Forgotten Secrets Read Online Free PDF

phones out here. It hasn’t been in the budget, but I’m thinking we’ve got to find the money somehow.” Thayne’s father snagged the device and stared unblinking at the screen. “You gonna opt out, son?”
    OK, the question came from nowhere, but sometimes the only way to cope with panic was to discuss the mundane. He wasn’t fooled. His father’s whitened knuckles gripped the phone. Not any different than Thayne’s clutching the steering wheel.
    The SUV bounced on the rain-savaged road. “Haven’t decided. What would I do if I left the SEALs?”
    “I could make that deputy’s badge permanent. You could settle down, get married. Have a life.”
    A scoffing laugh escaped Thayne. “Come on, Dad. Of all your kids, I was voted least likely to follow in your and Pops’s footsteps.”
    “Not by me or your mother. Jackson’s the adrenaline junky. Hudson’s heart is in the land. Cheyenne’s tied to the people. But you, Thayne, you have that sense of justice, that need to right a wrong. You just feed the need on the battlefield fighting for Uncle Sam. You could do it here. Where you belong.”
    The SUV slammed into a pothole. Thayne eased up on the gas pedal. “Singing River is the only place on Earth Hudson could ever be happy. Cheyenne left for school, but only so she could come back.”
    “And you?”
    “Singing River is . . . claustrophobic. Everyone knows my name, knows our family, knows what’s expected. Gram understands. I couldn’t even blow off a little steam without you and Pops knowing about it. Or be alone with my girlfriend. It’s a wonder I’m not still a virgin, as many times as you guys interrupted—”
    “That was your mother’s idea.” His father drummed his fingers on the armrest. “Why not come home, settle down?”
    OK, Thayne had to figure out how to derail this conversation. Their superficial attempt at normalcy had just veered into dangerous waters. “There’s no one here who makes me want forever.”
    “Does this have anything to do with a certain FBI special agent you spend hours talking to on Friday evenings?”
    Thayne whipped his head around to meet his father’s gaze. How could he know about the relationship with Riley? No one knew. Even Thayne had trouble wrapping his brain around the confusing emotions.
    A small beep sounded from the app. “Thayne, I’ve got a signal.”
    “Who?”
    His father blinked. “Cheyenne’s phone. It’s a mile off the dirt road leading to the old mill.”
    Thayne flipped on the sirens, pushing the vehicle as much as he dared on the dirt road.
    The sheriff grabbed his badge off the dash and snatched the radio. “We’ve got a cell phone signal,” he said, relaying the location. “Send backup.”
    Five miles onto the highway following the creek, Thayne skidded onto a dirt road. Dust kicked up, reflecting off the headlights like a curtain of sand.
    “We should be closing in. How much farther?” Thayne asked.
    “Almost there.” His father tugged a spotlight from the floorboard. “About a hundred feet southwest of us.”
    Thayne stopped the car. They mounted the light and flipped it on. Ground cover rustled in a grove of fir and aspens. Thayne jumped from the running board and raised his weapon.
    The branches swayed at the base of the tree. A coyote stared at them from among the twigs, then bounded away.
    With a flashlight in one hand, Glock in the other, Thayne took the lead. His father followed close behind, monitoring the phone.
    Thayne’s flashlight beam swept side to side. He knelt down, studying the leaves and pine needles. His shoulders tensed. “Someone’s been here,” he said under his breath.
    “Cheyenne?”
    “Combat boot,” Thayne whispered. He stilled, body coiled, listening for any sound, any hint of the unfamiliar.
    For a moment, he could have sworn they were being watched. He peered through the trees, listening, waiting.
    No movement.
    He’d stayed alive through four tours trusting his gut. With caution,