by Renee Roman
When Sarah Peters hires a private investigator to find the twin brother she’s just discovered exists, she’s unprepared for the cocky, self-assured Camdyn Stark. Finding missing persons is Cam’s specialty and she knows she can get the job done, even if she’s not too keen to delve into the system she blames for her abusive childhood. There’s no denying her attraction to the quietly beautiful Sarah, but when she uncovers the truth, Cam’s torn between keeping Sarah safe and doing the job she was hired to do.
As Cam gets closer to solving the case and revealing the danger threatening them both, will her own dark secrets and the lies she’s buried jeopardize her future with Sarah?
Where the Lies Hide
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Where The Lies Hide
© 2019 By Renee Roman. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-63555-372-7
This Electronic Original Is Published By
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: August 2019
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editors: Victoria Villasenor and Cindy Cresap
Production Design: Susan Ramundo
Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])
By the Author
Epicurean Delights
Stroke of Fate
Where the Lies Hide
Acknowledgments
Len Barot, thank you for making Bold Strokes Books a safe haven for writers and a place we can escape to as readers. I owe my deepest gratitude to my editor, Vic Villasenor, for showing me the ropes and explaining the whys, and why-nots, of this craft we call writing. Cindy Cresap, thank you for your patience and encouraging words. Hopefully, you only pulled out a few hairs this round. Cover artist, Sheri, I am in love with this amazing cover. Sandy Lowe, thank you for working through the rough spots with me. I know it’s not always easy, and I appreciate your kindness. And to all the behind-the-scenes folks at BSB, thank you for the hard work and dedication you show every author. We couldn’t do this without you.
To Shel Lee, for your investigative insights during the conception of this project. You were the jump start I needed. Thank you, Detective Sergeant Dan, for your procedural input and explaining precinct ranks, among other things. Stick around. There’s a police story that will need you down the road.
To my friends and family—when I told you I was being published I think I surprised you all. Your love and support are a gift to me.
To my wife, Sue. I know it’s not always easy living with a writer wife and I am grateful for your endurance and understanding.
And to my readers, there are pages, chapters, and books ahead. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy crafting them.
Dedication
To my BFF, Sandy.
When life is a series of road bumps, remember to enjoy the ride.
Thanks for always taking that ride with me.
Chapter One
Dear Investigator,
I’m contacting you because my wife has been acting rather strange of late, and working a lot of overtime without any evidence in our bank account…
Camdyn Stark drummed her fingertips on the desk while reading the latest email addressed to Stark Revelations. The organization only consisted of three people—her, one green investigator, and a crackerjack assistant—but she was proud of the work they did.
She’d much rather help someone who was at their wits’ end with nowhere else to turn than follow cheating spouses.
Cam was about to close the window on the screen when she heard the ping announcing the arrival of a new email. Convinced it would be another boring case that she’d end up taking just for the sake of keeping busy, she sighed. Perhaps it wouldn’t be the usual. Maybe it would be a case that would hold her attention; those did come along occasionally, and she loved unraveling mysteries.
The plea was from a middle-aged couple whose father had disappeared. They’d filed a missing person report with the local police, but without more information, there hadn’t been a lot to go on. Now they were desperate to know what had happened to him. Sometimes she lucked out with missing persons cases similar to this one, though when it involved the elderly, it could be a much grimmer outcome. Especially if the family wasn’t aware their loved one had dementia or Alzheimer’s, which happened way more than it should. She hoped that wasn’t true in this case, for their sake, though it would be a good learning experience for her new hire, Kevin. She’d sit in on the initial interview and make sure the investigation headed in the right direction. He had good instincts, but he didn’t always ask pertinent questions.
As for the suspicious wife, she’d deal with that one. A few hours of snooping might reveal the individual was having an affair. Another scenario that baffled her. She never quite understood why people didn’t just talk about their feelings. But then, she wasn’t exactly an expert on emotions, so what did she know?
She picked up her desk phone.
“Hey, boss. What’s up?” Maggie answered in her always upbeat tone.
“We might have a couple of new cases. I’m going to send you the emails. Can you start a file and contact the people to set up interviews?”
“Standard procedure?” Maggie asked.
“For now. Thanks, Mags.”
“Sure thing. I’ll get right on it.”
* * *
“Hi, Sarah. What’s up?” Lisa asked.
“I…uh, can you come over?” Sarah barely got the words out, her voice betraying her.
“On my way.”
