Page 113 of Our Little Secret

Brooke asked, “What?”

“Some kind of necklace—no, a bracelet, I think.” Marilee unwound the gold links and red stones and held it up to a nearby lamp, where it winked bloodred, the tiny sailboat charm catching the light.

“What the devil?” Leah said as Brooke felt every muscle in her body go rigid. “Is this some kind of a joke?” She glanced up at her sister. “Do you think it belongs to the guy who found Shep? Or . . . or someone else?”

“I have no idea,” Brooke lied, her stomach grinding. “I guess we have to keep it until he comes back to claim it.”

“How can he do that?” Leah asked while Marilee studied the bracelet. “I didn’t even give him my name, much less this address.”

Oh, he knows.

“Maybe it has an inscription,” her daughter said, hopping to her feet. “I’ll check.”

Oh no!

“Look,” Marilee said, glancing up at her mother. “On the sailboat. A date, I think.”

“Let me see.” Leah took the bit of jewelry from her niece’s hand to study the charm. “You’re right. Just this past spring. It must be important.”

Brooke swallowed hard and wanted to argue about the bracelet and the importance of the engraving, but she held her tongue.

“Should we take it to the police?” Marilee asked.

“I don’t think so.” Brooke shook her head and tried to keep her voice even. “It doesn’t look valuable.”

“Not to you, maybe. But to someone—I mean, with the date on it.” Marilee was fingering the bauble. Then she grinned suddenly, “I know! I’ll post it online. See if anyone recognizes it,” she said. She turned to Shep. “Come on, boy! You can be in the picture too! After a bath!”

No! Don’t give him the satisfaction!

“Do you think that will work?” Leah asked as they heard the creak of old pipes and the rush of water as Marilee turned on the spigots in the hall bath. “Putting it online?”

“Probably not,” Brooke said, filled with dread at the thought. If Marilee put the picture out on the Internet and Gideon saw it—was even looking for it—he would be back. And satisfied. Smug in the fact that he’d toyed with her, made her uncomfortable, his presence noted to the family, the threat of exposure all the closer.

And there was no telling what he would do to up his game.

She had to find some way to stop him.

Forever.

CHAPTER 25

She needed a gun.

If not Neal’s, another one.

Which she didn’t have.

But to intimidate Gideon, which she fully intended, she’d need a weapon. A serious weapon. One that didn’t require her to be close to him. Yep, Brooke thought, she needed a gun, and even though the thought was foreign to her, that never in her wildest dreams had she thought she would want to be near a firearm, she had to get her hands on a gun.

Neal’s little Beretta would do.

If she could get it.

The problem was that she needed the key to the safe to get Neal’s pistol and she didn’t want to explain to him why she wanted it. So, despite the urge to confront Gideon right this very minute, she had to force herself to be patient, to bide her time, and to come up with a plan.

As luck would have it, Neal came home from his weekly golf game earlier than expected. “Rained out. Had to stop at the turn,” he explained as he stepped through the door and was met with a yipping, excited Shep. “Hey, who’s this?” He crouched to pet the dog. “Who’s a good boy, huh? Who’s a good boy?”

Shep whined and excited and was rewarded with major scratches and pets.

---