Secret Sins (40 page)

His gaze turned to Anna.

“I didn’t know,” he wheezed. “Oh God, Anna, I didn’t know.” Then fear seemed to flash
in his eyes as he turned back to Archer again. “You know the identity of the Slasher
then?”

Archer breathed in roughly. “It was Wayne Sorenson, John,” he told him quietly. “He
was your blackmailer as well as Amory’s partner.”

“No.” Her grandfather gave his head a quick shake. “He’s Robert’s best friend.” He
turned to Anna. “Amelia’s father. He helped—” He broke off quickly, as though what
he had been about to say was something she couldn’t hear.

Oh God, what secrets was her family hiding? What had happened that could be worse
than what she already knew?”

“Helped with what, Grandfather?” she asked. “What did he help do? Hide the proof that
my parents were murdered? Or hide the proof that the daughter David and Kimberly Callahan
had had three weeks before their death hadn’t died with them after all?”

CHAPTER 24

John gave his head a hard shake, as though unable to believe the words had come from
her lips.

Her grandfather’s gaze was tortured as it met hers, years of pain, fear, and decisions
that broke all their hearts filling his eyes.

“You better come in.” Her grandfather stood back then, his hand shaking as he shoved
it into the pocket of his slacks and hung onto the door with the other. “We were all
on the back patio.”

“No one told you Anna had been abducted last night?” Archer questioned him again as
they followed him through the house.

“No one,” he answered, his voice hollow. “But then, we were out of the house most
of the night and into this morning. Some of the fences went down near the interstate,
and we had cattle trying to play speed bumps for the cars. It was a hell of a mess.
We were all out until dawn.”

That explained why they hadn’t at least called to see if she was okay, Anna tried
to tell herself.

Stepping onto the patio, she stood still, silent as her parents and gran’ma stood
from their seats around the ceramic top table and stared back at her, their eyes holding
an edge of desperation.

Archer’s hand settled at the small of her back, his fingers subtly caressing as she
drew in a long, slow breath. “Last night, Amory Wyatt and Wayne Sorenson had me abducted
from Archer’s house,” she stated.

“Oh God. No,” her mother said, her hands covering her face as Anna found herself battling
her tears once again.

“I listened as someone other than those I loved told me how another couple gave birth
to me. Wayne was quite triumphant that he had ensured I was no part of my family,
not part of any family really, since I was nine, and that by abducting me he would
ensure I would leave and be out of the county when I turned twenty-five.” A tear slipped
down her face. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” Her gaze centered on her mother. “I
haven’t always been a child, but I’ve always begged to come home, to be a part of
this family. Why couldn’t you just tell me the truth and at least allow me the knowledge
that you loved me? That you weren’t ashamed of me or just indifferent? Why?”

“Anna.” Her mother came to her feet, her face lined with sorrow and with guilt. “There’s
so much you don’t understand, so much that would be impossible to explain.”

Her father rose from his chair more slowly, his expression heavy.

Everyone now seemed frozen, as though they didn’t know what to say, or what to do.

Archer stepped closer to her.

“My deputies have found irrefutable proof that Wayne’s has been blackmailing the Corbin,
Rafferty, and Ramsey families for the murders of JR and Eileen Callahan, also their
sons and daughters-in-law’s, Benjamin and Ann Callahan, Samuel and Mina Callahan,
and David and Kimberly Callahan, that he committed.”

Everyone seemed to be waiting.

“There was also proof of Clyde Ramsey’s murder and a cowboy, Dale Layden. It seemed
Clyde and my father were working together for a number of years to find proof that
Wayne had committed the murders. Dale was JR and Eileen Callahan’s workhand just before
they were killed. He saw Wayne loading their bodies into JR’s ranch truck and driving
off with them just before the blizzard. He followed on horseback and witnessed him
sending the truck over that cliff. Unfortunately, Wayne saw him as well. Knowing Wayne’s
father was a judge in the County, rather than telling anyone what he saw, Dale ran.
Clyde tracked him down but somehow Wayne learned of the meeting and followed him.
After Clyde left, Wayne killed him. He then came out to the Ramsey Ranch and killed
Clyde out in the field before rigging the tractor accident.”

