Grave Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

I’d been asking a lot of favors, and a partnership was supposed to be give and take. Instead it had been take, take, take, and I’d been the one doing all the demanding.
    I sucked. Thanks, everyone. Point taken.
    I bit my lip and swallowed the snarky reply I wanted to make. Hard to be high and mighty about your hurt pride when people are making completely valid points. My hurt expression must have shown because Keaty softened slightly.
    “You understand why I’m…unhappy with you, don’t you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I’ve been a shitty partner.”
    Keaty nodded. “I would have said ungrateful, but shitty is accurate too.”
    “I have been taking cases.”
    “How marvelous. Those two extra cases every month were such a burden. Thanks for getting those off my mind.” Oh good, sarcasm. Probably a sign I shouldn’t be defending myself right now.
    “Look, I do need your help with something.”
    “Fancy that, because I need yours.”
    “Well, let’s hear it.”
    “I think I’d like to save mine until the end. What do you need?”
    “Kellen Rain is AWOL.”
    “Ransom demand?” He slid forward in his chair, and I recognized the change in his expression. It was the same shift I’d had the previous night with Lucas when I went from bitter ex to professional private investigator in order to find Kellen.
    I shook my head. “I don’t think she’s been kidnapped.”
    “What does Rain think?”
    “I’m pretty sure he thinks she’s dead.”
    Keaty threaded his fingers together and rested his chin on them, looking thoughtful. “No, death doesn’t seem right, does it? Does he have a reason for thinking that? Any specific enemies who might make a target of someone he loves?” He arched an eyebrow at me. First I thought he was implying I might be responsible for Kellen’s disappearance, until it dawned on me he meant something else entirely.
    “You think I might be at risk?”
    “If someone is targeting those close to the king, you’d be an obvious liability.”
    This time I snorted. “You’re getting rusty, Spade. It made the national news when Lucas stood me up. It’s a fact universally acknowledged, to quote Jane Austen, that he doesn’t give a single flying fuck about me.”
    “I don’t think Jane Austen ever said flying fuck .”
    “The point. You’re missing it.”
    “I never miss the point, Secret. You tend to ignore it.”
    “Keaty, I think you just put the ouch in touché .”
    He rolled his eyes. “Where do you think the girl is?”
    “Working on her tan and ignoring her phone. My dream holiday.”
    “And it’s not out of the realm of possibility for a girl with her…reputation, to vanish without word.” He was trying to politely say, Slutty party girls aren’t known for being bastions of responsibility.
    “Lucas says it’s the first time she’s run off without answering his calls.”
    “Correct me if I’m wrong, but was she not, um, Team Secret after the wedding debacle?” He made air quotes around Team Secret, and I fought the urge to laugh in his face. I was trying to build bridges here, when I was naturally predisposed to burn them down.
    “Yes, she was on my side.”
    “Maybe she’s ignoring his calls to punish him.”
    Well, damn. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Hadn’t it been precisely what I’d done?
    “She isn’t answering any calls, though.”
    “Have you tried?”
    “I…” Of course I hadn’t yet tried the most obvious thing.
    “Give me your phone, please.”
    I obliged and handed my cell to him. He dialed Kellen’s number from my phone book and turned on the speakerphone. We stared at each other across the desk as it rang three, four, five times with no answer and then a click. “Hey, bitches, you’ve reached Kellen. Leave me a message, or better yet, why aren’t you at this party?” Her voicemail message ended with a girlish giggle.
    Keaty and I continued to watch each other, both our faces impassive. His attention was heavy as I