Secrets We Keep

by Barbara Freethy

  Hunter kicked David one last time in the ribs. David barely flinched as he fell into unconsciousness.

  "Now, he's done." Hunter opened his arms, and she ran into them. "Are you okay?" he asked, holding her tight.

  His arms, his body, felt amazing and wonderful. She was safe. They were both safe. "Now that you're here, I'm really good." She lifted her head, tears of relief streaming down her face. "You came for me. How did you find me?"

  "It's a long story, but, of course, I came for you. Did you think I wouldn't?"

  "I knew you would try. I was just afraid David would hurt you."

  "I thought you saw me in the doorway. I thought you knew I was coming in."

  "I did."

  "Then why did you tackle him?"

  "So he couldn't shoot you. I thought if I could just get the gun out of his hand, you'd be all right."

  He shook his head in amazement. "He almost shot you instead."

  "But ironically he shot the one and probably only person he loves." She looked back at Geralyn who was still breathing but also still bleeding. "We should call for help."

  Hunter let her go and grabbed the gun that David had dropped on the floor. He called 911. Then, with help on the way, he went over to the kitchen, found a knife and cut through the ties that were binding her hands.

  She flexed her fingers in relief, then grabbed towels out of the kitchen and went back to Geralyn, pressing one against her shoulder.

  Hunter checked on Quan. As she gave him an inquiring look, he shook his head.

  Quan had paid the ultimate price for his loyalty.

  "I'll call Max, too," Hunter said.

  She looked down at Geralyn, a woman she had hated with every fiber of her being.

  "Why are you helping me?" Geralyn asked.

  "Because it's the right thing to do," she said. "Why did you try to save me?"

  Geralyn sighed. "Because it was long past time for me to do the right thing."

  Twenty-Four

  Within ten minutes, the cabin was swarming with police and paramedics. After briefing the cops on what had taken place and putting them in touch with Max for more details, Hunter took Cassidy's hand as they stepped out onto the back deck overlooking the river. Night had fallen but there was plenty of light coming from the full moon, the bright stars, and the lights inside the cabin.

  "How are you holding up?" he asked.

  Her brown eyes were still huge when she turned to look at him. "I'm in shock. So, I guess we're at the Russian River."

  He nodded, realizing she was still trying to get her bearings. She'd mentioned being blindfolded on the trip from San Francisco. "We are."

  "How did you get here? How did you know where I was?"

  "I went by the house where you were supposed to be working and I saw your bag on the ground. Your phone was inside. I knew someone had grabbed you. I called Max and the police came. They found a matchbook from Harley's Bar, which apparently Donald's brother owns."

  "Evan?" she questioned. "I don't think he's involved in this, although I don't know for sure if he knows what David has done over the years. He came to see me earlier. He thought I was the one sending the cops in his direction, but I'm sure now it was David. He's the one who killed Tommy. Donald helped him cover it up by burying Tommy's body behind the wall."

  He nodded. "I suspect David planted that matchbook on purpose to send everyone in Evan's direction."

  "He almost thought of everything, but he must have missed something because you're here."

  Hunter put his hands on her shoulders. "He missed Molly."

  "Molly," she breathed. "He wanted me to tell him where she was. I think that's why he didn't kill me. He wanted to make me talk first. She was the loose end. When Molly said she was abused in that house, I thought it was Donald. I guess she never really said his name, but she didn't correct my assumption."

  "She told me that she let you think it was Donald, because she was afraid that somehow David would come after her again."

  "That makes sense. Geralyn didn't know, either. She came into the room when David admitted to it. She was stunned. She also didn't know about Tommy. She said she thought it was Donald, but she was never allowed in that garage. I guess I gave her more credit than she deserved. She was blind to David's evil ways, to Donald's devotion and loyalty to his son—his real son," she added. "David was the product of an affair that Donald had with someone in this area. But David didn't find out that he wasn't just another foster kid until he was fifteen. I guess that's when he snapped, when his anger overwhelmed him. He discovered that he could do anything he wanted because his father didn't want him to tell Geralyn about the affair. He had leverage. And the other kids became his pawns. If they were loyal to him, he got them things. That's why Quan was so loyal, even until today. But I wasn't loyal; I kept talking about Molly. And Tommy hadn't been there long enough to be loyal. He must have found out that David hurt Molly or something… He was going to talk, and David shut him up."

