mail. She’s probably asleep with her phone turned off. We have an early shift in the morning,” she said of her fellow officer. “So, we’ve got a bloodstained shirt with two bullet holes.” Dylan nodded and Jade shrugged. “Where’s the body?” she asked. She’d voiced the question he’d been wondering since she’d pulled the shirt out of the dirt. “We need to search this place from top to bottom,” Jade said.

  “Officers are outside,” Dylan said. “I’ll get them on it right away.”

  Dylan left and within minutes returned with a handful of officers who started searching.

  Bryce led Jade out to the ambulance and motioned for the two paramedics to take her. Once she was settled in the back, he tried Frank’s number once more.

  Again, he got voice mail. “I’m going to his house,” he said, hanging up.

  “I’d like to go, too,” Jade said, “if you don’t mind. If he’s not there, we need to go find Heather and fill her in on everything.” She flinched when the paramedic who’d introduced himself as Geoff Jones touched the side of her head.

  “What’d he hit you with?” Geoff asked.

  “Nothing,” she said. “He pushed me into one of the spindles.”

  Geoff lifted a brow. “Those things have to be rusty. Have you had a tetanus shot recently?”

  “Yes. It’s updated.”

  “Good. Then just keep it clean and it should heal nicely. Let me check your eyes one more time.” He shone the light in each, and she blinked when he was finished. “No concussion.”

  “I appreciate you checking me out, but I’m fine. Shook up and mad that I let the guy get away, but physically, I’m relatively unhurt.”

  “Then let’s go find Frank.” Bryce held a hand out. She blinked, her hesitation lasting only a fraction of a second before she settled her palm against his. He jerked. “Your hands are freezing!”

  “I think my adrenaline is crashing,” she said. She glanced at the Geoff. “I’m fine to drive, ri
ght?”

  He shrugged. “Sure. I don’t see why not. As long as you feel like it.”

  “Great.”

  “Come on,” Bryce said, still holding her hands, “let’s get you into your squad car so you can warm up.” He moved back, and his leg ached with that now familiar throb that indicated he’d overdone it today. Squashing the anger that was never very far from the surface, he focused on Jade and helped her get settled in the driver’s seat. “You’re sure you’re okay to drive?”

  “Why? Are you scared to ride with me?”

  He huffed. “No.” Bryce rounded the front of the car and slid into the passenger seat. His leg thanked him.

  Dylan stepped up beside Jade’s window, and she lowered it, scattering the soft flakes already sticking to everything. “I imagine the chief is going to tell you to sit tomorrow out,” he told her.

  “Probably. And if I need to, I will. Right now, I’m...” She sighed. “I refuse to say ‘fine’ one more time.”

  Dylan shot her a tight smile. “All right. I’m going to stay here until these guys are done, then write up my report.” He glanced at the sky. “If I don’t get snowed in.”

  “I’ll do the same at some point.”

  “Let me know if you find Frank.”

  “Will do.”

  She rolled up her window, and Bryce shook his head. “You’re one tough lady, aren’t you?”

  Jade jerked to look at him. “Me? Tough?” A laugh escaped her. “I don’t know about tough. I just do what I need to do.”

  “Definitely tough. You always were.”

  * * *

  Jade wanted to ask what he meant by that, but her heart was thumping so loudly, she wouldn’t be surprised if Bryce could hear it.

  Did he know?

  No. There was no way he possibly could. She’d planned to tell him, of course, but time had passed, and her secret had become hers and hers alone—albeit an unintentional secret. Her parents didn’t even know everything. “What are you doing back here in Cedar Canyon?” She put the vehicle into Drive and pulled away from the scene. It would take her a short five minutes to get to Frank’s place. She doubted Bryce could tell her everything in that amount of time.

  But he could start.

  “It’s been six years since you disappeared,” she said. “Six years, Bryce, and no word. Nothing.” A surge of anger swept through her and she did her best to choke it back—only because she wanted to hear what he had to say for himself.

  He flicked a glance in her direction. “I know how long it’s been.”

  “And it didn’t occur to you that people would want to hear from you? That people might have things they’d like to...ah...share with you?”

  He shook his head and sighed. “It did, but I—”

  “You even ignored Kristy. Your own sister. She was devastated. Do you know she confessed to me that she even thought you were dead at one point until Frank told her he’d spoken to you on a regular basis?”

  “It’s not like I chose that path!” The words snapped from him quick as a whip.

  She flinched. “Oh really? So, who chose it for you?”

  “Whoever planted that IED in the middle of the road and blew up my Humvee. That’s who.” He slapped a hand against the dash and drew in a deep breath.

  “Oh.” She fell silent, waiting for him to continue, afraid he would and equally afraid he wouldn’t.

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I am, too.”

  A pause.

  “Still could have called or something,” she said.

  He gave a short snort of a laugh. “I could have. Should have, yes. And yes, I regret that I didn’t, but I was dealing with stuff. Unfortunately, I can’t change the past.”

  “No one can,” she said softly. Boy, was that the truth. Ask him. Ask him why he didn’t call after Frank told him to.