Lisa was her best friend. They’d known each other since the first grade and had both returned to their home town after graduating college, and even when more than a thousand miles separated them, they’d still found time to talk. Sarah’s awkward teenage years had been an emotional rollercoaster. She hadn’t thought about her preference for the company of girls over boys until her hormones kicked in, leaving no doubt where her attraction lay. Lisa had been the first person she’d revealed her lesbianism to, and she’d hugged Sarah fiercely. Their relationship had grown closer after the revelation, and she trusted Lisa with her highest joys and her greatest fears.
Sarah’s hand shook as she put the phone down. She tried to focus on the picture of her and her parents hanging on the wall over the buffet table. Her eyes filled, blurring everything in front of her. This can’t be real. There had to be a mistake. She picked up the white envelope, her name neatly written on the front in her mother’s familiar handwriting. She should have known something was wrong when the first sentence following the salutation was, “This isn’t going to be easy, but it’s something you need to hear.”
She couldn’t read it again. She had to wait for Lisa to get there. She needed moral support and to know she wasn’t going crazy. She paced through the small rooms, glancing out the front window every few minutes. Relief washed over her when the familiar red Beetle whipped into the driveway. Sarah raced down the few steps to greet her on the walkway. Lisa’s strong embrace calmed her.
“Let’s go inside and you can tell me everything. I brought
reinforcements.” Lisa held up a bag from a local dairy, and Sarah knew it contained a quart of their “dire situation” go-to food. Rocky road ice cream.
After Lisa scooped out two generous bowls and joined her at the table, she met Sarah’s stare. “Does this have to do with Anne’s death?”
Sarah shook her head. “No. Well, yes. Kinda.” She wasn’t making any sense. But as usual, Lisa didn’t rush her or ask a million questions; she just waited while Sarah gathered her thoughts. She took a deep breath. Where do I even begin?
“I was going through the stacks of papers lying around, you know, to sort out the junk, find bills. The will.” She shoved a spoonful of the decadent treat into her mouth, instantly feeling better. “Anyway, I came across this.” She reached for the envelope with her name on it and handed it to Lisa.
“You want me to read it?” Lisa asked around her own mouthful.
“Yes,” she croaked, fighting against the lump in her throat.
Lisa took her time, reading it once before looking up, then read the first page again. She set the letter reverently on the table, then reached out to Sarah. “I don’t know what to say.”
“So, it’s true. It wasn’t something I imagined… I have a twin?”
“It seems so.” Lisa glanced between the papers and Sarah.
“I don’t know whether to be angry or happy.” She pushed away the bowl, her appetite gone. “All these years thinking I was an only child.” Sarah snatched the pages and shook them. “Why didn’t they tell me?”
Lisa’s expression softened. “I’m sure they didn’t do it to hurt you. They loved you so much. Maybe they were afraid you’d resent them for not adopting your brother, too.”
Sarah’s anger flared. “Cowards.”
“Now, hon, you know that’s not how you really feel about the only parents you’ve ever known. I’d say they did their best for you from the first day they held you. Haven’t you said it yourself a million times? That you were so lucky to have two people who loved you unconditionally and never made you feel any less than their own flesh and blood?”
She pursed her lips. Lisa was right. She had been blessed with two amazing parents and she couldn’t imagine what her life would have been like without their love and support. She just didn’t know what to do with the news.
“Of course, you’re right. You’ve always been my voice of reason.” She pulled the bowl of melting ice cream in front of her, stirring the contents. “What do I do now?”
“What do you want to do?” Lisa asked.
She rested her chin in her hand before she downed a few more spoonfuls as she contemplated one of the most important questions of her life. What did she want to do with the information? After making the funeral arrangements and contacting her mother’s agent about the life insurance policy, Sarah hadn’t expected any surprises.
“When Dad died, my family shrunk to two. Then Mom died, and I came to terms that I was truly alone in the world.” She met Lisa’s hurt expression and hurried on. “Except for you. You know what I mean?”
“I do.”
“But now…everything’s changed. I’m not alone. I have a brother. Somewhere on the planet someone shares DNA with me. All those years growing up, I wondered what it would have been like to have a sister or brother. I knew Mom couldn’t have children, and by the time they had enough money saved to afford adopting another child, they were older. So I accepted I’d be an only child, and I was okay with it.” Sarah didn’t want to seem ungrateful. Still, the prospect of finding and getting to know her sibling was exciting.
“I think I want to try to find him.” She dropped her spoon in the empty bowl. The hollow sound reminded her too much of how she thought of herself. “Is that wrong of me?” She glanced up. She’d asked herself the same question over and over since reading the letter.
Lisa smiled at her. “I think it’s courageous. Tell me what you’re thinking, and we’ll make a list.”
