Midnight Secrets

chapter

EIGHT


Savannah flexed her fingers, wincing at their stiffness. The closer she came to Midnight, the tighter her grip on the steering wheel had become. She was still on 65 South, at least two hours from her destination. At this rate, there would be handprint indentations in the leather by the time she drove into the city limits.

Usually when she made a decision, she was determined to see it through. This time was different. Facing the morass of memories was so much easier in theory than in real life. Midnight was the place of her worst nightmare. Where her childhood had begun and ended much too soon. It was the place where her vulnerable, romantic heart had bloomed with overwhelming love and then was shattered beyond recognition. Years had gone by before she’d felt the slightest mend to her damaged heart. And very soon she would be seeing the man who had caused that devastation.

But she couldn’t keep putting off the inevitable. Her granddad would have wanted them to get this over with and get on with their lives. She and her sisters had gone back for the funeral, of course. Daniel Wilde was one of the kindest, most generous men God had ever put on this earth. His kindness had thankfully included making all the plans and arrangements for his funeral. Though he had passed away unexpectedly, when she and her sisters had arrived home, expecting to have to make numerous decisions, they had discovered they needed to do nothing but mourn their loss and accept condolences.

Losing their granddad had left Savannah and her sisters too devastated to even contemplate selling the Wilde house. They had arranged to continue with the same cleaning and lawn service with the knowledge that at some point, one of them would have to return to do what was necessary. Savannah, ever the practical one, had mentioned this several times during their monthly get-togethers. She understood their reasons for putting it off—she had delayed also. Putting the house up for sale was the final goodbye.

She had called both Sammie and Bri to tell them she was going back, but they’d both been out. She wanted to make sure they were okay with her decisions about the sale. Granddad had made Savannah the executrix of his estate, but all three sisters had equal inheritance.

The cellphone she’d dropped on the front passenger seat rang. Knowing it was one of her sisters, she pressed the answer button on her steering wheel and said, “Hey.”

“What the hell happened?”

Surprised at the worry in Sammie’s voice, she asked, “What do you mean?”

“I just saw photos of you being attacked. Why didn’t you tell me? Are you okay?”

“Photos? Where?”

“The Tennessean.”

Crap. She should have realized Nashville newspapers would’ve printed a story and photos if they had them. “I’m sorry, Sammie. I left you a message.”

“Yeah, that you were taking some time off to go back home and get the house ready for sale. You never mentioned you were attacked.”

Savannah shrugged and then winced. Dammit, her back still hurt. “It was no big deal.”

Sammie’s exasperated snort came through loud and clear. “Only you would say that, Savvy.” Her voice softened. “But you’re really okay?”

“I’m fine. Just a couple of bruises, nothing more.” She took a breath and asked, “So, what do you think about me going down there?”

“Well, it’s way past time for us to do something.”

The hesitancy in her sister’s voice wasn’t lost on her. “I hear a ‘but’ in there.”

“Are you really ready to see him again?”

Savannah didn’t have to question who the “him” was. There were no secrets between the sisters. They had been by her side at every devastating moment.

“I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever be ready. I just know this needs to be done and I can’t be a coward forever.”

“Savannah Rose Wilde, you stop right there. There’s not a cowardly bone in your body.”

She disagreed but knew there was no point in arguing. Her sisters had always been her staunchest allies and defenders. They saw her as the innocent party but she knew the truth. There had been only one innocent in the entire ordeal.

“I just wish I could break away and be with you. You shouldn’t have to do this alone.”

“I’ll be fine. Two months is more than enough time to get everything done. And seeing Zach won’t be that bad. I mean … it’s not like I still love him or anything.”

Sammie’s soft snort of doubt was something Savannah chose to ignore. She didn’t still love Zach—she was sure of it. Well, almost sure of it.

“He probably barely remembers me.”

“You know better than that.”

Did she? She had loved Zach with a youthful, starry-eyed passion. And for months, without the slightest encouragement from him, she had held on to a useless, pathetic hope. Sure that he would come back; sure that there was a reasonable explanation for his desertion. When acceptance finally settled in, that hope had shattered into a million tiny pieces, along with her heart. And for a while, her life.

“Maybe I can sneak into town, do what I need to do and not see him.”

“Ten minutes after you hit town, the gossips will have spread the news of your homecoming to every corner of Midnight.”

Yes, she did know that, but a girl could dream.

“By the bye,” Sammie said, “how on earth did you manage two whole months of vacation?”

“It’s not exactly vacation. I was just going to take a couple of weeks and putter around the apartment. But then a creep I prosecuted and put away issued a couple of threats. Reid thought it’d be a good idea for me to get out of town until after his sentencing.”

“I knew there was more to this story. Dammit, what did he say?”

“Nothing that hasn’t been said before. It was an empty threat. He’s got no clout left with his gang members, but Reid decided to be on the safe side. So since I had to take time off, I figured I might as well go back and deal with this.”

