Page 63

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

F orbes slept soundly with Brooklynn by his side, and not because of painkillers and sleep aids.

A nurse wrecked it when she ordered Brooklynn out of his bed so she could check his vitals.

His vitals were a lot better with Brooklynn cuddled beside him, but he figured the nurse didn’t need to hear that.

He wanted nothing more than to drift off again after she left, but then the doctor came to tell him he’d be released later that day. He gave all sorts of instructions about antibiotics and treating the wound, followed by a long dissertation on the importance of rest.

As if he was about to run a marathon. All he wanted was to sleep.

Brooklynn made notes on her phone like there might be a test. He loved how seriously she took his health. He loved that concerned expression on her face as she asked questions he hadn’t thought to ask.

As soon as the doctor left, the door opened again.

Why even bother to have a door with so many intrusions?

But he didn’t complain when Rosie stepped in, Grandmother on her heels.

He pressed the button to sit up, staring at his sister. It’d been dark the night before, and he hadn’t gotten a good look at her. Now, he drank her in, this sister he’d adored throughout his childhood.

She’d been eighteen the last time he saw her. Tall and skinny and mostly shapeless. She’d had shoulder-length, layered brown hair—a style from Friends that was so popular at the time—and apple cheekbones and a wide, inviting smile.

She looked different, of course. She was no longer skinny, though certainly not fat. She’d grown her hair longer and added reddish-blond highlights. She wore jeans and a T-shirt, a little makeup on those apple cheeks.

Her smile wasn’t as wide or as inviting—as if something had dimmed it permanently—but it was there, aimed at him.

They’d been staring at each other for so long that it started to feel awkward.

He grinned. “Speaking of shooting bad guys, way to make an entrance.”

“You know how I love the drama.” She closed the distance and hugged him, holding on even tighter than he did.

His shoulder ached, but he didn’t complain. How could he with his beloved sister back from the grave?

When she released him, she searched his face. “You’re so handsome.”

He laughed. “You have to say that. I’m your little brother.” He felt his wide smile but couldn’t seem to tame it. And didn't want to.

“Uh-uh. If you looked like an ogre, I’d tell you.”

He tugged a lock of her strawberry-blonde hair. “It’s different. I like it.”

“Had to hide the gray.”

How could she be old enough to have gray hair? How could she be here?

His questions must’ve shown in his expression because hers darkened. “It’s a long story.”

He made a show of glancing around the hospital room. His gaze caught on Grandmother, who didn’t look away.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about her now that he knew she’d been lying to him for years. He focused on Rosie again. “I have nowhere else to be.”

Brooklynn stood from her chair. “I’ll step outside.”

“Stay.” Realizing how like a command that sounded, he added, “Please?”

“I don’t mind,” Rosie said.

Grandmother shrugged. She looked tired this morning, or maybe worried was the right word.

“Okay, then.” Brooklynn moved to the end of the bed. “Take my seat, Mrs. Ballentine.”

“Thank you, dear.” Grandmother rounded the bed and settled on the chair beside Forbes.

He turned his attention to his sister, who perched on the edge of his bed and held his hand.

She took a deep breath and blew it out. “That terrible day, after I got you hidden in the cubby hole by the fireplace, I headed for my bedroom to hide behind my wardrobe. But Dad was coming up the center stairs, talking to the people who’d come.”

“How did you know they were bad?”

“I knew something was going on down at the dock. I’d asked Dad about it, and he told me to stay away from there.

But I didn’t. I watched. I had a feeling…

I couldn’t imagine Dad was involved in anything illegal, so I couldn’t reconcile what was happening.

That day, I’d been looking out my window when I saw those guys coming, I just had a feeling something bad was about to happen. ”

She’d known? She’d never said a word. Of course, he’d been eight—not exactly old enough to understand any of it.

“They were coming, and I was afraid they’d see me if I tried to get to my room, so I slipped down the back stairs. I listened through the cupboard door. There were so many voices. I decided I’d just hide in the stairwell until they were gone. I should have stayed there.”

She should have. If she had, they’d have been together all these years. He couldn’t help the harshness in his voice when he demanded, “Why didn’t you?”

She didn’t shrink from his anger, just lifted one shoulder and let it drop.

“I heard the gunshots, and I…I panicked. I ran down the hall toward the door, just wanting out of the house. But the front was being guarded, and through the windows, I could see men in the backyard. There were so many people there, it was…” She took a breath and glanced around the room.

