Forbidden Secrets Page 5

  While a car accident wasn’t damning information to make them believe her, the time frame of two years after the grandmother was enough to pique suspicions.

  Tori leaned back in her chair and studied the woman. “What has happened to you to make you believe someone is trying to kill you?”

  “I used to run in marathons, but during my last one, I was nearly hit by a car.”

  Hart couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer. “That happens. Maybe this isn’t a conspiracy, but a streak of unfortunate circumstances.”

  Tori wasn’t buying it.

  She could hear Bethany in her head. She was giving her no indication that this woman was dangerous, a liar, or crazy. When in doubt, Tori had learned to listen to her spirit guide. Bethany hadn’t been wrong yet.

  “Hart, what does your gut say?” she asked, referring to his gift.

  He didn’t have to say anything.

  His face said it all.

  It also told the tale of a man very unhappy that he couldn’t refute this woman’s story.

  Instead of answering Tori, he tried to reason with the most rational Littlemoon of them all.

  “Jules, this sounds like a publicity stunt,” he offered. “I’m sorry, but my gut may not be on target here. My brain wants to override it.”

  Truthfully, Hart knew the reason. There was something about the woman, which rubbed him the wrong damn way.

  Before Julian could even speak, Lennox erupted.

  That was putting it mildly.

  She was outraged that he’d even go there.

  “A publicity stunt for what? I’m not an actress! I don’t have a movie coming out! I’m a painter! I’m a freaking recluse thanks to this killer. I don’t leave my home. I’m a prisoner. What kind of publicity stunt will this get me? By coming here, I’m going to wear a target. All I’m asking is for someone to help me. I don’t want to die.”

  Tears filled her eyes.

  Vivian got her a box of tissues.

  “I don’t know why you hate me, or think so little of me, but I came here because I need help. If you turn me away, I’m dead. I’ve already gone to the police. I’ve already increased my security. One of the security guards was hit by a car as I was running. He’s crippled. This isn’t a joke. I’m going to die.”

  Tori heard enough. “We’ll take your case.”

  Julian looked over at his wife. While he wasn’t going to argue, he was going to at least discuss it with her privately. That was how he liked to run his shop.

  Apparently, Tori was taking lead on this one.

  Lennox looked up. “What? Really?”

  “What?” said Hart, practically at the same time.

  While Tori didn’t have to explain, she would. “She needs our help. If she walks out of here, and then something happens to her, I don’t want that on my scorecard,” Tori stated. “I like to keep my karma as clean as possible, and there’s something here. We’re going to figure out what.”

  Julian agreed. His wife rarely jumped in and pushed for a case. If she was, then it mattered to her. He’d throw her a bone since half the business was hers.

  Julian shrugged. “I’m in.”

  Lennox stopped them both.

  “There’s more.”

  “What?” Tori asked.

  “Before you tell me you’re doing it, I need to tell you the rest. I like full disclosure and honesty,” she stated.

  “As do we,” Tori offered.

  It was time to drop the bomb.

  “I’ve done my research on all of you. The reason I came to you isn’t because you’re close to my home, or that you have an excellent record. I need your help with something else.”

  Now Tori was really confused. As she looked around the table, she wasn’t the only one.

  “What would that be?”

  “I have unwanted company in my home. They slam doors, rattle the chandeliers, and I think it’s my dead family.”

  Julian opened and closed his mouth.

  Well, shit.

  This wasn’t good.

  “I know that some of you are special. I need help setting them free.” She pointed at Nyx. “She’s a psychic.”

  No one spoke.

  This was new. Never had anyone walked in off the street, begged for their help, and then told them that they knew their well-guarded secret.

  This was surprising.

  “I don’t need clarification or an answer. I just need you to be aware what you’re walking into. The house is haunted.”

  “And you think I can fix that?” Tori asked.

  She pulled the last paper out of her bag, and it was an article on Littlemoon Investigations. It told the tale of some woo woo shit that they’d handled.

