Night Secrets

Excerpt

Alastair watched his wife as she experienced one of her visions, biting back a curse when she jolted, when she gasped, again when she whimpered, and once more when she opened her eyes and he saw the tears brimming in the beautiful violet depths.

Instinctively sliding off the sofa to kneel in front of her, Alastair started to wrap his arms around her, but she shook her head, holding out her hands and jumped up. “I’ll be in the guest house. My cousin’s dead, Jonathan. Dumped in the landfill. Like trash. When you find her body, I want to arrange her funeral. She deserves that.”

Jonathan jumped to his feet. “Mrs. Wyndham! Serena!”

Ian rose and ran a hand down his wife’s back as she walked away, holding out an arm to prevent Jonathan from going after her. “No. You’ve given her enough hurt.”

Ian watched as Alastair left the room with Serena and waited until he heard the puppies yipping excitedly as they followed Serena and Alastair out the back door.

Once he heard the door close, he turned to Jonathan. “If that’s all…”

Jonathan sat again and leaned forward to pick up his glass. “No. That’s not all. I wanted to talk to Serena about the rest. It concerns her.”

“No. Tell me. Whatever concerns my wife concerns me.”

Jonathan took a sip of his tea and sighed. “Now Carello is suspected of murder. He was picked up and questioned by homicide, but they don’t have enough to hold him. I don’t know where he killed her—if he killed her—but if he did, there’s no sign of it. Hell, no one even knew where to look and your wife didn’t tell me anything specific. I assume it’s the landfill closest to Carello’s house, but it’s a large area.”

Ian inclined his head. “I’ll find out from her and call you. Is that it?”

“No.” After taking another sip, Jonathan set his tea down again. “The FBI got wind of the murder investigation, and since they’ve been trying to pin a whole slew of shit on Carello for years, they started showing up at his house to question him. They’re watching him and making sure he knows that he’s on their radar. They started questioning him about some of his businesses. But no one saw anyone leave the house with a body. Hell, they didn’t even know she’d been killed and weren’t looking for someone smuggling a body out of the house.”

Jonathan smiled faintly. “And since they’re also watching them, and are allowing him to see that they’re watching him, he’s had to curtail certain activities. It’s costing him money. The feds arrested several of his employees for an assortment of things, concealed carry without a license, prostitution, some of them underage, drugs, even shutting down a few of his bars for serving to minors. They haven’t found anyone who’ll testify to the extortion yet, so they can’t even use this for leverage. Carello’s getting desperate. He’s trying to make a deal.”

Jonathan drew a breath and blew it out in a rush. “He mentioned Serena.”

Ian saw red, his fury so intense it turned to ice. “Why the hell is he talking about my wife? What did he say?”

Jonathan rose and began to pace. “He told the FBI that she was psychic. That she knew things and she’s using that to help you increase your fortune in illegal ways.”

Ian raised a brow at that, his blood boiling. “Such as?”

“Such as the stock market, gambling, and theft.”

“Oh? What are we supposed to have stolen?”

Jonathan paused behind the sofa facing Ian and sighed again, his features tight. “Jewelry, paintings, and that bit with someone breaking into the FBI office and stealing counterfeit money… Well, that’s something that’s still talked about.”

Other than raising a brow, Ian let nothing of his thoughts show. “So my wife is a criminal?”

Jonathan took his seat again. “That’s Carello’s claim. You and your wife are using her psychic abilities to steal. To cheat. Whatever. Most of the agents see it for what it is, and even more think this psychic crap is bullshit.”

With a shrug, Jonathan leaned back, his fingertips on the arm of the chair. “Word got to my boss. He called me in to ask me what the hell I knew about it. I told him that you were rich as hell long before Serena came along and had no trouble making investments long before she got here. I knew of Carello, but I looked up his file to see what they had. They have a lot more than I thought. But Carello must have been pretty damn convincing because he’s drawing a lot of attention to Serena. They’re curious about her now.”

“I see.” Ian rose, too restless to sit, the thought of Serena being in the government’s crosshairs churning his stomach. “Well, their curiosity is going to have to go unsatisfied.”

Shaking his head, Jonathan sat forward. “I wish it was that easy.”

“It’s going to have to be.”

Shaking his head again, he sat back and met Ian’s gaze, the worry in it tightening Ian’s stomach even more. “My boss wants to meet her. He’s got her under surveillance now. If she can do what you think she can do, she should know it by now. Has she said anything to you?”

Ian wondered if his wife knew and was keeping it from them, or if she truly hadn’t picked up on it. He forced a smile. “None of your business.”

He didn’t know, but he would for damn sure find out.