“Yeah, as opposed to taking a trip to the Bahamas or a long cruise.”

“It needs to be done.”

Sammie sighed. “I know, I know. I just wish …”

“Hey, I’ll be fine. Okay?”

“You know you only have to call me and I’ll come.”

“I know that and I love you for it. Maybe you and Bri can come down for our monthly meet.”

“Good idea. I’ll give her a call and see what she says. Have you talked to her?”

“Not yet. Had to leave her a voice-mail message, too.”

“Check your email when you can. She sent both of us a note this morning. She’s on a new project. Hush-hush. Said we probably won’t hear from her for a few days.”

The worry in Sammie’s voice mirrored Savannah’s thoughts. Even though the sisters were triplets, with only a few minutes between their ages, both she and Sammie had always looked at Bri as the one who needed to be shielded the most. To outsiders, that might seem odd, since Bri was a self-defense expert who could kick the ass of someone twice her size without breaking a sweat. But her family knew her inside and out. Beneath the tough façade she showed the world, Bri was a vulnerable, gentle-hearted woman who could be hurt too easily.

Five years ago, that tough façade had been all but destroyed. Bri had been engaged to a man they had all believed was perfect for her. Only weeks before they were to marry, disaster had struck. And then, after that disaster, total heartbreak and betrayal. Though Bri never talked about that time, Savannah knew she still reeled from the disillusionment.

Given her penchant for getting into trouble, Bri’s career choice as a private investigator had always worried the family. After what happened, they became even more concerned. She had a reckless air that hadn’t existed before. Thankfully, in the last couple of years, she seemed to have calmed down and now had an excellent reputation as an investigator.

“Did Bri give you any details of her case?”

“Of course not. You know Bri.”

“What about you?” Savannah asked. “Anything big going on?”

“SOS … same old stuff. Got called in on a triple homicide yesterday. Haven’t slept in almost twenty-four hours.”

Hearing that, Savannah was doubly glad she hadn’t asked for Sammie’s help. “Got any suspects?”

“Yeah, unfortunately … looks like the teenaged son did his entire family.”

Savannah sighed her sadness. How did some lives get so screwed up? “That’s awful. Is he in custody?”

“Will be as soon as we find him,” Sammie promised grimly.

The Wilde sisters’ career choices were an obvious testament to the impact of what had happened with their parents. No matter how much time passed, that legacy would remain with them always.

“Things still good with Quinn?”

“Oh yes.” Her sister’s sigh of contentment came through the phone line loud and clear.

Savannah smiled at the sound. Sammie had always had the easier time with relationships. She dated frequently but had never formed any lasting attachments. Then, at last month’s get-together, much to their surprise, she had announced she had finally found “the one.”

“I’m glad things are going well. Are we going to get to meet him soon?”

“If he can spare a couple of days, I might bring him with me when I come home for a visit.”

“Excellent. I can’t wait to meet the gorgeous doctor.” An exit sign indicating several service stations caught Savannah’s attention. “Listen, I’m about to get off the interstate and get some gas.”

“Okay. Be sure to let me know if there’s anything I need to do.”

“Will do. Love you.”

Savannah took the exit and pulled into a gas station. As she pumped gas, a large sign advertising a little mom-and-pop restaurant a couple of miles away tempted her. Problem was, she wasn’t hungry. The enticement came not from wanting to eat but from procrastination. For someone who prided herself on not putting things off, this particular event was much too long in the making. Determination forced her to finish filling the tank, get back in her car, and keep going.

Now set on getting the trip over with as quickly as possible, Savannah clicked on her CD player, hoping the diversion would take her mind off what lay ahead. Weird, but every song that played worked against her. Themes of lost love and old acquaintances and melodic warnings of “you can’t go home again” bombarded her. If she were a believer in signs, she’d definitely turn back around.

A quick glance up at the sky made her wince. Even the clouds looked ominous. When she’d left Nashville, the sky had been a piercingly clear azure blue, but now, wicked, thunderous clouds obscured the sun. There should be more than an hour of daylight left, but it had gotten so dark, it seemed much later than the 6:30 P.M. on her dashboard clock.

She shook her head, undeterred. She was going back, come hail or high water. And from the look of the sky, both were possible.

MIDNIGHT, ALABAMA

She was coming home today. Zach had done his best to forget that knowledge and go about his normal routine. Of course, he would keep an eye on her, but only because that was his job. He had taken an oath to protect every citizen of Midnight, including one who was only here temporarily and would drive him out of his ever-loving mind while she was here. He would do what he was paid to do and nothing more.

Staying clear of her should be no problem. She was here to pack up the family’s belongings and put the Wilde house on the market, not gallivant around town. And he had his hands full, including another vandalism. This was the fourth one in the last two weeks and he was getting damn tired of them. Once again, there’d been no clues, no witnesses. Nothing but badly misspelled words and a few satanic symbols that a five-year-old could have drawn better.

