Burned by Deception (The Dark Side of Springwood Book 2)

by Jennifer A. Brown

  Copyright

  Burned by Deception is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  BURNED BY DECEPTION: A NOVEL

  Copyright © 2020 by Jennifer A. Brown

  All rights reserved.

  Editing by KP Editing

  Cover Design by KP Designs

  -www.kpdesignshop.com

  Published by Kingston Publishing Company

  - www.kingstonpublishing.com

  The uploading, scanning, and distribution of this book in any form or by any means—including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions of this work, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  Extras

  About the Author

  About the Publisher

  Prologue

  “You’re a really bad girl, aren’t you?” the voice asked her.

  She smiled. “I’m only as bad as you want me to be.”

  “Oooohhh,” he chuckled a little. “Well, I know for a fact how bad you are. Why don’t you tell everyone what you’ve done?”

  She laughed. “You mean…what we’ve done?”

  “Ah, I won’t take so much credit,” he said, a little nervously. “Why don’t you tell everyone about taking off and leaving your father behind while you were swimming with him?”

  She pouted. “He wasn’t my daddy. No, this guy…He gave us direction after her daddy died.”

  “Who’s us?”

  She smiled. “Me and Lyn. You know, the bitch.”

  “Ok. What else have you done? Why don’t we talk about your brother? What have you done with him?”

  “Again…not my brother. He’s Lyn’s brother, and…he’s always trying to look out for her, which is great. But it keeps me back, and that’s what I don’t like,”

  “That’s such a shame. I know what else your brother did--Sorry, I mean Lyn’s brother! Do you remember what I told you that night?”

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. “How could I forget?” she went on. “I got so mad, I actually tried to attack him, until I realized it was the other brother. Lyn had us so damn clouded up from that flipping migraine medication, my judgment was screwed up. After that, she pushed me away for a long time. God, I’ve missed you.”

  “Oh, and I’ve missed you, but we can catch up later, sweetie. Right now, I need you to tell all of Springwood what your--I mean, Lyn’s brother, mayoral candidate Jacob Barnes, did.”

  “He kidnapped us. He kept me and his sister away from her real daddy.”

  The video stopped for the fourth time. He kept telling himself he would stop watching it, but there was just too much pull. Especially now with what he knew. But the moment he learned the truth and Googled the name Davis Cauley and discovered the shocking YouTube video, featuring the now dead former newscaster and his biological daughter, he had been unable to tear himself away from the computer, watching it continuously. It was like a bad scene from a movie he couldn’t just turn away from.

  It was still hard hearing his mother’s words repeating in his head. The ugly truth. The man that had left her when he was only three years old was not his real father. She had ended up telling him the whole sordid story after he’d walked in on her crying. She was clutching the news story with his photo in her hand.

  He stared at the screen, at the frozen expression on Jocelyn Barnes’ face. Allegedly, the expression of her alter personality. She was said to suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID. He had read up on all the stories about her. She was actually the fifth trending topic on MSN one day.

  She was getting all kinds of attention. And it sickened him.

  His phone rang, and he calmly picked it up, a little thankful for the distraction. He already knew who it was. Only one person there in Springwood had his number besides his employer. And he knew it was too late for them to be calling at nearly two in the morning.

  “Hello, Dr. Havash.”

  “I have been thinking about what you said,” the voice on the other end replied without saying hello.

  He smiled to himself. “Aaaannd?”

  There was some hesitation on the other end, before the Doctor spoke again telling him exactly what he had hoped to hear. Five minutes later, he was watching the video once again, his heart racing after their brief conversation.

  Chapter 1

  Danny Nixon leaned over, picking up that day’s paper on his best friend, Mayor Jacob Barnes’, porch. After maneuvering the rubber band off that held the rolled up paper, he looked at the headline for the December 1st edition of the Springwood Daily Newspaper. Even a week later the media couldn’t stop printing updates on the condition of Carson Sowers, the man who had shot him last month trying to find out where Jacob was. Eventually the man had gotten Jacob’s attention by kidnapping his brother.

  Danny shook his head, wincing as an ache shot through his arm, which remained in a sling from the incident. Carson was now in stable condition after being hit by a garbage truck right outside where he was holding Justin Barnes, Jacob’s younger brother, hostage. He was facing murder, attempted murder, as well as a host of other charges once he was released from the hospital…which according to the article, wasn’t too far away.

  “Danny?” He looked up as Jocelyn Barnes, his best friend’s younger sister, came into the front room, her brown hair tousled and still in pink pajamas. She was about eight years younger than Jacob at 26, and had always hated the name Jocelyn, so most called her Lyn. “Oh, I am so sorry. I overslept.”

