Forbidden Secrets

by Morgan Kelley

  Julian wasn’t amused. “NO!”

  “I'm kidding. Go. We’ll be fine.”

  Julian opted to believe that, simply because he didn’t want to have a stroke.

  They all hopped into the SUV, and Hart sat in the back with Lennox. When they pulled away, Nyx dropped her arm through Tori’s.

  “All this mansion. What’s a girl to do?”

  She laughed. “I know!”

  “What?” Nyx asked.

  “How about telling me what’s going on with you and my brother? Then maybe we can get you to put that ring back on your finger,” she stated.

  Nyx stared at her.

  “Trey was right. You’re no fun.”

  Yeah, it was the story of her life.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  He wanted to get to him before he left his office. That was going to be the best place to end his life.

  The man deserved it.

  While he wasn’t one of the Eastons, he knew what had gone on there all those years ago.

  It pissed him off.

  He really thought he’d gotten away with it.

  Well, he hadn’t.

  It wasn’t over.

  It was far from that. In fact, before this was over, all the animals who had hurt her would pay.

  She had been sweet.

  She had been gentle.

  She had been…his all.

  Now she was dead and her body never found. That alone demanded payback. If it were up to him, he’d kill them all, including anyone who lived on that estate.

  It would be their destruction.

  When it was all said and done, he was going to make sure the whole world knew the truth.

  The Easton family was nothing more than a bunch of sick, perverted killers.

  And that’s why they had to die.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  Tori wasn’t one to simply sit around. In fact, she loathed it. When she was bored, she’d find anything to do to keep her mind busy. On a Friday night, on a huge estate, there was only one thing to do.

  Work.

  Since it was only her and Nyx, they still had a few people she could interview. One of them was going to be the man who worked with Estella Easton as her horse trainer.

  While Julian would freak out if she left the estate, he didn’t tell her not to interview or work. Anton Pierce was right there, and that was too tempting not to handle it.

  Nyx needed some training anyway, especially if she was marrying her brother.

  Speaking of which…

  “So, spill it.”

  Nyx didn’t know how much there really was to spill. “Beau got pissed that I let Evangeline possess me. He flipped out, and he wasn’t exactly kind to me.”

  “Did he hit you?” she asked.

  “NO!”

  “Did he call you names?” Tori questioned, setting the woman up.

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Then he threatened you.”

  She stared at Tori. “He’d never do that.”

  “So how was he mean? I’m a little confused by your terminology.”

  “He was mad that I did it.”

  Tori thought about it. “So, what you’re saying is you’re accustomed to making your own rules, and then along comes this…and I’ll try to say it without gagging,” she began, “sexy soldier who wants to protect his woman. It made you mad that he wanted to wrap you in bubble wrap to keep the woman he loves safe.”

  Nyx stared at her. “Really? You’re not going to choose Team Girls?”

  Tori laughed. “Beau grew up with our mother. He’s probably accustomed to playing guard dog. He’s then found his sister and dead ghost brother, who probably told him to keep me safe.”

  “I. Did,” Trey admitted from the phone in her pocket.

  “Trey, butt out,” Nyx stated.

  Tori grinned. “So, here’s this sexy psychic who has recently been damaged by a case, and he probably feels helpless, so he gets frustrated.”

  Nyx listened.

  “What he wants to do is protect you no matter what, but he can’t figure out how to do it. While spirits are normal for the woman he loves, for him…it’s a new game. He’s accustomed to tangible enemies. He can shoot them, fight them, and see them. This is a new kind of crazy for him, and he’s off his game.”

  “You’re good at this.”

  Tori was aware. Besides, she was rooting for Team Beau. She wanted him to find the woman who gave him peace. They all needed that in life.

  “He told me to never do it again, and I know I will. I can’t lie to him. Isn’t that just as bad?”

  Tori got it.

  “It’s hard for them. He loves you so much, and he’s having a hard time articulating that. Other than sex, they don’t know how to say I love you any other way.”

  “I. Love. You.”

  Tori laughed. “Trey, go molest your girl-ghost.”

  “Aye. Aye. Captain.”

  “Do you love him, Nyx?” Tori asked, crossing her fingers. “By that, I mean are you willing to love him despite his faults?”

  She thought about it. “I don’t know how to deal with him either. He scares me.”

  “In a good or bad way?” Tori asked.

  Maybe this woman wasn’t the one for Beau. Tori might love Nyx, but she may not be the one for the man she also loved.

  “When I think about him, I want to forget everything else in the world. He chases my demons away. When I’m with Beau, I don’t think about anything else but him. What if I’m infatuated and one day…”

  “The bottom falls out?” she asked as they walked toward the stables.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not a fortune teller, Nyx, but I can tell you that from our point of view, looking in on your relationship, it’s never going to happen. The man is head over heels in love with you.”

  She pulled the ring out of her pocket.

  “Do you know the story behind that ring?” Tori asked.

  “No.”

  “He wanted to find you the best ring in the world. We went to about fifty places, and none of them worked for him,” Tori admitted.

