I Have a Secret (A Sloane Monroe Novel, Book Three)

This book is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, businesses, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner.  Any similarity to events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and should be recognized as such.

First edition April 2012

Copyright © 2012 by Cheryl Bradshaw

Cover Design Copyright 2012 © Reese Dante

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978- 1475190816

ISBN-10: 1475190816

For updates on Cheryl and her books:

Blog:
cherylbradshawbooks.blogspot.com

Web:
www.cherylbradshaw.com

Facebook: Cheryl Bradshaw Author Page

Twitter: @cherylbradshaw

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means whatsoever (electronic, mechanical, etc.) without the prior written permission and consent of the author.

ALSO BY CHERYL BRADSHAW

Black Diamond Death, (Sloane Monroe Novel #1)

Sinnerman (Sloane Monroe Novel #2)

Sloane Monroe Series Boxed Set (Books 1-3)

Stranger in Town (Fall 2012)

Whispers of Murder, a novella

Author praise for Black Diamond Death, Sloane Monroe Series, Book #1:

The writing and editing are excellent, the characters are interesting, and the plot kept me hooked. The balance between action and detecting worked perfectly.  The main character was a masterpiece.

--Edward G. Talbot, Author of New World Orders

The tone reminded me of Robert B. Parker's novels, so if you're missing the likes of Spenser and Sunny Randall, I'd say that Cheryl Bradshaw looks to be a worthy successor.

Highly recommended!

--Chris Stout, Author of Days of Reckoning

For an author's first book, Black Diamond Death (A Sloane Monroe Novel), is one that drew me in with the prologue. I've downloaded the next one in the Sloane Monroe series, Sinnerman, because I enjoyed the first book and I have the feeling I'm going to find an even better novel with the second one.

--S. Warfield, Vine Voice, Top 500 Reviewer

Author praise for Sinnerman, Sloane Monroe Series, Book #2:

Only once in a while do you come upon a novel that sweeps you literally off your feet. The pot-boiling tension in this story is out of this world. Cheryl Bradshaw can write like the pros did at the Turn of the 20th Century. This is an instant classic. Absolutely sensational indisputably.

-- Glen Cantrell, Author of The Resume 

Bradshaw writes a great thriller, with likeable characters, and a taunt timeline that keeps you reading way past lights-out.

-- Robin Landry, Vine Voice, Top 500 Reviewer

This book is dedicated to the many friends I attended Tehachapi High School with during the years of 1989 to 1992, with special consideration to my own class—1991.  I’ve never forgotten my roots, and this novel is a tribute to that.

And also to Justin:

“I am successful today because I had a friend who believed in me,

and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.”

Abraham Lincoln

To Stephen King for giving me permission to quote you in my novel. You had me at Carrie, and have kept me there throughout the years.  I appreciate your willingness to extend even the simplest courtesy to me.  Long live the King!

My husband Justin for always asking me how long it will be until the book is done—definitely a driving force.

To the Tehachapi Chief of Police, Jeff Kermode, for answering my homicide questions.  And to John Pitko, Eric Harris, and Greg Hewgill for answering my historical questions.

Many thanks to my new editor, Janet Green, my fabulous beta readers, Becky Fagnant and Amy Jirsa-Smith, and my fantastic formatter, Dafeenah Jameel.  Also, a big shout out to the best cover designer since sliced bread, Reese Dante.

To my friends and family for your continued support.

And finally to Mumford and Sons. 
Timshel
, is the theme song for this book.

 “It's not me who can't keep a secret. It's the people I tell that can't.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Doug Ward stood on the ship’s deck and gazed across the calm waves of an evening sea.  The cool ocean breeze brushed past his face and clung to it like little particles of mist, but he didn’t seem to notice.  The scotch in his hand was his fifth of the night, or the sixth or seventh—he couldn’t remember.  Most nights he drank until he passed out, and tonight would be no exception.  He’d drink himself into oblivion if it meant never hearing another one of his classmates sing the karaoke version of M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.” 

Twenty years had passed since anyone called him “Douggie”, but tonight he’d heard it shouted from every corner of the stuffy room that contained him.  All he wanted was to get away from it, so he left the crowd at the costume party behind to sing their hearts out while he pondered the long list of life’s regrets in solitude.  Rounding out the top five was his decision to take the high school reunion cruise in the first place.  But there was little he could do about that now
. Two more days,
he thought,
and this trip will be all over.

Doug’s memories of high school had faded through the years until he hadn’t remembered much of anything.  It all seemed like the blur of someone else’s life, as if the experiences he recalled weren’t really his anymore.  He had flashes of memories here and there, but only one solid enough to stand the test of time.  And that was the one he’d tried his hardest to forget, but no amount of alcohol would ever drown it out.  Not completely. 

Often times Doug thought about what he’d change if he could go back in time and do it all over again.  He envisioned himself at the fork in the road and often thought about what it would have been like had he chosen to go in the other direction.  Maybe he wouldn’t have gone through life with all the nightmares that plagued him, or the secrets that gnawed at his insides like a thief in the darkness trying to find his way out of a dense, black fog surrounding him on all sides.

“There you are,” a voice said behind him. 

Doug rotated his body around and faced Trista, his wife.  She looked exquisite in her black satin vampire gown that hugged every curve of her petite frame.  Her cocoa-colored hair fell in loose curls around her shoulders, and her lips were stained the perfect shade of red.  It didn’t matter how many years had come and gone since they’d married, she still remained the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.