Page 33 of Hidden Resolution (Stonebrooke #2)
T wo hours passed before a surgeon sought her out.
“Ms. Grant?”
She popped up. “Yes, I’m Shonda. Are you Mason’s doctor?”
The woman was tall, blonde, and exactly Mason’s type: physically fit with an ass so firm she could bounce a quarter off it. If he hadn’t professed to love her, Shonda would be toast.
“Yes. I’m Dr. Elizabeth Phillips,” the doctor said, offering her hand and a warm smile. “Mason did well and is in recovery. Luckily, the bullet didn’t hit any vital organs, and we were able to stitch him right up.”
“So he’s going to be okay?”
“We’re hopeful. The biggest threat is a potential infection. The next phase is the old wait-and-see game.”
“When can I visit him?” Shonda asked.
“I’ll call down as soon as he’s awake,” Dr. Phillips assured her with a glance at her watch. “Did you manage to eat?”
“A granola bar from the machine.”
“If you hurry, you can grab a bite from the cafeteria.”
For the first time all day, Shonda smiled. “Mason is going to love you. His favorite thing is being mothered.”
“Why do I have the feeling you’re yanking my chain?”
“Should I apologize in advance for his surly behavior?” she offered.
“Lovely.”
Her dryness caused Shonda to laugh.
With a grin and a nod toward the cafeteria sign, Dr. Phillips left.
The ringing phone distracted Shonda from getting a meal.
“Dane is currently en route,” Zack informed her. “What’s the latest on my bonehead brother?”
“His doctor said he’s in recovery. The surgery went well.”
“Good. And how are you?” he asked gently.
She glanced down, wincing when she noticed her blood-caked clothes. “Wishing I had stopped for a shower. But I’m not comfortable heading back home yet.”
“Understandable. I don’t know if she told you, but Erica and I put our place on the market. Mainly for Jacob, but the vibe of the house feels off now.”
“Yes. I’ll never be able to sleep where Billy…” Her stomach churned as she recalled his dead-eyed stare.
“Shonda, listen to me. You did what you had to,” Zack reminded her. “It was yours and Mason’s lives or his.”
“I know.” She cleared her mind of the death along with her throat. “So, did your brothers patch things up, or do I need to referee when Dane gets here?”
“It remains to be seen. Do you have one of those sexy black-and-white-striped s—ouch! I was asking for Mason.” His voice sounded far away.
“Ignore him,” Erica said, taking his place. “Who knew all the Sharps were such horny bastards?”
“Me. And based on the bun in your oven, you did, too,” Shonda replied, laughing.
“Are you okay? And I mean truly okay. Not the appease-people kind.”
“Yeah, for now. At some point, I need to call my family and explain what happened.”
“I’m sorry,” Erica said tearfully.
“Oh, God!” Zack recovered his phone. “It’s the pregnancy hormones. We’ll call you back after a bakery run.”
Surprised she could, Shonda laughed. “Give her my love.”
“Will do. Give my brother a hard time.”
After she hung up, she wandered toward the promise of food only to find the cafeteria abandoned.
Her next stop was the snack bar. She mainlined M she’s not leaving your side. But I gotta say, the way you’ve treated her up until today leaves a lot to be desired. If it were me, I’d let your sorry ass rot.”
His brows shot up in surprise. Dane didn’t do mean, yet there was definite anger in his tone.
“I thought we had a truce?”
“Can’t recall uttering that word. But a truce doesn’t mean I can’t tell you when you’re being a dick, Mason.”
Dane had the balls to ruffle his hair before walking off, whistling a jaunty tune.
“Dickhead,” Mason called, receiving the bird in response. Again, he laughed, then groaned. It felt good to mend their rift. The tension between them over the last month had been wearing, knocking him off-kilter.
Shonda emerged from the bathroom, ragged and worn.
“Are you going to be all right, love?” he asked.
“I have to be, don’t I?”
“You don’t need to be tough with me. Anyone else would’ve buckled by now.”
