Shelby's Secret (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 4) (15 page)

Mike stood, pointing to the various pieces of tack the horse wore and explaining what each one was. He and Rebecca stood side by side inside the pen.

Shelby pulled back into the shadows and watched. She and Abby had been on the road for as long as Rebecca had been alive, so there hadn’t been time to find horseback riding lessons. Even when Rebecca had begged for months to learn how to ride. The pang in her heart reminded Shelby this was why she couldn’t cancel those concerts. She needed to give Rebecca everything she’d missed out on in the past seven years.

“I know you don’t like to talk much, but Cinnamon here likes to obey commands with noises and by voice,” Mike said before making a clicking noise out of the side of his mouth.

The horse’s ears perked up at the sound.

“See? Now she’s waiting for a command. Can you make the same noise?”

Shelby held her breath—hoping.

Rebecca reached out and touched Cinnamon’s neck. Then she looked up at Mike.

He repeated the clicks.

Then Rebecca looked back at the horse and tried. The sounds came out softly, but they were there. Three little clicks that matched Mike’s almost perfectly.

“That’s exactly right, Rebecca. See how her ears flicked back toward you?” He waited until she nodded and then continued. “Now when you want her to go from a walk to a trot, you’ll kick her flanks gently and make that noise. And when you want her to stop, you have to pull back on the reins and say, “Whoa”.”

“Whoa,” her little voice echoed.

Shelby had both hands covering her mouth to keep quiet. She didn’t want to disturb the moment by doing something stupid like bursting into tears. Instead, she tore her tear-laden gaze away from Rebecca to look at the man who had her daughter talking. He was big and could be intimidating, and a tough-as-nails former Marine, but to her, he was a miracle.

Her heart felt like it might burst with all the emotions she had. The fear Rebecca would never speak again, the undying hope her best friend was still alive, and the love had never gone away, that was bursting through her for the man she left behind. And that was it, the real reason she’d chosen to come home to retire. She could have gone anywhere, but Shelby had been determined to return to Phoenix. The reason was clear now, in a way that she’d never have admitted to before.

She loved Mike and she wanted him back. And, this time, she was determined keep him.

Backing away, she retraced her steps to the cabin and let her man and her child have the moment of triumph. But, in the end, the moment was hers because she had a goal. Not like the one that led her to Nashville in the first place. Fame was temporary in this fickle world. This one was for the rest of her life, and this dream was the only one that truly mattered.

Love. Family. Home.

And she would fight for them.

***

He woke up, not sure where he was. But his head hurt so bad, the ache made him stay still until the pain dulled to a throb. “What did you do, Charlie?” he whispered. He thought he tasted blood.

But Charlie was quiet, because he was a shadow.

Looking around, he wasn’t sure where he was at first. He didn’t even know what time it was, but he felt sticky. Like something foreign was on his body, but he couldn’t figure out what. It was dark, so he moved slowly and sat up. He lay on a hard floor that wasn’t smooth and felt like concrete. Maybe he was in one of the secret places.

When he didn’t feel as if he might vomit, he got to his feet. His head protested, but he stood still, holding onto what felt like a table until the pain receded again. That was better. And his eyes were adjusting. The room wasn’t pitch-black after all. Light streamed in through the high windows. He was in a bathroom of sorts, with a couple of industrial sinks and a commode in the corner.

“Where did you bring me?” he asked, but knew there wouldn’t be an answer. The shadow normally rested after he took over for an extended amount of time. Especially, when he was mad.

And Charlie was always mad.

Leaving the room, he walked out into the wide open space of the main warehouse, and that’s when he knew that Charlie had been in a rage. The carnage in front of him wasn’t what he had planned. He’d been having so much fun with the woman. With his newest Shelby Lynn.

But that was now over.

He walked around and looked at what had been done. He could do nothing now—not for her. She was supposed to be the pinnacle in his video montage, but she wouldn’t make the cut. He shrugged. What a waste.

Turning away, he found the lantern he used to light up his work space. He still didn’t feel right. Going back into the room with the sinks and the small table, he flipped on the lantern and turned back to the mirror that was partially intact on the wall. The bottom half had been vandalized at some point, but one whole side was unbroken.

So much blood.

The face that stared back wasn’t his any longer. The creature in the mirror was something else. Something reptilian that slithered into the small spaces. Bringing a hand to his face, he saw that it too was covered in blood. So much that the smell suddenly overwhelmed him. “Who are you?”

I’m you
, a voice hissed back.

It was the Shadow. He wasn’t resting after all.

It was Charlie.

He didn’t even exist anymore.

***

Daniel pushed back from his desk in frustration. He wished he were making more headway, but every rodent specialty store came up empty. The only chinchillas sold recently were to a little Hawaiian girl who’d promptly named them after a Disney movie that was set on her home island. Her parents had been surprised, yet helpful, when he’d shown up at the door to ask about the purchase.

When his cell rang, he hoped the news was something good because he wasn’t getting anywhere and it was pissing him off. “Wolfe,” he barked.

“Peter and the . . . ” Her voice trailed off.

That threw him for a moment, “What?”

“Now I have the music from that story running through my head. Oh well, guess it’s better than Shelby Lynn’s stuff. I’m suddenly addicted. And I don’t normally listen to country music, but that chick’s got the pipes.”

“Casey?” he asked, but he already knew. She was like a sudden storm after his gloomy afternoon. Her breezy attitude blew him off course, but he couldn’t be too upset. He liked her voice.

“Who else? I have some good news.”

“I could use it.” And he could. Something was better than the nothing he had.

“Victim number one has a name, finally.”

