Forbidden Secrets Page 15

  It was crazy out there.

  Hell!

  After last night, it was crazy here.

  It didn’t take long to find her.

  She was sitting in a feminine office that reminded him of her. It had pretty things, flowers, and lots of paintings in one corner.

  They were bright, sunny, and reminded Hart of the woman beside them.

  They had to be hers. It was the only explanation. This must be her personal space.

  Hart wasn’t surprised.

  He was going to go in, but she was on the phone. He could clearly hear the conversation, and he had to admit…

  He was curious.

  She’d barely slept, she was nearly killed, and the sheriff had grilled her for a good hour. Why was she in such a hurry to get to her office?

  He silently stood outside the door, and he did something he’d convinced himself was job related.

  He eavesdropped.

  “Maria, I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said into the phone. The woman on the other end was sobbing, and it made her feel a million times worse. Her husband had died because of her.

  How did she make that right?

  “Rick was an amazing guy, and I’m sorry that he lost his life. I want to make sure that you and your kids are taken care of after this. I know that you didn’t have life insurance on him, other than his work one, so I’m going to have my attorney, the one who handles the family businesses, bring you something to set you up in life.”

  She wiped furiously at her own tears as they began slipping down her cheeks.

  “I also want to start a trust fund for your kids. Rick told me that you guys were saving up for college for them. I will make sure they get their educations, and it will be in their dad’s memory.”

  She listened to the woman on the other end.

  “I know you don’t blame me, Maria, but I blame me. Rick was working for me. I carry this. Larissa will be coming there today, and she’s going to make sure the funeral, your mortgage, and anything else you need is taken care of for you.”

  She wished she could hug the poor woman.

  “If I could leave the estate, I would come, but I am on lock down, Maria. As soon as this is over, I want you and the kids to come here. I want to tell you I'm sorry in person.”

  The dam broke.

  The words came out on a sob.

  “I am so sorry, Maria. I hope you can forgive me for getting your husband killed.”

  Together, the women wept—only for two different reasons.

  He listened outside the door.

  He couldn’t believe it.

  Here was some rich person, who normally wouldn’t give a shit, and she did. Generally, in cases like this, the person would be worrying about some lawsuit, but Lennox wasn’t.

  That said a lot about her character.

  Yeah, he’d really misjudged her. If anything, his heart ached for her. She was crying along with the woman on the phone. She didn’t have to face this alone.

  He’d seen the wealthy push it off on anyone else, but never handle it themselves. They didn’t like the messy things in life, but Lennox…she was taking care of her responsibilities.

  Was she guilty of causing his death?

  Absolutely not.

  Was she owning it?

  She was, and that made Hart respect her. Before, he didn’t like her. Then he found himself attracted to her.

  Now…

  He actually respected her. Lennox Easton was a good person, and here was the proof. She was going to take care of the guard’s family, trying to ease the burden.

  He really thought that was sweet.

  He heard her begin speaking, but this time it was on speakerphone.

  The tone had changed.

  His curiosity grew.

  “Larissa, I don’t give a shit what you think,” she said into the phone as she flipped through some mail. “The man died working for me, and his family will not suffer. I can’t live my life like that.”

  “Lennox, I’m just trying to get you to see the big picture. If you give this woman money…”

  “Maria. Her name is Maria, and she has two kids to support and no income. Jacob is five and Jessica is two. How can I ignore that?”

  “I’m not saying you should ignore it, Lennox. All I’m saying is if there is a lawsuit, you giving her money the same day her husband was killed makes you look guilty of something. It screams cover up. I’m thinking about the estate’s best interest. A civil suit can be costly.”

  Lennox laughed. “You know what, Larissa? I don’t give a fuck. If she sues me, give her what she wants.”

  There was a gasp.

  “Yes, you heard me right. If I die, this money goes to God only knows who, and they likely don’t need it.”

  “There are set up organizations that…”

  “Oh, and you get a nice chunk, too, right? As executer of the will, I’m sure you get a few million.”

  There was silence.

  “Exactly. You will head over to that woman’s house, you will drop off enough money for her to live on for the next twenty years…”

  “How much is enough?” she asked.

  Lennox thought about it. “Double his salary and then multiply it by twenty.”

  The phone on the other end actually fell.

  “Then I want two trust funds for those kids for when they decide to go to college. I want her mortgage paid off, and I want you to handle the funeral costs.”

  “Miss Easton.”

  “Do it or I’ll make sure I find another attorney who will. You wouldn’t want to lose your job for being a cold hearted bitch, now would you?”

  She hung up.

  “Thank you, Mariah and Orwell. You left me with one hell of a shit mess when you left this money to me. I wish you were alive so I could tell you to shove it,” she said to her dead parents.

  Lennox rested her head on her arms and tried not to think about it, but it was hard.

  She needed the Littlemoons to move fast. She was pretty sure she was running out of time.