“My God.” Her grandfather sat down in the large easy chair that had always been his
favorite, his hands shaking. “But why?” He stared back at Archer, his gaze beseeching.

Taking a seat as well and watching as Robert and Lisa Corbin, the couple Anna believed
were her parents for so long, take their seats, Archer began.

He had explained this part to her as they dressed, and she still had problems believing
the story.

“Do you recognize the surname Mulrooney?” Archer asked.

Her grandfather frowned. “There was a story of a Mulrooney claiming the land when
our ancestors bought it from the state,” John said, confused.

“Same family.” Archer nodded. “Wayne’s a direct descendant. He needed control of the
Callahan property to find and claim the treasure those early Mulrooneys were rumored
to have hidden on Callahan lands. He abducted Anna to force her to leave out of fear
until he could make use of her when she turned twenty-five and could take possession
of her part of the estate.”

“There’s no treasure. It’s a rumor, nothing more.” Her grandfather stared back at
her, his eyes filled with a desperate pain. “It was just a rumor, Anna. There’s nothing
anyone could gain from all this.”

“It’s a rumor the Mulrooney family has always believed.” Archer sighed. “We found
generations of journals in Wayne’s home, detailing the search for that treasure and
early efforts to drive the Callahans out of the area and make the other Barons pay
for their supposed parts in the loss of the treasure. Investigators are still going
through the journals but it appears there are generations of them.”

The family sat still and silent. Her mother’s head was lowered, her hands covering
her face, refusing to look at her.

Then the woman Anna had always called Mother lifted her face and Anna’s breath caught
at the pain and tears that filled it.

“The night your mother died, my newborn daughter died,” she told her tearfully. “Your
grandfather flew out to California.” Her breathing hitched with a ragged sob. “He
flew out, gathered us all together, and told us what happened, and how he had to protect
Kimberly’s child. He looked at me.” She laid her hand on her heart, her lips trembling.
“Lisa,” he said. “That sweet baby girl we’ve all waited for you to have is gone.”
She sobbed. “But her death could save Sarah Ann’s life. You could save her, he said.”

She could barely talk now the pain was so thick, the memories so ragged.

“I had you with me,” her grandfather stated as Anna held onto Archer’s hand like a
lifeline, her tears falling along with her mother’s—no, the woman she had called mother.
“I begged her,” he admitted. “Me and your gran’momma, we begged. Within hours we flew
home. When we landed, Lisa carried you and I slipped her beautiful baby girl to the
M.E.’s office where the coroner and Archer’s father were waiting on me. We buried
Lisa and Robert’s daughter with David and Kimberly. Their wills demanded they be buried
together, and it was a damned good thing, because if Wayne was the Slasher all these
years, then he was the one who demanded that David not be buried with the wife that
loved him so much.” He shook his head and focused on her once again. “They loved each
other desperately, Anna, but they loved you and Crowe just as much. So much, they
did everything in their power to protect the two of you and themselves. And she would
have been very, very proud of both of you.”

Anna stared at the couple who had been her parents for nearly all her life, aching
so deep with such furious pain that she couldn’t force herself to say anything. She
couldn’t rid herself of the aching hurt or the sense of desertion that had followed
her for so long.

Her father—no, not her father.

No, no matter why, no matter the hurt—

“Da,” she whispered.

His face twisted with pain as her momma gripped his hand tighter.

“Why couldn’t you just trust me?” she asked the question that had been tearing her
apart and laying waste to everything she believed in. “Why, Momma? Da? Why couldn’t
you just tell me instead of allowing me to feel as though you had deserted me? As
though I meant nothing to you, or to my family?”

It was Archer who kept her grounded. Keeping her hand in his, his warmth close to
her, letting her handle her tears, her anger, and her pain without assuring her everything
was going to be fine.

Because it wouldn’t be fine for a long time.

Her mother wiped desperately at her tears while her father inhaled sharply and blinked
back the moisture in his eyes furiously.

“We were so scared, Anna,” her momma rasped, her tear-roughened voice strained. “We
never knew when he would call or what he would demand. All we knew was that we were
losing you more and more every year. And more and more every year my soul was dying.”
She sobbed. “I had lost one child already, I couldn’t bear to lose another.”

