The Forbidden Note (Redwood Kings Book 4)

For some odd reason, I keep looking at the tree line surrounding the cemetery. It feels like someone’s watching but, whenever I look in that direction, all I can see are thick pines and stillness.

Damn.

Is someone there or not?

Maybe I’m losing it.

“You coming?” Finn asks.

I nod and trot behind my brothers.

My suit is itchy. I’m more of a jeans, T-shirt and leather jacket kind of guy but, out of respect for Cadence and Dutch, I dressed up.

Cadence approaches me when I’m ripping off my jacket by the car.

“Hey, Zane.”

“Cadey.”

“I wanted to thank you for today. I heard Dutch wasn’t the one who planned today’s funeral.”

My eyes swerve to Dutch.

My twin scowls, leaning on the hood of his car, ankles crossed in front of him.

Chuckling, I rub my chin. “I guess I couldn’t get that one past you.”

“Dutch didn’t even know what hymns we were singing,” Cadence says. She touches my arm. “Thank you, Zane. It was really sweet of you to do that.”

“It was nothing. But if you really want to thank me, you can give me a nice big hug. Your husband is currently glaring at the hand you have on my arm and I think that would really piss him off.”

Cadence giggles like a woman after my own heart and throws her arms around my waist. I squeeze her to me, dipping my head in her shoulder.

Dutch is on us like lightning. “What the hell do you need to hug for?”

I release Cadence just enough that she can move out of the hug, but I drape an arm over her shoulder. “I can hug my sister-in-law if I want to.”

Hazel eyes glittering with annoyance, Dutch growls, “Keep talking smack and we’ll have two funerals today instead of one.”

“Can you two not for one freaking minute,” Finn groans. Always caught in the middle.

Sol smirks and walks up to us. “Don’t stop them. It’s kind of refreshing. Lightens up the mood.”

I meet my best friend’s eyes. Sol is drumming up a tight smile, but there’s something off about it. Like it’s hiding a world of pain. When we told him the funeral details, I was half-hoping that he wouldn’t show.

“Thank you all for coming,” Cadey says. “You too, Breeze.” She reaches out to her blonde friend who takes her hand. “And Serena.” Cadey extends her other hand and a brunette wearing bright red lipstick, fishnets and a leather jacket joins her.

I’ve seen Cadey hanging out with the goth chick at school. She’s always seemed a little weird to me. Quiet. Studious. Kind of like a female version of Finn.

I wink at the ladies. “We’re having the after-party at our place. You ladies are free to come.”

“After-party?” Breeze scrunches her nose.

“Don’t you mean repast?” Finn corrects me like the smart aleck he is.

“Whatever. It’s the part of the funeral where you eat, drink, and play music. Sounds like a party to me.”

Serena licks her lips nervously. “I’ll, uh, bow out. I’ve got plans.”

“What about you?” I arch a brow at Cadey’s friend. “In the mood to party?”

She rolls her eyes. “My best friend made the ridiculous decision to marry the lead singer of a rock band at eighteen. I don’t have a choice but to tag along.”

“Nice.” I ease over her. “I get to corrupt you for the night.”

“You get to do no such thing.” Cadey drags Breeze behind her. “Back off, Zane. She’s untouchable.”

I laugh at Cadey’s protective stance.

Viola joins us, her steps slow and draggy.

Everyone immediately sobers.

“You okay, Vi?” I ask, touching her back.

“Yeah, I said my goodbyes to mom.” She sniffs, shoulders slumping. “Can we go home now?”

I pat her shoulder, not sure how to console a thirteen year old girl. It’s always been me and my brothers. We don’t really get emotional. When we do, our form of commiseration is to jam together at the highest volume and then drink until we pass out.

Unfortunately, Viola is more into makeup than music.

And Cadey will kill me if I give her baby sister alcohol.

We separate into our own trucks.

Dutch takes Cadey, Vi, and Breeze in his car while Finn gets behind the wheel of his electric convertible. Sol is in the backseat while I take shot gun.

I lift one leg on the dashboard. “I’ve been thinking…”

“Ugh…” Sol groans, eyes going dark. “Those three words never mean anything good coming from you.”

“Get your feet off my dash,” Finn orders.

I drop my leg, take out a drumstick, and twirl it. “I think we should do something for Cadence and Dutch’s wedding.”