  They couldn’t argue it.

  “Is it true?”

  Tori wouldn’t lie. “Yes.”

  “I need your help with that.”

  “Why?”

  “If they are trapped or are my dead family, maybe they’re trying to tell me who killed them. Maybe they want to be set free. I don’t know who else to go to.”

  “An exorcist perhaps?” Hart offered, being a dick. He knew it, but he really couldn’t help it. This woman brought it out in him for some reason.

  He shut his mouth when Tori kicked him under the table.

  “Hart,” Julian stated.

  Neither of them was sure what the hell was up with the man. Normally, Hart was nice. In fact, he was almost as pleasant as Christina. Now he was getting sarcastic, and really, there was only room for one bitch in the room, and Tori liked to own that role.

  “Tell me about the house.”

  “I’ve always lived there. I have a studio in the one wing. All I know is that when I returned from college, it started getting weird. It was never like this when I was growing up. Now it’s as if everyone in the house is calling for help. I can’t see them but I can hear them at night.”

  Nyx spoke up, “You might have a gift.”

  Hart rolled his eyes.

  Again, he was kicked in the leg.

  “Shit!”

  Tori pointed at him. “That’s strike two.”

  He zipped it for his career’s sake, and his shin’s.

  “I don’t know about having a gift, but I’d like to see if they are okay. Can you come?” she asked Nyx.

  “I don’t have my gift anymore. Our last case…” She stopped talking. Maybe Julian didn’t want her to spill it.

  “It’s okay,” Tori reassured. “We do have gifts, Lennox. Most of the team has something special about them.”

  “I really need someone to help explain what the hell is going on there.”

  They could do that.

  Tori didn’t believe in coincidences, and she knew this woman had crossed their path for one reason or another. It was time to let fate drive this one.

  “So I want to hire you to keep me alive, find who is doing this, who killed my family, and to de-haunt my house. If that’s my family, can they be moved on?” she asked.

  “Yes, they can,” Nyx offered. “Once it’s solved, they’d move on without any assistance. If they’re restless, it’s likely because they’re trapped by what happened to them.”

  “Great.”

  Julian glanced around at his team. If they took this, they’d be down three investigators. They couldn’t go off without help on this one, and Hart had to be field-tested. He still didn’t have his license. It looked like Mr. Cranky was taking his first excursion, and it was going to be with the pretty woman beside him.

  Yeah, that was going to stir him up. Julian just didn’t know why he was irritated like this.

  “I’ll pay anything you ask.” She dropped a credit card onto the table. “I’ll pay your rentals, I’ll let you stay on the estate, and I’ll even triple your fee. I don’t want to die, Mr. Littlemoon. I’m only thirty. I want to see life and be set free from my cage. I’m a prisoner on death row, only I don’t know when it’s coming.”

  They sympathized with her.
>
  Tori was watching her employee. His body language said a lot. The way he was sitting, staring at Lennox, and how he nervously clicked his pen told the tale.

  Oh, he was definitely going.

  He had to. There was an underlying sexual tension, and even Bethany could see it. It was decided.

  “Hart, Julian and I will be taking this case. We’re going to be crashing at your place as we try to figure this out.”

  Hart stared over at her with big eyes. The silver gave away his irritation. They were stormy.

  “Where is your estate?” Tori asked.

  “It’s only forty minutes from here.”

  Hart couldn’t believe this.

  “I can’t just take a trip. What about Ivy?”

  “Who’s Ivy?” asked Lennox. “Is it your wife? Maybe she’d like a vacation from your bad mood.”

  He glared at her.

  What Hart wanted to do was tell her that it was none of her damn business, but he couldn’t do that to her. He had to keep it in check or he could lose his job.

  Everhart needed income.

  Ivy needed him to keep it.

  “I’m not married. That’s my daughter.”

  She pointed at this phone. On the screensaver was a sweet blonde girl with big eyes. “Is that her?”

