Page 43 of Secrets Unveiled

“Don’t act like nothing’s bothering you. I know you, brother. I know when you’re hiding your feelings, and right now, you’re holding them back like the Hoover Dam. What’s going on in your head? Is it me and Saint?” I’m worried he’s still fuming over me and Saint but secretly hope he isn’t.

“Nah. That was shitty of you to keep from me, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he’s the only person in this world I would trust with you.” I smile at his comment, warmth filling my chest.

“Then what’s going on?” There’s a long pause between us. I can see the indignation in his eyes. His eyes always gave him away.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” he asks, his question throwing me for a loop.

“Doesn’t what hurt?”

“The thought that Frankie may have wanted to kill you and me, as well as Dad? He almost succeeded with you. Thank God for Saint.”

“Why thank God for Saint?” I ask, an odd sensation blooming in my gut as I wait for him to answer.

“Thank God for Saint pulling you from the fire. If he hadn’t gotten there when he did, you would have died.”

You know that feeling when you get out of a hot tub and then jump into a pool, and the water suddenly feels so cold it takes your breath away? The feeling of electricity buzzing through every nerve ending as your skin is introduced to the water. Like your body can’t register quickly enough the sudden change in temperatures. It feels like you’re glitching.

“He—He did what?” I whisper. The sudden awareness of my brother’s expression tells me he has no idea I didn’t know it was Saint.

“Sage, Saint was the one that pulled you from the fire. Didn’t you know?” I feel my mouth part in shock. I shake my head at my brother.

“He never told me it was him,” I whisper again, my voice sounding so far off I don’t fully believe it’s my own. This whole time. For seven years, I’ve wondered who saved me, and the answer was always him.

“But I thought he was with you?” My eyes couldn’t focus on him anymore; I couldn’t focus on anything.

“I was. We were coming back to the house, but I stopped by the store to get you flowers for your birthday, and he beat me there. He saw the fire and ran in before the firefighters could stop him.” I’m tracing the lines of my scars across my hands without realizing. Saxon finally grabs my hands and holds them in his.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry. I’ve always thought you knew it was him. He received some pretty bad burns himself across his back.” I’d never noticed. Saint has a huge skull tattoo that covers the length of his back. A pirate hat and half sunken ship mural covers almost every inch of skin. It’s beautiful. How had I never noticed his scars?

“Come here.” Saxon pulls me to his chest, hugging me hard, as if to apologize for dropping yet another bomb on my life. “I thought you knew,” he whispers in my ear. The threat of tears sting my eyes as I squeeze them shut, not wanting the tears to fall. I squeeze my brother back, my only family I have left.

SAINT

When Sage comes back into the meeting room, her face is flushed and her eyes are vacant. A look of shock coats her face, but when her eyes find mine, a soft smile spreads across her beautiful face. It sends my heart into overdrive—it thumps so loud I fear the guys might hear it. I want to go to her, pick her up, and take her away from the shit storm that is our lives. The lies, the secrets, and most of all, the betrayal from her uncle is no doubt taking its toll on her.

Looking at Saxon, I can see the same. My brother, my family. My parents dumped me on my grandmother when I was two, so they could continue their drug addict lifestyle without the burden of a child. My grandmother died when I was seventeen, leaving me with no one except Saxon and Sage. Luther helped me in every way he could, letting me stay with them until I was able to get a place of my own. He brought me into the club after my eighteenth birthday, into his family, where I finally had a place in this world, a purpose. That purpose is keeping those close to me safe at all costs.

Now, the two most important people in my life are hurting, each battling the same demon but in different ways. Where Saxon visibly shows his anger, Sage is the opposite. She keeps hers locked tightly away in a box where no one is allowed to see. I would rather her be expressive with her anger, like Sax, because hiding such strong emotions inside oneself for too long is dangerous. It’s only a matter of time before she crumbles from the weight of the unshed emotions. I won’t let that happen to her. If she crumbles, I will be there before she hits the ground.

For the rest of the day, we all work to devise a plan to unmask and reveal Frankie for who he truly is. Ultimately, we all want to ask him the same question: why? Was money truly the only factor fueling his plot to eliminate his family? I find it hard to believe that money could lead to such greed, to such malicious intents, to such evil. Their pain has me working hard to try and bring them the answers they so desperately need.

Finally, when our efforts start looking bleak, Finn gets a hit.

“Got him!” he announces to the room, his hands clapping together. “The driver is a man named Charles Ledford. He’s got a pretty long record as well. Grand theft auto, assault, a few misdemeanors, attempted murder, burglary, and fraud of some kind.” Finn reads Charles’s profile before looking up from his computer at Saxon.

“Right, so how is he connected to all this? He must’ve been hired or contracted to take out Dante, so we need to figure out who hired him.” Saxon’s voice sounds optimistic.

“I may have an answer to that as well. I was checking his bank transactions and there was a $25,000 check deposited by none other than Tim Blanchett. Who is Tim Blanchett, you ask? I’ll tell you. Tim Blanchett just so happens to be Mayor Harrison’s head of security. Another fun fact about Mr. Blanchett—he is the older brother to a Mrs. Gloria Harrison.”

“Got him!” Brooks yelled, slapping Finn on the back.

“Holy fuck,” Sage whispers to herself. Her head lowers to the table in utter shock. The mayor of Golden Heights is connected to Luther Wilder’s murder. Why? Could it be as simple as the affair he was having with Gloria? But that still brings me to another question.

“So does this mean Gloria is connected to the fire too? That doesn’t make sense, though. Why murder the man she was having the affair with? She must have either gone along with it to keep herself safe, or she didn’t know their plan until it was too late,” I say. The silence in the room indicates that I’m not the only one thinking this.

“He’s right. Either of those theories makes sense, but is there more to it that we’re missing?” Sage asks. The question lingers in the air with no answer in sight. I feel like we’ve hit another dead end. We’ve come so far, following a path of cryptic clues leading to the finish line, only to become entangled in yet another web of chaos. We have so many facts, so many theories, so many clues, yet I feel like we are still at the starting point. Saxon must feel the same way because he finally breaks the silence.

“Okay, let’s push the why aside for the moment. We know who the driver is. We know Frankie was in the passenger seat. We know Mayor Harrison, Tim Blanchett, and possibly Gloria are all connected in the grand scheme of things. Let’s start by finding Ledford first, see if we can’t get some answers out of him.” Collectively, the group nods in agreement. Finn and Brooks start typing away almost immediately. I look down at my watch and see that it is now a little after six in the evening before lifting my head towards Sage. She looks tired, beat down, and, all in all, mentally exhausted. Talking about her father and his murder can’t be easy.

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