"Someone like you?"
"She might suggest I killed Tommy and ran away."
"And left his body in their house? And they didn't call the police but buried the body in the walls? That's ridiculous."
"I know, but she'll find a way to twist the story. She's very good at getting everyone to believe she is who she says she is."
"We need to get you a lawyer."
"That's not my concern right now. I want to get justice for Tommy."
"You still have to protect yourself. What about the man you were with earlier today? You were having a heated conversation. What's his role in all of this?"
"He's the firefighter who found the remains."
"Your conversation looked more personal than that."
George was sharp. "It was personal. Hunter was my high school boyfriend. I ditched him on the day of the prom."
"And he's still angry about it. I saw him grab your arm earlier. Maybe you should stay away from him."
"He's not a danger to me. Hunter is a really good person." Emotion choked her throat. "He has a right to be angry. Anyway, that's what is happening."
"Well, I'm here if you need anything."
"You always have been. You and Mary saved my life."
"You saved ours. You filled a hole that we'd had for a long time. We'd always wanted a daughter, but we were never able to have a child. And what you've done with the business is mind-boggling. I probably would have had to sell out when Mary got sick, if you hadn't taken over."
"I was happy to do it. I love the business. You know that."
"I know you've buried yourself in it. Sometimes, I wonder if it hasn't become a bit of a hideout for you."
"I'm not hiding. I'm working. I'm living my life. Or at least I was…"
"Now you're being dragged back to a dark time."
"Yes, and I don't want to go, but I also don't want to let Mrs. Faulkner get away with killing Tommy. I have to help the police in any way that I can. I just hope I'm strong enough to face her. She's a monster, in my mind."
"The best way to get rid of monsters is to face them. They usually shrink in the light."
"Maybe the imaginary ones. Unfortunately, the Faulkners were very real people."
"What about the firefighter? What are you going to do about him?"
"Nothing."
A disbelieving gleam entered George's eyes. "Seems like the two of you have some unfinished business."
"We were together for about four months when we were sixteen. It was not that big of a deal. We didn't even know what love was."
George gave her a knowing smile. "Is that what you told him or what you told yourself?"
"Both." She sighed. "I thought it was over between us a long time ago."
"But now?"
"I'm not sure." She couldn't help thinking about the amazingly hot kisses they'd shared in the car. "But it should be over."
"Why?"
"Because if it's not, I think there's a good chance we're going to hurt each other again."
Eight
Hunter woke up Saturday morning to the persistent buzzing of his cell phone on the nightstand. He groaned as he realized it was almost nine. He was usually up at seven, getting in a run or a bike ride on his days off, but he'd spent most of the night tossing and turning, thinking about Cassidy, about kissing her in the car. It had been both a brilliant and a very bad decision.
Grabbing his phone, he saw his mother's number, and sat up in bed. "Hello, Mom?"
"Good morning," Sharon Callaway said with a bright, energized note in her voice. "You weren't sleeping, were you?"
"I was getting up," he lied.
"That's excellent news. Because we're having an impromptu brunch today. Annie, Kate and Mia are here, and I want to get everyone together before they head off for their bachelorette weekend in Napa."
"Mia is going to a bachelorette weekend? Isn't she about to pop?"
"Not for four more weeks. And she'll be with her sisters if that little baby decides to come early. Jeremy and Ashlyn are here, too. They're going to do some sightseeing in the city, maybe drive down to Santa Cruz and ride the roller coaster. Anyway, brunch is in an hour. I want you to come. I haven't had all six of my kids in the house in I can't remember when, so you need to be there."
"I assume that means Dylan and Ian are coming, too."
"And Grace and Tori. It's going to be fun. I'm going to see if any of your cousins can come as well. Can you make it?"
"Sure, I'll stop by."
"Good. I want us to find a few minutes to talk. Dylan told me what you found in that house the other day."
He sighed. "Dylan has a big mouth."
"He said you were shaken up."
"It's not every day I uncover the remains of someone I once knew."
"Well, I thank God it wasn't Cassidy."
"I see Dylan filled you in on everything."
"I'm your mother. You should have filled me in. I liked Cassidy. I thought she was a sweet girl until she broke your heart. Now, I worry about her coming back into your life."
"You don't have to worry about anything—I'm fine."
"You always say that, Hunter, but my mother's intuition tells me you haven't really been fine in a long time. You've been restless, searching for something."
Her intuition was damn good. "I'll figure it out. And if I'm coming to brunch, I better take a shower."
"I'll see you soon."
He set the phone down on the table, stretched his arms over his head and let out a groan that was filled with some of that restlessness his mom had referred to. She wasn't wrong. He had been in a funk the past year. That feeling of numbness had evaporated with the reappearance of Cassidy, but he didn't know if that was a good thing.
Cassidy had made it clear yesterday that she'd put their teenage relationship behind her. At least, that's what she'd said. Her kiss had told a different story. He didn't know what they were to each other now or what they would be in the future, but he did know they weren't done yet.
