Risky Secrets (6 page)

Frank
flinched and furrowed his brow. “He’s an adult and not a child. He’s quite
capable and able to make his own life decisions.”

“Like
father like son.” Carlos glanced at their hired gun and winked. “How man bribes
did you take during your career?”

“I
don’t know what you’re talking about.” Frank glanced down at the floor in front
of him. “I never took a bribe in my life for anything.”

“We
have information that suggests you did. If that should get out, it would ruin
your rather untarnished reputation as an ex-officer of the law.” Estefan
grinned wickedly. “All you have to do is tell us where Tom is. We won’t hurt
him. We only want our money back. That’s it and nothing more. You have our
word.”

Frank
hesitated for a moment, and then he started talking.

****

Tom’s
father hadn’t called since he had arrived at Pine Bluff over a week ago. It
wasn’t as if he had been expecting to hear from the man who raised him. Their
relationship had not been the best over the years since he’d left home and
forged his own way in the world. Frank was a good man, but he wasn’t the best
at being a father. Still, he wasn’t to blame for Tom screwing up his life. He
had only himself to blame for that.

Coming
to Pine Bluff had not been easy. Going from living in the city all of his life
to living in a small town, well…he wasn’t finding it easy to adjust. But if
staying here meant living, he’d do whatever it took to make it work for him.

His
reason for being here had to stay a secret. He refused to drag anyone else into
his web of lies and deceit. It was bad enough that Frank and Lucky had to know
what happened to him. Lucky was in Florida now taking a breather. It was better
that way. If the Leone brothers did come looking for him, there wouldn’t be
anyone else around for them to harm.

“Tom,
are you there?”

He
followed the voice to the door to the apartment. He knew immediately that it
was Keith on the other side. He unlocked the door and held it open to allow
Keith to come inside. “This is unexpected,” he said, greeting him.

“I
was heading home from a job, and I thought I would stop in to see you.”

They
stood within inches of each other. The heat that seared between them was
instant. Tom pushed to resist kissing Keith right then and there. “Feel free to
stop by anytime. I don’t mind.”

“I
didn’t want to come across as not being interested in seeing you again. I know
I can be a little standoffish. That’s my nature. I honestly never expected to
meet someone like you here in Pine Bluff.”

“I’ll
take that as a compliment.”

“It’s
meant to be. I’m not the most social either. My skills are rather rusty from
lack of use. You’ll have to overlook my rough edges.”

“There
isn’t anyone in this world that’s perfect. We all have our own issues to deal
with, and some more than others. I accept people for who they are. That’s the
sign of a true friend.” He hoped that Keith would feel the same way if he ever
found out about Tom’s illegal activities.

****

Tom’s
words warmed Keith. This man was different from the other’s he had known. “What
you see is what you get with me.”

“You’re
easy on the eyes. I like what I see.” Tom grinned sheepishly. He looped his
fingers inside the waist of Keith’s jeans. “You turn me on so much.”

Keith’s
cock sprang to immediate attention as he moved forward until they were chest to
chest. “I didn’t come here for this,” he explained. He sucked in a deep breath
when Tom dropped to his knees in front of him.

“I’m
going to suck your cock,” Tom said, his voice husky and full of need.

How
could he say no to that?

Tom
worked his cock, and after he shot his load, he nearly collapsed. “You’re
good,” he managed to say.

“It’s
easy when I have that to play with,” Tom replied. He curved his fingers around
Keith’s semi-erect cock. “I’d let you fuck me, but I’m pressed for time. I have
to set the bar up for tonight. The coolers need to be restocked, and I
neglected to clean the bathrooms. Will you be around tonight?”

“I’m
not sure.”

“After
closing we could have a repeat of last night minus the intrusion by that
woman.”

“As
enticing at that sounds, I can’t make any promises. I should get going. You
need to get that stuff done.”

****

Jayne
was done with writing for the night. The solitude being at the lake was
splendid and worked wonders for her muse. The book would be completed soon
enough, and she’d be able to hand it over to
Marilla
.

Jayne
ventured outside with a hot cup of coffee in her hand. She stopped to inhale
the fresh air and even through the moonlight, she could see far across the
lake. There was a chill in the air, but she didn’t mind. This place was good
for her. It reinvigorated her, and for the first time ever, she pictured
herself seriously living here all year round.

Somewhere
overhead an owl hooted and was followed by the fluttering of wings. You didn’t
get that living in the city. Jayne went back inside and closed the door firmly
behind her. She’d try for an early night. Keith came back into her thoughts,
and she hoped he’d come around again soon. Their time together had been brief,
but she enjoyed it immensely. It was nice to meet others from the area. Up to
this point she hadn’t connected with anyone.

It
was around eleven when she drifted off to sleep, and when she woke again, she
glanced at her bedside clock. It was nearing two in the morning. Jayne reached
over and turned on the lamp next to the clock. She was in desperate need of a
drink of water though the thoughts of getting out of bed and standing on a cold
floor were less than appealing.

She
walked from the bedroom out into the hallway and shivered as a cold breeze blew
across her bare legs. Where was it coming from? She’d closed all the windows
earlier. She was absolutely sure of that. Her pulse quickened and a lump formed
in the back of her throat. The feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that
something wasn’t right as a sheer sense of uneasiness swept over her. That’s
when she heard it…footsteps. Someone was in the house with her.

