Defenseless Read online

  DEFENSELESS

  #1 MYSTERY LAKE SERIES

  TAMSEN SCHULTZ

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Extract of

  Excerpt

  Also by Tamsen Schultz

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright © 2021 by Tamsen Schultz

  Published by Devil's Gate Press, LLC

  Cover Design by Melody Barber

  Edited by Edited by Cameron Yeager

  E-Book ISBN: 978-1-955384-23-0

  Print ISBN: 978-1-955384-24-7

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  To finding balance, some days it’s easier than others, but when we can find it, it’s a powerful thing.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Bela Houseman shushed her sister as they crept through the mudroom of their house. They weren’t that late for curfew—only twenty minutes—but it would be better if they didn’t wake their mom. She was pretty cool as moms went and wasn’t one to get worked up about Bela and her twin, Nala, being a little late. But if they could make it upstairs to their rooms without calling attention to their tardiness, they’d all be happier.

  “Did you see Jason making cow eyes at Jess?” Nala giggle-whispered as they tiptoed through the kitchen. Jason Larson had had a crush on Jessica Blackman since kindergarten. Given that they’d all graduated from high school a few days earlier, that was a lot of years to be pining for someone. He was a good guy, and everyone knew Jessica liked him, too. No one knew why neither had ever acted on their feelings.

  Unlike Nala, though, who seemed amused by the unrequited love, Bela thought it was kind of sad to see Jason so moony. Their mother often said that life was too short to live with regrets. With all of them leaving for college at the end of the summer, Jason was definitely going to be wrestling with that particular demon in the coming months. He should have bucked up and asked Jess out ages ago. Maybe he would have gotten turned down, but Bela didn’t think so. Then again, did Jess want to be with a guy who wasn’t willing to take a chance? Bela wouldn’t have. She couldn’t imagine being with a guy who was too scared to ask her out because he might get embarrassed if she said no. As if his pride was more important to him than she was.

  “Shh,” Bela said again, twisting her head around to faux-glare her sister. They were identical in almost every way, except Nala’s strawberry blond hair had more curl to it than Bela’s. Named after two archaeological sites—Nalanda and Lalibela—Bela often thought they should look more exotic than they did. But no, they were the spitting image of their Irish American mother. Straight down to the fair skin, strawberry blond hair, and blue-green eyes. They each even had a small spattering of freckles across their nose, although those seemed to be fading with time.

  “Mom’s not going to hear us,” Nala shot back as they paused in the doorway between the kitchen and the hall. This was the tricky part. There were more than a few creaky boards between where they stood and the stairs they needed to get to. And their mother’s bedroom was just down the hall to their left.

  Bela lifted her foot to take a step then set it down when a grunt sounded from the living room. She frowned and turned a questioning look on her sister. Nala shrugged and shook her head. In sync, as they often were, they paused rather than continue. Was it possible their mom had someone over?

  Again, another grunt and the sound of furniture scraping across the floor.

  “Kevin?” Nala whispered so softly that Bela barely heard her. Six weeks ago, Kevin Jacobs had started coming around. Emer Houseman had told her daughters they weren’t seeing each other in an exclusive way, but she hadn’t denied that they were dating. He’d taken her to dinner a few times and out to the movies twice.

  Had she brought him home, though? The sounds coming from the living room were similar to the ones Bela had heard coming from Joe and Maryann’s room when they’d all gone to Maryann’s lake house over spring break. Bela wasn’t a virgin herself, but until that week, she’d never heard other people having sex.

  But was that what was going on? Was her mother having sex with Kevin in their living room? She flashed her sister a disgusted face, and Nala stifled a snort. They were all for their mom having some fun, but did she have to do it in their living room?

  “Let’s try to sneak by superfast. You know, time it to when they’re…most distracted,” Nala said. Bela didn’t want to think about her mother being that distracted, so she returned her attention to the hall. The entry to the living room was near the foot of the stairs. If they were careful about missing the loose floorboards, they might be able to make it past without being noticed.

  Bela nodded and took a step forward, grateful they’d worn Converse rather than any shoe with a hard sole or heel. She stepped around the creaky boards as she tiptoed down the hall. Nala followed, clutching the back of her shirt and staying close.

  Bela’s foot was on the first step when they heard words for the first time. Kevin’s voice.

  “I’m sorry I had to do that, but if you’d given me what I asked for, I wouldn’t have had to.”

  Bela froze, and ice shot through her system. Whatever had been happening in the living room didn’t sound like it was anything good. Had Kevin forced himself on their mother? If he had, that seemed stupid for a lot of reasons. He had to know she and Nala would be home at some point. She also thought he was some sort of big dog in the state government, the kind of job someone wouldn’t want to risk losing. Then again, people, especially adults, weren’t always smart.