He pulled a pen out from under the papers strewn across his desk. “Okay, shoot.”

“Name is Priscilla Trenton, she’s twenty-three, single, and is a missing person from Nashville, Tennessee. I’m thinking that’s not a coincidence, and that her folks were clearly influence by the proximity to Graceland.”

Daniel sat back in his chair. “No, I don’t think that it is,” he said slowly. “I’ve been having some doubts about this guy being home grown. So what if he’s not?”

“Time of death is roughly the same day Shelby Lynn said she got into town.”

“Son of a bitch. He brought victim one with him. He wasn’t hunting here, he was hunting in Nashville.” What the hell happened in Nashville to start all this?

“I’m already trying to match prints and dentals for victim number two in Nashville, just in case he brought two bodies.”

While he didn’t think victim number two would be from the same place, he did wonder about the chinchillas. They were small and easy to move. What if he hadn’t bought them here, but already had them?

“Keep checking locally, as well as the route from Nashville to here. He could have picked up the second girl from the road.”

“Thanks for the tip, Captain Obvious.”

He could hear the sarcasm dripping through the phone. “Not that you aren’t already doing that, I meant.”

“I’m telling Mike to fire you when I talk to him, due to your lack of people skills.”

He snorted. “I have people skills.”

“First, you think I’m a hooker, and now you think I’m an idiot. That is not winning me over.”

He took a moment to picture her in that dress and those heels. And he tried to keep the smile out of his voice. “I don’t think you’re an idiot, and I never said you were a hooker.”

“You didn’t have to, Daniel,” she said his name with a bit of extra sweetness.

“Mike’s not firing me.” He laughed. He enjoyed her spicy wit that livened up his bad day.

“He likes me better than you.”

He imagined her sticking out her tongue at the phone.
Hmmm
, what he could do with that tongue. Then he shook himself out of that image, because he didn’t want to think about the little medical examiner that way. That idea was too complicated. But, he didn’t stop baiting her. “That’s because you show up to crime scenes looking like a hooker.” He hung up. Let her chew on that. Then he laughed out loud as he pictured the look of outrage on her face.

He turned back to his computer, determined to find those freaking chinchillas. That hair was the only clue this bastard had left behind, and Daniel wanted to nail his ass to the wall with it.

Chapter 13

He’d been a little worried when all his friends suddenly had something to do after lunch, and Mike suspected a little matchmaking from Beth and Lily. They really liked Shelby and had been worried about him being alone for some time now. But what he enjoyed most was watching his bad-ass Marine brothers get dragged home by their little wives. The apology for not backing him up was written on their faces, but the shrugs and sheepish grins told the story. The sight was worth the abandonment.

Or so he thought.

He hadn’t counted on Shelby’s determination. Or Rebecca’s sweetness. Both just about brought him to his knees.

Spending the afternoon teaching Rebecca how to ride had been more enjoyable than he could have imagined. That she was talking was its own reward. He just hoped she would stay open and talkative and not retreat back into her silent world.

Mike had worried about Shelby and how she would take Rebecca suddenly talking again after a year, but he decided that she’d be fine. Now he stood, making dinner for the girls and all he had to do was ask Rebecca to tell him what her favorite part of the day was.

“Riding Cinnamon was the best part.”

“Why don’t you tell your Aunt Shelby about it?”

And she turned and did just that. Rebecca had been silent so long that the words just rushed out in long streams.

Mike watched Shelby surreptitiously, but she smiled and laughed with the little girl as if no time had passed in silence. And if her eyes were shinier than normal, he thought she did a great job of holding the emotion in.

Dinner was simple, but the company was amazing. Mike felt something move inside as he listened to the girls chatter. They included him as well, both reaching over to touch him. Rebecca in excitement as she talked about owning a horse of her own someday, and she wanted the exact same horse as Cinnamon. Shelby’s touch was absent minded, as if it was normal to reach out to him and squeeze his hand while Rebecca talked.

It was almost like having a preview of what his life could have been. If things had been different, and Shelby hadn’t left him all those years ago. Rebecca could be their child, and none of the heartache would have happened because he would have been there to protect her.

He got to his feet and grabbed the dishes, jerking them from the table. Anger welled up inside of him. Anger with himself and with Shelby. Her single-minded dreams had robbed them both of this, and he still couldn’t get over it.

“I can get that,” she said.

He shook his head. “Why don’t you go tuck Rebecca into bed? The drive back to town tomorrow is long, and I want to be in place before you have to be at the concert venue for the sound checks and rehearsal.” At the sink, he braced his hands on the counter, and he was glad he did because two little arms went around his legs, giving him a big hug.

“I want you to tuck me in, Mike.”

The demand was one he couldn’t refuse. As much as he wanted to distance himself from them both, he just couldn’t. Big blue eyes dominated her serious face. No way could he do anything to disappoint this little girl. Ever.

“I guess you deserve one last ride tonight.” He bent down, and she climbed on his back as if she’d been doing it her whole life. With a loud whinny and nicker, he cantered off toward her room, her giggles the best music in the world. He passed Shelby and she turned slightly away from them, but not before he saw the tears streaking down her face.

Damn, he hadn’t meant to make her cry. He thought she’d be happy Rebecca was finally talking, and she probably was. Women cried at the oddest stuff. He’d witnessed the behavior over the years with Beth and Lily, and he was always amazed at how the guys handled it without losing their cool. But they never seemed to mind.

The women he normally had contact with were all police personnel or Casey. And he couldn’t imagine anything other than being shot making those ladies cry. Maybe not even then. He could picture Casey cussing while simultaneously telling everyone around her how to process the evidence correctly.