****

The
man in black froze in place. He had not expected her to wake up. He’d been
careful when he picked the lock on the front door. Damn it, if she found him,
she’d freak and call the police. That was the last thing he needed. If his
cover was blown, Tom would panic and leave town. He’d have to start his search
all over again, and the Leone brothers would not be pleased. Hell, they’d
probably fuck him up for it. That wouldn’t do.

He
wasn’t going to hurt her. That would only happen if she got in the way of his
plans. Much like a spider, he bided his time and waited for the right moment to
strike. When he killed Tom, it had to be perfect. There would be no witnesses
left behind or evidence tracing him to anything or the Leones. He was good at
cleaning up. He was known for that.

“Who’s
there?” called the woman. Fear sounded in her voice.

He
said nothing and backed up slowly. He wasn’t far from the open door. He’d
followed that man here earlier that day. This man had something to do with Tom,
and he wondered how exactly they were connected. Maybe the guy was one of Tom’s
fuck buddies. He already knew that Tom often frequented gay bars back in the
city. He’d learned this by watching him when the Leones first suspected that
Tom was stealing from them and he was hired. Not that he had anything against
gays.
Each to their own and all that jazz was his motto in
life.
Live and let live.

“Hello?”
said the woman. “I’m calling the police.”

He
paused in the doorway for a brief moment. Killing her would be easy, but it
would only complicate things. He left.

****

Jayne
moved cautiously through the house and made her way towards the front door. She
felt faint when she spotted that it was open. Had she imagined the sound of
footsteps? She quickly flicked on the lights. She shut the door and locked it
right after. Grabbing the cell phone from her bag, she paused and wondered if
she should call the police. If it was nothing, they’d think she was crazy.
Keith came to her mind. Surely she could call him. It was his job to look after
the property, right? And this was a security issue. Jayne keyed in his phone
number and waited for him to pick up. He did on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Keith?
This is Jayne. I’m sorry to call you so late, but I think someone was in the
house.” She remained calm as she spoke. “The front door was open. I’m sure I
locked it before heading to bed.”

“I’ll
be right over. Hang tight. I won’t be long,” Keith replied without hesitation.

Jayne
snapped the phone shut and headed back to the bedroom. She shook slightly as
she sat on the edge of the bed. She would have expected for something like this
to happen back in the city, but not out here.

Chapter Seven

“Who
was that?” Tom asked.

Keith
pulled on a pair of jeans. He looked back at Tom who was still lying in bed.
He’d gone to
Lucky’s
after all that night, and when
the bar closed, Tom came back to his place. “It was Jayne. She’s the lady who
walked in on us.”

 
“I remember. The look on her face was
priceless. I bet she regretted opening that bedroom door. What did she want?
It’s a little fucking late to be making phone calls.”

“She
thinks there was an intruder in her house. I have to go and check it out.”

“Can’t
that wait until the morning?”

“No.
It’s part of my job.” It really wasn’t, but Tom didn’t need to know that. “I
shouldn’t be long.”

“Can
I come with you? It would be better than staying here by myself.”

What
could he say to that? It would be rude if he said no. “Sure. Get dressed.”

“Great.”
Tom hopped out of bed and dressed quickly. A look of worry crossed his face.

“Is
there something wrong?”

“What
if there was someone out there?” Tom asked.

“It’s
nothing that I can’t manage.”

“Perhaps
sending the police out there would be a better idea. They’d know what to do.”
Tom shoved his hands deep into the pockets in his jeans. “It’s a thought.”

“The
wind probably blew Jayne’s door open and spooked her. It’s windy outside. It’s
even worse at the lake. This happens all the
time,
and
locks are never one hundred percent.”

“I
hope you’re right,” Tom replied. “Hopefully it’s nothing at all.”

****

There
wasn’t any sense in jumping the gun. Like Keith had said, it was most likely
nothing. Yet the what if played up in the back of Tom’s mind. Tom knew that it
was possible that the Leones had found him. It could have just been his
paranoia playing mind games with him, but that was the first thing that came to
his mind when he heard that Jayne thought she’d had an intruder at her house.
The last thing he wanted was to drag some innocent person into his mess. He’d
done that with his father and regretted it deeply. The fact was that they could
possibly take his misdeeds out on his old man. He shouldn’t have gone to him
for help, but it was too late to take it back at this point.

“It’s
dark out this way,” Tom said. They were near the lake and being so far from
town made Tom feel extremely isolated and nervous.

“What
do you expect at night?” Keith shook his head and chuckled. “This is the road
to Jayne’s house. She sounded so scared on the phone. I’m not sure that I like
the idea of a woman being all the way out here on her own. Even here there are
plenty of crazies around.”

“It
was probably some animal looking for food,” Tom suggested.

“There
are lots of them around. It could even have been a bear.”

Tom
widened his eyes at the mention of a bear.
“A bear?
Are you kidding me?” The thought of coming face to face with a bear almost
scared him as much as meeting up with the Leone brothers.

“I’m
dead serious. They’re all over the place up here.”

“Fucking great!”

“You’re
scared. That’s kind of cute,” Keith mused.

“Keep
them away from me.”

“I’m
sure they feel the same way about humans.” Keith grinned. “I have the rifle in
case we need it locked in the back of the truck. You’re safe with me.”

“I’d
say that makes me feel better, but I’d be lying.” In the distance, Tom spotted
lights coming from Jayne’s house. He sucked in a deep breath and wished he
hadn’t come there.

****

Jayne
heard the engine of the truck and was quick to get to the door to meet Keith.
She then heard two men talking as they approached the house. Jayne listened at
the door until she was sure that one of the men was Keith. “Hey,” she greeted,
opening the door.