  “Yes.”

  “She’s gorgeous. You must be proud.”

  “I am.”

  He refused to smile. He refused to relax around her. His gut was screaming, and it was because she was going to be a big issue. He could already tell.

  Julian needed to clear the room. “Can everyone step out but Hart?” he asked.

  They did what he said.

  “Lennox, go get some coffee in the lobby. We’ll be right out, okay? Then we’ll discuss the plan.”

  She grabbed her papers and shook their hands. “Thank you so much! I really appreciated it!”

  It was clear a weight was lifted off her shoulders. The whole team could see it in her face and eyes.

  Tori and Julian waited for her to leave. The second the door was closed, they focused on their new hire. His attitude was way off, and they needed to know what the hell was up with him.

  “Hart, what’s going on?” Julian asked.

  The man was still twitchy. “I feel off.”

  “About her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Was she lying?” Tori asked. “Could you detect any lies in what she was saying to us?”

  Maybe that was the issue.

  Maybe they didn’t see what the man was picking up. If that were the case, they’d listen to him. They’d walked into a couple traps already, and they liked to avoid them.

  Hart didn’t move.

  “You have to give us something. Was she lying?” Julian asked again.

  Yeah, that was the issue. She’d been totally honest and it pissed him off.

  “No.”

  “Is she untrustworthy?”

  “No.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “I don’t know.”

  He hated being in this position. It gave her all the power. She was beautiful, rich, and likely a bitch. How did he know?

  That was his type.

  He attracted them like bees to pollen. The second she’d walked in, he couldn’t breathe. His heart had skipped in his chest, and he knew he was screwed.

  It was a bad sign.

  Hart always fell for the worst possible woman in a room, and they were always like Lennox. The beauty was only skin deep, and then it got ugly.

  Ivy’s mother had left because he was only a public servant. She’d told him what he wanted to hear until the next playboy walked in. Then he was old news.

  “I just don’t trust her.”

  Tori knew it had everything to do with his past. “Want to talk about it? You might feel better.”

  He didn’t.

  This wasn’t his call.

  “Are you sure your mother can handle Ivy? I haven’t left her alone since I’ve gotten her. She’s my child.”

  Julian knew how hard this had to be for him. “I promise you that Clarissa, while a wild card, is a damn good mother. Look how we all turned out.”

  He had a point.

  “Okay.”

  “She’s really going to be okay,” promised Tori. “We wouldn’t let her get hurt. I swear to you.”

  He did trust Tori.

  When she’d first met Ivy, the girl went right to her. Ivy didn’t like strangers, and he couldn’t blame her. Well, it might have had something to do with him telling her people were bad.

  So…

  “I trust you and Julian with my child’s life, Tori. That should say it all. I love being part of this family, and I believe Clarissa will have it under control.”

  She smiled at him. “How about we go out there and play nice with the new client?” she asked, giving him a second chance. They had to cut him a break. Hart was trying to pull it all together. He’d been a cop, walked away, and now he knew he was leaving his child behind.

  It could rattle anyone.

  “Okay.”

  “We’ll get the details and get the job done.”

  That was good with him.

  They gathered up their things and headed out to the lobby. When they cleared the door, Hart stopped in his tracks and Tori walked right into the back of him.

  “What the hell?” she muttered, looking around his big torso. That’s when she saw it.

  As did Hart.

  Ivy was in Lennox’s arms, and she was giggling as the woman talked to her. It was clear that the little girl liked her.

  “Hart? Are you okay?”

  He closed his eyes as he cursed the universe.

  He was pretty sure he was the opposite of okay. He was screwed.

  Here was his damn proof.

  Chapter Three

  Wednesday

  En Route to Easton Estates

  It took two days to clear up the schedule. Since they were expecting an undercover case close to home, they had to tie up all the loose ends before heading out.

  When the man who missed his meeting arrived two hours late, they had to tell him it wasn’t happening.

