Withholding Secrets

by Diana Fisher

  “Jordan, Sky, let’s get home so that Keri can get some rest now,” Ellen, Kane’s mother, said, her warm voice catching me by surprise. “She’s had a long day, and we need to let her get some rest. Then, we will be over to see her at dinner time.”

  “What?” Kane’s voice shot out fast as his hand tightened on mine. “Mom…”

  “Honey, do you think that we would break you four up? We spoke to the judge and filed the paperwork to adopt them. They were going to take them away because of some inconstancies with the original paperwork, and we weren’t going to let that happen. Not after what she has done for them.” Her eyes drifted down to me. “She is right, Keri. You are young yet. Too young, and you need to live your life. They will always be yours, honey. Just living with us.”

  “You adopted them?” My heart tripped and stumbled around in my chest.

  “Of course we did. When they told us that the kids were going to be placed in foster care, we had to. We had to step up. Those kids will never be with anyone else.” Reaching over, she cupped my cheek. “We would go the lengths for our family, and you are part of that family, Keri. And I have to say that we have done a good job with the first one that we adopted.”

  Kane let out a soft cry as he reached over, hugging his mother. Well, maybe I wouldn’t fight for them after all. They were going to a damn good home with damn good people. Plus, they would always be a part of my life. Mine and Kane’s life.

  Epilogue

  Christmas in July. Who has never had a Christmas in July before? As I looked over at my wife with the kids tucked on each side of her, I couldn’t be happier. Still, Keri had nightmares and she talked a lot with Alicia, but I was just glad they were home safe. Even Ben had been over almost every day, but mostly because Keri delivered what she promised to him.

  Three times a week, Keri had therapy appointments because of what she put herself through. Sometimes, she went with Alicia, but Sky hadn’t been jealous of the connection. Neither one said what they truly went through, but from the looks that they had given each other, I knew that it wasn’t anything good.

  People around the city still talked about her, but she would just smile and ask them what lengths they were willing to go to for their kids. Not one ever responded. And I had to say that Sky never was picked on again. Not after the stories that were told. Some of them were true, but Jordan and Sky always laughed them off as if they were lies.

  As we just sat around the living room, looking at the tree, I had to laugh. Keri couldn’t skate worth a damn, but she certainly could swing a hockey stick. Of course, it was at another man, but to this day, Joe couldn’t walk and his life expectancy was cut in half for the damage that she had done on him.

  Sky was the first to get up and leave Keri’s side to go downstairs for a little bit. How could she not want to go downstairs and try her new game? Jordan was a little more hesitant to get up and go downstairs, but after Keri urged him to, he finally complied.

  Looking down at the silver band that Keri put on my finger last month, I couldn’t be happier. There was a time that I tried to force myself to prepare for a life without her, but I knew I never would be able to live with her six feet in the ground. Then again, Keri wasn’t just any woman. She was one who put herself out there, regardless of the outcome, just to protect an innocent girl’s life.

  “Kane?” Her sweet and soft voice spilled through the living room, warming every inch of my insides. How I had longed for her voice since that day she pushed me away. I knew those words she said that day still haunted her, but I had forgiven her the second I figured it all out.

  Looking up, I took in the sight of the marks that were left on her neck; the ones that appeared just above the scarf that Sky fixed for her once already today. Those marks were left the night she fought her last fight. The same night she thought that no help was coming to them and did whatever she could to at least save Alicia.

  Seeing the markings her own brother left on her still made me want to vomit, but at the same time, pride took over knowing she did it all for those girls. And I would hate every single one of them, and also be honored she bared the scars for the rest of her life to prove her love for her own daughter. “Yes?”

  “Are you happy?” The water filled in those soft grays as she watched me twirl that band on my left hand. I never imagined that I would have a ring on that finger, but there came a day when I couldn’t wait for her to put one on it. When she finally did, I never stopped smiling, or falling in love with her again, and again.

  “Very.” Moving over to the couch next to her, I hesitated to wrap my arm around her. The stuff her brother put her through was more than I could even think about, and I was sure she hadn’t told everything about that captivity and the darkness she endured. If it was dark, the fear was so deep in her that I couldn’t bear it and put three nightlights in our room, and more around the house in case she had gotten up in the middle of the night.

  “I … I … um…” Giving a little shrug, she carefully unwrapped the red scarf and placed it on her lap, allowing the scars around her neck to show. The waters glassed over her eyes as they met mine, imprinting her deep into my heart.

  “Are you happy?”

  “Kane.” With her voice weakening, I just wanted to wrap her in my arms and hold her, but I had to hold off. I had to control myself and let her heal. Moving too fast after the horror that she underwent was risky. She would come to me when she was ready. And she already came to me in the night and was willing to crawl in bed next to me now. Someday, she would be fully ready to have me again. “He … I … when I fired that second shot … I thought I killed myself. I thought that I would never see you again. When I woke up in the hospital and you weren’t there, I wished that I had killed myself.”