  "I know. I'm sorry, Cassidy."

  "Me, too. I'm sorry for everyone who was touched by David's darkness. I think the only person he actually cared about was Geralyn, strangely enough."

  "I'm not sure he cared, or if he was just afraid she'd eventually figure things out and tell the police."

  "That's possible. I'm still trying to make sense of it all." She gazed into his eyes. "But getting back to you—Molly told you about this cabin?"

  "No, but she told me that David said his real mother worked at a pie shop in Healdsburg and that he lived at the Russian River until the day Donald came and took him to San Francisco. I drove up here looking for the pie shop. Luckily, there was only one, and the owner remembered David. She said that David's mother met his father at the Riverview Lodge. I took a shot and went to the lodge, which is just down the road, but it was boarded up. I thought I was in the wrong place, but then I saw a path into the woods and realized there were cabins along the river." He took a breath. "When I heard that gun go off, my heart stopped. I knew I was in the right place, but I did not know what I would find. When I got closer, I heard your voice, so I waited, looking for an opportunity." He smiled. "You certainly gave me one, even though it was very risky."

  "Things were unraveling fast. David shot Quan, because Quan suddenly spoke up against him. Geralyn had finally caught on to everything. He was going to kill us all, and then he would have probably hunted Molly down, maybe the younger girls, too, Jada and Rhea."

  "They'll all be safe now."

  "I wonder if David killed Donald—if he ran him off the road. Maybe Donald got a sudden case of conscience, too, and became a threat to David."

  "I wouldn't put it past him."

  "David said Jeremiah was the one who rammed my car and tried to push me over the side of the road. He suggested that Jeremiah tried to kill himself, so he wouldn't have to turn on David. God knows what other crimes David has committed over the years. I feel like there's more to find out."

  "The police can figure all that out. This is over for you, Cassidy." He really wanted her to understand that, to believe it. "You know who killed Tommy. You know where Molly is. Nothing else matters, does it?"

  She thought for a moment. "No. Nothing else matters. I'm glad Molly helped you."

  "She was reluctant, but I had some leverage over her."

  "What?" Cassidy asked in surprise.

  "I spoke to Lindsay earlier today. She found a silver earring by the back gate between her parents' property and the Faulkners' house. She suggested it might be yours, that you had set the fire."

  "Good old Lindsay. She just keeps coming for me. And she is determined to find a way to get you back in her life."

  "I set her straight. We actually finally got to the root of things. She's been going through a lot of depression since her fiancé cheated on her last year. When she saw me, she suddenly got fixated on everything that was wrong in her life, and how it would have been better if she and I had gotten together. But I reminded her th
at we were never really a couple and that we never would be. She finally seemed to hear me."

  "I'm sure that was hard—for both of you."

  "I'm sorry I hurt her. I never realized she felt so much more strongly than I did. Although, I have a feeling her recent problems colored the way she was looking at her past. At any rate, getting back to the earring, I knew it wasn't yours, but it sure looked a lot like the jewelry we'd seen at Molly's studio."

  Awareness dawned in her eyes. "Oh, no," she murmured. "Not Molly."

  "Unfortunately, yes. When I showed her the earring, she admitted that she burned the house down. She said she saw David getting an award on the news, and she just snapped. She wanted to cleanse her soul, her life, her past, and fire is part of her tribal tradition. She waited to make sure no one was in the house. She didn't want to hurt anyone, at least not physically. She just wanted to destroy the place where the destruction of her soul took place."