  He’d heard the whole thing, and he wanted to laugh. Apparently, Lennox wasn’t nearly as fragile as he thought. She had a backbone, and that was a beautiful thing in a woman. She’d handled the attorney without batting an eyelash.

  She was spunky, and that amused him.

  He would have gone in to congratulate her, but he was pretty sure she’d be embarrassed that he’d witnessed that whole thing go down.

  Still, the cop in him was intrigued. She’d said something that had his suspicions piqued.

  The attorney for the family would get some money if she died. He really needed to let Julian know. Not only did they have to interview Milo Perkins today, but it looked like they would have a second stop.

  Yeah, they had a suspect.

  Maybe this was all about the money.

  Hart knew the truth.

  It wouldn’t be the first time someone killed for cash, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

  Chapter Nine

  When he got down to breakfast, she wasn’t there. He suspected that she must be showering, and that was perfect timing for what he had planned. Ever since overhearing the conversation, Hart wanted to clue in his boss as to what he suspected.

  It was a good lead.

  He simply didn’t want to explain that he’d been eavesdropping to Lennox. For a woman who was being stalked, it was a tad bit…creepy.

  In this case, it was best she didn’t know.

  As he sat down, and the maid served them breakfast, he told Julian and Tori everything he’d overheard.

  They ate and listened to the entire thing.

  “She’s a good suspect,” Tori said. “Money is always the number one reason why people kill people. In fact, next to sex, it’s at the top of the motive list.”

  Or at least it had been when she was a Fed. Somehow, she doubted that had changed. Greed made the world go around and it also made the crazies come out to play.

  �
��It might be a good place to start.”

  Hart thought so.

  He’d realized something since arriving at Easton Estate. Being a PI was pretty much the same thing as a cop, but without the badge. At first, he’d worried that it wouldn’t be the same, and he’d miss his career. He was born to be a cop. Hart loved the protect and serve aspect of his job.

  He was a cop to his core.

  Gratefully, he was enjoying his job—especially since he liked working for the Littlemoons. They were NOTHING like his old boss. This was how it should be when you came to work—everyone was equal, and you used your mind to solve things not your political clout.

  He was about to make a comment, but he could hear Lennox coming.

  When she arrived, they could all tell she’d been crying, but none of them said a word. It would be rude to bring it up. She’d had one hell of a night, and honestly, Lennox wasn’t accustomed to death like they were.

  They all got it.

  That man’s death was weighing on her shoulders, and it was a bitter pill to swallow for anyone.

  “Sorry I’m late. I’m a horrible host, and I know it. I had to make a phone call to my attorney to handle some financial issues.”

  Hart was impressed that she didn’t try to hide it. Honesty was important to him. He hated relying on his gift to figure out if he could trust a person. It was refreshing to just be able to go on trust and that alone.

  “How long have you had this specific attorney?” Julian asked, trying to keep it light.

  She thought about it. “I think she was hired by my uncle ten years ago. I went away to college and she wasn’t here. When I came back, she was, and she was all he could talk about for the longest time. She was smart. She was successful, and of course, she was beautiful. Larissa has been part of the family for over a decade now.”

  Tori was thinking about what her brother had said through her phone. Trey was pretty clear. The family had secrets, and she needed to get to the bottom of them. That was going to be tied to this.

  She could feel it.

  “We’d like to talk to her,” Julian offered. “She might be able to give us some insight into the whole family in general, and what happened prior to the deaths.”

  He specifically didn’t let on that he thought it was money related and that this Larissa could be involved. He was covering for his employee, and it was the right decision. He could see it on Hart’s face.

  The man was grateful.

  She pulled out her phone and found Larissa Moore’s information. “What’s your number?” she asked.

  Julian rattled it off, and she entered it before hitting send. “Is there anything else I can help you with today?”

  “Yes,” offered Tori. “My deceased brother said there are secrets here, Lennox. What kind of things are we going to uncover?” she asked.

  Tori was giving the woman one shot at being honest. Anything after that, she was going to be blindsided because they didn’t pull punches while investigating. Once they began digging, they would get to the bottom of it. The team was hell on finding the skeletons in people’s closets. With their string of recent clients, they seemed to be plentiful.

  Tori had to be honest too. Just because Hart seemed to have some fascination with the woman didn’t give her a free pass. They’d been there and done that.

  Tori liked her, but a client was a client. They’d been burned before. In their line of work, trust was paramount, and she wasn’t there quite yet with Lennox.

  “I’m not saying that you’re involved in this, but what it comes down to is you being forthright so we can get our bearings. Today is the first whole day of investigating, and it sets the pace for the whole thing. We’re not just looking for secrets. We are trying to keep you alive.”

  She was aware and very grateful for that.

  Still...

  Lennox didn’t know what to tell her.

  “Honestly, I have no idea, Tori. When I was eighteen, I got the hell out of here. I didn’t come back until after college, and that’s when the killing began. I couldn’t stand being here. I didn’t like being around my family.”

  “Why?”

  She stopped.