  Well, he pitched a fit.

  In fact, a fit didn’t quite describe it. He swore he was going to go to the media and tell them that ‘Littlemoon Investigations’ was a sham.

  They had no choice but to go in, handle the theft case, and get it done as soon as possible. Fortunately for them, it didn’t take long at all.

  Once undercover, Hart had no problem finding the thief. Wearing his gear and glasses with a camera in them, he managed to locate the man with sticky fingers.

  Okay, it was more his gift and asking questions to find the liar, but it didn’t matter. He’d done the job, gotten home to Ivy, and managed to decompress for a few hours to prepare for what was coming.

  Leaving her didn’t make him happy.

  The fact that Ivy liked Lennox Easton didn’t please him either. He’d tried to come up with an excuse, but it didn’t fly.

  Clarissa had told him she’d kick his ass if he insinuated that she wasn’t capable of babysitting one child. She’d had two sets of twins, and she didn’t lose them. One kid was a cakewalk.

  He still looked freaked out.

  Then she whispered in his ear when she hugged him, and that seemed to reassure him.

  The woman was a good mom. She had it.

  So, Hart trusted her.

  Besides, when he asked Ivy if she was okay with staying without him, she didn’t seem to mind. Granted, she was eating a cookie at the time, and Clarissa had a lollipop in her hand.

  They knew how to work his child.

  Copious amounts of sugar were the way to her heart. He only hoped she had her few teeth left when he got back. If she had a mouth full of cavities, he wasn’t going to be happy. They weren’t the ones going to have to drag a three year old to the dentist.

  Driving there, they opted to take two cars. He was following
the Littlemoons. When his phone rang, he sent it to the onboard navigational system.

  “Hart.”

  “Hey, it’s us. Are you doing okay back there?” Tori asked. “You’re slowing down.”

  “I’m going the speed limit. There’s a big difference. Some of us don’t like breaking the law behind the wheel, speedy.”

  She started laughing. “You are such a cop. Don’t drag your feet. You have to face the pretty woman sooner or later.”

  He scowled. “I don’t like you, and she’s not pretty.” He wasn’t lying. Lennox was beautiful, and she likely knew it. In fact, he doubted that men didn’t fall at her feet and tell her that every second of her privileged life.

  “You like me, and you like her. That’s the issue.”

  He wanted to growl in discontent, but he’d kept his trap shut. Sadly, she’d nailed it right on the head. He was dreading his run in with Lennox Easton.

  Why?

  He had no freaking clue.

  All he knew was his gut was stirred up, and his gift was going haywire when she was around or he thought about her.

  Tori laughed even harder at his discomfort. She worked around men all day. She was well aware what had him a wreck. “See you there.”

  When she hung up, Julian was staring at her. “You should focus on driving and not harassing the man.”

  Tori was amused. “He’s rattled.”

  “Yeah, women do that to you. I know how he feels, and that’s more reason not to provoke him.”

  “We do not.”

  Julian snorted. “Yeah, I’m never pissed off because of you. That would never happen in our world. In fact, since meeting you, I’ve been insanely calm.”

  He held up a cup of herbal tea. He needed to drink it to keep from freaking out.

  Tori was amused.

  “You’re a control freak. That’s why you have to use tea and herbs to lower your blood pressure. Don’t blame that on me, ‘Mr. I Have To Check And Recheck Everything’.”

  He sipped his tea.

  Maybe she had a point. She wasn’t the sole cause, but she definitely played a role in it.

  “I can’t wait to get busy on this case. I really think there’s something there,” Tori stated, changing the subject.

  Julian was afraid to think about it. “More dead, huh?” he asked.

  She heard it in his voice. “Are you going to freak out?” Tori needed to know. The last thing she wanted was for her husband to lose his mind. As of late, he’d been calm. Somehow, she didn’t think some lavender chamomile tea had ANYTHING to do with it.