Page 38 of Their Wicked Secrets: Untouched, Vol 5 of 6

“I found something,” I whisper shout. Someone could have followed us or tracked us down. No need to announce it to the world.

“Do what you need to, kitten.” Eli’s words are reassuring. I’m glad I have all of them. Otherwise, Luke might have tried to scale the tree after me by this point.

I put the flashlight back in my mouth, lighting up the numbers on the lock. Dad left this for Mom. I try Mom’s birthday. Nothing. Dad’s birthday. Which I only know because no one took down his Facebook account. Years ago, I realized I was friends with him.

I always wondered if he would try to contact me through it. He never posted, but once a year I get the notification that it’s his birthday. Sighing, I put that date in. Their anniversary date? Nothing.

I spin it a few times and randomly check before putting in my birthday. The lock opens. I let out a whoop.

“Fuck!” Luke’s voice reaches me. “You okay?”

Tucking the flashlight into my pocket, I take out the pocket knife.

“I’m fine.” I pry the cord out of the bark trying to grow around it. The cord dangles from the box as I work on dislodging it from the tree. There must be some sort of mechanism that helps hold it.

I wedge the blade behind it and struggle to get it to release. The knife slips as the box comes free. I grab at the box and feel the knife slice my finger. I suck in a breath and bite my lip to keep from crying out.

Carefully, I close the knife and put it in my pocket along with the flashlight. I stick my bleeding finger in my mouth and instantly regret it, trying to spit out the taste of dirt from climbing the tree. I wrap the cord around my waist and tuck the box into the front of my jeans before locking the combination.

“I’m coming down.” I wince as my cut hits the rough bark. Nothing can be done about it. I’m sure Luke will spank me when I reach him, but he’ll take care of my cut first.

I work my way slowly, getting closer and closer to the ground, focusing on my foot placement and my handholds. A hand wraps around my ankle, and I startle.

“I’ve got you, little nympho.” Caden has one hand on my ankle and the other reaching up to catch me if I fall. If I didn’t already love him, I might have fallen for him right at this moment.

I keep picking my way down until he grabs me and lifts me from the tree. He slides me down his front until my feet touch the ground.

Luke closes in behind me, and the others gather around me. I pull the box out of the front of my pants.

“I think it’s a camera.” It’s about the same size as my iPhone is tall, but it’s square and thicker.

Luke tucks me into his side and begins to herd me out of the trees.

“Wait.” I stop and try to step back. “I need a picture of the carving.”

“Already done, kitten.” Eli steps up next to me. “It’s time to figure out what we found.”

CHAPTER 13

The Dead Drop

Jack

The number of places that are safe for us is pretty low. We head to my house because as long as we stay in the basement, we shouldn’t disturb anyone or wake up Lucy. While it’s not really past curfew, I’d get in trouble if we wake Lucy up.

My dad must be in his office as I let the guys and Harper in. We go downstairs and close the door behind us. Our rec room isn’t as decked out as Luke’s or Caden’s, but we’ve got a good family room set-up down here and an area for Lucy’s toys.

My parents went overboard for their second child.

Harper unwraps the cord from her waist and sets the camera on the table. The table is Lucy’s project table. When my parents tried to get her a child-sized one, she refused. She wanted one I could sit at too.

I sit beside Harper and hold my hand out to ask for the thing she found. She pushes it toward me and releases her breath. When I turn it over, blood specks the surface. I glance at her, and she has a bandage wrapped around her finger.

“I took care of it in the car.” Caden shakes his head. “She cut it on the knife. It’s not deep. I had antibacterial ointment and wet wipes. She’ll be good until we get to my house. I’ll rewrap it before we go to sleep.”

Okay then. I study the box. There’s a padlock on the camouflaged case and a lens on one side. This was built to hide in plain sight and remain outside for a long time.

Maybe not over a decade though.