Secret is in the Bones (Paynes Creek Thriller Book 3)

by Heather Sunseri

  What the hell did he mean by that? I wondered.

  The man beside me nearly murdered my best friend, did murder my best friend’s husband, and then murdered another complete stranger to him because… what? He didn’t like the way that woman spoke to me.

  That was it, I thought. Luke was right. He tried to kill Penelope because he couldn’t find me and knew I would return to Paynes Creek if my best friend was dead. And when a woman mistreated me in public—at the grocery store and then again at the funeral home—he murdered her, too.

  Keeping an eye on every move John Paul made, I said, “I guess you did work hard, but you really screwed up at Penelope’s house, didn’t you?”

  He spun around, and I drew backward. His grin revealed a chipped front tooth. “It didn’t matter to me which one died, as long as I got you to come back here.” He tilted his head side-to-side. “And as long as I got to kill one of them.” His smile grew.

  But he was sloppy, I thought, when he left DNA in the bushes. That part didn’t make sense.

  “Why?” I asked. “Why am I so important?”

  “That’s a great question. Why are you so important?” The way he turned the question on me had me thinking that even he didn’t understand my importance. Then he added, “I’ve wondered the same thing as I tracked you all over the country.” He angled his head, studied my face. “What does he see in you?”

  He turned and led me past a couple of horse stalls that had been built for ponies when my father was still alive. Dad never actually purchased horses. Never had the chance.

  Once we were past the stalls, we entered a large open area of the barn where the mowing tractor was parked—a tractor that hadn’t been used in months. There was still a sectioned off room to the right where my dad had hoped to have a wood-working area. Instead, Ethan’s father, Eli, had stored small hand tools there and other supplies. Mom always said Eli liked to tinker with stuff in there.

  Eli also stored gas cans for the smaller mowers and tools. My hand went instinctively to the scars on my neck. That had been where Uncle Nash found the gas he used to burn down my family home with my murdered mother inside. He had then placed the empty gas cans inside Ethan’s car to frame him, an unforgivable act that earned him a lengthy prison sentence.

  The opening to the tool room was dark. I could see nothing inside. But I heard movement. As I did, my hands shook at my sides.

  “Try to tell me what you’re seeing,” Luke said softly in my ear.

  “Is someone in the tool room?” I asked John Paul. “Why this barn?”

  Before John Paul could answer, I heard the quiet sounds of a baby. I spun around and spotted Oliver loosely wrapped in a blanket, lying in a bed of straw.

  I gasped, then cried out, “Oliver.” I tried to run for him, but John Paul wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back. “Not so fast.” He spun me around to face him.

  I was breathing hard and trembling as I stared into his cold, heartless eyes. His breath had me wincing in disgust. “Please let me go to him. I’ll do whatever you ask. Just let me see that he’s all right.”

  “Nothing’s wrong with him,” he said before calling out in a louder voice. “Is there anything wrong with Oliver, Ethan?”

  I froze at the mention of Ethan’s name, then turned frantically looking for him. My hands balled into fists. I would strangle Ethan with my bare hands if he was responsible for hurting Oliver in any way. “Where are you?” I called out.

  “I’ll take you to him.” John Paul grabbed my elbow again and pulled me toward the dark tool room.

  I resisted. “No, I don’t want to go in there.” The sound of my voice sounded foreign to even me, like I’d traveled backward in time to when I was seventeen. I didn’t want to know what was in the darkness.

  “Faith, take slow, deep breaths,” Luke dared to whisper in my ear, hearing the panic in my voice. He’d always had a calming tone with me. “We’re almost there. Just hang on.”

  “Let me check on Oliver, John Paul. He’s just a baby.” I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go.

  I had to fight.

  I jerked hard at my arm and managed to break free. I turned and started to run for Oliver.

  But John Paul shoved me from behind. I barely got my hands out in front of me to break the fall. The headphone in my ear fell out onto the ground, tumbling onto the dirt- and straw-covered floor.

  I quickly covered it with the dirt, praying to God John Paul hadn’t seen it.

