Lynette Eason - Holiday Homecoming Secrets

“In the cruiser,” Dylan said. “Hold tight and I’ll get it. While I’m out there, I’ll put the paramedics on alert that you need attention.”

She started to argue, but the pounding in her skull had increased to the point that she wouldn’t mind some ibuprofen. “Fine.”

Bryce’s head snapped up. “It’s hurting that bad?”

“Bad enough. The sooner we get this taken care of, the sooner I can find an ice pack.”

He nodded, all traces of annoyance gone. In its place, worry peered at her. She swallowed and looked away. So many memories were attached to those eyes. That face...

Bryce aimed the beam of the flashlight to the hole in the ground and sucked in a breath.

“What is it?” Jade asked. Dylan returned with the bag, and she took it from him. He also handed her a water bottle and four little orange pills. “Thanks.” She downed them and turned her attention back to Bryce, who was on his knees, his face pale. “Bryce?”

“That looks like Frank’s jersey.”

Jade dropped beside him and squinted. She reached in, snagged the shirt and pulled it from the dirt. The Panthers jersey was achingly familiar. “Well, he has one like this, but so do a lot of other people. Doesn’t mean it’s his.” Number nine. Frank’s favorite kicker.

“Look at the left sleeve,” Bryce said, his voice low and tight. “Frank’s was autographed.”

She inspected the sleeve and bit her lip. “Yeah, it’s autographed.”

“Then it’s his.”

She turned it over and sucked in hard. “No. Oh no.”

“What?”

She swallowed. “Holes.”

“What kind of holes?” Bryce narrowed his eyes and drew back.

“Bullet holes, I think,” she croaked. “Two of them. In the chest. And...” Her tight throat wouldn’t allow any more words to pass.

“And?” Dylan and Bryce nearly shouted the words as one voice.

“And,” she said, “the front is soaked in blood. It’s dry, but it’s blood.”

Bryce turned the flashlight on the shirt. Outside, doors slammed and footsteps headed their way. Two holes, just as she’d said, with brown blood staining the front. Frank’s shirt. “I saw him yesterday,” Bryce said. “And I talked to him on the phone this morning.” The conversation that led him to where he was now.

“Maybe he loaned the shirt to someone,” she said.

“Maybe.”

“Or maybe he donated it to the church fundraiser.” Bryce arched a brow at her and she rubbed her forehead. “Yeah, probably not.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Frank’s number, muscles tense, waiting, praying for his friend to pick up.

Voice mail.

“Hey buddy, give me a call when you get this. We need to talk.” He hung up.

Jade was rubbing her head and staring at the jersey. “I’ll call Heather.”

“Yeah,” Bryce said. “He may have gone over to her place and fallen asleep on the couch or something.” He didn’t think so, though.

Jade’s frown said she wasn’t buying that explanation, either. She dialed Frank’s girlfriend’s number, listened, then hung up. “Voice mail. She’s probably asleep with her phone turned off. We have an early shift in the morning,” she said of her fellow officer. “So, we’ve got a bloodstained shirt with two bullet holes.” Dylan nodded and Jade shrugged. “Where’s the body?” she asked. She’d voiced the question he’d been wondering since she’d pulled the shirt out of the dirt. “We need to search this place from top to bottom,” Jade said.

“Officers are outside,” Dylan said. “I’ll get them on it right away.”

Dylan left and within minutes returned with a handful of officers who started searching.

Bryce led Jade out to the ambulance and motioned for the two paramedics to take her. Once she was settled in the back, he tried Frank’s number once more.

Again, he got voice mail. “I’m going to his house,” he said, hanging up.

“I’d like to go, too,” Jade said, “if you don’t mind. If he’s not there, we need to go find Heather and fill her in on everything.” She flinched when the paramedic who’d introduced himself as Geoff Jones touched the side of her head.

“What’d he hit you with?” Geoff asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “He pushed me into one of the spindles.”

Geoff lifted a brow. “Those things have to be rusty. Have you had a tetanus shot recently?”

“Yes. It’s updated.”

“Good. Then just keep it clean and it should heal nicely. Let me check your eyes one more time.” He shone the light in each, and she blinked when he was finished. “No concussion.”

“I appreciate you checking me out, but I’m fine. Shook up and mad that I let the guy get away, but physically, I’m relatively unhurt.”

“Then let’s go find Frank.” Bryce held a hand out. She blinked, her hesitation lasting only a fraction of a second before she settled her palm against his. He jerked. “Your hands are freezing!”

“I think my adrenaline is crashing,” she said. She glanced at the Geoff. “I’m fine to drive, right?”

He shrugged. “Sure. I don’t see why not. As long as you feel like it.”

“Great.”

“Come on,” Bryce said, still holding her hands, “let’s get you into your squad car so you can warm up.” He moved back, and his leg ached with that now familiar throb that indicated he’d overdone it today. Squashing the anger that was never very far from the surface, he focused on Jade and helped her get settled in the driver’s seat. “You’re sure you’re okay to drive?”

“Why? Are you scared to ride with me?”

He huffed. “No.” Bryce rounded the front of the car and slid into the passenger seat. His leg thanked him.

Dylan stepped up beside Jade’s window, and she lowered it, scattering the soft flakes already sticking to everything. “I imagine the chief is going to tell you to sit tomorrow out,” he told her.

“Probably. And if I need to, I will. Right now, I’m...” She sighed. “I refuse to say ‘fine’ one more time.”

Dylan shot her a tight smile. “All right. I’m going to stay here until these guys are done, then write up my report.” He glanced at the sky. “If I don’t get snowed in.”

“I’ll do the same at some point.”

“Let me know if you find Frank.”

“Will do.”

She rolled up her window, and Bryce shook his head. “You’re one tough lady, aren’t you?”

Jade jerked to look at him. “Me? Tough?” A laugh escaped her. “I don’t know about tough. I just do what I need to do.”

“Definitely tough. You always were.”

Jade wanted to ask what he meant by that, but her heart was thumping so loudly, she wouldn’t be surprised if Bryce could hear it.

Did he know?

No. There was no way he possibly could. She’d planned to tell him, of course, but time had passed, and her secret had become hers and hers alone—albeit an unintentional secret. Her parents didn’t even know everything . “What are you doing back here in Cedar Canyon?” She put the vehicle into Drive and pulled away from the scene. It would take her a short five minutes to get to Frank’s place. She doubted Bryce could tell her everything in that amount of time.

But he could start.

“It’s been six years since you disappeared,” she said. “Six years, Bryce, and no word. Nothing.” A surge of anger swept through her and she did her best to choke it back—only because she wanted to hear what he had to say for himself.

He flicked a glance in her direction. “I know how long it’s been.”