  He pulled to a stop at the curb. “We’re here.”

  “And so is Frank’s car.” The ranch-style one-story brick house sat on a one-acre plot. Thanks to the barely-there sliver of a moon, the darkness pressed in on them, making it hard to see anything but what the porch light illuminated. Brightly colored lights outlined the perimeter of the roof, and Frank had attached a gold star to the top of the chimney. Christmas was just around the corner, and Frank was fastidious about his decorations. Jade didn’t have to see anything else to know the yard was immaculate. He used gardening and yard work as his stress reliever. Saves me a ton of money on therapy bills, he’d once told her.

  “He’s getting the place ready for him and Heather,” she said. “Spends all of his spare time working on it. Heather helps on her days off.”

  “The wedding’s coming up soon.”

  “Two weeks away.”

  He nodded and tapped the wheel. “I always thought I’d be in his wedding.” He sighed. “Life sure does throw you some curveballs sometimes, doesn’t it?” Before Jade could answer, he said, “Was he acting okay with you?”

  “I guess. I see more of Heather these days than I do him. Why?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. I can’t really explain it. I’ve been talking to him over the last few weeks, and he seemed like he had something on his mind. Like something was bothering him.”

  “The latest story he was going after?”

  “Could be. I mean, yeah, he was focused on that, but I was just under the impression there was something else.” He opened the car door and stepped out. “Let’s ask him.”

  Jade followed him up the porch steps and waited while Bryce rang the bell. “Where are you staying?” she asked him. “At your parents’ place?”

  “That mausoleum? No thanks. I’m staying with Kristy and John.” His parents were wealthy and retired, which meant they were rarely at home.

  “Sounds like things haven’t changed much between you and your parents.”

  “Nope.”

  And he wasn’t going to elaborate. No surprise there. He’d never liked talking about them even as a teen. “Are the boys loving having you there?” Kristy and her husband, John, had two boys that Bryce had never met before his return.

  “Of course. I’m really enjoying getting to know them.” He swallowed hard. “I hate that I’ve missed so much. I’ll regret that forever.”

  At the husky wistfulness in his voice, Jade shut her eyes for a brief moment. “You could have come home sooner,” she said softly.

  “I know that now, but back then, I...” He cleared his throat. “Coming home wasn’t an option. I’ll just have to make up for lost time with them.”

  “They’re four and eighteen months old. They won’t even know their uncle wasn’t there.”

  “But I know.”

  She shot a sideways glance at him. “I thought you didn’t like kids.”

  He blinked. “What? Of course I like kids. Why would you say that?”

  She stared at him. “Because you always said you didn’t want any.”

  He sighed. “Just because I don’t want any doesn’t mean I don’t like kids. I used to think I’d be a terrible dad, so why bring a kid into the world just to mess it up?”

  “Like your dad?”

  “Exactly. I mean, I get that he was super busy trying to provide a living, but as a young boy, I just wanted my dad around. And then when he was around, all he could do was criticize. Once he amassed his fortune, he was more interested in traveling than building a relationship with his kids. I grew up never knowing what having a dad was like. How can I be a father—a good father—without having that?” A shrug. “At least, that’s how I used to think about it. Now? I don’t know. Being around my nephews has been interesting, to say the least. And eye-opening. Kristy sure doesn’t have any trouble being a good mom.” He shook his head. “It’s made me realize I may have been wrong about some things. A l
ot of things. Still not sure I’d make a great dad and don’t have any intention of finding out anytime soon, but...”

  It was obvious he felt strongly about missing out on his nephews’ lives and his views on having children had shifted a bit, but he wasn’t interested in being a father. So what would happen when she told him he had a five-year-old daughter?

  * * *

  Bryce rang the bell again and hunched into his heavy coat. He needed to keep his mouth shut. Since when did he just blurt out personal stuff?

  But this was Jade. Beautiful, loving, unforgettable Jade. Someone he’d thought about daily since he’d left her on the porch steps of her dormitory her senior year six years ago, but he knew he didn’t deserve her—because she’d deserved better than him even back then. And he’d had his own dreams to follow.

  So he’d left. But he’d gone with the plan to make it up to her, to stay in touch and see if they could make a long-distance relationship work—if she was even interested. Not long after that, the explosion had ripped apart more than pieces of his body. For a while, it seemed like it had shredded his soul, too.

  “Bryce?”

  He blinked and shook off the thoughts. “He’s not answering.”

  “I know. That’s what I said three times.” She frowned. “Are you okay?”

  “No, not really.” He walked to the nearest window, wiped the snow off, and tried to peer through the blinds. Impossible.

  “I’m going in,” Jade said.

  “How?”

  “With the key he keeps under the fake turtle.” She moved the piece of decoration from the mulch and snagged the key.

  “He never told me about that, either,” Bryce murmured.

  “You weren’t here, Bryce. Why would he tell you that?”

  He flinched.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice more gentle. “I’m not trying to rub it in that you weren’t here. It’s just that...”