Too Many Secrets

by Patricia H. Rushford

  Her mom paused. Jennie could hear her draw in a deep breath and let it out. “I won’t keep you from going to Florida. That wouldn’t be fair to Gram. But I do expect you to continue counseling with Gloria and go to the counseling camp as soon as the Florida trip is over.”

  “I guess I owe you that, at least.” Jennie brushed the rag over the table legs. “Mom?”

  “What?”

  “I just want you to know I love you.”

  “I love you too, sweetheart.” Mom was getting weepy. “Just promise me you won’t ever lie to me again.”

  “I won’t. And Mom? I’m sorry about the way I acted about you and Michael.”

  “I just wish we could have talked about it.” She sniffled. “Well, we can be thankful it’s all worked out. You’re safe. Gram’s back home. Now maybe things can get back to normal.”

  Gram is home? Why would she say that? Jennie hadn’t said anything about Gram being there. “How did you know Gram was back?” Then remembering what she’d said to Lisa about keeping Kate and Mom from coming to the coast, Jennie asked, “Did Lisa tell you?”

  “No, Gram called Kate on Tuesday afternoon to let us know she was home.”

  Of course. They made Gram call so the family wouldn’t be worried about Gram or her. They thought Gram had been here all along. Jennie debated whether or not to tell her mom that Gram was still missing, then decided not to. Trying to explain what was going on over the telephone would probably send Mom into a panic attack. Better to wait until Gram came back and the ordeal was over.

  “Ah … Mom? Let’s have a family picnic here at the beach this weekend. That way Gram can celebrate Nick’s birthday and everyone can see her. She’s been through a lot these last couple of weeks and … I just think you and Aunt Kate should … you know … talk to her and make sure she’s okay.”

  “That’s a wonderful idea. Kate and I had already talked about one of us going down, but I think your idea is much better. I’ll call her and see what we can work out and, one way or the other, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

  After saying goodbye, Jennie attacked the dust again, then moved to the dining room to throw out the paper J.B. had left on the table. It felt good to have her life coming together again.

  Jennie crumpled the grocery bag. A couple of newspaper clippings fell out and drifted to the floor. As she dropped to her knees to retrieve them, one of the headlines caught her eye. “1.2 Million in Diamonds Stolen from Trade Show.” It was a morning-after account of the robbery. Whoever had pulled off the job, the article said, had to have been an insider with working knowledge of security and alarm systems. That fit Joe all right. The other clipping was an article about Sheriff Taylor’s retirement. Strange. Why would these be in the bag with the diamonds?

  Jennie turned the clippings over and at the end of the story about the diamonds, Gram had written, “Sam’s retirement fund …” with three question marks after it.

  The implications crashed down on her like a truckload of bricks. Sheriff Taylor was behind the diamond heist. Could he have been the “boss” Joe and Dan had mentioned? If that was true, J.B. would be walking straight into a trap. Once Sheriff Taylor had the diamonds, he’d kill Gram and J.B. Then he’d probably come after her and Ryan as well.

  Jennie stashed the clippings in Gram’s desk, grabbed a sweatshirt from the closet, and headed out the door. She had to stop J.B. before he met up with the sheriff.

  As she ran, scenes of the past couple of days flashed into her mind, the puzzle pieces finally coming together. Sheriff Taylor and his men had stolen the diamonds. For some reason Gram had gotten hold of them and hidden them in her house. They had kidnapped her and had been trying to make her talk. He’d probably issued a phony warrant so he and Joe could search the house and throw the trail off themselves.

  She should have suspected him when he showed up at the Wakefield house, where Joe and Dan had been holding her prisoner. She’d thought he was just making rounds. He’d known she was there all the time. Joe had tried to keep her from seeing Sheriff Taylor that day. Probably following orders. Jennie had seen him, though, and could identify all of them.