  “Hey. You are here. You are my wife, my whole life, Keri.”

  “All I could think was that I lost you for good. I would rather have died than not to have you in my life anymore.” Taking a deep breath, she looked over at me, letting her tears go. “It hurt so bad saying what I did that day, but I couldn’t risk your life. I trusted you with them. I trusted you with Sky, Kane. I really did. I really do. I know that I hurt you that day, and I was prepared to die because of it.”

  “I never held it against you, Keri. If I had seen what you were actually doing, I would have stopped you, and then what? Ben would never have seen Alicia again, and those other girls would never have been freed. Sky would have to constantly look over her shoulder, and I would have to guard her constantly.” Stretching my arm out, I laid it along the back of the couch, letting my fingers catch some strands of her silky, darker locks.

  Nodding, her chin quivered a little more. “When I had gone there that night, I figured that it was Joe and my boss, but I never thought it would have been him, my own brother. And, I am not sorry that I killed him. I am not sorry that I took his life for them, for her, for me.”

  “You are the bravest woman that I ever met, and I love you more now than ever, Keri. Just, come to me if anything comes up again. I can’t risk losing you again.” The last night we spent in the interrogation room, I waited for my life to end with the news of Keri’s death. Each minute that passed was torture, and all I could do was hold those kids close and just hope that Sky wasn’t too late with cracking that code.

  “He used to drug me. He drugged me enough to keep me asleep so that he…” Reaching over, she slipped her hand into mine and squeezed. “She never told me that she found out what he was doing. She never said a word.”

  “She was protecting you, Keri. She loved you. Your mother loved you and didn’t want you to have to be reminded of that every day of your life.”

  “Um … when they cleared his home, they found a key. It was to a lockbox, and she had things in there, Kane. Things that she hid. Her will was in there. She left everything to me, Kane. She left everything to me because of him. And my sister, hell, she was just as bad as he was. She knew, too. She knew and never told me. My sister was pissed beca
use he loved me and not her. What kind of sick bastards were they, Kane?” Her hand tightened on mine as she held onto me for her life. “The FBI took everything from the box and sent me the money. They made sure that I had it all, and all I could think is why they couldn’t have found it sooner and I could have been able to keep my kids. If they found it before the hearing, I could have been able to keep my kids.”

  “Oh, Keri. My parents love them so much. And they are still yours.” The hole in my heart for my family opened even more, knowing that my parents jumped in and adopted the kids just to keep us all together.

  Keri would understand that someday, but for now, everything was too raw for her to accept. Fate was going to take them away no matter how much money Keri had or didn’t have. It was all based on the crimes she committed. “I am such a horrible person. I don’t want to fight for them. They have the best parents there are, and I don’t want to fight for them back.”

  Forget it. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to hold her. Wrapping my arm around her, I pulled her to my chest and pressed my lips to the top of her head. “That makes you all the better, Keri. Not a bad person. My parents only adopted them to make damn sure they never were taken away from you again. That’s all. They are still yours. They will always be yours, and we don’t need any paper stating anything different.”

  “I want us to be like how we were before. I want us to be that family again. I miss it so much. I miss us all together under the same roof, and I can’t help but think that it is all my fault.”

  “No, baby. It’s not. And we are all under the same roof. All of us.”

  “I missed her birthday, his games, her games, school, Christmas. I didn’t even get her a birthday gift.” Her hand released mine, and just when I feared that she was going to pull away, she wrapped her arms around my waist and rested tight against me, right where I needed her the most.

  “Keri, you have given her the best gift anyone could give their daughter. She wouldn’t want anything more. She doesn’t want anything more, because she has exactly what she wants. She had you, Keri.” Smiling, I took the chance and just held her in my arms. How I missed having her in my arms. There would never be another day she wasn’t nestled right in my arms.

  The knock on the door came loud enough to make her jump. Her heart beat out of her chest and against the fabric of the thin, black shirt. Easing my way out from under her, I made my way to the panel and disarmed the alarm and sucked in a deep breath.

  It wasn’t going to be my parents, because they were off on a cruise and the kids wanted to stay with Keri. I didn’t blame them at all. With the length of time we had to spend apart, we weren’t going to let that time come in between us again. My mom and dad didn’t argue, but gave us this chance to have the time alone, all together and alone.

  The suited woman at the door had a large folder in her hand, and her finely shaped brows were pinching in the middle of her forehead. Her hair was blonde now, and her grassy greens were shaded with the exhaustion. “She hasn’t done anything wrong, Agent Cunningham.”

