Dead Silence (Stillwater Trilogy #1)(88)
Author: Brenda Novak

He could tell she was referring to the possibility that she might be pregnant. “No,” he said. “Seeing you carry my baby will make me proud.”

“If you lost the election, would you ever consider moving away from this town?” she asked.

He skimmed his hand over the curve of her hip. “If you couldn’t be happy here. But…I wouldn’t be able to go for a while.”

“Because of the bank?”

He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her slim fingers. The future was far brighter now that good things were occurring along with the bad. Kennedy had thought his days of being as content and fulfilled as he’d been with Raelynn were over.

And now there was Grace.

He smiled as the more critical events in his life suddenly seemed more like change than loss.

He still didn’t want to say goodbye to his father, though. “My dad has melanoma, Grace,” he said, sobering. “I couldn’t go anywhere until…until we see what happens with that.”

“I had no idea.”

“No one else knows, except my father’s family in Iuka.”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

The fan whirled slowly overhead, around and around. “My mom believes he’s going to beat it.”

She kissed the side of his mouth. “Your mom? What do you believe?”

“I don’t know. I hope she’s right.”

“So do I. For you. And for Teddy and Heath.”

Kennedy thought about the next few months. “It means we might be here for a while. Are you okay with that?”

She nodded, but she didn’t say anything to make that nod more convincing before settling her head on his shoulder.

“Grace?”

“Hmm?”

“What about your job?”

“I’ll have to quit.”

He could smell her perfume, feel her soft flesh against him. “Will you mind?”

“No. I can always go back to work when the kids are older. Even if we don’t have a baby right away, I want to be home with Heath and Teddy. They’re more important to me than any job.”

She was the missing piece, the piece that made his family complete. He couldn’t believe how fortunate he was to have found her.

His body stirred, and he rolled over to make love to her again. Kissing her deeply, he buried his hands in her long hair. “The next few months won’t be easy,” he murmured against her mouth. “But you’ll hang in there with me, won’t you? You won’t give up on us—no matter what?”

“I won’t give up,” she promised. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

On the surface, her answer was the one he’d been looking for. Only there was a ferocity to “I’ll do whatever it takes” that gave him pause. He would’ve questioned Grace about it. Except he lost that thought almost the second it entered his mind. He couldn’t concentrate on anything else when Grace closed her eyes and surrendered to his touch.

She was committed to him—that was all that mattered.

He hoped.

Once Grace reached her car, she sat there, staring out at the dark farmland that stretched on either side of her. So much had changed in the last few hours. Everything had changed. And yet nothing had changed at all. She’d agreed to marry Kennedy Archer. They planned to raise a family together. But loving him still put him and his children at risk. Joe, the other Vincellis and Madeline still sought the truth. The reverend was still dead at her family’s hand—and buried in too shallow a grave.

What if the reverend’s car turned up one day. A find like that would, no doubt, lead to another search of the farm. If the police ever came back, Grace knew it would be the beginning of the end. They’d leave no stone unturned. McCormick would be running the show this time, and he wasn’t inept, like Jenkins had been before him.

She had to do something, she decided. Something to insure that the worst never happened.

Starting her car, she pulled onto the highway and headed home. Whether Clay liked it or not, it was time to give the Reverend Barker a new resting place. Getting rid of his remains was the only way to protect them all.

Joe saw Grace’s headlights swing into the drive and quickly stepped to the side of her front window, out of sight. She’d learn what was waiting for her soon enough. In the privacy of her own home. Where no one could hear if she made a fuss.

He smiled, eager to see her cowed. He couldn’t wait to make her try just about anything he could imagine.

But she didn’t come in. When the garage door rolled up, she pulled only partially inside.

He moved to another window so he could see better, but all that was visible from the house was the back end of her Beemer. He assumed she’d gotten out and left the engine running because the taillights stayed on long after the brake lights went off.

What the hell was she doing out there?

He parted the drapes and changed positions yet again, but he could no longer see her. Not until she emerged from the garage carrying something long and dark. Something that looked like—he dropped the glass he’d been holding, which shattered on the hardwood floor—a shovel!

Despite the alcohol he’d consumed, Joe’s heart began to race as she put it in her trunk. What was she doing? Considering what he’d just turned up at the lake, he could think of only one possibility. What else would motivate her to go digging in the middle of the night?

He watched her close the trunk and hurry into the garage. Her brake lights flashed, then she backed up and the door rolled down.

She was on her way.

Joe stayed at the window long enough to make sure she turned left toward the farm. Then he ran to the alley, jumped in his truck and headed out in the same direction. With any luck, he’d catch sight of her taillights within minutes, he thought. And he was right. Four minutes down the road, where Main Street merged with the highway, he saw her driving about a mile ahead of him.

He slowed down. No need to give his presence away. If he had his guess, he’d soon be able to tell the whole town exactly where they could find his uncle’s body.

Grace parked in the thicket of trees that lined the back side of Clay’s property, along the canal, and gathered up the shovel, gloves and flashlight she’d brought. She knew if Clay realized what she was up to, he’d stop her immediately. He expected her to leave everything as it was. But there was too much at stake. She had to do whatever she could to make sure her past wouldn’t eventually ruin her future—and Kennedy’s.