  Sheriff Taylor had lied about getting a phone call from Gram. He probably forced Gram to call the Johnsons and Kate so they wouldn’t be worried and come looking for her. That was so smart, Gram, Jennie thought. By calling the Johnsons instead of us on Nick’s birthday, you tried to let us know you were in trouble. Too bad it took so long to figure it out. Jennie realized now that she should have talked to Mom and Kate and Uncle Kevin about her suspicions rather than trying to handle it on her own. If she had, maybe she wouldn’t have been kidnapped, Gram might be safe now, and Ryan … Jennie prayed that the sheriff didn’t know how much Ryan knew about the case.

  J.B. had about a forty-minute head start, and Jennie wasn’t sure where he had gone. Since Joe and Dan had taken her to the Wakefield house, she decided to head there first. The setting sun cast a deep red glow across the sky. In a few minutes it would be completely dark.

  As she approached the long driveway leading to the house, a car turned in the drive. Its headlights illuminated the woods, and Jennie dove off the trail and scrambled behind a rock. The gravel crunched as the black Cadillac headed toward the house.

  The engine stopped. Two car doors slammed. “Get her inside,” a man’s voice ordered. It might have been Sheriff Taylor, but Jennie couldn’t be sure. She moved out of her hiding place and inched closer. The car’s dome light spotlighted Dan as he opened the back door of the car and hauled out a woman’s body.

  17

  Gram is dead. The message slammed into Jennie’s brain. No! She can’t be. Be rational about this, McGrady. If she was dead, they wouldn’t have brought her here. Would they? Jennie moved closer. Dan and Joe were only about twenty feet away, and if either of them looked this way they might see her, but she had to know.

  As Dan hoisted Gram to his shoulder, she groaned in protest. Jennie let go of the breath she’d been holding and sank to her knees.

  The two men entered the house. Joe turned briefly to close the door and stopped. He nearly filled the doorway, blocking the light from the house. He stepped back out on the weathered gray wooden porch and looked around. Had he seen her?

  Jennie curled into a tight ball, expecting him to come thrashing into the bushes after her, but he didn’t.

  “Joe.” Sheriff Taylor joined him on the porch. “Do you see something out here or are you having second thoughts?”

  “Thought I heard something,” Joe shrugged. “Probably a squirrel.”

  The men turned to reenter the house. The sheriff stopped on the threshold and looked back. His eyes met hers. At least she thought they did. Light bathed his face and silvered hair. A chill shuddered through her. He looked like he always had—kind, honest, law-abiding. He’d been the sheriff of Bay Village for over twenty years. People trusted him. Jennie wondered what had happened to make him turn to crime.

  Sheriff Taylor disappeared inside and closed the door. Jennie unfolded herself from her cramped position behind the bush and jogged toward the house.

  Don’t do it, McGrady, a voice in her head warned. Go for help. You don’t have a chance against three armed men. She had J.B., she reasoned. Going back to Gram’s to call for back-up would have been the logical thing to do, but there wasn’t time. Besides, who would she call? The only people Jennie trusted were Ryan and J.B. Unfortunately, she had no idea where they were and hoped the sheriff hadn’t already gotten to them.

  She tried not to think about that as she crept up on the porch and inched her way to a large bay window. The living room was dark except for the glow cast by the room beyond it, probably from the dining room or kitchen. Sheer drapes clouded her vision, but she could see well enough to know that no one was in the room.

  Rather than go past the front door, Jennie climbed over the porch railing and made her way around to t
he back where the window’s light cast a square-shaped spotlight on a weed-infested plot that had probably once been a garden. She grabbed the ledge and pulled herself up. Jennie peered into the kitchen and then into the room beyond, seeing four men hunched over the dining room table. She recognized Sheriff Taylor, Dan, and Joe, but the fourth was partially blocked by the kitchen wall. She had to get a closer look. The table sat directly in front of another large bay window. She moved toward it, past the kitchen door, past the garbage cans.

  “Yowl!” One of the garbage cans clattered to the concrete slab that extended from the kitchen steps. A black shadow streaked past her. Jennie whipped around the corner just as the back door opened. She pressed against the house, willing her body to disappear into it.

  “Who’s there?”

  “What’s going on?” The voices belonged to Joe and Dan.

