Page 16 of Hidden Truths

“To get everyone up to speed, Jo is the band’s personal assistant, Harlow is Cora’s nanny, and Harrison is our private investigator.” We all nod. I told my dad about my new job last night since I can’t help him with his admin stuff as much now. “You’ve all signed an NDA and since this is a rare instance where there’s a father-daughter duo and a set of best friends, I thought it would be best to let you know that you can share any information between the three of you. It would be too hard to regulate otherwise.”

“What do you guys get up to that you’re so worried about?” Jo asks with a frown on her face.

“Honestly, not much,” Mav says with a shrug.

“It’s Cora. Cal is trying to keep the media from being aware of her for as long as he can. He wants her to have a normal childhood,” I explain.

“Cora is most of it, but there are a few other things. Things Harrison is aware of that I’m sure we’re not going to be ableto keep a secret if you guys are here all the time,” Willa says, looking at Mav with something like sympathy in her eyes.

“As you girls know, I’m looking into Ezra’s disappearance. Some of the trails I’m following, well, they could be dangerous if anyone became aware.” My dad has his serious face back on, and I can tell he means it. Something he’s looking into is cause for concern.

“Uh, shouldn’t Kai be here if we’re talking about his brother’s case?” I ask. He’s been at all the other meetings my dad has had about Ezra. I know because I’m the one that scheduled them.

“Nope. Kai is aware. This isn’t new information,” Willa says with a shrug.

I look around the room. Jo is focused on my dad, waiting for whatever scrap of information he’ll give. But Mav’s playful spirit seems to have left the building and Willa is watching him closely. Interesting.

“Kai and Ezra’s dad worked as a naval intelligence officer. He fell off the grid soon after Ezra, but because he divorced his wife and liquidated his assets, everyone assumed he didn’t want to be found. That he may have not been dealing with Ezra’s disappearance well,” my dad says, leaning forward to look between me and Jo.

“And what? Left to become a mountain man?” I scoff. The side of my dad’s mouth twitches, and I know he wants to smile. He’s one of the few people that have found my snark entertaining.

“He could have if he wanted to. He also had the skills to become a completely different person, and we would’ve never been able to find him.”

Jo’s eyes widen, but I keep from reacting because I know this isn’t the information they all seem worried about. So I nod at my dad to continue and this time, he does smile. I’m his daughterthrough and through and he knows it. I got my curious mind from him, and he taught me how to read people.

“I believe that’s what he did. I think he found Ezra and made sure neither of them would ever be found,” my dad says, watching my reaction.

“And?” I ask, raising my brow. We played this game when I was a kid. My dad would start telling me about cases he made up, and I had to find the lie or get more information. I loved trying to guess who the bad guy was. It was like an interactive game of Clue.

My dad laughed, confusing everyone except Jo, who has seen us do this before. “There’s a big player. I don’t know who yet. All the records are sealed. If Ezra was just a missing person or a runaway, those records shouldn’t be sealed. He wasn’t underage, so it has to be something bigger. Even the judge who declared him dead has been scrubbed from the official records.”

“So be careful and pay attention to my surroundings because you don’t know who the villain is, and I’m in the middle of it just by working for the people closest to Ezra.”

“That’s my girl,” my dad says with a proud smile and then turns his attention to Jo. “I’m kicking over rocks and poking hornets’ nests. So I need you to pay attention. Report any and every single thing you see that could help me. Someone is paying too close attention to you at the gas station? Tell me. You feel like you’re being followed? Call immediately.”

Jo nods, an almost scary determination in her eyes.

“This might be overstepping, but I care about Jo like she’s another daughter. Harlow is moving into Callahan’s and will be safe behind guarded gates and high-tech security systems. But what about Jo? She’ll be more visible.”

Jo frowns. “I’m not going to be in danger, Harrison.”

“Maybe not, but whoever this is, they have power. A lot of power. I shouldn’t be having this much trouble getting to theserecords,” my dad says. I watch his hands and see a small twitch. My gaze moves to his face and see another twitch.

“What are you lying about?” I ask, not in the mood to try to get it out of him in private. It’ll be easier to get the truth with more eyes on him.

His eyes meet mine, and I hold his stare, letting him know I’m not letting this go. He sighs and rubs his hands over his face.

“Someone knows I’ve been looking. They’ve been trying to hack into my system and erase what I have.” I smirk. My dad is old school, anything that’s on his computer is also in paper form in triplicate.

“And?” I ask again, knowing this isn’t all.

He holds my stare again, probably regretting teaching me everything he knows. “There have been a few threatening notes in the mail.”

“Dad!” I explain at the same time Mav leaps from his seat.

“I can’t let you work on this case if it puts you in danger, Harrison,” Maverick says, his eyes holding a secret terror that breaks my heart.

My dad just holds up his hands and shakes his head. “I’m doing this. Even if you fire me. This is the case that made me decide to resign as sheriff. It’s the case that showed me how broken the system is. I need to solve this as much for myself as for you.” The look in my dad’s eyes as he says ‘you’ while looking at Mav is sad. Did this case hit Maverick hardest? I thought it would be Kai, but now I’m not so sure.

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