Dying to Tell (39 page)

Jake had no idea what was going on, but obviously Sadie had been keeping a secret from him, one that was so important to her that she had sneaked away to come out here alone.

He pulled her to a standing position and gently shook her. “What’s going on, Sadie? Who was supposed to be buried there?”

The emotions in her face twisted his gut. Something was very wrong.

He shook her again. “Sadie, tell me. Who was buried there?”

Her shaky breathing rattled out, but she didn’t answer him.

He cupped her face in his hands. “Sadie, who was it?”

“Y-our father...”

Shock slammed into Jake with such force, it took a minute for her words to register. “What? What are you talking about?”

“It was awful,” Sadie said, another sob escaping. “He...Amelia...God, Jake, please forgive us...”

Jake stumbled backward, her declaration like a knife in his chest. “What about my father?”

She shoved a strand of hair from her face. “He...was hurting Amelia. I heard her screaming, crying out for help, then the gun went off...”

Jake shook his head in denial. Sadie couldn’t be saying this.

His mind raced back to the past, to holidays when he and his father and Jake had cut down Christmas trees. To other times when his dad had taken him hiking, to the missions he’d gone on when Gigi had come to stay with them. To the awards in his father’s office. “My father was a war hero,” he said between clenched teeth. “He wouldn’t hurt your sister.”

Sadie gripped his arms. “He did, Jake, she said he did, and Amelia shot him. I ran outside. There was blood everywhere, and he was dead, and she was hysterical. I tried to talk Papaw into going to the police, but he was afraid for Amelia, so we...we brought him out here...”

Anger mingled with disbelief, fueling his temper, and he jerked away from her. “What are you saying, Sadie?”

Sadie’s face paled in the darkness, but he couldn’t feel sorry for her.

Why was she lying to him now? Making these horrible accusations?

“Sadie?”

“I’m so sorry, Jake, so sorry, but Amelia killed your father, Jake, and...” Her voice cracked as she pointed to the grave. “And Papaw and I helped bury him here.”

Sadie shuddered, clawing at her arms to hold herself upright. She had kept her secret so long that telling it had unleashed the shame and guilt that had festered inside her for ten years. She felt raw, exposed, terrified.

Relieved.

But the pain in Jake’s eyes also made her heart wrench in agony.

“Jake—”

His jaw hardened. “You’re lying. Why would you make up something like this?”

“I’m not lying,” she said, choking out the words. “I wish I was, Jake. God, how I wish I was, but it’s true.”

“Your sister was crazy, Sadie,” he said tightly. “She
is
crazy. If she said my father hurt her, she lied to protect herself. She shot him in cold blood.” He raked his hand through his hair as he paced, and Sadie shook her head.

Although doubts assaulted her. Hadn’t she repeatedly asked herself if her sister had been confused about the attack?

But one look into the empty grave, and she remembered why she’d come here tonight. “I know what I heard, Jake—I heard her screaming, saying that he was hurting her.”

He spun toward her. “No, she murdered him, and you and your grandfather covered it up.”

“I’m sorry, I wanted to call the police,” Sadie cried. “But Papaw was too worried. He knew Amelia would have to go back to the hospital, but he didn’t want her to go to jail.”

“You could have called for help,” Jake said angrily. “Called an ambulance.”

“I told you he was already dead,” Sadie shouted.

Jake gestured toward the grave. “If you buried him here, where’s his body?”

Sadie shrugged as she struggled to make sense of it. “I don’t know.” Her mind raced. “Maybe someone found him and moved the body.”

Jake knelt and examined the blanket as if he was desperate for some sign his father was alive.

Rage flared in his eyes when he looked back up at her. “I can’t believe you did this. You let me think he ran off, that he deserted me. You left me wondering and looking for him for years.” He stood and balled his hands into fists. “Then you left town, abandoning me, too.”

“I had to leave,” Sadie whispered. “I...couldn’t tell you, Jake. I—”

“You had to protect your sister,” he said, his tone so cold that Sadie felt as if she’d been punched. “You chose her over me.”

“It wasn’t like that, Jake. Please try to understand. Amelia was sick and scared, and I really thought he’d hurt her.”

“My father was hard on us boys, but he would never hurt an innocent woman,” Jake argued.

“Maybe, maybe not. But why was he at my house?”

Jake’s eyes widened, disbelief simmering in the depths. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t know what to think anymore either,” Sadie said as she grappled for answers. “But I do know we buried your father here. His face has haunted me for years. And someone called and threatened me when I got to town, Jake. A man. He said he knew what happened that night, and he threatened to tell if I didn’t leave the past alone.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. “When did this happen?”

“Right after I arrived in Slaughter Creek.”

A hollow emptiness darkened his eyes. A sense of betrayal and hurt flickered there, so harsh that it nearly brought her to her knees.

“You’ve lied to me for years, Sadie. How can I believe anything you say now?”