* * *
His parents lived in a two-story home across from the Great Highway and San Francisco's Ocean Beach. He'd grown up in the house, sharing a room with both his brothers for most of his childhood, until his father had cleaned out the attic and made an extra bedroom that Ian had claimed, because he needed quiet in which to study and exercise his ridiculously big brain.
He'd actually been okay with living with Dylan instead of Ian, since his second oldest brother was kind of a neat freak and Dylan was much more chill. Despite the four-year age difference between them, he and Dylan had gotten close during those years, and Dylan had always looked out for him. He wasn't really surprised Dylan had already talked to his mother about Cassidy; he just wasn't looking forward to the interrogation he knew would be coming from the rest of his family.
As he pulled up in front of the house, he parked behind a van of teenage surfers who were unabashedly changing out of their wet suits into jeans and shorts. Smiling to himself, he could picture himself and Dylan hitting the waves on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Occasionally, Kate would tag along, or one or more of their cousins would join in. While his mom and dad didn't surf, they'd often brought the dogs over to the beach for a morning run or packed up sandwiches for an impromptu picnic.
He really had had an idyllic childhood. He'd fought with his siblings, sometimes had petty arguments with his parents, but he'd never been afraid. He'd never been scared to close his eyes, to go to sleep, the way Cassidy had been.
Maybe she'd been right in thinking he never would have understood her situation. He had far more awareness now than he had had as a teenager, and he still didn't completely understand why she hadn't been able to get help from the social worker, why no one had called out the Faulkners on a missing girl, why Cassidy had had to run for her life, and why no one had noticed that both Cassidy and Tommy were gone.
Had the department overseeing their care ever looked for them? Or had they just been two lost kids in an o
vercrowded system?
He wanted to find out. He wanted someone to be punished for everything that had happened. He didn't just want it for Tommy; he wanted it for Cassidy, too. And maybe he wanted it a little for himself. Because if the Faulkners hadn't been monsters, Cassidy never would have left town. They would have had a real chance to see if what they had would have lasted.
A door slammed behind him, and he turned around to see Dylan and Tori get out of their car. He forced a smile onto his face, knowing that Dylan was already more than a little concerned about him, and he didn't need to give him any more ammunition to play overprotective big brother.
Tori gave him a hug. A pretty, dark-haired woman with deep blue eyes, Tori was not only attractive but very smart, and her sharp eyes didn't miss much. As a reporter, she was always looking for a story, and he really didn't want to give her one, but he suspected Dylan had already done that.
"How are you holding up?" she asked. "Dylan told me everything. I can't imagine how you must have felt opening up that wall…"
"I'm fine. I'm over the shock."
"Of seeing the skeleton or seeing Cassidy?" his brother put in. "I called Max last night, and he said you and Cassidy were at the station together yesterday afternoon."
"Max tracked her down; I brought her in."
"And?" Dylan prodded. "I texted you a half-dozen times last night. Why didn't you answer?"
"Because I was busy." Busy thinking about Cassidy! But he wasn't going to tell his brother that.
"I remember Cassidy," Tori interjected. "All the girls were jealous when she snagged you as her boyfriend. She was an outsider, and I think she got some crap about it. Girls can be mean."
His gaze narrowed at that suggestion. "Really? She never said anything."
Tori shrugged. "Maybe it didn't bother her."
He doubted that. But why should he be surprised that she'd kept that from him, when she'd clearly kept a lot of things away from him?
"Are you going inside?" Tori asked.
"In a minute. Go on without me."
"Okay. I hope I didn't upset you."
"You didn't."
"I'll be right there," Dylan told Tori.
When his wife headed toward the house, Dylan gave him a sharp look. "How are you really feeling?"
"I'm fine. I'm just not in the mood for everyone in the family to grill me."
"I only told Tori."
"And Mom."
"That's true."
"So, basically everyone in the family knows?"
"Probably." Dylan gave him an unrepentant smile. "You know how the family works. Get over it."
"Easy for you to say."
"Does this mood of yours have to do with Cassidy? How was it seeing her again?"
He shrugged. "It was…a lot of things. I realize now there was more behind her decision to leave than just another guy she liked better. The Faulkners were not good people. Something bad was happening in that house."
Dylan's smile faded. "Has Max talked to Mrs. Faulkner yet?"
"I don't know. I texted him before I came over, but he didn't get back to me. I was thinking he might be here this morning. Mom said she was asking everyone over. I have a feeling it's going to be a long week of pre-wedding celebration."
"Let's go inside and find out." As they walked toward the house, Dylan added, "Did Cassidy look better than you remember or worse?"
"Way better," he said with a sigh. "I always thought she was beautiful, but now she's really come into her own."
"What does she do?"
"She designs landscapes, gardens. She works at a nursery in Half Moon Bay. She's been there since she was nineteen."
"She's never been that far away."
"No, not far at all."
* * *
As two of her coworkers, Freddie and Dana, finished unloading potted plants and trees onto the deck of the Holman estate, Cassidy took her hands out of the rich, dark soil and stood up, wiping her sweaty brow with a nearby towel. She'd been working on one section of the garden since eight a.m. and it was almost eleven now; she was ready for a break.