  She had been the one, as of late, to get up early and prepare breakfast for Danny since the news broke about the underground casino that unknowing taxpayers had paid for in Springwood, while Lauren Smith’s former mob connections basically ran the city. Jacob had been working overtime to correct the situation, having meetings and rectifying decisions.

  “It’s all right. I just woke up, myself.” He replied, trying to smooth out his own dark hair.

  She came in and sat across from him near the window, peeking out. “Oh, neat! We did get our first dusting of snow.”

  “Yeah. I heard Jacob scraping his windshield this morning.”

  She glanced at him. “So, what sounds good for breakfast? Pancakes? Eggs?”

  “Just some toast and cereal i
s fine.”

  “Okay.”

  She got up and left the room. Soon afterward, he could hear her pouring cereal into a bowl. He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling like a total mooch. As much as he appreciated their help, he was used to being independent. He got up and went into the kitchen where she was sliding bread into the toaster.

  “It’s okay. I can just have cereal. Besides, didn’t I hear you make plans with Brian last night?”

  She turned to him. “Oh, yeah. We’re going to pick out a tree. But this won’t take long.” She said as the toast popped up already. “See?”

  All Dan could do was manage a weak smile as he thanked her, sitting down to eat.

  ****

  “Mr. Barnes?”

  Jacob and Robin both paused where they lay across his desk as he squeezed the edge of it. “Yes, Mrs. Mills?” he asked.

  “I know you asked for no interruptions, but this is urgent. Gavin Clarke is here.”

  Robin looked at Jacob from where she laid on top of him, her blue eyes questioning. He released a pent up breath, slightly blowing part of his dark brown bangs. “Who’s Gavin Clarke?” she whispered to him as he motioned for her to get up.

  “Okay, Mrs. Mills. Give me five minutes to finish up with Miss Langley, and I’ll be out.” Jacob stood, re-buttoning his gray slacks as Robin buttoned her white blouse after readjusting her skirt, finishing up one of several rendezvous, since she had been hired as his sister’s lawyer.

  “Who is Gavin Clarke?” she asked aloud now.

  “He’s a singer. He graduated a year before me and five years later appeared on Music Idol. He didn’t win but managed to get a record deal and a one hit wonder back in 2005. Now, it’s tradition for him to come every year for the Christmas festival—which is this weekend, and I forgot to invite him.”

  Robin raised her eyebrows, as she tried to smooth out her blonde shoulder length hair. “Wow. So he’s somewhat of a celebrity.”

  Jacob laughed. “I guess. You see, when we started up our band in high school he wanted to audition, and we finally let him. His girlfriend at the time was cute, and she begged us to. But he sucked. We turned him down right there, and of course, he got pissed.”

  “Ohhh,” Robin said, drawing out the syllable in realization.

  He walked over and took her cheeks in his hands, kissing her. “I’ll call you later. Thanks for stopping by.”

  She smiled back as she grabbed her bag and walked out.

  ****

  Becky Robinson smiled, staring at her computer screen. “Oh my God. Trent, this is so awesome! Thank you!”

  “No problem.” said the dark-haired figure who sat beside her at her computer.

  She clicked around her new website which promoted her book. The home page featured her book cover along with a link to purchase it. Her name stretched across the top in rage italic font. There was a spot for a blog, a guestbook, and links to her Myspace and Facebook. Her photo, a snapshot of her with her books at her launch held at Sharkey’s where she worked as a server, also graced the site; her blonde hair down and framing a petite face with blue eyes. Pride swelled within her as she became anxious to share this with her best friend, Jocelyn Barnes.

  “Hey, I’ve already got a guestbook signature!” she said excitedly, clicking on it.

  “Yeah, it was me. Thought I’d pop your guestbook cherry.”

  She giggled and turned to him. “Wow, Trent. I’m so glad Bridget told me about you. Lucky too. You’re an impressive web designer.”

  He smiled at her, his dark blue eyes twinkling. “I’m glad my cousin mentioned me. She said you were her favorite work buddy, and now I can see why,” he went on. “So, you sold many books yet?”

  “Uh huh. At my launch party almost a week ago, everyone I knew bought a copy. I’m just trying to get a book signing set up at the bookstore in the mall. Even though, from what I’ve heard, it’s nearly impossible.”

  “Why’s that?” Trent asked, seeming genuinely confused yet interested.

  She sighed heavily, looking down. “I guess it’s because Bound in Books is not your standard publisher. At least that’s what I’ve seen in forums online when I’ve tried to promote my book. They publish books within a month and supposedly don’t thoroughly edit them.”

  “Is that so?” he went on, getting up. “Well, isn’t that a copy of it over there on your shelf? Let’s see.”

  Before Becky could protest he had gone over and grabbed the book, looking it over. He scowled and turned it over to face her. “Becky Robbinson? Isn’t your last name spelled with one b?”