  "I can't blame her. But now I'm worried that she's going to have to pay for what she did."

  "Well, I don't have the earring anymore, so there's no proof she was there."

  She gave him a surprised look. "You don't?"

  "No, I must have dropped it somewhere," he said vaguely. "No one saw Molly going into the house. I'm not sure there's anything that would tie her to the crime."

  "Really, Hunter? You would let a crime of fire go unpunished?"

  "She asked me the same thing. It goes against my nature, I'll admit. But what you and Molly and the other kids went through there…I'm glad the house is gone."

  "Me, too."

  There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but she was still pale, jittery, and there were too many people around. Someone was bound to interrupt them soon.

  That thought had barely crossed his mind when Max walked out onto the deck. He'd texted Max the address for the lodge when he'd first arrived and had updated him shortly after they'd called 911.

  Max gave them a concerned look. "Are you both all right?"

  "We're okay, right, Cassidy?"

  She nodded, still looking strained, but very, very brave. "I'm sure you want to know everything that happened, Max."

  "Definitely. Geralyn Faulkner and David Bellerman are on their way to the hospital, in separate ambulances. The coroner will be picking up Mr. Tran's body. Want to tell me who shot who?"

  "David did all the shooting. He shot Quan when it looked like Quan was going to bail. And when I rushed him, the gun went off, and the bullet hit Geralyn. Then Hunter came in and took care of David."

  "I figured that was your work, Hunter," Max said dryly. "I'm sorry I tried to stop you from getting involved earlier. Your gut instinct probably saved Cassidy's life. But you never told me how you got the clue to come up here."

  He didn't want to lie to Max, but he also didn't want to give Molly up. "I remembered hearing about David's adoption story, how he lived here in the Russian River with his single mom, who worked in a pie shop. When she died, Donald Faulkner adopted David. I thought if the pie shop was still in existence, someone might remember where David lived or where Donald had spent his time when he was up here. It was a long shot. And it was also possible that David was nowhere near this area, but somehow it all worked out."

  "Interesting," Max said. "I don't believe you, though. Yesterday, at the firehouse, Kate said you'd found the missing girl, and we haven't had a chance to talk about that. Was she your fountain of information?"

  He felt torn. He'd promised Molly. He'd promised Cassidy. But Max was not just a friend; he was family.

  "It's all right," Cassidy cut in. "We did find Molly. She ran away from the Faulkners when she was fourteen because she was abused by David, and his father refused to do anything about it. I asked Hunter not to tell you because Molly has changed her life around, and she didn't want to take the chance that David would find her again."

  Max slowly nodded. "I understand. I still need to talk to her. She may want to press charges against David for what he did to her."

  "I think she just wants to forget," Cassidy said. "But will you let me give her your name and number? Maybe we could meet away from the police station. Perhaps her name could be kept out of this story."

  "We can do all that. I don't really need her story right now. David is going to go down for murdering Mr. Tran, for his kidnapping of you, and attempted murder of Mrs. Faulkner."

  "She'll never testify against him," Cassidy said.

  "I don't think we need her."

  "What about Tommy? David admitted that he killed him," Cassidy added. "And it didn't look like Mrs. Faulkner knew that. Perhaps Geralyn will be willing to go against David now."

  "I think we can make her see the advantages of that," Max said. "Do you know who kidnapped you, Cassidy?"

  "David and Quan. I was leaning into the back of the van and one of them hit me on the head with something hard." She put her fingertips to the back of her head and winced. "I've got a pretty good bump. I was knocked out. They put me in the trunk of a car, blindfolded me, and tied my hands."

  She was speaking pragmatically, but Hunter was sure the experience had been terrifying.

  "I woke up a few minutes before we arrived at the cabin," she continued. "I didn't know where we were. The shades were drawn. I'd never been there before. I didn't realize Geralyn was there for a few minutes. She was in the bedroom. She was still a little out of it. She came out once and David took her back into her room. I tried to reason with Quan, but it was clear he'd been David's loyal soldier for so long, he didn't know how to be anything else. David manipulated everyone in that house, Max. He's a sociopath—charming on the outside, evil on the inside."

