Forbidden Secrets Read online

  Forbidden Secrets

  By Morgan Kelley

  Copyright © 2016 Morgan Kelley LLC

  All rights reserved. Without limiting rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, introduced into a retrieval system, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including without limitation photocopying, recording, or other electronic or technical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  The scanning, uploading, and/or distribution of this document via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. For permission requests, email [email protected]

  Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains graphic violence, explicit sexual activity and disturbing imagery

  ©Copyright 2016 cover by Laura Gordon ***

  Other works by Morgan Kelley:

  Standalone Thrillers

  The Junction

  Serial Sins

  The Blood Betrayal

  FBI Romance Series

  The Killing Times (Book 1)

  Sacred Burial Grounds (Book 2)

  True Love Lost (Book 3)

  Deep Dark Mire (Book 4)

  Fire Burns Hot (Book 5)

  Darkness of Truth (Book 6)

  Devil Hath Come (Book 7)

  Consumed by Wrath (Book 8)

  Redemption is Here (Book 9)

  Dead Shall Speak (Book 10)

  Pledging to Die (Book 11)

  Slay Bells Ring (Book 12)

  Past will Haunt (Book 13)

  Choices will Destroy (Book 14)

  Blood shall Run (Book 15)

  Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Series

  Celestia is Falling (1)

  Vegas is Dying (2)

  Christmas is Killing (3)

  Love is Bleeding (4)

  Heaven is Weeping (5)

  Hell is Burning (6)

  Justice is Dead (7)

  Justice Series—Croft Family Mob Justice.

  Dark Justice (Book 1)

  Littlemoon Investigations

  Blood Red Rage (Book 1)

  Lost & Broken (Book 2)

  Unthinkable Games (Book 3)

  Truth is Found (Book 4)

  Haven of Nightmares (Book 5)

  Forbidden Secrets (Book 6)

  The Carter Chronicles Trilogy

  Sinner Repent (1)

  Sinner Realized (2)

  Sinner Reborn (3)

  Oracle/The Phoenix Files

  Oracle Rising (book 1)

  The Harcourte Vampyre Society series

  Dangerous Revelations (1)

  Dangerous Choices (2)

  Dangerous Misery (3)

  Dangerous Retaliation (4)

  Behind Closed Doors Anthology

  Illegal Fantasies ~ Behind Closed Doors (1)

  Romance Under Arrest~ Behind Closed Doors (2)