“Billy intended to kill me.” She shook her head and walked to the bank of windows, seemingly blind to the scene in the distance. “I don’t understand why.”
“Money is a strong motivator, love.”
Her nod was mechanical, and the silence stretched as she suffered in her own private hell.
“Shonda.” When he had her full attention, he beckoned her closer. “You had no other choice. You get that, right?”
“I do,” she said, her smile sad. After a beat, her brows met. “You said money was a strong motivator.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He blinked. The truth danced out of reach, weaving in and out, teasing his brain.
Damned drugs!
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But it felt important to say.”
“I have a trust fund, yes. But it’s not enough for someone to off me.” Her frown deepened. “Plus, if I were to die, having no husband or children, my estate would revert back to my mother and father.”
The puzzle pieces fitted into place, leaving Mason cold.
“Get your parents on the phone immediately.”
She scrambled for her purse. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ll explain it all at once. Hand me my cell and call your parents from yours. Three-way, if you have to, but do it .”
He thanked his lucky stars that, for once, she didn’t argue.
“They’re not answering.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. Her expression turned grim. “It’s late there.”
Bucky Whitmore picked up on the second ring.
“Bucky? Hey, it’s Mason. Will you do me a favor? Will you contact the Springdale PD and have them perform wellness checks on both Shonda’s parents?”
“What’s going on, Mason? Does this have to do with the car bomb last month?”
“I believe it does.” Mason explained everything, starting with the break-ins in St. Thomas and ending with the shooting in Thornton. “At first, I thought good old cousin Billy was a fuckup. Now I’m not so sure.”
“Go on,” Bucky urged.
“He struck me as desperate for money, for reasons he took to the grave. But I think he was working an angle with Shonda’s sister.”
She gasped.
“Shonda has a sister?” Bucky sounded as startled as she looked.
Mason met her wide-eyed stare with a grimace. “A twin, to be precise. Call in the wellness checks, and then I’ll explain the rest.”
“What are the addresses?”
He handed his phone to Shonda for information forwarding.
“Bucky said he’d call you in about twenty minutes.” She set his phone on the tray and sat down. “What’s going on, Mason? How is it you believe my twin survived? Are you saying my father lied about putting her up for adoption?”
“No. I believe he was telling the truth as he knew it. Remember, he said he was in Italy when your mother went into labor? It struck me as odd when he worded it the way he did. ‘By the time I could catch a flight home, you were already tucked into your crib, your sister was gone, and your mother blamed me for everything.’”
Because she seemed receptive to the idea, he continued.
“Why wouldn’t a grieving mother wait for the father to bury their infant daughter together?” he asked. “Why have a funeral without him? The delay wouldn’t have been too long.”
She gasped.
“What?” he asked.
“You said I had a twin in St. Thomas. You saw her at the bar the night of the second break-in.”
He grasped where she was going. “It may have been your sister.”
“I think so, and Billy was there. Or at least, I suspect he was. I remember seeing someone who looked like him from behind and thinking it was odd he wouldn’t greet me.
” She shrugged, but still appeared bothered.
“I told myself I must’ve been mistaken. But it was the same night you saw the woman.
Your comment made me forget all about him. ”
“They had to be working together,” he mused.
“On the GenCon ads?”
She didn’t want to see the connection regardless of the clues.
“Shonda, you said your mother ran out of money.”
“Yes, but Papa still makes sure she has everything she needs. He has the chain of restaurants and an old family fortune.”
He waited for her to get it. But when she did, her horror hit him in the stomach, right next to the fucking bullet wound.
“You once told me your mother was never there when you were growing up. And it was also the reason she and Nolan broke up,” he reminded her gently.
“Yes, she was gone so much of the time, he thought she was having an affair.” Pale and shaken, she met his steady gaze. “Do you think she was spending time with my sister?”
“It’s a strong possibility. It could also be why her house was set on fire while she was out of town. Because she needed the insurance payout.”
“This is insane,” she said, shaking her head.
“Agreed, but it doesn’t mean it’s not real.”