  “I didn’t need a ring.”

  “None of us ever do,” she stated, “but he wanted you to have one in the worst way. It had to symbolize his love, and it had to be special.”

  “So, in this antique shop, he found it, but he wanted to make sure it had good history. He bought it, brought it home, and gave it to Beckett. The man took his little psychic journey, and got Beau the history behind it.”

  She glanced over at Tori. “What is it?”

  “It was given to a woman whose lover went away to war. He died in battle and never returned. She kept it for fifty more years, never marrying another. When she died, a distant relative sold all of her things off, and the ring was sent to the antique dealer.”

  She stared down at it.

  “It had meaning to him as a soldier and someone who found his true love. Beau knew it was special when he saw it, and he knows when it’s on your finger it’s their love story retold, but this time the soldier gets to love his girl.”

  Nyx sniffled. “That’s a beautiful story. Why didn’t he tell me all of this?”

  “Mushiness embarrasses him. Hell! It freaks me out too. He’s trying to be the man you need, but you have to meet him halfway. Beau will screw up, but he’s not doing it intentionally.”

  Nyx ran her fingers over the ring.

  Tori stopped walking. “We Christensens aren’t easy to love. I know because I ran Julian through the ringer, Nyx, but we love with our whole hearts. We’re loyal to a fault. The bottom will never fall out because he’s picked the only woman who will be his, and he will need you for the rest of his life. You chase away his demons. We can all tell.”

  Tori didn’t know how much she knew.

  “Did he tell you about his job in the army?”

  She shook her head. “He won’t talk about it.”

  “It. Was. Bad,�
�� Trey added. “He. Lost. His. Soul. We. All. Did.”

  Tori didn’t argue with that. The sandbox killed something in you when you came back. It was hell.

  “Beau spent years killing at someone else’s command,” she stated, keeping it as light as possible. “He didn’t come back whole. He found his redemption here, and he’s going to do what he needs to do to keep you safe. It’s out of love. He’s killed out of duty, and he’s willing to do it out of protection for his girl.”

  Nyx wiped the tears in her eyes. “I really needed to hear this. I don’t know why he didn’t tell me.”

  “Because he’s a man and sentiment embarrasses the hell out of him. Forgive him for being a jerk. He’s just being himself. He must feel really comfortable with you if he’s letting you see all his faults. That’s love.”

  Nyx knew she was right.

  Then she slipped it back onto her finger. “I do love him more than anything in the world.”

  “Then fight his demons while he vanquishes yours. That’s what love is all about. Well, that and the hot sex—which I don’t want to hear about because he’s my brother and that’s so very gross.”

  Nyx laughed and then hugged her. “I can’t wait for you to be my sister, Tori. Beau is lucky to have you.”

  “I’m lucky to have him.”

  “What. Am. I. Chopped. Liver?” Trey asked. “Share. The. Love. I. Was. Here. First. Peaches.”

  The women laughed.

  “Trey, no talking while I’m doing this interview,” Tori warned.

  “My. Lips. Are. Sealed.”

  The women didn’t buy that. They, instead, opted to turn off their phones.

  Why risk it?

  “Follow my lead,” Tori stated, heading into the stable.

  “Got it.”

  When she saw a man at the end of the stalls, she called to him. “Are you Anton Pierce?” she asked.

  “Yeah, who are you?”

  Tori made the introductions. “We need to talk to you about Estella Easton and the day she died.”

  He took off his hat and leaned against the stall. “It was a horrible day. That woman could ride just about anything, even at her advanced age. She’d been around horses all of her life.”

  “What about the one she was riding?” Tori asked.

  “That was her baby. She raised it from a birth. She knew that sweet horse inside and out.”

  “So when you heard she fell?”

  “I was shocked. I know she had been having some heart issues, but she was sturdy. I felt guilty.”

  Tori was curious. “Why?”

  “I was the one who saddled ‘Essie’s Pride’ that day for her. She could lift the saddle like a trooper, but I wanted to help her out. We talked, she chattered, and then she went out. At first, I thought I screwed up. ‘Essie’s Pride’ was a good horse. It had to be me. Then I saw the report, and the saddle was intact. She must have gone over the horse’s head if she stopped fast.”

  Tori listened.

  “I had gone about my business by the time she was supposed to come back. We had a competition the following day, and we had to hit the road by five in the morning. When I came down to load up the other horses, I noticed ‘Essie’s Pride’ was missing. That worried me.”

  “So you did what?”

  He didn’t have to think about it. “I checked the house and then I called the police. I had worked with Estella for years,” he said, running his hands through his graying hair. “I was twenty when she took me on. She had faith in a new horse trainer who didn’t have many recommendations. She trusted me, and I felt like I had let her down.”

  He patted a horse’s head when it came through the stall to nibble at his pocket.

  “When I noticed she was gone, I raced to the house and had the housekeeper check on the boss lady. I thought maybe someone stole her or she got out. Estella was getting older, and she’d sometimes forget to lock up the stall.”