  Holiday Reinforcements ~ Behind Closed Doors (3)

  ~~~~ About the Author ~~~~

  Morgan Kelley lives in the beautiful Pocono Mountains with her husband and two children. After attending college at Penn State University and studying Criminal Justice, Morgan knew her only true passion in life would be murder and books. She put them both together and began her career as a writer. Other than books and writing, you can find Morgan hanging out in her garden and digging in the dirt.

  Her other works include: The Junction, Serial Sins, The Blood Betrayal, The Killing Times (1), Sacred Burial Grounds (2), True Love Lost (3), Deep Dark Mire (4), Fire Burns Hot (5), Darkness of Truth (6), Devil Hath Come (7), Consumed by Wrath (8), Redemption is Here (9), Dead Shall Speak (10), Pledging to Die (11), Slay Bells Ring (12), Past will Haunt (13), Choices will Destroy (14), Blood shall Run (15)Blood Red Rage (1) Lost & Broken (2), Unthinkable Games (3), Truth is Found (4), Haven of Nightmares (5), Forbidden Secrets (6), Celestia is Falling (1), Vegas is Dying (2), Christmas is Killing (3), Love is Bleeding (4), Heaven is Weeping (5), Hell is Burning (6), Justice is Dead (7), Dangerous Revelations (1), Dangerous Choices (2), Dangerous Misery (3), Dangerous Retaliation (4), Sinner Repent (1), Sinner Realized (2), Sinner Reborn (3), Oracle Rising (1), Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1), Romance Under Arrest (Anthology 2), and Holiday Reinforcements (Anthology 3)

  Please feel free to visit Morgan at her website: www.morgankelley.com, email her [email protected], or visit her blog at www.morgankelley.blogspot.com, or stop at her website www.morgankelley.com.

  Everhart Rose…you can’t hide from your fate or love.

  prologue

  Outside Delta Falls

  He was angry.

  The feelings brewing inside him couldn’t be compared to anything in his life. There was such hate and loathing for the Easton family that it ate away at him. It was consuming every part of him.

  It had become his obsession.

  His fire.

  His bitterness.

  His everything.

  It was all he thought about the second he got up in the morning and the last thing on his mind when he closed his eyes at night. He dreamed about that family and a way to make them pay for what they’d done.

  They needed to suffer.

  He needed to make them bleed.

  He pictured himself hanging them from trees, rooftops, and even burning them alive as they begged for mercy. His anger fed his depravity, and that led to the need to see his revenge handed out to all of them.

  There were no redeeming qualities in any of them.

  Not.

  One.

  Single.

  Thing.

  He’d tried to take the higher road, but it was too hard, and he had failed. So many times, he honestly tried to go about his life, doing his job and acting like it was fine, but there they were. It was as if they were mocking him. It was as if they gained immense pleasure from being dangled in front of him.

  Everywhere he turned, they were there.

  They were on the news.

  Every day they were on the television.

  They were even plastered all over the internet—for years. It never ended.

  The barrage of their name, image, and reminder of their crimes kept battering his already damaged mind.

  He couldn’t escape them.

  With each day of having to watch them win, watch them get richer, and watch them gloating at the world, he couldn’t stop himself.

  It pushed him over the edge.

  He lost control.

  And so it began.

  He took the first one.

  That first woman was worse than the rest. She was vile down to the blood pumping through her veins. She was the stuff nightmares were made of, and he should know. He had them each and every night because of them.

  They haunted him.

  And he had to handle her.

  That day, he hadn’t planned to end her life. It kind of just happened.

  Now…he was glad.

  Then…it was meant to be.

  They met out in the world, and when he saw her coming toward him, he knew he couldn’t control it much longer. When she smiled at him, as she went to pass him, he was so furious. It was that hideous smile that showed the world that she, and her sick family, was better than him. He was accustomed to seeing it, and this was the last straw.

  He snapped.

  All that hate reared up, and he did the unspeakable. He shoved her so damn hard that she toppled over the cliff and into the oblivion below.

  Her s
cream filled the air, and then there was the bone crushing sound of her hitting the ground, trees, and even the boulders.

  With each smash of her body against a rock, his soul got better.

  The pain eased.

  He began to heal.

  That dark hole that had been created all those years ago began healing inside him.

  He’d found his therapy.

  He found his way of getting past what the family had done to him.

  This was the only way to do it.

  Besides…

  She’d deserved it. She really did. That family was nothing more than filthy lies covered in pretty outer coverings of wealth and prestige. They were only revered because they had the all mighty dollar behind them.

  Now, they had one less family member. He’d taken care of that.

  Then reality hit.

  When he realized what he’d done, to another human being, he panicked. He’d been raised better than that. This wasn’t what he was supposed to be like. Now that the rage had passed, and he felt some control over his chaotic life, he felt guilt.

  OH NO!

  He’d killed someone.

  Shit!

  What if she was still alive?

  What if she could still speak?

  What if…?

  His mind was a flurry with all the fear and possibilities. The guilt was gone, and now there was the fear that he’d get caught, go to jail, and die locked in a cage.

  He couldn’t let that happen, so he did the only thing he could in that moment.

  He slid down the hill to check on her.

  He had to make sure she was dead.

  At the bottom of the rocky terrain, she was lying there in a mangled heap. It was both sad and gratifying at the same time. When he got closer, he wondered what he should do.

  Then he called her name.

  Nothing.

  He touched her with his shoe.

  Nothing.

  He was free! She was dead!

  He began laughing.

  Then she opened her eyes and he wanted to be sick. The way she stared at him, it said it all. As he gazed into her eyes, he saw the truth.

  When she opened her mouth, he wanted to disappear.

  “You’re going to pay for this.”

  Those words alone did so much. They pissed him off, they made him scared, and they forced all common sense to pass from his mind.

