Seaside Heartbeats_A Sweet Romance

by Stacy Claflin

  "What?" Lana asked, her voice high.

  Tiffany looked at her. "Brayden was just arrested."

  Twenty Eight

  Lana stared at Tiffany, unable to speak. Her breakfast threatened to come up. Tiffany continued to speak into the phone, but Lana couldn't understand a word of it. Her mind rushed as her stomach heaved.

  "There you are," Cora appeared in front of Lana. "Why did you disappear like—what's wrong?"

  Lana just shook her head, still not able to talk.

  Tiffany put her phone back into her purse. "One of the Hunter cousins is an attorney. Cruz is on the phone with him now."

  "How…?" Lana asked. "What did…? I don't understand."

  "What's going on?" Cora asked.

  "Brayden was escorted from the hospital in cuffs," Tiffany said.

  "From the hospital?" Lana exclaimed. "He must be so humiliated."

  "What did he do?" Cora asked.

  "Nothing," Lana snapped.

  "They're claiming he stole private property, and that the evidence is at his parents' house."

  "From the hardware store?" Lana exclaimed. "But he's buying that building."

  "They've got him for breaking and entering, also."

  Lana rested her face into her palms. "This can't be happening."

  "So, he did it?" Cora asked.

  Lana looked up. "He didn't break in. It was unlocked."

  "That's still illegal, hon," Cora said. "If he doesn't own it yet."

  "He just wanted a feel for the building. It's already on record that he wants to buy it. He put in an offer."

  "But he doesn't own it yet. He should've gone in with a real estate agent."

  "It's not about the old hardware store," Lana snapped, tears blurring her vision. "It's about something else altogether."

  "What?"

  "You mean what you just told me?" Tiffany asked.

  Lana nodded.

  "Mind filling me in?" Cora asked.

  "Not here," Lana said, looking around.

  "Where?" Cora asked.

  "Somewhere private. Our house? Yours?" Lana looked at Tiffany.

  "We're staying with Robert and Dawn because of the new addition. Construction workers are everywhere. But maybe we better go there to fill them in."

  "Shouldn't we get to Brayden?" Lana asked. "I need to see him."

  Cora took her hand. "Let the lawyer take care of him." She turned to Tiffany. "You said he's Brayden's cousin?"

  "Yeah."

  "He'll take care of Brayden. No need for you to go down to the jail."

  Lana narrowed her eyes. "What would you do if it was Marcus? Or Jake?" She turned to Tiffany.

  "Go," they both said.

  "See why I can't stay around here?" Lana asked. "I need to speak to him and the attorney."

  "I'll drive," Tiffany said.

  Everything happened in a blur as they made their way to the police station. She did her best to explain everything they had found, but wasn't sure she explained it very well to them.

  Lana tried to make sense of everything—and it all made too much sense. Williams had to be living off the gold Kittle had found. That was the only explanation for him taking it this far. Did he know about the box they'd just found?

  Lana looked up in horror. She didn't know where Brayden had put the box of letters. If they were in his condo, then Williams could be going through it right then. They hadn't gotten any pictures—why? Even if Brayden had thought to, his phone was probably in evidence, allowing Williams to delete everything.

  "Cora, we need to switch phones."

  "Why?"

  "What if they try to detain me, too? Then all the evidence of the maps and everything is gone. The letters could be anywhere. Williams is going to do everything in his power to get those. Why else would he care about Brayden going into the hardware store?"

  "Just forward the pictures to Tiffany and me. If you have my phone, they'll figure it out fast enough and I'll have to hand it over anyway."

  Lana pulled out her phone and sent everything she could find to Cora and Tiffany.

  "Why didn't you tell anyone about any of this?" Cora asked, looking at the new pictures on her phone.

  "We did. Cruz went with us to the caves."

  "So, he has some of this info, too?" Tiffany asked.

  "Yeah." Lana brought her hands to her head. She had a headache that grew worse with each passing minute.