  “Bel?” her sister said, the concern in her voice a mirror of Bela’s. “We have to check on her.”

  Bela started shaking. First her hands, then her arms, then it traveled down to her legs. She gripped the handrail to steady herself. Nala was right, but Bela was scared. What would they find? And if Kevin had done something to their mother, what would he do to them if he realized they were there?

  But Nala is right, she told herself. They couldn’t leave their mother.

  Reaching for her sister, she moved to Nala’s side, and they entwined their fingers. As always, they’d face whatever it was together. Shoulder to shoulder.

  They inched forward, closer and closer to the doorway, their feet all but sliding across the hardwood. As they closed the distance—no more than eight feet—Bela’s senses sharpened. Things she’d missed before seemed to reverberate through her body. The hint of a breeze coming in from the front door that wasn’t entirely closed. The smell of the lilac trees her mother had planted in the front yard before Bela was old enough to remember. And then there were the sounds of a man moving around in their home. Even if she hadn’t heard him speak, his heavy tread and the unapologetic way he seemed to be moving around the room gave away his gender.

  A drawer opened, then closed. Then another. The distinctive halting slide told Bela he was searching in her m
other’s small writing desk. She couldn’t imagine what Kevin might be looking for. They didn’t have anything of value, and her mother’s work wasn’t the kind that someone other than another archaeologist would want.

  Together, she and Nala paused a foot from the doorway. One more step and they’d be inside. Nala picked up her foot, but Bela yanked her back. She had her phone! She’d left her purse in the mudroom, but her phone was in the pocket of her shorts. Letting go of her sister’s hand, she pulled the device out. After making sure it was set to Silent, she pressed the numbers 9-1-1, but didn’t hit the Call button. She didn’t know what they’d find. If for some reason whatever had happened in the room was consensual, she didn’t want to embarrass her mother.

  Although in her gut, Bela knew it wasn’t. In her gut, she knew that if it had been consensual, they would have heard their mother talking by now. Emer Houseman was not one to enjoy a stretch of silence.

  But what worried Bela even more was that if it hadn’t been consensual, why hadn’t they heard their mother fighting back? She wasn’t a big woman, but they’d traveled all over the world, and her mother had made sure the three of them knew how to protect themselves. Maybe not from everything, but from a lot.

  Her thumb hovered over the Call button, and she nodded to Nala. Everything in her body screamed at her to run, but her heart, and her head, wouldn’t let her. If their mother needed them, then she and Nala needed to be there for her. As she’d always been there for her girls.

  With a deep breath, Bela took the first step. Nala might be the free spirit twin, but Bela was always the first to face the music.

  Her body swayed forward as her foot touched the floor and the living room came into view. The first thing that engaged her attention was Kevin Jacobs standing in front of her mother’s desk. He looked to be thumbing through old envelopes and, incongruously, he had a long, pale pink silk scarf dangling from one hand.

  Her gaze fixated on the scarf. Her mother had been wearing it earlier that night when they’d left to meet their friends. It swung in a gentle rhythm as Kevin held it; whether that was from the breeze or the man’s movements, Bela didn’t know.

  Time slowed and distantly, she wondered why she seemed unable to pull her attention from the pale pink confection. But then Nala’s hand jerked in hers and Bela’s focus panned out from that singular detail to take in the room.

  And her mother.

  Tied to a chair in the middle of the room, Emer Houseman’s body listed to the side. Her head dangled against her shoulder, and her hair fell across her face.

  It would have been so much better if they’d walked in on their mom having sex.

  Because this…this was so much worse. This was something her brain grasped but everything inside her rejected.

  Violently.

  A keening wail filled the room. Bela recognized it as her voice but not where it had come from or how she could stop it. Her mother was dead, and Kevin Jacobs had killed her. It couldn’t be…but it was.

  Kevin’s head whipped up, the movement pulling Bela’s gaze from her mother’s body to the man responsible. She was wading through emotions, so many emotions, that she couldn’t move. Not even when she saw the glint of calculation in Kevin’s eyes.

  “Run!” Nala said. Not letting go of her hand, Nala pulled her away. Bela jerked as she spun, and her phone fell to the hardwood floor and skittered off to the side. She couldn’t recall if she’d hit Call or not. She didn’t know if help was on the way. If someone would come to stop Kevin.

  And she didn’t have time to think about it, because her sister was dragging her through the house. Seconds later, they burst through the kitchen door and out into the night. Leaping down the steps, they landed in their backyard and kept going.

  Behind them, Kevin’s feet slapped heavily on the porch then hit the grass. He might be an adult, but she and Nala were runners. Four years of cross-country and track kicked in, and before she knew it—before she even comprehended why they were running—the two of them were flying across the yard and into the woods.