Chapter Two
The weekend had been a blast, but expensive. Cam had gone a little overboard wining and dining the hookup she’d met at Kevin’s friend’s bachelorette party. Jackie’s hourglass figure had her mouth watering, and she’d made the mistake of flirting with her. Cam told her she’d like to show her a better time, but of course she’d been joking. What was she to do when the woman called her bluff, saying she had her suitcase in the car and nowhere to be? As the night wore on they’d drank a bit too much, the alcohol lowering any inhibitions the woman might have initially had. Cam had to admit the sex had been spectacular. Way more than any fantasy she might have imagined. The things they did were on the far edge of kinky and exactly what Cam had been craving. The carousing was familiar territory from her teen years, a mechanism by which she could pretend the person she was sleeping with cared about her when the darkness threatened to close in on her.
Now she had to find a way to recoup the grand she’d spent on drinks and a room with a hot tub at the nicest hotel in the city. Jackie had been worth every penny. And then some.
It was time to get back to business. Kevin was working on a case of identity theft. It wasn’t her preferred type to handle and could take a lot of man-hours, but it was a great learning experience and would provide him with a ton of on-the-job training. She didn’t want to have Kevin follow her around for months. Every investigator had to develop their own way of doing the legwork, and she’d seen potential in him from the start. He was eager to learn and well-mannered. Plus, he didn’t have her jaded views of some cases, like deadbeat dads and people who failed to take responsibility for their children.
Cam made a stop at the always ready coffee pot in hopes the caffeine would soon kick in before she knocked on Kevin’s open door.
“Hey, got a few minutes to go over the Stillman case?”
Kevin glanced up and smiled. “Absolutely, Cam. I was just finishing a few notes on what I’d found.”
She sat at the round table in the corner of his office. He soon joined her. He was organized, which she appreciated, and came up with logical assumptions based on leads he was able to follow. Thirty minutes later, she was satisfied with the progress he’d made.
“Good job. Keep at it. These people tend to fall under the radar and you don’t want him slipping away.”
Back at her desk, she scanned the six emails that had come in overnight. She’d finished her last case before calling it quits on Friday. It was time she moved on to a new one. If only she could find one worthy of challenging her skills. Her mood darkened and her chest tightened. A lot of those skills had come from looking for the woman who’d abandoned her. She didn’t want to go there. She opened her inbox and prayed she could lose herself in her work.
* * *
Sarah studied the listing of private investigators in the mid-Hudson area. She hadn’t been sure about Lisa’s suggestion, but having nowhere else to turn, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to see what was out there. She laughed out loud at the “specializing in” categories. Background checks. Civil investigations. Surveillance. Insurance scams. Fraud. Corporate investigations. Accident reconstruction. Domestic. Infidelity.
Her heart sank. If she were a betting person she would have thought missing persons would have been near the top of the list. Following the categories was a general description of each. Her chest froze when she reached the last line under “Civil.” Missing persons.
She hadn’t had all that long to make sense of the revelation left behind by her mother. Now she had the option of acting on the news. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe her mom, but Sarah couldn’t understand why she had waited until after her death to drop the bombshell in Sarah’s lap. But then, the letter’s explanation was believable. After her father’s death from a series of heart attacks, her mom had stewed over telling her, weighing the pros and cons until she thought she’d cause her own demise. She wrote that she couldn’t face telling Sarah the truth. The guilt she’d lived with for twenty-eight years was too much for her to handle, so she’d written
the letter and hidden it, knowing Sarah would eventually find it.
So, here she was. Staring at a screen listing PIs in the vicinity and contemplating how much she wanted to know. She didn’t have the time or energy to do it on her own; she wouldn’t know where to begin. She would explain to whomever she hired, if she hired someone, that she just wanted to confirm he existed, that he was still alive. Maybe her twin lived in another country. Maybe he’d died in some freak accident. Maybe there’d only be dead ends and she wouldn’t know any more than she did today. But she’d be no worse off. Not trying wasn’t an option. She had to try. But she didn’t have to meet him.
Certainly, if he knew of her he would have searched for her too, right? She huffed at the idea of the two of them unaware of each other for all this time. She sucked in a breath. What if his adoptive family preferred he not know about his sister and had covered it up like her parents had? Sarah shook her head. He was old enough to make up his own mind now. His parents couldn’t stop him even if they wanted to.
The easiest thing to do would be to close the screen and forget everything her mother had struggled to explain, to pretend she didn’t know about him and save the remainder of the insurance policy for something she really wanted, instead of on hiring someone to search for a total stranger she might not even like. She could buy a newer vehicle. Or take the vacation she never made time for.
Even as each of the reasons for not looking passed through her mind, she moved her finger along the scroll bar as it traveled down the list of names. The vibration of her cell phone across the table startled her.