Page 122 of The Secrets She Keeps

Shock froze her right where she was. He had lived in Hughes Heights for almost twenty years. She didn’t want him toleave.

"When will you be back?" She didn't want her father to move away. Maybe they didn't have the greatest relationship, but he was her father. That mattered. And... "I thought she had another week of vacation left."

Brianna had been intending to fly Leena back to her boarding school when the time came. To see it for herself. Make sure Leena was being well taken care of there. Leena was so little to be away from her family all the time. Brianna had just wanted to see for herself. Leena said she hated it there. She didn’t want to go back.

"We need to go. Something has happened now. I can't explain, Brianna. We just need to leave. Unless you would like me to leave her with you forever. You want to play like her mother for another ten years?"

He had never spoken to Brianna like that, and the hand he had around her armhurt."Let me go. You’re hurting me. What is wrong with you?"

He pulled in a deep breath. “I have to leave now. It's not safe for me to stay here. Definitely not for Leena to. And I have tohelp your brother. Before he makes the greatest mistakes of his life.”

"Trey is over by the park, like creepy stalking my friend Powell right now. Her mom and dad live next to the park and everything. I took Leena over there yesterday, then again today while I talked to Powell's mom about HOA business. She's the association's attorney, remember?"

"She wasreally, really nice.Really pretty. She gave me chocolate cake and told me I was very beautiful. So is Powell." Leena was dancing around the living room. She loved to dance and pirouette. She was really good too. Timothy should probably pay for her to have lessons or something soon.“I saw her pictures. Powell’s mommy said I reminded her of her little girl when she was eight too.”

"Will I ever see her again?" Brianna asked snarkily. He was acting all crazy and everything. Just like Trey had been. "What are you and Trey doing now?"

"You might not. It depends. I need to go now." He surprised her by pulling her closer for a moment. Timothy kissed her forehead. "I love you. I am your father, and I always will be. Leena, get your things together. We're leaving."

"I don't want to go! I want to stay with my sister! I want to stay here with Bri!"

Well, Brianna wasn't so sure she wanted Leena to leave either. But the idea of keeping the kid forever? No way. Jack would never come back ever again.

"Why are you running away, anyway?"

82

Gunnar had been workingfor almost three days straight just to fall in bed at the Castle—and wrap himself around the woman who mattered most. Holding her the way he had imagined for so long. He never wanted to let her go.

He was back in the bullpen again. In front of a trio of whiteboards. He saw it all in red and purple ink. In Jarrod’s distinctive scrawl. Connections were starting to fall in place. Gunnar was putting things together. Things that he had to admit made little sense to him at all.

He waited until he and Daniel were behind closed doors. It was time to figure this out. Figure out Timothy and Trey Grundenman. Make those bastards pay for the hurt they had caused.

“So…Jarrod’s theory, at first, I thought he was pulling shit from thin air, damned conspiracy theorist that he is. I swear he probably believes in little gray men or something.” Daniel studied the whiteboard behind his desk.

“Maybe they’ll go to Roswell for their honeymoon. Or check out Area 51.” Jarrod had already popped the question. Haldyn had said yes—as if there was ever any doubt. Gunnar had beenone of the first ones to know. He was going to be doing best man duty in the near future. Powell was going to be the seriously sexy maid of honor. He had great plans for after the ceremony.

Those two weren’t wasting any more time. Jarrod had made that clear.

Well, Gunnar understood that. He was done wasting time with the woman he loved too. Life was too short for that.

Daniel circled something else on the board.

Gunnar recognized everything as what Jarrod had been working on before Haldyn had been abducted the first time. They needed the cases Heather and Miguel had worked together—whenever Wilson would show up to target Heather again. Those might just be the missing key.

“I don’t think he is seeing things that aren’t there now. I think someone out there is running a damned ring around Wichita Falls and Finley Creek, and I think they have been for a long time.” Daniel paused a moment. He looked rough. Tired. Angry. “And somehow…the Colesons are involved. Probably unwittingly, considering what has happened to them. But that family of beautiful beasts might just have the answers we’ve been looking for. Somewhere.”

“But what kind of secrets are they keeping that would lead tothis? And do they even have a clue?” Gunnar couldn’t imagine they did. They were exactly who they appeared to be. Kind, loving, and loyal—willing to do whatever it took for the ones that they cared about. He would stake his life on that.

“Or is Bonnie really just innocent collateral, who somehow just got stuck with all of the girls when life hit the fan?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t think she’d consider it just beingstuck,Dan,” Gunnar told him, irked at the words for reasons he couldn’t explain. The Colesons weren’tstucktogether at all. They wereblessed to have each other. But Daniel didn’t seem to get that.Familywasn’t exactly Daniel’sthing.

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it. Is it possible Bonnie Coleson knows more about what was going on? Do you believe they just didn’t talk to Zoey’s mother for decades? Or do you think Davis Lucas is right? And the brother-in-law just went bad suddenly? Or do you think there is a possibility Heather’s father was involved all along? Maybe his death wasn’t an accident.”

“What do you think it was? A damned hit?” Gunnar felt sick even thinking about it. Heather’s family had that man on a pedestal. He hadn’t missed that.

“Maybe Dr. Andrew Coleson was involved—and his pals turned on him. We’ve seen it before.”

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