“Didn’t we already?” Finn mumbles, flicking the indicator.

“We only watched them get married. And it doesn’t count because Sol wasn’t there. Right?” I meet his eyes in the rearview mirror.

He shrugs.

It’s not an enthusiastic response, but I’ll take it.

“Plus they didn’t get to have a reception because Tina, you know,” I slide a finger across my neck, “at a very inconvenient time.”

“Don’t let Viola hear you say that,” Finn warns.

“What do you propose?” Sol says.

“A party.”

Finn rolls his eyes again. The punk says so much without saying anything at all.

“Think about it. It’ll brighten up the vibes, clear the air after the funeral. Give them a proper beginning. What do you think?”

“Do whatever you want, Zane. You’ve never let us stop you before,” Finn mumbles.

I smirk all the way home.

In the driveway, Dutch moves toward us.

“Where did the girls go?” Sol asks.

“They went to change out of their funeral clothes,” Dutch answers.

“Cadey looks like she’s holding it together,” I note.

“It’s just a front. She’s torn up about this, but she doesn’t want to be.”

Sol nods as if he gets it.

I’m glad to see Dutch and Sol talking politely again. There’s still some unresolved tension, but at least it doesn’t feel like they’re on the edge of duking it out.

My eyes slide to the driveway where dad was parked last night.

“Guys, there’s something I need to tell you,” I say.

Finn, Dutch, and Sol were already starting to head inside, but they stop when they hear the serious note in my voice.

“Dad came to visit me last night.”

Finn’s eyes widen.

Sol stiffens.

Dutch glares at me. “What did he say?”

I give them a quick summary.

Dutch runs a hand through his hair. “If dad is sniffing around Cadey, trying to figure out if she’s pregnant…” He sighs. “What will he do if the answer is yes? He was crazy enough to throw me in jail to get his hands on this inheritance.”

“I’m starting to think moving away is a better idea,” Finn says.

I shake my head. “Before you buy your plane ticket, I have a plan.”

“What plan?” Sol asks.

“To stop dad.”

“And how do we do that?” Dutch growls.

I smirk. “We ruin his marriage.”

Dutch narrows his eyes. “I’m not staking Cadey’s life on a joke, Zane.”

“It’s not a joke.” I look each of my brothers in the eye. “Dad only cares about the inheritance because he qualifies. And he only qualifies because he’s married. So how do we knock him out of the race where it hurts?”

“We destroy his ticket in,” Finn whispers.

Dutch looks thoughtful.

“It’s crazy,” Sol says with a shake of his head.

“Crazy enough to work.”

Finn studies me with those sharp eyes. “Convincing Miss Jamieson’s mother to let go of dad won’t be easy. She loves him.”

“Love doesn’t last forever.”

Sol snorts.

“You might have to get dirty,” Finn warns.

“I’ve never been afraid of getting dirty.”

“You attack her mom, Miss Jamieson will never forgive you,” Dutch points out.

The words thud to the ground.

I don’t have a response.

My brothers stare at me, an unspoken warning in the air. You can never turn back if you take this road.

“Miss Jamieson and I aren’t like you and Cadey. She made it clear that she wants nothing to do with me and I’m not the type to chase someone who doesn’t want to be caught.”

“Like I said, it’s crazy.” Sol stares at me. “But I think you can do it.”

“It’s the most solid plan we’ve had in a long time,” Finn agrees.

We all turn to look at Dutch.

He frowns. “Even if you win, even if you protect us and ruin dad, you lose something. There’s no way you walk out of this unscathed.”

“Just tell me if you’re in or not.”

“Fine. I’m in,” Dutch says.

I nod.

Convincing my brothers was the first step of my plan.

I did it.

But now that I’m thinking of what needs to happen next, it doesn’t feel like a victory.

Jinx: What dies, comes back to life and then dies again?

Scandals and secrets.

Today, Redwood’s princes buried a secret in the Lakeshore Cemetery. A secret that left our new Cinderella heartbroken. At least it should have. But New Girl seemed a little too eager to grab that shovel and hide her dirty sins from the light.

Can the darkness stay buried this time? Only time will tell.

Here’s a warning to the girls who plan on becoming the new queens of these royals: our resident kings have a little too many sins to hide.

You’re going to need a bigger shovel.

Until the next post, keep your enemies close and your secrets even closer.

– Jinx