And Joel was fighting to cage the monster inside.
Chloe.
His phone rang. Shit. He ignored the ring because Chloe was close. Chloe mattered. Chloe was—
Understanding broke through the madness in his mind. “That’s her ring tone,” he said. He yanked the phone to his ear. “Chloe—”
“I’m watching,” a man’s raspy whisper told him. “I’m right outside the cemetery.”
The call disconnected.
Silence.
Tap, tap, tap. Three short. Tap. Tap. Tap. Three long—
Joel shoved the phone at Paul. “The fucker is outside. Just called from Chloe’s phone.” He didn’t race toward the cemetery’s exit. He rushed toward those taps.
He joined in with the search. He put his hands on top of one thick, heavy, white slab and then crouched beside it as he felt for—
Tap, tap, tap. He could feel the vibrations. “Chloe!” Joel shot up and heaved against the heavy lid.
“It could be wired!” Cedric’s frantic voice. “It could be—”
“Then get the hell back!” Joel yelled. “Clear the scene because I am not leaving her!”
***
“You know, don’t you?” The man with the carefully styled blond hair and ever-so-correct British accent shifted his body to the right as they sat in her grandfather’s drawing room.
Chloe swung one sneaker-covered foot as she sat on the couch and watched him. “You aren’t my brother.”
He swallowed and glanced toward the door. “I-I—”
“It would save us both time if you didn’t invent a lie.” She kept swinging her left foot. Impatience slid through her.
“I’ve been missing for a long time. I get that you, uh, you—”
“It was better when you led with the whole ‘you know, don’t you’ part. Don’t backtrack now.” She studied him with a sharp eye. “The appearance is very close. Same jaw. Same nose. Same eye color. And I like your accent. Your ‘a’ sounds tend to dip every now and then, so you should watch that. Otherwise, you are quite good.”
He gulped. “You’re going to tell them I’m not him, aren’t you?”
“Why do you want to be him?” The question probably didn’t need to be asked. The estate they were in was huge. The furniture ridiculously expensive. The Hastings fortune was enough to tempt anyone.
“It’s…better than being who I was.”
Now she rose. Headed straight toward him so she could take his measure. “Don’t be too sure of that.”
His laughter was rough. But not cold. Not fake warm. “You have no idea, kid.”
“You might be surprised. And I’m not a kid.”
“You look like a kid.”
She stared at him. “And you look like my brother, but you’re not him.”
“Uh, are you going to call the chief inspector? Tell him—”
“The chief inspector is a tosser. I will tell him nothing.” Her head cocked. “Have you ever killed anyone before?”
“God, no! Why would you even ask that?” He gaped at her. “Look, look, I’m sorry, spooky kid—and you are a kid, hate to break it to you. I just saw an opportunity. I-I didn’t mean any harm.”
“Pretending to be someone else isn’t harmful?”
He yanked his hand over his face. “I’m going to jail. I am going to jail. They will lock me up and throw away the key.” His hand fell. “I just…I didn’t think it would hurt. I mean, your real brother isn’t here. I’m sorry to say it, but I figure he must be dead.”
“That’s an accurate statement.”
“Okay…spooky. You’re not supposed to be so cool about this.” He shook his head. “Listen, just—give me a minute to explain, would you?”
“That’s exactly what I was doing. Please continue.”
“I’ve never had anything. I grew up dirt poor, and when I say that, I mean it. When I was your age, my clothes were always torn and dirty, second hand that I’d taken from a thrift shop. I had to steal everything I ever had. It’s second nature to me, and I just—”
“Thought you would steal someone else’s life, too?” Chloe studied him.
His gaze fell. “I wanted to see what it would be like if I could be him.”
“You don’t want to be him.”
“Huh?” His head jerked up.
The door opened. The chief inspector—the man who was slated to be her guardian—came inside with his arrogant swagger. The scent of cigars followed him. He met her gaze, then looked over at her “brother” with a hooded stare. “Did you enjoy the little talk?” His hands settled on her shoulders. Too heavily.
She didn’t like his touch.
Didn’t like him.
Mostly because…the chief inspector had been the one to hide her brother’s body. Her brother, killing her parents…no, no, a scandal of that nature couldn’t be tolerated. Not by her powerful and connected grandfather. It was a good thing her grandfather had so many good friends who wanted to help him out.
Friends like the chief inspector.
And now that her grandfather was dead, the chief inspector thought he’d get his hands on all of her family’s money. She was alone. He would be her guardian. Unless…
She looked at the stranger who’d come into her home. The man with her brother’s hair and jaw. The man who now had slumped shoulders and was already sending out an air of fear. When she’d asked him if he’d ever killed…his response had been so fast…
“Chloe?” The chief inspector still had his hands on her shoulders. He shouldn’t do that. He knew she didn’t enjoy being touched. “How was the talk?”
She knew what he wanted. He wanted her to give a reason why this man couldn’t be her brother.
The chief inspector had hidden her real brother’s body. Not like he could go dig it up to prove that Charleston Reese Hastings was dead.
And since he couldn’t prove that he was dead…
Chloe smiled at the stranger in her house.
He nervously licked his lips. Even looked over his shoulder as if he thought she might be smiling at someone else. She wasn’t. She was smiling at him. Her unlikely savior.
She shrugged off the chief inspector’s fat fingers and hurried across the room. She threw her arms around the blond. “Oh, I’ve missed you so, Reese!” Her voice rang out with joy. “My brother, finally home!”
“Chloe…” the chief inspector began.
The door opened again. More people trickled inside. The solicitor. The butler. One of the bodyguards who often dodged her steps…Ah, yes, a nice crowd.
“My brother is back!” she told them all. “This is Reese! We finally have him back!” Then she gave her savior another tight hug.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” he whispered in her ear.
She had a pretty good idea.
Tap, tap, tap—fast. Then…Tap. Tap. Tap. Slower. Three more fast—
Chloe stilled. Had she just heard something else? Like…stone scraping? “Is someone out there?” Screaming would waste precious air. It wasn’t logical to scream when the tapping should help the sound to travel but…