  Tiffany and Cora continued to discuss the situation, but Lana couldn't focus. Hot, angry tears slipped down her face. How dare that officer take advantage of his position to have Brayden arrested? It wasn't within the town it had happened. Wasn't there some law about that? But to have him arrested at his work and escorted out by the police? That was a low blow.

  "I think this is it," Tiffany said, pulling into a parking lot.

  Lana looked at the nondescript building in front of her. Typical for a government building. "Probably."

  They went inside and Lana went to the front desk, demanding to see Brayden.

  The clerk typed onto a keyboard, looking at a computer monitor. She looked up at Lana. "He's with his attorney now. He can't be interrupted."

  "He's my fiancé!" Lana exploded.

  "You're more than welcome to talk to the attorney when the inmate is done, but you'll have to wait to speak to him yourself."

  Lana slapped the top of the desk with her hand and leaned across, getting into the woman's space. "Are you kidding me?"

  "I'm going to have to ask you to have a seat, unless you'd like to be escorted out."

  Lana narrowed her eyes and mentally fired ice-daggers across the desk. She bit back a rude comment and went to the waiting room and sat as far away from everyone else as she could get. "How dare they?" Lana demanded when Tiffany and Cora joined her.

  "Brayden's cousin will sort this all out," Cora said.

  "Can he get the arrest taken off his record? He doesn't deserve it."

  "One thing at a time," Tiffany said. "We need to wait for him to be released."

  After a little while, Cruz, Robert, and Dawn came into the waiting room.

  "Are you okay?" Cruz asked.

  Lana shook her head.

  "He's talking to your cousin now," Tiffany said.

  "Cruz filled us in," Robert said. "This whole thing is ridiculous. I'm sure Logan will be able to get him out. They don't have enough to keep him."

  Lana looked at Cruz. "What about the box? Did he even tell you about it?"

  Cruz looked around. "It's safe. You don't need to worry about it."

  Not worry? Lana had nothing else to do until Brayden got out—or at least until she had a chance to speak with the lawyer herself. Lana tried to tune out the conversation around her. It was all too much.

  About an hour later, a tall, handsome man somewhat resembling Brayden and his brothers came into the waiting room. Dawn and Robert gave him a big hug, and then he embraced Cruz.

  "Thank you for coming down, Logan" Cruz said.

  "Family first," he said, and then turned to Lana, Tiffany, and Cora. "I'm Logan Hunter. I assume you're here with these guys?" He indicated toward Cruz and his parents.

  Lana stood, taking Logan's hand. "I'm Lana, Brayden's fiancée."

  Logan grasped her hand within both of his. "So nice to meet you. I wish it were under better circumstances."

  "What's going on with Brayden? Are they releasing him?" Lana asked, not caring about formalities.

  "Let me bring you back there so we can all speak in private."

  They all followed Logan to a plain room with a long table. Everyone sat, Logan at the head.

  "When does Brayden get out?" asked Lana.

  "I'm working on it. But since you're all here, I want to hear from you."

  Lana looked around the room. "We're not being watched? Or recorded?"

  Logan shook his head. "Attorney-client confidentiality won't allow it."

  Part of Lana wished it would so they'd know Brayden was innocent.


  "Why don't you start?" Logan asked, looking at Lana.

  She took a deep breath and told him everything she could think of that would help the case.

  Logan scribbled notes on a pad of paper. "Matches what Brayden said. Anything else you can think of?"

  "Nope." Lana slunk into the chair, exhausted. "When can I see him?"

  "As soon as I can make that happen. The police are done questioning him for now. They can't talk to him without me being there."

  Lana shook her head. It was all so unfair. Brayden shouldn't have to deal with any of this. Why had she even brought up the idea of solving Kittle Fall's oldest mystery? If she would have just left it alone, none of them would be there in the police station.

  Cruz told Logan everything he knew while Lana tried to think of anything she might have forgotten.

  Logan dropped his pen on the paper, getting everyone's attention. "I'm going to need to see everything you guys have. The maps, the letters. Everything."