  “Get up!” John Paul ordered.

  I stood slowly, brushing my hands off on my jeans. The more I stalled, the more likely help would get here before harm would come to Oliver.

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  The clicking sound of John Paul cocking a gun had me turning slowly to face him. I held my hands to the side.

  “Now I’ve got your attention.” He smiled, then motioned with the gun in the direction of the tool room. “Now, go.”

  I looked toward the room. Even though I’d lost the sound of Luke in my ear, I could hear his voice inside my head, telling me to take slow, deep breaths. To concentrate on his voice.

  I placed one foot in front of the other, taking small steps toward the tool room. I tried to rationalize inside my head that nothing could hurt me inside, and if I took my time getting there, Luke would arrive.

  John Paul rushed me. Grabbing me by the arm, he dragged me toward the room and shoved me inside.

  Once there, I froze. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.

  When the overhead light lit up the space, I nearly stopped breathing at the sight of Ethan lying on the old, dirty cot. His ankles were tied, and his hands were secured behind his back. A bandana was tied around his head, gagging him and preventing him from speaking.

  “See?” John Paul said. “I told you I would bring her.”

  I didn’t move. I just studied Ethan. His eyes were wide with fear as he stared at me.

  “What’s going on here?” I asked, confused.

  John Paul walked over to the cot and sat beside Ethan. He lowered the gag from Ethan’s mouth. “See, my love? I told you I’d bring her here. I knew she’d come for Oliver. Now we can be one happy family for eternity.”

  Ethan looked up at John Paul. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you sooner. Now, baby, untie me. I want what you want.”

  I narrowed my eyes. What he was saying didn’t make sense. Baby? Happy family?

  My heart picked up speed. My chest ached with mounting pressure of anxiety.

  “You do?” John Paul asked him.

  “Of course, I do.” The way Ethan smiled… The calm, smooth tone of his voice… It took me back to when we were seventeen, when he tried to reassure me the night he changed everything between us—the night he changed and became something else. It was as if he were two different people.

  Or was he? Was this an act, or was this the real Ethan Gentry?

  “You only have to do one thing,” John Paul said. He sat beside Ethan on the cot, and, taking a knife from an ankle sheath, he cut the ties around Ethan’s ankles and wrists.

  Ethan sat up. He touched a hand to John Paul’s cheek. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

  John Paul nodded. “You have to convince me that you want what I want. Mark her the way I marked you.”

  “We don’t have time, J.P.,” Ethan said. “But if we leave now, we can get to our special place. You and I don’t need her.”

  I let my eyes roam from Ethan’s to John Paul’s and back to Ethan’s. What in the hell were they talking about?

  Ethan’s gaze met mine and held it with an urgency I’d not seen from him since he told my mother a lie to get us out of trouble as a kid. It was a look that said, “Just go along with what I say. Everything will be fine.” At the same time, there was fear there, deep inside those warm, blue eyes that contradicted the words he was speaking.

  But if Luke was right, Ethan had been stalking me all over the country. Still, I wondered: was this a
ll an act? A trap for getting me to submit to whatever sick, twisted game these two were playing?

  Keeping my gaze, Ethan stood slowly and skulked toward me. “Let’s go before someone comes looking for her here. And someone’s bound to be missing Oliver by now. If we leave them both unharmed, police won’t be as eager to hunt us down. And we can get a head start.”

  “Do you think I’m an idiot?” John Paul’s face hardened. “You already tricked me once. Mark her now. Show me you’re serious about making this work, and then we’ll be on our way.”

  “How did I trick you?” Ethan asked.

  John Paul stood in front of Ethan. “You think I don’t know the deal you made with Byron? He was releasing you.”

  Ethan’s face paled. “But I was going to find you. I planned to go away with you.”

  “You’re a liar!” John Paul yelled. “And you’re wasting time. You will make it up to me, but right now, cut her, or I’ll put a bullet in her heart.” He thrust the knife at Ethan, then backed up with the gun aimed at my chest.

