Page 14 of The Secrets She Keeps

Uh-oh.

“Heather is mad,” Cara told Powell. Completely unnecessarily.

“At which jackass older brother of mine?” Powell asked. Alex and Mac both had jackass tendencies. “I have two to choose from.”

Alex lived right next door to Cara now. Mac? Well, Mac wasMac.It could be either of her brothers, honestly. She’d believejackassof both.

“You have three brothers.” Cara, again.

“Yes, but Brandt is very sweet. He has very few jackass tendencies. I started training him in the womb. Twins can be quite difficult to manage, so I got an early start.”

“Tell me about it,” Heather said. “My own twin is very untrainable. Now, where is Mr. McKinley M. Barratt, esquire?”

“He’s about to be toast,” Cara said so seriously.

“Mac has sent us another certified letter. On behalf of…Luc,” Eden said quietly. She was a more reserved woman, Powell had noticed before.

But, for a moment there, she really did resemble Brianna. A lot. The way she tilted her head, maybe. Her hairline. Even the eyebrows and her jawline.

And a totally opposite attitude, thankfully.

Powell shook it off. It was just leftover Brianna cooties making Powell hallucinate or something. See a resemblance that just wasn’t there.

“I see. Luc is Mac’s client exclusively. Well, Mac and my father. I don’t know what they are working on,” Powell focused on the angriest Coleson in front of her right now. Heather looked beyond exhausted. And it was no wonder, after what had happened. Haldyn had told her some of what had happened with Hope and that Kimball guy.

And why.

Her heart hurt for the hell this woman in front of her had gone through. It never should have happened.

And Mac chosenowto stir up things on Luc’s behalf? She was going to have to talk to that brother about his timing. The big doofus. Had he missedeverythingthat had been going on in Finley Creek since Haldyn had been shot?

“Harassing us is a good place to start. He’s sending one of these every three days now,” Heather said. She handed the envelope she held to Powell. “We have to go. Cara, stay inside here until Miguel or Summer gets you, understand? Watch from the window, but do not go outside until they see you too.”

“Yes. I don’t ever leave once I’m here.” Cara looked at Powell, then the envelope Heather had given Powell. “We all signed it, you know. It was unanimous.”

“I’ll give it to Mac.” Powell looked down.

At the letter from B-3, addressed to the Coleson Family, Number Nine Jude Way, Finley Creek.

The envelope that had been decorated with graffiti and around two dozen signatures. Including many childish ones. There was even a cartoon version of Heather’s baby drawn on there, with her name in neat, stylized letters underneath. Nearby was a cartoon version of Heather’s older girl—and Heatherherself. With vampire fangs and a cape. The little girl cartoon wore a matching cape and had fangs. Powell looked closer—the baby had tiny fangs on there too. How hilarious.

Powell’s own baby would probably wear a Viking helmet and furs. Considering…

In bold pink marker, over a large cartoon duck with an eyepatch, were the words“Leave us the hell alone, Luc. We do not want your money! Stay away, or we will put a hex on you!”

There was a cartoon version of who looked likeBonnie Colesonin a witch hat next to it. Was the duck supposed to be her familiar?

Someone had drawn hundred dollar bills alongside the margins. Powell just gawked. There was a cartoon version of Hope skateboarding on top of the mountain of bills. “Didallof you decorate this?”

“Of course. We took turns,” Heather said. “One Coleson?—”

“All Colesons,” the three finished in unison.

“It says it right there,” Cara said, pointing to big pale blue letters that Powell was certain was paint. They had definitely taken their time with the large envelope. “Una Colesons, Omnes Colesons.”

“There are more…succinct responses to some of Luc’srequestsinside,” Eden said, fury in her tone. “Like, that asshole is not getting a DNA sample from my son. He just isn’t. Make sure your brother knows that, okay? I wanted to deliver this part myself. Tell him, ‘Hell, no. It’ll never happen.’ For me?”

“I will do just that.” Because there was fear in Eden’s eyes too. What was Luc—and Mac—up to now?

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