  "We don't have the map," Cruz said. "Just pictures."

  "Anything you have, send it over." He told Lana his number, and she forwarded everything she had while Cruz did the same.

  Logan scrolled through his phone. "This is good." He turned to Lana. "Now, you need to tell me exactly where you found the map and letter in the museum." He turned to Cruz. "Then I'm going to need to see the box of threatening letters after that."

  "More than happy to hand those over, yo."

  Logan instructed everyone to stay quiet about everything, not giving any details to anyone other than him.

  "I want to see Brayden." Lana stared at him.

  He tucked his notebook and phone into a briefcase and locked it. "That's next on my list. I may only be able to get one person to see him for now." He turned to Robert and Dawn. "Is it okay with you if Lana's the one to see him if that's the case?"

  Dawn leaned against Robert, who wrapped his arm around her. "Yes," she whispered.

  Logan nodded. "You guys wait here. I'll see what I can do." He left the room, and the wait felt like years. Lana hated knowing Brayden was locked up like a criminal. When Logan finally returned, he said, "I was able to get them to agree to two of you seeing him."

  "You go," Robert said to Dawn. "See him with Lana."

  "Are you sure?" Lana asked, suddenly feeling bad for denying anyone else the right to see him.

  Robert nodded. "You two see him. Give him my best."

  Lana and Dawn followed Logan into the hall and down a ways to another door. She held her breath as Logan opened the door. He indicated for her to go in, and Lana crept forward.

  Brayden sat at a table wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. A horrible noise escaped her throat and then she ran around the table, wrapping her arms around him, soaking the ugly shirt with her tears and makeup. She felt Dawn hugging him on the other side.

  "I'm so sorry. We'll get you out of here. I can't believe they—"

  "It'll be okay. Logan said he could get all of this removed from my record once I'm cleared. But they can't take away the fact that all my colleagues watched me get cuffed and read my rights."

  More tears filled her eyes. "It's all my fault."

  "Your fault?"

  She nodded. "If I hadn't suggested we look into the mystery, this never would have happened."

  Brayden shook his head. "No. It's the fault of those hiding the truth. It's time everything is exposed."

  "But it's not—"

  "Don't," Brayden said. "This will just force the truth into the light."

  Two police officers entered. "Time for the inmate to go back to his cell."

  It ripped Lana's heart from her chest hearing Brayden referred to like that. "He has a name."

  "Move aside," said the taller one. He grabbed Brayden's arm and yanked him out of the chair.

  "Don't treat him like that," Lana demanded.

  Brayden gave her a look that clearly said to stop.

  Lana nodded and then backed up. "I'll see you as soon as I can."

  Tears blurred her vision as she watched him leave the room.

  Twenty Nine

  Brayden rolled over in the uncomfortable, smelly bed and looked at the officer staring at him.

  "Get up, I said."

  Brayden mumbled something incoherent, trying to figure out what was going on as he sat up and then made his way off the floor.

  "You've got some attorney, doctor. Follow me."

  What had Logan managed to do? Brayden wanted to ask more, but was too tired from such a poor sleep, and also he'd already learned from his short stay it was better to speak to the officers as little as possible. He followed him through the cold hallways until they reached the room he'd been booked in.

  "Fill out this." The officer shoved a clipboard at him.

  "What's going on?" Brayden asked.

  "You're going home after you sign those. Then Doris," he indicated toward a grumpy-looking lady behind a desk, "will get you your things."

  Brayden looked over the paperwork and started writing. "How exactly am I getting home?" As far as he knew, his car was still at the hospital, where he'd been handcuffed.

  "That's for you and your lawyer to figure out."

  "Is he here?"

  "On his way. You can wait in the waiting room."

  As soon as Brayden signed the last paper on the clipboard, he got his things and put his own clothes back on, including the lab coat he wore when seeing patients. He put his wallet and cell phone back in his pants pocket and then tucked the coat under his arm.

  "Do you know where the waiting room is?" Doris asked.