“I haven’t talked about it much. It feels weird to relive it after trying to forget for so many years. ”

Forbes understood that. He’d felt the same way when he’d told Brooklynn about that night.

“Where did you go?”

“The living room was empty, so I opened the hidden door and went to the basement. I didn’t turn on the lights and sliced my hand on one of Dad’s tools.”

That explained the blood.

“I escaped out the side and into the woods. I made it to the cave.”

“You hid there?”

“I should have, but I was afraid. I thought if I could get to the beach, I could climb the headland and run into town for help. But someone saw me.”

Picturing what she described, his heart pounded as if Rosie were in danger at that moment. “Were you hurt? Did they try to kill you?”

She shook her head and took another deep breath, as if it took courage to relate the story. Which he understood, except she was to the end of it now. What was so scary?

“I think…I realize in retrospect what happened, but I didn’t know at the time. I swear I didn’t have any idea.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He let me go.”

Forbes jerked, sending a shot of pain to his shoulder. “Who? Why?”

But even as he voiced the questions, he remembered. She’d had a new boyfriend, a secret older boyfriend.

“I didn’t know.” Tears filled her eyes, and she lowered her head, hiding her face with her hair. “I swear, Forbes, I didn’t know.”

Leo had cheated on his wife. He’d been in his mid-twenties. Married too young. Apparently, not ready to be tied down.

The rumors had been that he’d cheated with a younger woman.

“You were having an affair with Leo Taggart.”

“I was so stupid. I knew he was married, but he said he wasn’t happy, and their marriage wasn’t going to last. He said he loved me.”

Hot fury had Forbes’s heart monitor beeping double-time.

Of course that snake had told Rosie he loved her.

Forbes was ready to hunt him down and kill him. Except…

“You shot him.”

“Yes.”

“Did you know it was him?”

“Back then? I had no idea. It’s only in retrospect that I realize he’s probably the one who let me go.”

“But last night?”

“I saw him leaving the house, carrying a gas can. I didn’t know who it was until the flames lit his face.”

It was too much for Forbes to process. He couldn’t imagine how she felt.

“I’m sorry you had to shoot him.”

“I’m just sorry I didn’t figure it out twenty-five years ago.”

“Where did you go?”

“I called Gran.” She smiled across his bed at their grandmother, who’d listened to the story with her eyes closed.

She didn’t open them now.

“She was worried they’d come after me,” Rosie said, “and worried that, if they did, they’d harm you.

So she arranged for me to meet with a lawyer, who got me set up with a new identity.

I moved south. With Gran’s help, I got into Duke.

Without you and Mom and Dad, I felt totally alone.

But midway through my freshman year, I met a friend.

She learned my parents had been killed. She and her family took me in and basically became my new family.

I call her sister. I call them Mom and Dad.

It’s not the same, but it’s family, you know? ”

He nodded, though he didn’t know. He’d only ever had Gran. “All these years, you never reached out to me.”

Again, Rosie flicked a gaze to Grandmother. “She didn’t think it would be safe.”

The old woman didn’t defend herself. She didn’t say a word, though her shoulders shook.

He’d never seen Gran cry.

Brooklynn crouched beside her and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. She didn’t say anything, just comforted her with her presence.

Forbes didn’t know how to feel. Angry at Gran for lying to him for all those years—that was there.

But he was so grateful that Rosie was alive and well, and that was because of Gran too. They’d come through it, and now they were together again.

“Tell me about this.” Forbes gave his sister’s left hand a pointed look, focused on the wedding ring.

She smiled. “His name is Steve. We have three kids. I can’t wait for them to meet their Uncle Forbes.”

Tears stung his eyes. He was an uncle? His sister was alive and married. If her smile was any indication, she was happy.

“But how were you there last night?”

“I installed my own cameras at the house years ago. Not inside but on the grounds. When I saw you there, I got close. I rented the house just to the north. I’ve been monitoring everything. Last night, I saw you two get back, and then cars parked on the street. I knew something was going on.”

“Why didn’t you call the police?”

“I did. I called the state police. They were already on their way.”

“You knew Leo was involved."

“I didn’t know . But…I always suspected. The older I got, the more convinced I became that somebody in authority had to have been in on it. How else could the smuggling have gone on as long as it did?”