  They ran and ran, leaping over roots and logs and ducking under branches. Once again, she was grateful they’d worn tennis shoes. Not exactly running shoes, but they could run in anything that didn’t have a heel.

  Blindly, she followed her sister as they flew past familiar landmarks and weaved on and off trails she knew like the back of her hand. By the time Nala slowed to a walk, she had no idea how much time had passed. Both were breathing hard, sucking in air, but Nala kept them moving. A few minutes later, and without question, Bela followed her into the creek that ran along the east side of town. They navigated their way upstream, staying in the middle of the flow as much as possible. In the few spots where it got too deep, they hugged the edges but remained at least calf-deep in the water.

  They slogged their way north for twenty minutes before Bela stopped.

  “Bela?”

  Bela held up a hand to stop the questions. She and her sister had been at the diner with their friends before they’d come home. It seemed that not only was her mind rebelling against the events of the night, her body was, too. Turning away, she leaned over. Everything she’d eaten earlier that night came up, flowing away with the current.

  Nala’s hand came to rest on her back, slowly stroking along her spine. When there was nothing left, she remained bent, catching her breath. Then, tentatively, she dipped her hands into the cold water and brought them to her face. The thought occurred to her that she shouldn’t use the creek water to rinse her mouth. But then she remembered her mother was dead—murdered—and none of it seemed to matter.

  Filling her mouth, she swished the water around and spit it out. Then she did it again. Staring at the current, she had the urge to just lie down. It wasn’t deep enough to carry her anywhere, but maybe, if she immersed herself, it would wash over her face and nose. Maybe it could take away the pain of the night. The pain her body, and her heart, were beginning to acknowledge.

  “Don’t,” Nala said from beside her. “It won’t solve anything, and she wouldn’t want it.”

  Again, her sister was right. But what did it matter what their mother would want? She was no longer with them.

  A sob tore from her soul, and she spun. Nala was there. Nala was always there. The sisters clung to each other in the middle of the creek and cried. They didn’t have the time to give in to the grief that was swallowing them. But they could take this one moment.

  When they pulled away from each other, Bela brushed her hair from her face and glanced around. “Where are we?”

  “I think we’re a couple of miles outside of town,” Nala answered. “I’ve never been this way, but I think that’s where we are.”

  Bela turned and looked at their surroundings. Dark forest hugged the creek bed, but to her right, she could see a break in the woods and a glimpse of a rolling pasture. “You have a plan.” Not a question. She knew her sister did.

  “We’ll go to Chrissy’s. This creek runs alongside the back of their property.”

  Bela frowned. “But Chrissy’s….” And then she understood.

  “Exactly,” Nala said. Chrissy and her parents were in Europe for three weeks. A graduation present for their youngest daughter. Nala and Bela had grown up with her and been in and out of her house since they were old enough to walk. They knew where the spare key was and knew the family hadn’t hired any house sitters. The property also had the added benefit of sitting well off the road on one hundred acres. There’d be no risk of being seen if they hid there.

  Bela looked upstream, trying to calculate how far they had to go. She didn’t think she’d get any sleep tonight, but exhaustion was weighing her body down.

  “You don’t think we should go to the police?” she asked.

  Nala shook her head. “Kevin Jacobs is the state’s attorney general,” she responded, reminding Bela of the man’s position. “And the chief of police is his brother. I’m not saying we shouldn’t ever go to the police, but I thin
k we need to understand what’s going on before we do. I don’t know if Chief Jacobs is corrupt or if he would cover for his brother. But I also don’t know that he isn’t or wouldn’t. If he does, then it’s their word against ours and…”

  “What?”

  Nala’s eyes filled, and she blinked back tears. “And I don’t think I’ll ever forget that look in Kevin’s eye when he saw us standing there. It was like I could see him calculating exactly how he’d kill us. I…we can’t let that happen, Bel. I won’t lose you, and I won’t let you lose me.”

  Bela’s nose crinkled as she fought back her own tears. There’d be plenty of time to cry, but Nala was right. They needed to get somewhere safe.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Eighteen years later

  Chad Warwick’s gaze dropped from his boss to his loosely clasped hands resting on the tabletop. Skills honed by his years in the military and the FBI kept him from showing any sign that the bomb Stella Matthews Zatoro had just dropped had any effect on him other than the requisite mild interest that would be expected.

  Lifting his gaze, he let his lips form a curious frown. “I thought it had already been decided that Jun was going to go with me to open the new office in California, and Sabina was going to stay here. Didn’t they toss a coin or something?”

  Stella glanced at her husband, second-in-command of HICC, the private security firm the two owned and operated. Hunter nodded as he rocked the couple’s three-year-old son on his shoulder. It was Mateo’s nap time, but the little boy was probably more used to being in HICC’s large compound just south of Washington, DC, than his own home.