  "No." Brayden wanted to tell her that the whole place felt like a giant waiting room, but decided against it.

  She gave him directions and Brayden found it easily enough. The room was packed and there were only two available seats. One was next to a guy who looked sick and should have been in an ER waiting room instead. Brayden took the other empty seat, but one of the people next to him smelled bad—and that was saying something after spending time with some of his cellmates. Bathing was clearly not a mandatory part of jail life.

  Brayden decided to stand instead. He got up and stood by the window. His reflection glared back at him with messy hair and lines on his face from the stiff pillow.

  "Good, you're already out."

  He turned to see Logan. "Thanks for getting me out. I'd hug you, but I probably stink."

  "Nowhere near as bad as some of my clients." Logan gave him a hug.

  Someone in the room muttered something about his lawyer never hugging him.

  Brayden squeezed his cousin. "How did you manage? You said it might be a few days."

  "Follow me."

  They went outside and Logan unlocked a car by remote. A nearby one lit up. "Nice Jag," Brayden said.

  "My birthday present to myself. Climb in and I'll tell you what happened." They climbed in and Logan started it. "After some searching, I found a loophole. In Kittle Falls, it's technically not breaking and entering if the building has been declared abandoned. Though the property was gifted to someone in a will, they never filled out the paperwork, so according to city ordinance, it's technically an abandoned property."

  "Okay," Brayden said, unsure he followed. As long as he was out, he didn't really care about the details.

  "I also pushed along the paperwork you started. Don't be surprised if you get a call about signing papers in the next couple days."

  "Thank you. Really, you've gone above—"

  "Don't think anything of it. You're family."

  "Hey, you just passed the hospital."

  "Your parents want to see you, and don't look like you're in the best condition to drive. We'll crash at their place and I'll take you to your car in the morning."

  "Okay." Brayden wasn't going to complain. He was out of jail and would sleep in his old bed.

  When they got home, his parents wrapped him in tight hugs, his mom crying.

  "I'm okay, Mom. Really." He waited until th
ey were ready to let go before announcing his need for a shower. After being in jail, he felt disgusting and he couldn't get the rank smells out of his nose. "You guys get back to bed."

  "Back?" his mom asked. "I haven't slept a wink."

  He kissed the top of her head. "Now you can. I'm sorry for everything."

  "We're just glad you're out." She gave him another hug.

  Brayden glanced at a clock. It was after three in the morning. "You guys really should get some sleep."

  On his way to the bathroom, he heard his parents showing Logan to Jake's old room. Once under the hot water, he scrubbed four or five times to get everything from the jail off.

  When he finally made it to his old room, he slunk into the familiar, old bed. Going to bed so late in there brought back memories of countless late nights studying for exams or preparing speeches and other presentations. It was fitting that he slept there that night.

  Brayden woke to the smells of bacon and coffee, and the sounds of lively conversation. It took him a minute to figure out where he was. At first, he thought of the jail, but knew the bed was too comfortable and the smells and sounds too good. He sat up and saw the room of his youth, and then everything flooded back. Logan had saved the day.

  He stretched and then stood, looking in the mirror. His hair stuck out in every direction and he wore old flannel pajamas. Even though he was home, he wanted to be presentable when he saw everyone. From the sounds of the voices, Jake, Tiffany, and Logan were all there.

  Brayden looked through his old wardrobe, glad his parents hung onto everything. He wanted nothing to do with the clothes he'd worn the day before. He'd burn them before wearing them again. He couldn't look at them without thinking about being arrested.

  He found a shirt from high school that was trendy again. Was he really that old? Mid-thirties and styles were coming back around. He paired it with some timeless khaki slacks and plain socks, calling it good. Until he looked in the mirror again. He grabbed an old brush and ran it through quickly. There was no gel, but he'd live.

  When he got to the kitchen, he found it full—and Lana was there, too. He was glad he'd opted to get dressed. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she ran over, throwing herself against him, apologizing into his chest.