  Cassidy shivered, and he quickly put his arm around her. "Are you okay?"

  "I'm suddenly cold."

  "That's probably the shock." He looked back at Max. "We already spoke to the local police. Can we go now? Can we follow up with you tomorrow, in San Francisco?"

  "I think I've got what I need for now. I spoke to the local detectives and filled them in on what's been going on. You can take Cassidy home. I'll be in touch tomorrow."

  "Thanks."

  As they walked back through the house, Cassidy stopped by Quan's body, which had been covered with a sheet by the paramedics. For a moment, he thought she was considering pulling that sheet back, but she just gave his form a long look and then walked past him.

  He led her through the dark woods to his Jeep, keeping a tight grip on her hand. As soon as they got into the vehicle, he turned on the heat. "It should be warm soon."

  "I know it's not that cold; it's just me. It's all sinking in—everything that happened. I feel relieved but exhausted."

  "You can sleep on the way back."

  "I don't know if my mind will slow down long enough for that to happen."

  "Are you hungry? Do you want me to stop for food?"

  "No. I don't think I could eat anything right now. Maybe when we get back to the city. But if you're hungry—"

  "I'm good. I had a few bites of pie earlier."

  She gave him a shaky smile. "I was fighting for my life and you were eating pie?"

  "I was getting information, and I didn't finish it. As soon as I got what I wanted, I came looking for you."

  "You saved my life."

  "You were halfway to saving your own."

  "I don't think I could have beaten back David if you hadn't shown up."

  "I'm just glad I got there before he could hurt you."

  "You're a pretty good detective, Hunter. If you're still thinking about changing careers…"

  "No way. I do not want to do this for a living. I kept thinking on my way up here that maybe we had used up our luck. We found Molly by trying to locate her family, and I was doing the same thing with David."

  "It worked." She paused. "We all thought we were separated from our pasts, from our real families, when we were at the Faulkners, but the ties were still there. We just didn't know it. Maybe the only way we were going to
find Molly was by finding who she was before she went to the Faulkners. And the same was true for David. It's weird how a series of unrelated events put us all in that house at the same time."

  "I think you're right. Sometimes you have to look to the past for answers."

  "Even if you don't want to." She sighed. "Molly isn't going to want to talk to Max, but I'll have to persuade her."

  "He may not care that much about following up with her if she doesn't want to press charges. She's really not a witness to anything but what happened to her."

  "That's true. I hope that's the way it works out. She has suffered enough. And we don't have to talk about that earring Lindsay found, unless, of course, Lindsay decides to bring it up."

  "I think we've seen the last of her, and I never told her it belonged to Molly, or even suggested that. She'll probably continue to think that you burned the house down."

  "I'm okay with that."

  As he got onto the highway, Cassidy settled into her seat. The shivers seemed to have stopped. And as the minutes passed, he noticed her struggling to stay awake.

  "You can sleep, Cassidy."

  "Maybe just a minute," she said.

  Within seconds, she was asleep. He smiled to himself, happy that she'd given up the fight to stay alert, in control. He'd like to see her do that more often. Maybe she would now that they'd exorcised the ghosts of her past.

  She'd told him that he'd saved her life, and maybe he had. But he also had a feeling she'd saved his, too, in ways she couldn't even imagine.

  * * *

  Cassidy barely remembered getting out of Hunter's car and walking up the stairs to his apartment. She'd been too sleepy to complain about not going all the way home. She'd tumbled into his bed and fallen back asleep before her head hit the pillow.

  Now, the sun was streaming through his bedroom windows, on Wednesday morning, and she smelled bacon.

  Glancing at the other side of the bed, she saw the tangled covers, and as happy as she was that there was breakfast coming, she kind of wished she'd woken up in his arms.