  For a split second, Ethan froze. He looked to stop breathing, but he quickly recovered. “If that’s the way you want it.” He held the knife to his side. “But you know, we don’t need her. We only need each other. Let’s just go. If the cops catch us here, you’ll end up back in prison. I don’t want that.”

  John Paul swung his arm around and pointed the gun at Ethan. “And you’ll be with me. You’re wasting time. Once it’s done, we’ll leave.” He waved the gun in my direction, causing me to flinch. “Your sister here is quite skilled at hiding. With her, they’ll never find us.” He approached me slowly and ran the barrel of the gun along my cheek. “The way you took your life on the road this past year, and the way you lived your life free from others, part of me saw why Ethan fell in love with you. But when you left Colorado, and I couldn’t find you?” The smile that lifted John Paul’s lips made me shudder. “That’s when I knew I had to have you.”

  “Earlier, you said you didn’t understand what made me special. Which is it, John Paul?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “You have a smartass mouth on you. We’ll have to work on that.”

  This was a game to John Paul. “Was Ethan with you in Colorado?” I asked, curious about the relationship between them.

  “No.” He glanced at Ethan, then back at me. “You’re my gift to Ethan. Ethan didn’t think he had a chance with you. But I knew I could teach him that we have to take what should belong to us. That’s how mine and Ethan’s relationship started.”

  Ethan pleaded with me behind John Paul. Was he trying to tell me that this was all a lie? I could almost believe that. While Ethan did something unforgivable to me when we were younger, he’d never acted crazy or sociopathic like this.

  And ever since learning the truth—that Ethan had nothing to do with our parents’ deaths—I no longer considered Ethan a cold-blooded killer.

  But John Paul? He was all that and more.

  “J.P., look at me,” Ethan said.

  John Paul turned slowly to face Ethan, keeping the gun pointed on me.

  When I heard Oliver fuss, I backed away slowly toward the opening that led back into the main part of the barn. I mentally calculated the time I needed to sprint to Oliver, grab him, and get out of the barn.

  It was hopeless.

  As Oliver cried louder, a panic began to form in my chest.

  I decided I had to try to make it to Oliver. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. If I could just ease my way over to him.

  As Ethan spoke to John Paul, I saw my chance to back slowly out of the tool room and walk toward Oliver.

  But John Paul’s voice stopped me in my tracks. “It would be very inconvenient and unfortunate if I had to shoot you, but I most certainly will.”

  I turned. John Paul had followed me out of the tool room, and Ethan stood behind him, holding the knife to his side. My eyes slid to Ethan’s. He gave his head a quick shake.

  “Do it now!” John Paul yelled, shifting his aim to Ethan. “Claim Faith as yours once and for all.” He laughed. “Alice fought this part of it at first, but she submitted like you all do.” He slid a knowing grin toward Ethan.

  Alice? Luke had told me about a woman named Alice who’d been branded with the skull and crossbones symbol from the prison gang he was investigating.

  Was that what he wanted Ethan to do to me?

  “I will do this,” Ethan said finally. “But then you’re going to leave that baby alone, and we’re going to leave this place.”

  Ethan stepped past John Paul toward me. I took another step backward. “Don’t do this, Ethan.” Tears welled into my eyes. I couldn’t outrun him, but there was no way I would willingly subject myself to what these two crazy men had in mind.

  When Oliver’s cry intensified, I turned toward him.

  “Grab her,” John Paul ordered. “I’m losing patience.”

  Ethan caught up to me and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

  I screamed. Oliver wailed.

  Ethan just held me there. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered in my ear. “I know you don’t trust me, but I promise everything’s going to be okay.”

  I shook in his arms. “Why are you doing this?” I sobbed as my legs gave out and my body slumped in his arms.

  “Now, get to it,” John Paul ordered.

  Oliver cried louder. He was in a full-blown fit now.

  “And if you want that brat to live, you better hurry. I can’t take much more of that god-awful racket.”