  She sighed in frustration, getting up and taking the book from him. “Yes! Okay, they did mess up the cover. But when I emailed them about it, some guy replied and seemed hostile saying it would cost me nearly three hundred bucks to have it changed, and I should just be glad to be a published author. I haven’t emailed them about anything since.”

  Trent continued looking through the book. “They also printed chapter 11 twice.”

  Becky looked at him, a confused pout forming on her face. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No. It’s right here. You can see it for yourself.”

  She took the book, flipping through the pages before throwing it down and putting a hand to her mouth.

  “Didn’t they send you proofs to edit or anything?”

  “Yes, but I had to pull a double shift when they sent them to me, and you have to have it back within 48 hours, or they drop you. I had to send it back, and all I got to look over was the first chapter which was fine!” she went on. “It was either that or forget it. And I had already told everyone it was going to happen.”

  He nodded solemnly as he moved toward the door. “Well, I should get going now. I’ve got to run by my brother’s place and pick up a few things.”

  Becky nodded, tucking some hair behind her ear. “Thanks, Trent.”

  He gazed at her, his long lean frame lingering in her doorway. “No problem, Becky. See you around.”

  ****

  Justin Barnes hobbled on his crutches over to his sister's front door. Someone had been banging on the door for the past few minutes just as he was about to sit down to eat breakfast.

  “All right! I’m almost there. Give me a break; I’m crippled for crying out loud!” he cried, opening the door to see a man with slightly graying hair at the sides and darker hair covering his scalp, appearing to be a toupee. He wore loafers, blue jeans and a flannel coat. “Can I help you?” Justin asked.

  “I’m looking for Jocelyn Barnes.”

  Justin blinked as his heart skipped a beat. “Um, she’s not here. I’m her brother; what can I-“

  “I know who you are. Look, I’m Russell Simons, her landlord. No one has been paying rent here, so I’ve started the eviction process. She has seven days to remove her belongings.”

  He handed Justin some papers he just now realized he was holding and started to walk off. “Wait a minute. You can’t just evict her. She hasn’t been working!”

  Russell turned around. “I haven’t received rent for thirty-one days. According to real estate law, I can evict her.”

  “Well, how much is the rent?” Justin cried, just before Russell reached his car, a black Pontiac Grand Am.

  “It’s too late. Please have everything moved out by next Monday.”

  Justin watched as Russell drove off, feeling the eviction papers in his hand crumpling under his grip. He had been staying at his sister’s place since being released from prison a little over a month ago. He’d served time for allegedly attacking his sister’s ex, who got off scot free after raping her. Her alter personality, Tammy, had been the real culprit behind what happened to Scott, but she had been wearing Justin’s coat and hat, and it occurred in a bar where the only witnesses were drunk. Naturally, people accused Justin.

  It was easy to confuse the two, though. Despite having two different fathers, he resembled his sister. They shared the same color brown hair and the same eyes. They both resembled their
mother, while Jacob looked more like John Barnes.

  He’d been staying at his sister’s place since the judge decided she had to be under her brother’s watchful eye at his house. Now she was due to stand trial at some point for a murder at Mercy Park the authorities found evidence linking her to. All this after her other personality was introduced to the world via her brother’s hacked campaign site. The hacker was Davis Cauley, former newscaster, Jocelyn’s biological father, and foster brother to Brenda Sowers…the very woman she was being tried soon for killing.

  Justin took a deep breath trying to calm himself as he closed the door of his sister’s apartment.

  ****

  Lyn was rinsing out her and Dan’s cereal bowls in the sink when the phone rang. She hurried into the front room to grab the extension.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey sweetie. Look, I’m going to have to postpone our date today.”

  “Brian, no.” she moaned, sitting on the sofa.

  “I’m so sorry. Two reporters are out sick, and I just got their assignments.”

  “Well, what are they? Maybe I can help.”

  “Lyn, you’re not officially back on staff.”

  “Well, maybe I can do this just to prove I should be. Brian, I’ve had no incidents for a while now, and-“

  The sound of something crashing followed by Dan cursing loudly, caused her to pause, in alert. Brian even heard it. “What the heck was that?”

  She sighed. “It was Danny. Can I call you back?”

  “You can, but I don’t know how soon I’ll be able to talk.”

  “Okay. I’ll leave a voicemail. Love you!”

  She quickly hung up the phone and dashed into the hall to find out what happened. The bathroom door was closed, and she could still hear Dan cursing under his breath. She held up her hand prepared to knock and ask if everything was okay.

  ****

  “Wow. So it’s Mayor Barnes now?” Gavin Clarke declared as he walked into Jacob’s office with a grin surrounded by a five o’clock shadow.