  “Okay, then what?” Nyx asked, getting into it.

  “I called the sheriff when the housekeeper came down and said she hadn’t slept in her bed. We woke up Cornell and Lennox, and we went out searching for her. The Easton’s own a lot of land.”

  “Where did you find her?”

  “We found ‘Essiex’s Pride’ in the pasture grazing with her gear still on, and three hours later, we found Estella in some trees some distance away. Animals had gotten to her body, and she was partially eaten. It was a horrible sight.”

  “That sucks,” stated Nyx.

  “It did. The family has had a string of bad luck.”

  Tori knew it was more than that. “What about a woman named Evangeline?”

  He thought about it. “I’m not sure,” he stated. “There was this woman who Howell hung out with. She’d come here and they’d go out riding.”

  “What did she look like?” Nyx asked. She’d been possessed by Evangeline, so she could give them a basic idea of what the woman felt like.

  “Short, a little chunky, blonde hair.”

  Tori pulled out her phone and did some research. When she pulled up a picture online, she showed him. “Is this the woman?”

  “Yeah! That’s her.”

  Her hopes bottomed out. It was Larissa Moore, the lawyer. This seemed to be a dead end.

  “Did anyone want to hurt Estella?”

  He laughed. “People hated her. She was tough, but I loved her like a mother. She took care of the people she loved. Her boys, as she liked to call them, could do no wrong. She’d defend them to the end.”

  Yeah, most mothers would.

  “Thank you for your time, Anton. If you think of anything else, like who else was here, can you find us at the main house? Anything might help, and we could use it.”

  He shook their hands. “No problem,” he offered.

  Tori and Nyx headed away.

  “That didn’t seem to help us,” Nyx stated.

  Tori agreed.

  “This case is hard because it’s been ongoing for so many years. Evidence is harder to find when time passes. People’s memories fade, and time wears away facts.”

  “I like divorce cases.”

  “Why?” Tori asked as they made their way back to the house.

  “They are one hell of a train wreck. There’s always something amusing going to happen.”

  Yeah, she was right.

  “What’s next?” Nyx asked.

  “I have an idea.”

  “And?”

  “It’s going to piss off all of the men.”

  Nyx rubbed her hands together. “I say we do it.”

  Tori laughed. “You’re a bad influence. You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

  “When the men are away, the women should play,” Nyx teased. “How else are we going to have any fun?”

  She had a point.

  “Spill it.”

  Tori told her everything.

  “A séance, huh?”

  “Bad idea?”

  “It’s a horrible idea, but I love it. Let’s go get set up. We can handle this.”

  Tori hoped so.

  If not, Julian was going to flip his shit when he got back, and that was NEVER a good idea.

  Never.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  He had found him in his office and destroyed him.

  It was easy to kill him.

  In fact, he left him right on his desk. Someone would find him, and when they did, one more scumbag would be in the history books.

  He was glad he could end his life.

  As he’d tortured him, he told him the truth. He had been involved, but he’d blamed the Eastons.

  He’d had to do it to stay in their good graces.

  It figured.

  He hated them.

  On the outside, he may have to pretend, but beneath it all, there was only one truth.

  They all had to die.

  And they would.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The entire drive there, Julian w
as worried about his mother. Justin had sent a few texts to keep him in the loop. Apparently, Clarissa Littlemoon was being charged with assault.

  To Julian, it was all insane.

  He couldn’t believe it was happening.

  He knew there was only going to be one way to get this taken care of, and it was going to be Elizabeth Blackhawk.

  They were officially in over their heads.

  With each text from Justin, it seemed worse and worse. He had two choices—call a woman he considered family or make the call to his attorney to get Clarissa out on bail.

  It was time to swallow his pride.

  Even though his wife had called her, Julian was getting close to Delta Falls, and he needed her help ASAP.

  When she answered on the third ring, he really had to hope she wouldn’t mind bailing him out.

  “Hey, Jules, what do you need?” she asked when he answered his phone.

  “I have a big problem.”

  “What?”

  Where even to begin? With Elizabeth, he could trust her with his family issues.

  He hoped.

  “Clarissa has been arrested for assault.”

  Elizabeth Blackhawk stared laughing. Her southern tinged amusement on the phone showed how funny she found that one sentence.

  Too bad Julian didn’t find it nearly as entertaining—when he found out, or now.

  “This isn’t funny, Elizabeth. My mother was on the news in front of the media, and she punched Tori’s biological mother out. Now she’s sitting in jail.”

  She still laughed.

  “Elizabeth!”

  “Okay! I’m sorry, but that’s damn funny. I had the visual in my head.”

  And she had.

  You’d have to be living in a cave to not have seen the drama going on in the Littlemoons’ lives. The only people more hounded by the press were…well, her, Ethan, and Callen.

  “Seriously?” he stated.

  “Well, I always knew I liked Clarissa. She’s tough for an old broad.”

  He didn’t disagree, but still...

  “Justin is trying to get her out on bail, but the police are being dicks. Something about ‘we Indians need to learn our manners’,” he stated.