  “If you want our help, you have to tell us everything. We will never spill a word of it to anyone, but we need to get to the bottom of this. Somewhere, in your family’s past, there’s a skeleton.”

  It was no sooner out of Tori’s mouth than the whole table shook.

  Lennox gasped.

  Coffee cups exploded and everything slid toward her on the table.

  Hart grabbed her before all of their plates and shattered cups landed on her.

  All around the dining room table, the energy swirled and threatened to engulf Lennox.

  “Who is doing this?” she asked. “I’ve done nothing! I don’t understand what I’ve ever done!”

  The table shook again, and this time, the silverware spun, pointing in her direction, as it prepared to take flight.

  Hart threw himself over her as they hit the floor. The antique silver lodged into the wall above them.

  Julian reached into his pocket and did the one thing he could think of to keep his team, and Lennox, safe. He pulled out his handy bottle of holy water and doused both the woman and Hart, since they appeared to be the focus of the dead entity.

  He wasn’t sure it would work, but immediately, everything went quiet in the room.

  Well, except for Lennox’s soft weeping.

  “Holy shit!” Tori stated.

  “Trey! Where are you?”

  Tori’s phone came to life.

  “She’s. Pissed. You. Need. To. Get. Out. Of. Here. She’s. Recharging. Her. Energy. She. Will. Be. Back.”

  Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

  Over her dead body was she allowing Lennox to handle this all on her own.

  “Shhhhhh, it’s okay, sweetheart,” Hart said, holding her against his body.

  Lennox was a mess. “Did you get hurt?” she asked, touching his face. “Please tell me you didn’t get hurt.”

  He ran his hands up and down her back. “I’m good. You have nothing to worry about.”

  That was total bullshit. She had a lot to worry about—like a killer and now a pissed off ghost who wanted her to join her on the other side.

  Tori scanned the room. The swirls of spirits had calmed down. Evangeline must have used them to manifest. Now they were gone too.

  “Bethany and Trey! Are you both okay?”

  “We. Are. Good. She. Is. Gone.”

  Well, that was good to confirm.

  That meant one thing.

  “Lennox should be fine for a while. We have to get to those interviews,” Tori stated. “There’s a secret in this family, and it’s pointed right at you, Lennox.”

  “I don’t know what it is,” she insisted.

  They both looked at Hart for confirmation. They knew it put him in a bad spot, but he worked for them, and Lennox was only a client—to them.

  To him…yeah, he was getting attached. They could tell by the way he was holding her against his body as he tried to soothe her nerves.

  “She’s telling the truth. She’s not lying.”

  That was good enough for them. Now they only had to figure it out, save Lennox, set a dead woman free, and make sure everything else stayed right in the world.

  Yeah, that should be a walk in the freaking park.

  A haunted one.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  Art Studio 101

  Across Town

  Before leaving the estate, Julian made sure that Hart had salt and more holy water. Why it worked, he didn’t know, but it did, so they weren’t going to question it.

  They’d also told Trey to stick around to warn Hart if something bad was coming.

  They had to hope he could keep the man one-step ahead of the dead spirit. Now that he’d had the same radio app loaded onto his smartphone, the man would at least have some sort of advanced notice of when the shit was about
to hit the fan.

  Maybe.

  Evangeline was a crazy dead ghost, and they needed to figure out who the hell she was, and what the bloody hell had stirred her up.

  For now, it looked like the attorney might have an answer for them, or at least another lead to get them on the right track.

  At least that’s what they hoped.

  But first, they had a stop to make. Since they’d found out that Milo Perkins was a lecherous creep, they opted to hit him up and get him off their ‘to do’ list.

  Well, that and they knew Lennox had the attorney out delivering money. She wouldn’t be back in her office for a while, and that would defeat the purpose of sitting around waiting.

  As they pulled up to the studio, they could tell that the man definitely had some income. There was no way that art was this lucrative. This was a small town in the middle of nowhere. The next big city was a couple hours away, and that was Damascus. Even there, art was in no way a booming business.

  As they headed into the ostentatious building, they barely had time to get their bearings. The second they were inside, there was a man heading their way. He was impeccably dressed in a pricy suit, and he was wearing a shiny gold ring on his pinky.

  Yeah, this had to be Milo Perkins.

  He screamed creep to Tori.

  In fact, she immediately went with her gut and disliked him. No, that wasn’t true. She wanted to beat his creepy ass body into the ground and leave him there.

  Maybe it was hormones.

  Then he spoke.

  Yeah, it wasn’t.

  He was a douchebag.

  “Hello! You’re Julian and Tori Littlemoon! What can I do for you? Are you here for some art?”

  Tori knew they had to handle this carefully. As much as she disliked the man right off the bat, this was like a game. Most importantly, loose lips sunk ships, and they didn’t need gossip getting out. Plus, there was no doubt in her mind that if they went right at this man, he’d zip it.

  If he suspected that they thought he was using Lennox, or had something to do with the crimes, it wouldn’t be an easy interview, and they really enjoyed making it as easy as possible.