  “I’m not visiting because of broken violations.” Her eyes drifted over to my beautiful wife seated on the couch. “I need to speak to Mrs. Bruton.”

  Stepping back, I let the tall blonde walk in and take a seat on the black recliner where she could easily interrogate Keri. My heat slammed hard and my chest muscles tightened trying to figure out why the agent was visiting. “Keri, this is the FBI agent who was working the case when Alicia was abducted. Agent Cunningham.”

  “Actually, it’s Laurie Stanton now, but we won’t get into that.” The smile sprang to her face, illuminating the beautiful flawless features the woman had. Though her hair was died and bleached blonde, I could see the changes that were made from the time I spent in the interrogation rooms to now. They were subtle, but I imagine with the FBI, anything can change easily. “Keri, I need your help and expertise on the shit you are able to do…

  What happens next with Keri and Kane? What is this agent wanting from Keri now? Here is a glimpse into the next Secret….

  Ethel’s Secret

  Tugging the long blonde strands of hair, she checked the ends for splits again. None. This was a great color this time. Blonde. A beautiful sunshine color, like a golden ray that came down from a perfect day. Except for the dark mocha that was coloring the underneath layer of her hair. When she told the hairdresser she wanted something young and fresh, didn’t care what, and absolutely no red at all, this was what she opened her eyes to see.

  What was her original hair color? Not a color she wanted to think about again and whatever color it had been, she really didn’t care for it. She didn’t care for a lot before she came into the world of constantly changing her looks, her name, and her duties. Even when she had to work undercover as a sewage worker, it was better than what she came from.

  Headlights coming down the road kicked her heart up a notch in the beating rhythm. This had to be the guy she had been waiting for. And why in the hell would her boss set her up with someone he knew from college?

  A little resort in the Caribbean where she could relax and enjoy what was left of her life would have been the better choice. But no. Matt sent her in this little town of Melrose, Wisconsin; right smack dab in the middle of Cow-Polk Country, U.S.A where the last hundred or so miles, she had to keep the windows up and sealed to blockage the stench of farms passing by. Another idea Matt must be cozying up in his office, laughing about.

  A vehicle finally turned onto the street, reflecting the lights in her side mirror. A pickup truck. Nothing like a northern hillbilly, roughneck, good ol’ boy to be staying with until she was free and clear from the past assignment.

  As the black truck pulled into the drive of the older two-story farm looking house on the very south end of town, her heart sank into the empty vat of stomach. This was not her idea of fun what so ever.

  Waiting was not her idea of fun, but there she sat for the past two hours waiting … and waiting … and waiting. Recalling what Matt told her about her cover, he sounded like a big dipshit and she knew she wasn’t going to get along with him anyway. Who went strictly by the book anymore anyway?

  This guy did. Everything was by the book, Matt told her over and over. Everything was by-the-book. Page-by-page. Word-by-word.

  Using her shoulder, she shoved the creaky door open and grumbled under her breath. As she walked up the sidewalk, through the broken slab of concrete, the grass was climbing out for a touch of sun and the lawn was as wild as the grasslands of Africa. Nothing to make the home look anything like a home. Not even a cheap plastic pink flamingo that could turn a broken down pull-behind trailer into a place that looked somewhat inviting with the comforts of a welcome.

  Still, this place was far from being anything like that nightmare she spent seventeen years of her life in. This place had a little more potential, but she wasn’t going to be there very long anyway to even care to find out what that potential was.

  Her vacation was coming up and as soon as Matt got off his ass and clear her from this case, she would be on her way to that little island paradise where she can just relax for once. And nothing was going to stop her from heading down to paradise as soon as the assignment was over with. Not a damn thing.

  Books by Diana Fisher

  Emmerson’s Heart

  Set My Soul Free

  Love, Lies, and Dog Tags

  What Lies on the Edge

  About the Author

  I am from Wisconsin, the southeastern and Midwest part of the state. I have been writing since I could remember, but back in those days, I was carrying around a notebook and a pen. These days, however, I carry around my laptop all the time.

  I love to write and create stories. It is such a release from the everyday stress and complications life brings on. There is nothing like breaking free and creating something that could have a happy ending...or not. I didn't think I would actually ever publish...that is until the wonderful Amazon.com had given us the Kin
dle. With the advancement of the e-readers, it opened a world to authors who wanted to get their work out there no matter what.

  I did enlist in the Air Force when I was twenty-five and served a wonderful five years. After my service, I went on to school where I received an Associates in Medical Administration and, I just graduated with my Bachelors in Business Information Technology. I live in a small town in North Dakota for the time being and I love the winter aspect, but not the cold. Someday, I might plan to move back to Wisconsin, but as for now, I love writing about it.

  If you enjoy my writing, please feel free to check on my website at authordianafisher.weebly.com. I hope you enjoy!