Free Deadly Secrets, Loving Lies by Cynthia Cooke Page B

more at the empty dock. Her father’s boat was gone. Had he taken it? Had he left before Emerich’s men had arrived? Without letting Kyle in on her thoughts, she followed him up the hill toward the back of the house. If her father was fine and had left before Emerich’s men had gotten here, he could have called the CTA to let them know. But he hadn’t. There was no reason to bring up the missing boat yet, not until she knew for sure what had happened.
    As they climbed toward the house, she noticed there was no sign of life anywhere. Not a light on in the house, not anyone trimming bushes or cleaning the pool. In her memories, there had always been so much life here, music drifting out from the kitchen, laughter from her sisters playing in the pool or in the grass with their dog. Her father would be grilling meat on the barbecue. Life had been so…magical.
    Tears threatened again and she pushed them away. Why had everything gone wrong? Why had her father sent them all away?
    The CTA caused all our troubles. Becca’s words filled Genie’s mind once more. Kyle stepped silently up to the house and pulled his gun from beneath his dark jacket. The consummate agent. Taking no chances. His first thought for her protection.
    Was that what her father had done, too, by breaking up their family and sending them away? Had he known something she didn’t? Something so bad he’d needed to take drastic measures to protect them?
    Or had he simply wanted to rid himself of the responsibility of raising three unruly daughters alone, while advancing in his high-powered job at the top-secret agency, the CTA?
    Her heart sank painfully.
    Had Becca been right?
    …
    Genie hovered inside the doorway, reaching with her mind trying to determine not only if her father or anyone else was there, but if there was any type of disturbance in the energy of the house. Anything that would indicate there had been trouble. If he’d been scared. But there was nothing. Not that she was surprised; her gift was never strong enough to show her residual emotions very clearly.
    She walked into the kitchen, moving through the rooms. Entering her old family home after all these years, and after her burdensome thoughts, was harder on Genie than she’d ever imagined. The scent of cinnamon and home assaulted her senses, sending echoes of happier times to barrage her memories. She took a deep breath and hurried through the bright kitchen with its off-white cabinets and large granite island where she and her sisters had sat each day eating cookies while doing their homework and talking with their mother about teachers and friends.
    A bittersweet ache grasped hold of her and squeezed. She walked into the family room and felt as if someone flipped the switch on an industrial internal vacuum and sucked the air right out of her chest, leaving her empty and hollow. The echoes of voices from her past swirled through her mind. Her mother calling them to breakfast, the thunder of small feet as they raced down the stairs. The high-pitched peeling laughter of her and her sisters running like hellions through the house as her mother called after them to keep it down, their father was working in the study. Always working…
    She braced herself and walked toward that study now, and stood in the doorway. Funny, she’d never felt even an inkling of danger here, either from his secret CTA work or from the fact of his immersion in it. No, Becca must be wrong. That couldn’t have been the reason for his precautions.
    She took a step inside. This room, like her father, never changed. It was spacious and warm, yet masculine with the deep cherry-wood shelves lining the walls. A large desk commanding the center of the room was cluttered with papers and knickknacks from his travels — silk etchings from Japan and crystal eggs and goblets from Russia and Austria. They reminded her of the necklace, and her fingers immediately found the crystal charm around her neck and held it. A faint hint