January 29
Brady took a deep breath and addressed the four men in the room. “Thank you for coming out here. Ren and I are ready to tell you what my mother’s journals reveal. Then if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like all of you to accompany me when I open the shed out back.”
He’d given Dale a rundown of what opening the shed was about, and he was glad to see the sheriff had arrived in uniform with a full kit for evidence collection. The other men were also here in their official capacities. Brogan Wilder, the pack sovereign, his regal Quinn MacClellan, and head councilman William Brant.
With a nod to Ren, Brady leaned back in his seat and let her take over.
“Like Brady said, thank you for coming and for your discretion. When I’m done explaining what we’ve learned, I’ll hand everything over for you to go through and do with as you see fit.”
“You don’t want to keep the journals?” Brogan asked.
“Not particularly. I won’t ever read them and I’m pretty sure Ren isn’t interested in a re-read.” They’d talked about it, he and Ren, and while it was his history, the history of his mother, Brady preferred to hold on to the good memories and keepsakes.
Plus he was pretty sure the sheriff’s department would want to take them in as evidence along with whatever was left behind in the shed after all these years.
“Okay, then. When you’re ready,” Dale addressed Ren.
“I’ll do this in point form, a timeline of sorts, and then you can ask questions or go over any of the books. I’ve labeled them by year and major event.”
After receiving nods from everyone, Ren continued.
“Michelle Watson was snatched off a street in Omaha, Nebraska, and brought here. She was held captive, beaten, and sexually assaulted for a number of years before Malcolm allowed her to interact with other pack members. During those years Malcolm Connelly and a man known only as Matthew—”
“Caldwell. Matthew Caldwell. He lived with the Connellys from the time he was a child until he up and left without a word,” William Brant explained. “Malcolm was always vague about where he’d gone and why.”
“We’ll get to where he went in a bit,” Ren offered. “As I was saying, during those years, Malcolm and Matthew would take trips to the city and kidnap toddlers. From what Michelle knew, Malcolm would receive a call, leave here, and return with a child who they would keep in the shed out back for no more than a week before they took the child away never to be seen again.”
“Except Marcus.” Quinn interrupted. “Brady, you said Malcolm gave him to your mother.”
“He did. From what my mother wrote, Marcus was the first child they brought here but we can’t know that for sure. He might just be the first she knew about. We’ve compiled a list of names and other than Cade Flint, none of them are familiar,” Brady answered. “And everything about Cade is different from the others. He was older and he remained here in Whispering Springs.”
“In my opinion that happened because he was older. They couldn’t convince him he wasn’t Cade Flint in the days they held him in the shed,” Ren added.
“Fuck.” Dale shoved his fingers through his hair. “He never said a word.”
“I think I know why.” Ren’s gaze connected with Brady’s and he nodded. “Cade was given to the Bakers, and four years after he was brought to Whispering Springs, he returned to the Connelly property and the shed he was held in where he found Matthew and a newborn boy. According to Michelle’s journal entry, Cade set fire to the shed with Matthew and the baby inside.”
“Michelle managed to get the baby out but Matthew died when the roof collapsed on him. Malcolm buried his body beneath the shed before erecting a new one. We believe the body is still there,” Brady added.
“That explains your request for me to be here in an official capacity,” Dale muttered. “But I’m not sure I should be the one to oversee this with my connection to Cade.”
“I don’t think you’ll compromise evidence or disregard it due to Cade’s involvement. I have no objections to you taking lead on this. Anyone else?” Brogan asked.
“Sovereign is right, you’re more likely to seek the truth due to Cade’s involvement and at this point it’s not as though he could be charged,” William added.
“There isn’t much information other than first names and dates on the children, but we do have something else significant that you might be interested in. The reason Michelle finally escaped Malcolm and left the mountain. The day she fled, she’d broken her silence and told Maggie Wilder about everything.”
“Goddamn motherfucker.” Brogan surged to his feet and pointed at William. “He killed them. I knew it wasn’t an accident and you wouldn’t do anything about it.”
“I couldn’t do anything even if the evidence that was presented suggested foul play,” William argued. “Which it didn’t.”
Turning to Dale, Brogan commanded, “Reopen the case into my parents’ deaths.”
“Sovereign.” Dale nodded.
Brady knew they needed to get to the final part of why they were here. Clearing his throat, he brought everyone’s attention back to him and said, “The newborn caught in the shed with Matthew was registered as the child of Michelle, father unknown, but my mother’s journals reveal the child was my full brother. Matthew fathered myself and the infant named Jacob. Both of us were given the last name Connelly because Malcolm didn’t know Matthew and Michelle were sleeping together.”
“What happened to the baby?” William asked.
“Michelle’s journal entry for that day says after she’d gone to town to have the burns she received trying to rescue the baby and Matthew treated, she returned home and found the baby and Malcolm gone. When he returned—without Jacob—Malcolm handed her paperwork. A birth certificate and adoption papers. He’d forged her signature and given the baby away.” Ren flipped through her notepad. “It’s at this point that Malcolm began to show signs of mental instability. Michelle writes on a number of occasions that his moods become more and more volatile and his drinking increased.”
“I tried a number of times to have him removed as sovereign due to his alcoholism,” William added. “It wasn’t until it got out of hand and he was drunk all day every day that the council started to realize he was no longer a good fit for the role. Of course it still took him attacking Brogan and challenging him to a fight for the position before they made any moves against him.”
“Not that they needed to do anything when Malcolm disappeared over the ridge,” Quinn growled.
