Page 149 of The Married Alpha And His Arrow: Vol 1

I sighed and felt my anger leave me because he had a point. Damn him. I asked, “Have you found anything?” Heath admitted, “No. Mom and dad left me a weird looking key when they died. I got it when I turned seventeen. I’ve been looking for what it opened for seven years. You said mom told you to open the floors. Did you remember something else from that night?”

I cringed, “No, when I passed out the other night after reading that letter from whoever left it I saw her. She was in that meadow she and dad would take us too. She told me to tell you to open the floors. I thought you were gone, and honestly tell me it doesn’t sound crazy. I saw mom and she said open the floors.” He seemed to be thinking.

I added, “By the way, when were you going to tell me you knew about Chase and me?” Heath was surprised, “What?” I raised an eyebrow, “You know he’s my string. I told you I found him, but Chase told me you came by and read the letter. The only way for that to happen would be if he called you. If he called you, then you’ve known he’s my string.”

Heath smugly replied, “I told you, there’s not much concerning you I do not know. I did know, but you didn’t tell me. So, I didn’t mention that I knew.” I gaped at him, “So what? You two have been hanging out and exchanging numbers!” Heath denied that, quickly “No, we do not hang out. We discuss you and your protection. I don’t talk to Chase Daniels about anything else.”

I frowned. He called him Chase Daniels using a tone as if he was the scum of the earth. What was going on here? I asked, “Why don’t you like him?” He countered, “Who says I don’t?” I stared at him for a second then said, “The tone of voice you use to say his name and the expression on your face.”

Heath shrugged, “That’s not important. You like him, and he makes you happy. Right now, he’s useful to me because he can help keep you safe. Other feelings are not important.” I disagreed, “They are to me. I want you to like him.”

Heath sounded annoyed when he replied, “For you, I will try.” I got up and kissed his cheek, “Thank you.” I wasn’t sure why he didn’t like him, and he clearly wasn’t going to tell me. Maybe Chase or Matt would. Someone had to know what was going on here. Heath nodded.

I handed him the passports. I asked him, “Why would we have needed these?” Heath frowned, “This is a go bag.” I agreed, “I see no other conclusion.” Heath began to pace, “Why would they plan to leave our people? At least I can look into these names. This is good. I’m not sure I would’ve found this without your open the floors clue.”

I nudged him in the side, “Admit it. You would’ve thought I’d lost my damn mind.” Heath disagreed, “No, I would’ve thought you had a dream. I would’ve looked into it, but not too hard.” I shoved the box towards him asking, “Where’s your key?”

Heath took out a chain around his neck. He did have the oddly shaped key to the box. He took a deep breath and opened it. We both looked at each other in confusion when we saw the contents. Heath shouted, “For god’s sake it’s ANOTHER KEY! Did she give you any other hints?”

I cringed, “No, I guess we can search the whole house for more clues. Should we try mom’s office?” Heath nodded and we flashed there. Heath found her hide quickly. Her secret compartment was pushing a picture frame down on her desk. The floor where her feet would’ve gone opened. There was another box just like the one in dad's office. It also had a key inside, but Mom’s didn’t have secret passports. She had letters.

I grabbed them and read through them, but they didn’t make sense. I frowned asking my brother, “I don’t know this code. Do you?” Heath answered, “No, but that’s a woman’s handwriting and it’s not mom’s.” I leafed through them all saying, “All are signed by M.” Heath theorized, “This could be an older Hood code. I’ll look in our files to see if this is anything we can crack.”

I cringed saying, “We should check their room.” Heath gently told me, “Lex, you don’t have to do this.” I disagreed, “I do. She came to me. Everything isn’t on your shoulders. I’m here too.” Heath pointed out, “She came to you, but she told you to tell me.” I grabbed his hand, “You and me, big brother, are on this path together.” Heath smiled and kissed the top of my head, “I love you little sister of mine.”

We went upstairs. We found two more hiding spots with more keys. Dad had letters from J and mom had letters from S too. I frowned, “What the hell is going on?” Heath admitted, “I really don’t know.” I said, “It meant enough for them to keep them.” Heath held up a bag of money. He said, “They had go bags and money. A lot of money.”

We sat down on their bed, “Any idea what those keys go to?” Heath speculated, “A bank? A P.O. Box somewhere. Or a safety deposit box. I know we are keeping this between us, but you can tell Chase. That’s it though.”

I nodded before pointing out, “Ted knows about the box.” Heath countered, “But not what’s in it.” I sighed, “That’s true.” I looked at the closets for several moment. I muttered, “Closets seem like a good place to hide things.” Heath snorted, “You’re right.”

We found more boxes with keys. Heath suggested we check our rooms as well. We both found boxes in our closets. But they didn’t hold keys, they had letters addressed to us. I cried, “This… it’s been here the whole time.” Heath held me on his old bedroom floor as he cried. He opened his letter first letting me read it with him.

Son,

If you are reading this then it’s likely your mother and I are not with you, or at least I am not. Things got crazy so fast. I made mistakes, and. I am sorry if I am not with you, your mom, and your sister. If your mother isn’t there, then I am so sorry for you and your sister. You two are the best things that ever happened to me. I love you both so much.

You need to be careful, Heath and protect your little sister. She needs you. If I’m right, your mother’s past caught up to us. We could never tell if it was all truly over. I tried to kill him for years, but he’s slippery. I thought I had him the last time, until recently. Your mother swore she saw him again. We got proof things weren’t as we thought from an unexpected source.

Maybe I’m wrong. Hopefully, I’m paranoid. I really hope I am. I hope that I can shield the three of you. Or at the very least my death satisfied the vendetta against our family. That’s right, family. It was wrong to keep it from you and your sister, but there was a lot of pain there.

You have family, find them. They will help you; I know they will. One of your uncle’s might just come to you because he always wanted to know you and your sister. We kept you from them, and we thought it was the right call. Now, I’m not so sure.

I think they were set up. I kicked them out of our home for betraying your mother and me. They always denied it, and I never believe them. Until a few weeks ago.

Moves are being made. I was always a good chess player. I hope to win, but if I don’t you have to. For your little sister. She looks just like your mother. I fear that as she gets older if I don’t win this fight the obsession will switch to her. Do not trust Noah Calvert. I’ve seen how he looks at her. He can’t have my little girl. I know he’s not for her. Our Goddess showed me her path. It’s not living with our people. Her string is not Hood.

That’s another reason I’m writing this letter, I hope I’m wrong, and that seeing Lexi’s path doesn’t mean I’m going to die. I think it does though. I think it was a warning to keep her and Noah apart. I know you will lead our people because it’s your path. It doesn’t have to be lonely for you, as it was me. Lean on your sister and my family. Your Uncle, my brother, will help you.

Remember, your happiness matters too. I love you son.

Love Always

Dad

Both Heath and I had tears trailing down our faces. Heath looked at me, “I’m so sorry. I never should’ve let Noah near you.” I comforted him, “You didn’t know. We had no way of knowing these were here.” Heath’s eyes narrowed, “You’re right.” He clearly began thinking.

I asked, “What’s that face?” Heath pointed out, “Dad would’ve left a clue for me and you to find these. Someone kept it from us. It would’ve been a coded message to us. Someone went through their things and took it out.”

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