  She just wouldn’t die!

  The damn family wouldn’t cease to exist!

  Her words reverberated through his mind. She was going to make him pay. One way, or another, his life would never be the same, so what did it matter?

  He had no choice.

  That’s when he decided to finish her. He picked up the rock and bashed her brains in without giving it a second thought.

  With each strike, she made a whimpering sound, and that made him happy.

  She deserved it.

  She’d earned it.

  When the deed was done, he got rid of the rock, tossing it into the nearby stream, and then he sat on the ground and held her in his arms.

  Then he called nine-one-one to pretend he happed upon her and was trying to save her.

  It was perfect.

  He was now the ‘Good Samaritan’, not the killer.

  That’s how he played it, and for ten years, it had worked without anyone batting an eye. In fact, no one questioned him over the incident—not even once. Who would blame the person who ‘found her’? There was no way he’d be guilty of shoving a person off a cliff and then sticking around to ‘save her life’.

  Right?

  Who was crazy enough to do that?

  No one.

  That was the beauty of it all.

  He was in the clear.

  Spilling her blood had done one thing. Where he thought it would make him feel better, and it did, it had done something completely unexpected.

  It awakened the beast in him.

  It forced it up, clawing away at his sanity, humanity, and compassion.

  It started him on the path toward revenge. It made him into a monster, and most of the time, he didn’t really care. Revenge had begun festering in him, and he couldn’t control it.

  It was out of control.

  He was out of control.

  The killing didn’t stop with her.

  No, not even close.

  The second person he destroyed was just as satisfying. In fact, he loved it even more. Taking his life was a beautiful thing. The man was an asshole in life, and he went out screaming and begging for mercy.

  Again, none was given.

  They didn’t deserve it.

  On that day, the scumbag went out with a bullet to the head. It was clean, precise, and without any witnesses. How easy was it to hide in the woods while the dick went hunting?

  Answer?

  Way too easy.

  When he saw him there, he’d been amicable. He’d actually had the audacity to greet him as if they were friends. He had balls, all right.

  And for that reason, he had to die.

  Oh, and he would love every second of taking that asshole’s life.

  With one pull of the trigger, it was done.

  It was being called a hunting accident gone wrong.

  His death had shocked the community, but things like this happened when you went into the woods to kill and didn’t wear the correct clothing. The game lands were right next to the Easton property, and it had been too convenient for him.

  It had been too easy.

  Once more, he’d gotten away with murder.

  It was perfect.

  Again, he felt better for that second, and then the fear overwhelmed him. When no one batted an eye, and no one questioned him, he knew he was in the clear.

  So, it continued.

  The plotting.

  The planning.

  The scheming.

  Next, he focused on the only brother. He was evil and vile just like the rest of the Eastons. He would be the third to die, and he only hoped no one would begin to think it was him. He had to be careful.

  So, he took the time to plan it.

  It wasn’t easy.

  The man was a wild card.

  He didn’t keep a schedule, since he hadn’t worked a real day in his life, so he had to be followed on a whim. That was dangerous, but he couldn’t give up.

  He was guarded, protecting himself, and aware of everything around him. It was clear that he was worried. He was watching his back, and that made it a challenge.

  Oh, well, he had bad news for the man.

  He loved a challenge.

  As far as he was concerned, the whole thing needed to be completed. It was years between the deaths, but he had time. God knew, he had plenty of time in his suffering.

  There were sins to avenge, and it would end when the last Easton was in the grave.

  Then…

  He would win.

  He would have peace.

  He would be able to die a happy man.

  When the man went out one morning to take a swim in the big lake on the property, he’d been there waiting in the shadows. His initial plan was to run him off the road, but he didn’t leave the estate that morning, so it was all about rolling with the punches. Today was his day, and it was going to end.

  Here.

  Now.

  Finally.

  This death was going to be as ugly as the rest—or so he hoped.

  When the man dove in, he figured he was going to have to play dirty. He waited on the dock, lying prone in the shadows. When the asshole pushed up after his swim, he was waiting. With one strike to the head, he fell backward into the water and to his death.

  He was gone.

  Three down and three to go.

  The old woman was going to be far harder, and he knew it. She was a fighter and now well protected. When everyone else was dropping around her, she made sure she was safe.

  Only, there was one time when she didn’t have guards.

 
; It was when she took her steed out for a ride that misty morning. In that fog, he was waiting for her. The fall she took…it was no accident.

  It was textbook perfect when it came to destroying a life. It got her to the ground, and that was where her end would happen.

  When she landed, and then began calling for help, he knew that couldn’t happen. So, he handled her too.

  As he stood over her, she was so happy to see him. It was in those misty blue eyes. The old bat actually thought he was going to help her.

  “Save me,” she’d whispered.

  What a gross miscalculation on her behalf.

  It would be the last one she’d ever make.

  Without uttering a single word, he reached for her head. As she began to believe he was there to help, he wrenched her neck with a sharp twist, snapping her spine.

  The sick popping was all that was heard in the dew of the morning. It was punctuated by his heartbeat.

  For a second, he couldn’t breathe. It was that startling to hear someone gasp their last breath.

  Finally, the gurgling stopped, and she died.

  He rejoiced that it had been so damn easy to take her pathetic life. After two years of studying her, he found the best way, overcame the odds, and did the deed.

  His mother would be proud of him had she been alive.

  It was so easy to kill her. As he cleaned up the wires, that caused the horse to fall, he knew it would only be a matter of time before they found her.