“Anything else we need to discuss before we move outside? I’d like to start before the light fades,” Dale explained as he stood, changing the direction of the discussion.
“Tell us what to do and we’ll do it,” Brogan said. “Anything your deputies would normally do.”
“How are you with a shovel?” Dale asked, grinning.
Quinn flexed his arms. “All that snow shoveling is finally paying off.”
Laughing, William pushed to his feet. “If it’s okay with you youngsters, I’ll sit the shoveling out.”
“You can be in charge of the log,” Dale said, handing the councilman a notepad and pen. “Write down everything we do. Also, I’ll get you to label the evidence bags. Kat? Can you take pictures of the whole process?”
“Sure. Should I start before or after you cut the locks off?”
“Before. I want everything documented.”
“Right, everyone has their jobs; let’s get this done.” Brogan headed toward the door where he picked up one of the shovels Brady had place there earlier in preparation.
He was relieved to have the subject of Malcolm Connelly out of the spotlight. Now they could concentrate on his father. Brady had been glad to discover he wasn’t Malcolm’s biological child except the unknown Matthew didn’t appear to be a better option.
Both men had done horrible things according to his mother, and Brady hadn’t come to terms with who his father was or his mother’s apparent love for the man. And she had loved him. In some twisted way, Matthew had become Michelle’s savior, the reason she hadn’t tried to escape before the night Malcolm had gone on a murderous rampage.
Why Michelle hadn’t left after Matthew’s death still wasn’t clear, but Ren had her theory on that. She thought Michelle had stayed in the hope of Malcolm revealing where he’d taken her youngest son. Whether Malcolm had worked out who’d fathered Jacob remained unknown but to Brady’s mind it was clear. Malcolm had known.
It wouldn’t surprise Brady to discover Malcolm had known he wasn’t his child either.
“Hey.” Ren slipped her arm through his. “You okay?”
“Hmm.” Glancing down he offered a smile. “Yeah, I’m good. I’ll be better when this is over, but now that we know everything we’re going to from my mother’s journals, we can move forward.”
“You still happy to leave Jacob—”
“For now. Let’s deal with the shed. Get married next week and enjoy some quiet before we rock the boat again.”
“You’re sure?”
God, he loved her. He’d made the mistake of telling her he didn’t want to upset their wedding plans by looking for Jacob. Now she thought he was putting it off for her when really, he was doing it for himself. He needed to wrap his head around the fact he had another brother. One that was actually blood related. “It’s been twenty-two years. A few more weeks won’t make a difference.”
“But—”
“Ren. I’m not ready.”
“Oh. Okay.” She frowned, studied him intently, her concern clear.
“I’m good, Ren. Honestly.”
“Hey, you two, are we doing this or not?” Dale asked, half out the door.
“We should get this done. I want to sleep with you in my arms tonight, knowing there isn’t a body buried in the backyard.” Brady urged her after Dale.
“It’s not exactly in the backyard.”
“Close enough.”
“I can’t believe we’re actually digging up a skeleton. We’ve been uncovering proverbial ones for days and now we’re looking for a real one.”
“Did you tell Gordie she could have whatever we find after the sheriff is done with it?” he asked, picking up the last shovel. He wouldn’t ask his pack mates to do anything he wouldn’t do, and that included digging up bodies.
“Yes. She wanted to be here but I convinced her it would be best to waited until Dale called. Once you find what we’re after, he’ll call her in to transport the body—bones, whatever—to town.”
And that would be the point where the secret would get out. No way could they hope no one saw them wheeling a body into the clinic. He was ready for that. Had prepared for what he’d say. Until Dale concluded his investigation it would be a clear “no clue, I haven’t lived here in years”.
Brady figured that line would work for a while and until it didn’t, it was all he’d disclose. Of course he’d avoid all conversation if possible.
“C’mon, Dale has the bolt cutters ready.” Ren tugged on his hand. “He can’t start until I’ve taken pictures.”
He followed Ren and thought about all the changes to his life in the last two weeks.
Fourteen days.
Such a short time in the grand scheme of things and yet…
He’d come home.
Found his mate.
Bonded with his mate.
Discovered his father wasn’t his father.
Uncovered a long lost brother.
And now he was digging up the bones of a man he’d never know but would be connected to for eternity.
It seemed to be far too much for fourteen days.
Overwhelming when he listed it all out.
The one bright spot was the woman walking in front of him. She held him up—held him together—just by breathing.
Kathren Joy Monroe was the light of his life and he couldn’t wait to marry her next week and become Mr. Kathren Joy Monroe.
They’d spent the last few days talking about his last name. He wasn’t a Connelly, and honestly, who would want to keep that or take that as a surname here in Whispering Springs?
Caldwell didn’t fit either. So after asking Doc Monroe if he objected, Brady had decided to take Ren’s name as his when they made their union legal.
It would remove the last of the dark cloud the Connelly name had put over the town and pack. And Brady wasn’t attached to the name at all; in fact it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Ren’s father had suggested he take Hank’s surname but that didn’t feel as right to Brady as Monroe did.
Over the next few weeks they’d remove everything they could that tied this place to the past and start laying down new foundations for the future. He had Steve coming over later in the week to draw up plans and Brady hoped to get a start on those before next winter set in.
He wanted this place to become the Monroe place. And for Brady, the day he held Ren’s hand and pledged his life to hers, took her name as his, would be the beginning of that. At that point they’d put the past and the Connelly name behind them for good.