Myth and Magic. Mae Clair
you do, too. She isn’t given to theatrics.”
Caith tensed, suppressing a reactionary jolt. “Ron’s your manager?”
“Since we opened.” Galen tossed a suspicious glance in Aren’s direction. “You mean all the years you palled around with Aren, he never told you Veronica worked for BI, or that she and Merlin dated? Even when Aren was in Boston, he knew everything that went on back home.”
Veronica and Merlin dated?
Why not? Considering how he’d screwed up and hurt her. They’d all been close as kids. It was only natural her affection for Merlin would develop into something more.
Aren swiped a thumb beneath his nose. “That’s irrelevant. And it’s not why we’re here.” He looked at Caith. “Bottom line is we don’t think Stone Willow is haunted, but something is going on. We need a private investigator.”
Caith balked at the idea. “You’re joking.”
“You know Barrister House and you know the area. And despite what your driver’s license says, you’re still a Breckwood.”
“Screw that.” Incredulous, Caith paced behind the sofa. “You don’t seriously expect me to believe Dad condones this?”
“He’s in Canada,” Galen supplied. “On vacation with Mom. They’re not due back until the end of the month.” He shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “In time for the annual Halloween party.”
Caith frowned. He hated the lavish costume party his parents had thrown every year since he was a kid. Even the memory brought a tang of bitterness to his throat. “Hire a PI in Pennsylvania. I’m not licensed to practice there.”
“We don’t want a PI in Pennsylvania,” Aren said firmly. “We want you. Someone who has BI’s interests at heart.”
“What makes you think I give a rat’s ass about BI?”
Aren scowled. “Maybe you don’t care about BI, but I think you still care about the people who run it and the people in Coldcreek. Your family needs you, Caith.”
What a load of garbage! Merlin needed him? His father needed him? “Where was my family when I needed them?”
Aren stepped forward until only the couch separated them. “Caithelden, I’ve never turned my back on you. From the time you left for college to your graduation from the police academy, and the mess you had juggling a newborn and a career, I’ve been there.”
“I know that.”
Aren had stood by him. At thirty, Caith was eight years younger, a gap that had seemed insurmountable in the days when football, girls, and cars had taken precedence, but they’d grown close as adults.
“I appreciate it, but you and Mom are the only ones.” Caith sent Galen a pointed glance, but the older man remained silent, unmoved by the criticism.
“I need you in Coldcreek,” Aren pressed. “I need you to do this for me, Caith.”
“Don’t manipulate me.”
Galen shifted impatiently. “We’ll double your usual rate, whatever it is. What’s the matter, Caith? Are you still making the world a safe place to live or just shooting eight-by-ten glossies of cheating spouses?”
Caith glared at his brother. “Sixty-five percent of my business is corporate. I wouldn’t be successful if it wasn’t.”
“So you’re fighting white-collar criminals?”
“It was a white-collar criminal who killed Derrick Trask.”
Galen dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand. “I didn’t come here to dredge up the past.”
“Bullshit.” Caith paced to the fireplace, inserting distance between them to crush a spike of anger. “You expect me to go back to Coldcreek, a place I haven’t set foot in since I was eighteen. A place where my best friend was murdered and I spent three days held for ransom in a root cellar. Knowing all that, knowing I’d have to take my kid there, you’ve got the gall to say you didn’t come to dredge up the past?”
“Wait a minute.” Aren raised both hands. “No one is saying this will be easy for you, but you can’t keep the truth from Derry forever. He’s got a right to know about his family. About what happened to you, and why he’s named after your childhood best friend.”
“The hell he does.” Caith whirled on his brother. “He’s eight years old. He doesn’t need to know about the kind of monsters who kidnap and murder children. Not as it relates to me. I’m the single stable influence in his life and I intend to keep it that way.”
“What about his family? His grandfather?”
“His grandfather never once tried to see Derry. He’s never tried to see me.”
“All right, forget it.” Aren quickly changed the subject. “I don’t want to dredge up old wounds either. The bottom line is BI is in trouble, and we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t value your skills as an investigator. With the exception of the last ten months, you and I have been together almost every day since you were twenty-two. I know the kind of work you’re capable of, and…” His voice trailed off as he shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t anything personal involved. Melanie and I have missed having you around, and I know Matt and Noah miss Derry.”
“You’re a sap, Aren. Galen’s an ass and you’re a sap.”
“And you’re as eloquent as ever.” Aren grinned as if knowing he’d struck a nerve. “What’s it going to be, Caith?”
“I have open cases.”
“Anything that can’t wait?”
Could he really go back to Coldcreek? Could he face the past? Veronica? Why the hell was he even considering it?
The thought of seeing her again…
“One I need to wrap up in the next few days.”
“So finish it,” Aren insisted. “By the weekend, you can be on a plane for Coldcreek. We’ll put you up at Stone Willow Lodge. The family and Veronica will know why you’re there, but to anyone else you’ll be one more BI employee needing stress-relief therapy. Even if you’re not licensed in Pennsylvania, you can still nose around and give us your professional opinion. I happen to know any private citizen with the gumption and knowledge can legally investigate a crime as long as they don’t interfere with the police.”
“It’ll never work. Twelve years isn’t that long. Someone will recognize me.”
“Not if you stay at the lodge. It’s only been in operation six years, and believe it or not, everyone employed there moved to Coldcreek after you left. We’ll set you up with a fake identity, fake name. No one will make the connection.”
Silently weighing the options, Caith roamed to the sofa again and propped on the edge. The money was enticing, but he’d never been about cash. The thought of seeing Ron again, of having a second chance to right his horrible wrong, had him waffling on the fence. He’d never stopped loving her. “What about Derry?”
“I already checked with Matt and Noah’s school,” Aren supplied. “Derry can attend with them while you’re in Coldcreek. And he can stay at my place. Melanie and I would love to have him.”
Caith jerked reflexively. “He wouldn’t be with me?”
“Not at the lodge. Children don’t fit with the concept of a corporate retreat.”
A ripple of alarm shot through him. Leaving Derrick with someone else in Coldcreek…
“Listen up.” Aren slid into a chair across from him and rapped a knuckle against his knee. “What happened to you and Trask as kids was a freak incident. You’ve got to stop being so overprotective. I’ll look after Derry. You’ll know where