  The black cat, apparently feeling repentant, chose that moment to make amends. He curled around Jennie’s legs and purred. Jennie stooped to pick him up, and the eerie feeling of déjà vu washed over. She saw the black boots, the jeans … only this time the hand was holding a gun.

  Jennie started to scream. Joe clamped his hand over her mouth.

  “Shhh,” he whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Joe slowly removed his hand and holstered the gun. “You’re lucky it was me. Dan would just as soon kill you as look at you. Give me the cat and get out of here.”

  “But …”

  “Go. Before Dan shows up.”

  That was all the incentive Jennie needed. She ran for the trees and dove behind a bush just as Dan rounded the opposite corner.

  “Just a cat.” Joe held the animal up for Dan to see, then lowered it to the ground. It scampered away and headed straight for Jennie.

  “Meow.”

  “With friends like you …” she murmured, scooping the cat into her arms as she watched Joe and Dan go back into the house. She stood there for several minutes, stroking the silky fur and wondering what had happened. Why had Joe let her go? Was he Gram’s contact? Had he been working undercover to expose Sheriff Taylor? Or was he just one of those crooks who didn’t mind stealing, as long as no one got hurt.

  Jennie wanted to believe in Joe. She wanted to believe that her intuition had been right all along, but she couldn’t take the chance. Gram’s life and maybe even J.B.’s and Ryan’s were at stake, and Jennie had to find a way to save her. First, though, she needed to discover the identity of the fourth man.

  She set the cat down. “Go home,” Jennie whispered, giving him a shove. He ran a few feet then looked back. “Go.” Jennie lunged at him and he scampered off.

  A large maple blocked Jennie’s view of the dining room window where the men had been seated. She ran for the tree and flattened herself against it. Through a set of sheers that matched the curtains in the living room, Jennie could see the men’s shadows. The curtains kept her from seeing them clearly, but they also served as protection against them seeing her.

  Jennie crept the rest of the distance to the house. She stopped at the window, inched forward and peered in.

  Her heart dropped to the vicinity of her feet. Her throat tightened. J.B. was sitting at the table; a satisfied grin stretched across his face. He wasn’t making a deal with the crooks. He was one of them. J.B. lifted his hand high above the center of the table. A shower of glittery diamonds dangled from his hand. Sheriff Taylor grabbed them and laughed.

  “I’ll have to admit, I didn’t think you could pull it off, J.B. Getting the McGrady girl to talk was sheer magic.”

  “Yeah,” Dan added, patting his holster. “I appreciate you getting my gun back too. Felt kind of naked without it.”

  Jennie thought she was going to be sick. J.B. had used her. She felt as though some invisible hand were squeezing her heart. She wasn’t certain whether she was more angry at him or herself. She had trusted him. Trusted her intuition. And she’d been wrong again.

  Sheriff Taylor pushed his chair back. “I’d say this calls for a toast, gentlemen. I’ll get us some drinks. Dan, you’d better check on our guests.” He gestured upstairs.

  Guests? Sheriff Taylor must have brought Ryan there from the cave. J.B. had been in on it all along. Oh, he was slick. She’d believed everything … his story about working with Grandpa, Gram, and Dad … How could she have been so stupid?

  Pull yourself together, McGrady. You don’t have time to think about how J.B. betrayed you. Gram and Ryan need help—now. Jennie brushed the tears from her cheeks. She had to figure out how to get into the house and up to the second floor. If she could get inside maybe she could release Gram and Ryan, and they could all get away. Then they’d call the police and let them deal with the crooks. A good plan. And, from her vantage point, it looked as if all she had to do was flap her arms and fly.

  Taking cover behind the maple, Jennie looked for a more traditional route to get inside. The tree’s branches nearly touched the house but weren’t big enough to hold her. Except for one. A main branch connected with the roof of a closed-in porch. The porch, only one story high, stretched beneath two bedroom windows. Maybe she could get into one of them. She jumped to the lowest branch, caught it, and swung up. From there it was easy, one branch, then the next.

  In less than a minute she’d reached the porch roof. The first window was open a crack, just enough to get her fingers under it. She braced herself and pulled. Nothing. She pulled again and realized the window had been painted shut and nothing short of a sledge hammer was going to dislodge it.