"One more pallet of plants," Dana said, walking over to her, as Freddie headed back to the truck. "Then we're done for now. Well, you're not done, but I am."
She smiled back at Dana, a thirty-six-year-old mother of two who worked part-time at the nursery. "I appreciate your help. I know it's hard to leave the kids on the weekend."
"They're with their dad, having some quality time. And I was dying to see this house. It's amazing." Dana waved her hand in the air, motioning toward the four-story Victorian mansion and then to the magnificent views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Sausalito, and Angel Island.
"It will be more amazing when I get it all done." Right now, she'd only planted one small oval area by the deck. The rest of the yard would have water features, a fire pit, barbecue area, a gazebo, and, of course, plenty of trees and flowers.
"I can't wait to see it, but I hope you don't have to work the entire weekend."
"I don't mind." She actually liked having something to occupy her mind.
"Is everything okay? Felicia told me the police called yesterday and then you had some intense conversation with a very good-looking man, after which you disappeared for hours."
"Felicia should be minding the store and not my business."
"That's not an answer."
"I have some personal stuff to deal with, but it will all work out."
"Personal stuff? I didn't know you had a personal life, Cassidy. It's been all work and no play as long as I've known you."
"This relationship goes back a long time."
"Which brings us to the attractive man…"
"He's a guy I went out with in high school."
"What happened? Did you dump him, or did he dump you?"
"I broke it off."
"Interesting. And now he's back."
"Not because he's interested in me. Look, I really don't want to get into it."
"All right. I'll shut up. I just want you to be happy."
"I am happy. Look around. This is right where I want to be."
"In someone else's backyard?" Dana asked dryly.
"Not just any backyard. There's a good chance the Holmans' house and gardens will be photographed and publicized. This could be a huge break for the nursery."
"I know, but life isn't just about business. You should have some fun, too."
"This is my fun. Now, go."
As Dana left with Freddie, Cassidy grabbed her thermos of ice water and took a swig, surprised at how hot she was. After yesterday's storms, she'd thought summer was still a long way off, but the temperature was seventy-five, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She wanted to take that as a good omen, but she couldn't quite get there. She had a feeling there was another shoe that was going to drop.
Setting down her thermos, she picked up her phone. She had several missed calls from Hunter, and one from George.
She'd call George first. She wasn't quite ready to deal with Hunter again.
"Hi, it's me," she said when he answered. "Just saw you called. Everything okay?"
"It's all good here, but there's a man trying to reach you, and he sounded very distraught. I didn't want to just give out your number, so I got his. He said he knew you when he was a kid, and it was a matter of life and death."
Her heart twisted at that dramatic proclamation. For a split second, she had the ridiculously hopeful thought that it was Tommy, that the police were wrong, that it wasn't his body that they'd found in the garage. "What was his name?"
"David Bellerman. That ring a bell?"
"Yes. He was in foster care with me." He'd also been on the list she'd given to the police. "What else did he say?"
"Just that it was really important that he speak to you. I figured this was about your foster family. What do you want to do?"
"Can you text me his number?"
"Sure. How's it going at the Holmans?"
"Great. Fr
eddie and Dana just left. I have a lot to do, but I'm happy for the good weather and the moist soil."
"What more could you want?" he teased.
"Nothing."
"Don't work too hard."
"I'll see you later." As the text from George came in, she thought about David. He'd been a year older than her and Tommy, but out of all the kids at the house, David had probably known Tommy the best. They'd spent hours shooting baskets in the driveway after dinner.
She had never really trusted David, because he'd always felt a little like Geralyn's spy. David had been adopted by the Faulkners when he was seven, and he had been treated like the Faulkners' own child, and not like one of those they were getting money from the state to house and feed. She didn't know why they felt differently about David, but obviously they'd had a fondness for him that hadn't extended to the other kids.
If anyone had a different perspective on the Faulkners, it was probably David. It might be worth hearing what he had to say.
Sitting down at the patio table, she punched in his number, her nerves tightening as she waited for him to answer.
"Bellerman," he said crisply.
"It's Cassidy." Just acknowledging it was her felt like she'd taken a step in possibly the wrong direction, but it was too late to backtrack now.
"Well, you actually called me back. I almost can't believe it."
"I assume you're calling about Tommy."
"Yes. I spoke to the police earlier. I could not believe what they told me. I thought you and Tommy ran away together. What do you know?"
"Not much." Her hand tightened around the phone. "We were going to run away together, but Tommy didn't show up. What happened after I left?"
"Mom and Dad went looking for you and Tommy. They were sure you were together."
It was weird to hear David call Geralyn and Donald Mom and Dad. The other kids had always called them by their first names. "Did they contact the police? My social worker?"
"I'm sure they did. But I wasn't involved in that."
"If they went looking for me, it was so they could shut me up—the way they did Tommy. You know they killed Tommy, right?"
"Don't be ridiculous. They might not have been the best parents, but they weren't killers."
Secrets We Keep GO PL Page 8