  I struggled again in Ethan’s arms, but he tightened the hold. “Don’t fight me, Faith,” he said in the reassuring tone he always used when we were young. When I ran into trouble in high school, his soothing words were all I needed to get over a bad day.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were stalling.” John Paul marched over, shoved Ethan out of the way and pointed a gun to the back of my head. “On your stomach.”

  I went down slowly to my knees, then lowered myself to my stomach. With one hand, John Paul pulled my coat off, then lifted my shirt up to reveal my bare back.

  “You knew I’d come for you eventually, Ethan, and I knew you wouldn’t leave without Faith. This way, we both get what we’ve always wanted. Now, take her.”

  Ethan knelt beside me. Tears slid out of my eyes into the dirt. I turned my head toward Ethan. “What is he talking about?”

  John Paul laughed. “She doesn’t know, does she?”

  “Know what?” I asked.

  “Ethan was my reward for good deeds in prison. And I protected him.”

  “Don’t,” Ethan said, warning in his tone.

  “Don’t what?” John Paul asked. “Surely Faith knows about your time in prison, all the things you endured because of her. If it hadn’t been for me, you would have died there. And it would have been because of her. Now, while I think she deserves the ultimate punishment, I know you’ve got some deep need for her. Which is why I’ve served her up on a silver fucking platter.”

  Ethan jumped to his feet and faced John Paul. I turned my head just enough to see Ethan’s fingers curl into fists. His face reddened. “If it weren’t for you?” Ethan yelled. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t sleep with a gun under my mattress. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have traveled the country this past year searching for you so that I could stop you from hurting people, including Faith. If it weren’t for you—”

  Ethan was losing control, and Oliver’s cries continued to pierce the air.

  John Paul was still pointing the gun at Ethan, and Ethan no longer seemed to care.

  Dammit, where was Luke?

  Just as I had the thought, I heard a distant sound that I couldn’t quite place. Reinforcements were here. My entire body tightened in fear that they would make one wrong move and Oliver would end up hurt.

  “I’ve had about enough of your ungratefulness,” John Paul said to Ethan. They seemed to be having their own private conversation at this point.
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br />   I stood again, facing the two of them. Ethan was in John Paul’s face and had managed to turn him in such a way that John Paul’s back was to me. Ethan didn’t even glance in my direction or give me away.

  I backed slowly toward Oliver, who cried louder and louder.

  My focus was more about making sure Oliver was safe than stopping whatever was happening between Ethan and John Paul.

  John Paul was back to waving the gun around with his finger remaining on the trigger while yelling at Ethan.

  “If you’ve lost interest in Faith,” John Paul continued. “I’d be more than happy to get rid of—” He growled loudly at the sound of Oliver’s piercing cry interrupting him. “I cannot take any more of that godforsaken baby.” He spun around and swung his arm to point the gun at Oliver, who was still loosely swaddled in a blue and beige, hand-knitted blanket in the middle of a bed of straw.

  In slow motion, I looked from John Paul to his finger on the trigger of a 9mm handgun, then turned and sprinted toward Oliver, shielding him from John Paul’s aim.

  “I’ll just kill them both,” John Paul said behind me.

  I heard the sound of Ethan’s voice behind me. “No!” I turned my head to see that he was darting after me.

  Just as I neared Oliver, the sound of gunfire rang out. A strong, propelling force knocked against me, and my body lurched forward, landing next to Oliver.

  I stretched my hand until I could just feel Oliver’s palm. His little fingers wrapped around my pointer finger to form a fist, but his cries did not cease.

  While it seemed like eternity, only seconds after the first gunshot, a medley of additional voices I didn’t recognize rang out. Additional gunfire rang out, filling the barn with the acrid smell of gunpowder. With each bang, I winced.

  Pain continued to spread as an overwhelming weight continued to pin my body in place.

  I twisted my neck around to see that Ethan was sprawled on top of me, and he wasn’t moving.

  Behind him, people dressed head to toe in black surrounded the area where I’d just been standing. Some were carrying long-range rifles. Others held 9mm handguns.

  And John Paul lay still on the barn floor. I watched as someone checked John Paul’s pulse, then shook his head at a fellow officer.