  “C’mon, McGrady,” she muttered, trying to give herself a pep talk. Don’t give up. Maybe the next window. When it wouldn’t open, she sat down on the moss-covered shingles and buried her head in her arms. There has to be a way in. There just has to be. She looked up at the stars and sighed. “You got any bright ideas?”

  Jennie sat there a few minutes, feeling the moisture soak into the seat of her jeans. A toilet flushed and the light in a window to her right went out. The bathroom! She’d opened the window when Joe had untied her long enough to use the toilet.

  By stretching, and plastering herself against the house, she could stand on the porch and get hold of the bathroom window sill. With one hand she pushed the window frame up as far as it would go. It still looked too narrow, but it would have to do. Jennie shifted to get a better hold. Her foot slipped. Her hands, acting on pure instinct, closed over the sill. She swung up and sideways, trying to get back to the porch roof. The wet moss, slippery as a patch of ice, denied her a foothold.

  Jennie figured she had two options. One was to let go and fall the fifteen or so feet to the ground and risk breaking her neck. The other was to climb. Jennie opted for the second and prayed she’d have enough strength in her arms to make it.

  18

  By hooking one elbow, then the other, over the windowsill, Jennie gained enough leverage to pull herself up and poke her head through the window. Then her chest. For the first time since junior high, Jennie was glad she didn’t have much cleavage to brag of. Lisa would never have made it through there.

  Lisa wouldn’t be crazy enough to try.

  She’d gotten about halfway in when she heard footsteps in the hall. Don’t come in … please don’t come in. When she heard the heavy footfall on the stairs she started breathing again.

  Jennie managed to crawl the rest of the way in, hoping her entrance didn’t sound like a thunderstorm to anyone but her. Once inside, she crept down the hall to the bedroom where Joe and Dan had kept her. The streetlamp provided barely enough light to see the lumpy dark form of a human body stretched across the full length of the bed. Jennie eased forward, leaned against the bed, and turned the body over. Ryan.

  She pulled off the gag and untied his arms and feet. “What …”

  “Shhh. It’s me,” Jennie whispered. “Are you okay?” Ryan sat up and rubbed his wrists. “I … I think so.” He touched the bruise o
n his forehead and winced. “Got a heck of a headache though.”

  “Can you walk?”

  Ryan swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood. “I’m not sure.” He swayed and sank back onto the bed, pulling Jennie down with him. She put an arm around his back to keep him propped up.

  “What’s going on?” His voice was slurred.

  Jennie told him what had happened at the cave and after. “I’ll fill you in on the details later, but right now we’ve got to find Gram and get out of here.”

  This time when Ryan stood, he seemed stronger but still had to lean against her for support. Gram was in the bedroom across the hall. Jennie rushed forward and undid her gag while Ryan loosened her hands and feet.

  “Jennifer Kathleen McGrady,” she whispered, “what in the name of heaven are you doing here?” They wrapped their arms around each other. She’d lost weight, Jennie noticed, but she was alive and strong enough—she hoped—to escape.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Gram reprimanded her, still keeping a loose hold on her granddaughter’s shoulders.

  “I had to come. I couldn’t let them kill you. Sheriff Taylor, Joe Adams, Dan, and a guy named J.B. are downstairs right now. They have the diamonds.” As quickly as she could, Jennie told Gram and Ryan that she’d given the diamonds to J.B. and then found the newspaper clippings. “I came to warn J.B. about Sheriff Taylor, then realized he was in on it too. I’m so sorry, Gram. I thought J.B. was your friend. I trusted him. And he’s as big a crook as the others.”

  “You were right to trust him, Jennie. If he’s won Sam Taylor over we’re as good as rescued. Joe’s on our side too. He’s been working undercover … trying to keep us safe and to get enough evidence on Sam and Dan to convict them. With me having the diamonds that’s been hard to do.”

  Her explanation was interrupted by footsteps on the stairs. “Quick, into the closet—both of you. Stay out of sight.”