“Who do you think is doing this, Chief?”

Zach glanced over his shoulder at his deputy, Clark Dayton. He and Clark had never been easy around each other. Even before the incident with Savannah, some might have called them enemies, though Zach never could figure out what he had done back then to piss off the guy. The Daytons had been on the lower end of Midnight’s society, but compared to Zach’s family, they had been upper-crust wealthy. At that time in his life, to Zach, if a person had regular meals and clothes without holes, he was doing damn good. Back in those days, Clark had carried a giant chip on his shoulder and had delighted in pointing out the differences between his family and anyone poorer. He had often been Dayton’s prime target. Zach hadn’t cared. The man’s opinion hadn’t mattered then or now. He had ignored him, which somehow seemed to infuriate the guy even more. Then one night, everything had changed and Clark had done something that couldn’t be ignored.

Savannah had been at the wrong place at the wrong time, Clark had been way past drunk, and Zach’s life had changed forever.

“Guess that means you’ve got no suspects?”

Zach mentally shook his head. What the hell was he doing daydreaming about Savannah? “None yet, but they’ll screw up eventually and we’ll find them.”

Clark scratched his neatly trimmed beard in an absentminded fashion Zach had become familiar with. It was usually followed by a hypothesis and then a conclusion. Clark had had a year and a half of college before he’d dropped out. Somehow, in that short amount of time, the man became a self-avowed philosopher and psychologist. Zach braced himself for one of his theories.

“I’m suspecting it’s that new family that’s moved into the Hogans’ old house. They’ve got two teenaged boys that look just about right for this kind of thing.” Another slow beard scratch and then he added, “I’m thinking I need to have a chat with them.”

Zach’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, they look just about right?”

Beefy shoulders barely shifted in a lazy shrug. “One of the boys has a wild look behind his eyes. Just don’t look right. I don’t like it.”

His eyebrow lifted questioningly, Zach waited to see if Clark had any legitimate reason for his suspicions, other than he just didn’t like the way the kid looked.

“I got an intuition about people. Can size up troublemakers. Both them boys have trouble written all over their faces.”

Reminding himself that despite Dayton’s somewhat ridiculous hypotheses, he was known to be a competent deputy, Zach said patiently, “We’re not going to go harassing people without any solid evidence just because you don’t like the way they look.”

Clark’s beard barely concealed the sneer on his thick lips. “Your attitude of ‘let’s just wait and see what happens’ sure don’t seem to be working.”

Zach couldn’t argue. They had no suspects. This damaged building, like the others, had no security cameras, and other than the defacement itself, the evidence was minimal. A cigarette butt and tire tracks weren’t exactly road maps to the culprit. Last night had been a full moon; even without security lights, someone should have seen something. Hell, it was almost impossible to take a piss in this town without everyone knowing about it. How were these pricks getting away with it?

He turned his back to Clark and eyed the crime scene again. As graffiti went, it was distinctly unimaginative and colorless. Wouldn’t take more than a couple of coats of paint to cover it up, which seemed kind of odd. If the perps wanted to really cause some trouble, they could have done much worse. Burn the place down or even bust some windows. This kind of vandalism didn’t interrupt business. All it did was cause lots of talk and a hell of a lot of work for the police department. It also caused speculation on the competency of the new police chief. A light bulb went off in Zach’s head and he cursed himself for not realizing it before.

“So if you don’t want to consider the boys of that new family, you got any ideas at all?”

Zach did, but sure as hell wouldn’t be sharing them with this man. He shrugged. “I’ll think on it. In the meantime, why don’t you finish up the reports on that brush fire that got out of control on Saturday?”

Dayton’s mouth twisted, blatant resentment igniting in his eyes. The man hated taking orders from someone who’d once knocked the hell out of him. When Zach had taken the job, he’d met individually with every employee and offered each one an opportunity to leave. No one had taken the offer, including Clark. And though he hadn’t wanted the man as his deputy, Zach had no cause to fire him. Yet.

Zach held Clark’s gaze and waited for the deputy to mouth off. Apparently seeing the wisdom in keeping his thoughts to himself this time, he turned with a huff and stomped away.

Once he was gone, Zach walked around the property once more and let the idea solidify in his head. If the culprits were kids, wouldn’t they do more damage or at least perform some act that left more of a mark? The way it was now, the only harm done was to the insurance company that had to pay the claim, and to the police department’s reputation because they had no suspects.

Before Zach could pursue that line of thought any further, his radio squawked, “Chief, you there?”

“Yeah, go head.”

“We got some trouble going on at Gertie’s Wash and Wait.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Somebody set off fireworks in the dryers. Gertie says it sounds like a war zone. Minnie Dixon’s in hysterics.”

Zach dragged a weary hand down his face and jumped into his car. Hell yeah, it was definitely a full moon.