“You are our daughter,” her da stated hoarsely. “No matter what you feel, or what
you will feel later, you are and always will be our daughter, Anna. I loved my sister.
She was the baby of the family, treasured and cherished. And you were her child. But
you’re our daughter.”

Her grandfather pulled his handkerchief free and wiped his face with trembling hands.
“The day we buried your parents, you were quiet. The perfect baby,” he said. “For
a while. When you heard Crowe scream at me when he learned he wasn’t coming back to
the ranch with us, you woke instantly.”

Anna’s heart shattered at the knowledge that Crowe had suffered far more than she
had.

“You screamed for hours,” her grandfather said. “You were sobbing for him, I knew.
I was sure you couldn’t cry anymore, that your tears had to empty themselves, but
even after we returned to the ranch, you still screamed. And that day I would have
given my life, Anna, my life, if I could have had both of my grandchildren here. If
I could have helped Crowe with his grief, if I could have sheltered him. I would have
given everything, all the bastard would have had to do was tell me what he wanted.”

As Anna’s lips parted, a sudden pounding on the back gate had her swinging around
and watching in shock as it was suddenly pushed inward and fury itself stepped onto
the patio.

Crowe stood like a dark visage of death, his amber-brown eyes filled with murderous
fury as they swept the room and found her.

The look didn’t change, but the tension, the killing rage that tightened his body
eased somewhat.

“Crowe?” Archer questioned the entrance as they all came instantly to their feet.

Crowe’s gaze sliced to John Corbin. “Well, if it isn’t the martyr of Corbin County,”
he sneered. “Tell me, old man, have you sacrificed yourself for anyone else this year?
Hell, I hope not. Your brand of help sucks.”

Surprisingly enough it was his grandmother who reacted.

“James Crowe Callahan, your mother raised you better than that, and I know she did,”
Genoa rasped, her voice weak, and for the first time Anna noticed the tear tracks
that glistened on her lined face.

Crowe’s jaw tensed until Anna thought it would crack.

For a moment, she actually thought he would ignore her.

“Look at you,” Genoa said. “As proud and stubborn as your daddy, but with your momma’s
eyes and with her way of staring at a person like you could run through them.”

“Don’t do this.” His voice wasn’t as cruel, but neither was it respectful. “You haven’t
been a grandmother since I was ten, and I don’t need one now.”

“I’ve always been your grandmother,” she told him. “And you need one now, Crowe, far
more than ever. Let’s hope you don’t wait too late to ask your own questions.”

“I don’t have any questions,” he told her, the anger throbbing in his voice. “I don’t
have any questions, requests, or time to play these games.” He turned to Archer. “We
found Amelia Sorenson and a young woman, Elizabeth Haley, bound and suffering dehydration
and exposure on the front porch of my cabin.” His voice was so harsh, so filled with
fury it was animalistic.

“Amelia?” Lisa whispered in a tone filled with the same shock Anna could feel tearing
through her. “Why?”

“According to Amory Wyatt,” Crowe sneered, “because Wayne wasn’t playing by the rules.”
He turned to Archer. “Amelia is prepared to testify it was her father, Archer. She’s—”
He shook his head wearily before rubbing the back of his neck. “She’s with Doc Mabry
and his wife. Cayna’s keeping an eye on her.”

Leaning against Archer, his arm wrapped tightly around her, Anna could only stare
back at Crowe, barely able to comprehend everything.

Amelia had disappeared from the hospital in the early hours of the morning.

“I was heading here when Amory called me,” he continued, and the look he gave her
parents and grandparents was savage.

“Don’t leave without me,” she told Archer softly, drawing his gaze as the emotional
upheaval tore her apart inside.

“Never,” he promised. “Let me see what’s going on, and I’ll be right back.”

“Rafe and Logan are outside,” Crowe all but snarled. “Along with those damned Resnova
misfits that won’t stay the hell out of my business.”

Bending his head, Archer kissed her cheek gently. “Give me ten minutes.”

Anna nodded, watching as he strode from the patio with Crowe following close behind.

Anna turned back to her family, her gaze settling on the two who had nurtured and
raised her.