“Just look at the grave,” Sadie said, her voice strained. “Someone must have moved his body.”

Probably the person who’d seen them burying him. So what had they done with him?

“I can’t believe you betrayed me like this,” Jake said, his voice brittle. “You of all people, Sadie. I loved you, I trusted you.”

“I loved you, too, Jake, I still do. I...didn’t want to hurt you.”

“But you did,” Jake said. “You, the girl I tried to protect, the one I loved and made promises to. And you made promises back.”

“I know, Jake, and believe me, I’m sorry.”

“I am such a fool.” A bitter laugh rent the air. “I can’t believe I fell for you again.”

A mask slid down over his face, erasing any emotion as he grabbed her arms, spun her around, and snapped handcuffs around her wrist. “You are under arrest as an accomplice in the murder of Arthur Blackwood.” He pushed her toward his car. “You have the right to remain silent...”

His words echoed in her ears, and he shoved her down the path toward his car, then pushed her into the backseat. Sadie bit back a protest as he slammed the door.

Her worst fears had come true.

Jake knew the truth, and he hated her.

J
ake slammed the car door and spun away from Sadie.

He had loved her with all his heart, but she had betrayed him.

Worse, his father was dead, and for years, she had allowed him to wonder what had happened to him, to hope that he might find him someday, that there would be some kind of explanation.

Dammit, he had joined the military to find him. To impress him.

But his father had been gone. Dead.

Buried by the girl he’d loved and trusted more than anyone else in the world.

Bile rose to his throat. The earth tilted and grew black, and he gripped the edge of a sycamore to steady himself. For a moment, he wavered between passing out and throwing up.

Using the techniques he’d learned in the military to mentally and physically prepare for a mission, he took slow, deep breaths, then wiped sweat from his forehead as the nausea subsided.

Sadie’s confession echoed over and over in his head. She had heard the gunshot, seen his father collapse. He wasn’t breathing. They had buried him.

So where was his body?

Sadie said someone had threatened her. Maybe someone had witnessed what she and her family had done.

But why dig up the grave? And what had they done with his father’s corpse?

The thought of his father’s body rotting in the ground with no casket or proper burial sent another wave of pain rocking through him.

Jesus, he had to tell Nick.

He walked over and knelt beside the grave. Pulling gloves from his pocket, he raked his hand through the dirt, searching for signs of bones, hair—anything to confirm Sadie’s story. Maybe a button or piece of evidence from another party who’d found his father.

He shone the flashlight around the area and over the pile of dirt beside the grave, but didn’t see anything. Still, he’d have a team analyze it.

He brushed dirt from his gloved hands off on his jeans, then punched in the county coroner’s number and explained what he wanted.

Dread balled in his belly as he strode back to the car. He told himself not to look at Sadie huddled in the backseat, but he couldn’t help himself.

Dammit, she looked so lost and vulnerable and alone.

The very reason he’d fallen for her years ago, and again over the last few days.

But her lies and betrayal mocked him, and he forced himself to close off his heart.

He was a damn fool.

He couldn’t love the woman who’d covered up his father’s murder.

Sorrow settled in Sadie’s heart as Jake drove toward town.

“Jake, please, listen,” Sadie said.

He cut her off. “Save it for your lawyer when we get to the jail,” he said in a gruff voice.

Sadie’s heart broke. More than anything, she hated hurting Jake. And he was suffering, that was obvious.

But what could she have done differently?

The sun was just rising over the tops of the ridges as Jake wound around the mountain. Rays glinted off the damp leaves and trees, promising a lovely day, yet Sadie had never felt more dismal in her life. Her entire world seemed to have faded into gray.

She was facing felony charges. Her career would be in jeopardy, her reputation shattered. All the good work she’d done as an advocate for needy, helpless children wouldn’t matter anymore.

Even worse—Amelia was still out there, missing, troubled. Alone.

And in danger.

Jake might think she was lying about that threat, but she hadn’t set fire to the farmhouse.

Although Skid could have...Skid might want to get rid of her.

The storefronts passed by in a blur as Jake made the turn to the jail, and she braced herself to be strong as he parked and escorted her inside. His cold look hurt, but he had every right to be angry with her.

He’d clung to the hope that his father would return one day, and in the blink of an eye, she’d not only destroyed that hope but desecrated his father’s name.

His deputy was at the desk when they entered, and he stood. “You found Amelia Nettleton?”

Jake’s jaw twitched. “No, this is Sadie.”

Deputy Waterstone raised a brow. “What’s going on?”

“Long story,” Jake said, then stepped away from Sadie. “Let her make her phone call, then collect her personals and put her in the cell.”

Sadie battled more tears as he walked out, dismissing her as if he couldn’t bear to look at her again.

The deputy gestured toward the chair by his desk, and she sank into it. He took her purse and shoved the office phone toward her. Sadie debated on who to call. Dr. Tynsdale or Ms. Lettie? They were the closest people she had to family.