“Really?” I asked. “Even in Heaven?”
“Yes,” Mother said. “Write To Heath Hillshire, I love you very much…”
I wrote what Mother told me to write, and when I finished, she took the card and led me back to Ms. Pierce’s desk.
Ms. Pierce looked up right when my mother waved the card in front of her. “Haven’s finished with her card,” Mother said.
Ms. Pierce’s eyes ballooned when she saw it. “I, um, Ms. Hillshire, didn’t know Haven is a Hillshire. That Hillshire. And Heath Hillshire’s…”
Mother said, “I want it kept low-key, but yes, Haven’s father is that Heath. And this card is going to be sent to her grandparents. I’m not going to deny them the chance of being involved with Haven, their only grandchild, so whenever there are any activities in class, especially with family, make sure she participates. The Hillshires would not be pleased to know their granddaughter was denied or discouraged from them and from expressing herself.”
Ms. Pierce was suddenly more energized and expressive than she had ever been. “Oh yes, Ms. Hillshire. Of course. Yes, of course!”
So…that was the first time Mother spoke of my father and his family in public. She hardly brought it up since, but even then, I knew my father was special. Not just to me and my mother, but to a bunch of people.
*****
Mother must have loved my father so much that she never remarried until she met Terrence Triton.
And became a Triton.
The next female Triton to have gone missing, kidnapped like all of Terrence’s wives before her.
Chapter 1
Harley
Present Day
Age 18
“Haven? Haven?” a familiar male voice asked.
My eyes opened, but everything was still blurry.
“She’s coming to,” another male voice said.
“They have Mom,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut. I started shaking. The worse of my nightmares had happened. My mother had been kidnapped… probably never to be released. If history of all the women who married into the Triton family was a predictor of what would happen to Mom, I would never see her alive again.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, and strong arms lifted me tight against a hard chest. I opened my eyes and found myself staring into deep blue ones…Tristan’s concerned eyes. “We’ll get her back, Haven,” he kissed my temple. “If it’s the last thing I do, I promise you.”
Drake was already at the computer. “I checked all the security cameras around Main Street,” he said. “I’ve also hacked into the security camera aimed at the main entrance to the building where Dr. Hillshire’s new office is located and checking who came in and out of the building today.”
“Any luck?” Tristan asked.
“I’m scrolling through hours of footage as fast as I can,” Drake said. “So far, all I’ve seen is one couple walking in before Haven gets there, then they walk out before Haven walks out. I haven’t seen anyone else leaving except the bakery owner, one or two customers from the bakery, and individual people who have offices at the building. Dr. Hillshire never left the building, it seems.”
“Let’s head over there,” Tristan said.
“Dad’s already there,” Dillon said, getting off the phone and putting it into his pocket.
“Did he call the police?” I asked, walking towards Dillon.
Dillon shook his head, “No, Dad said he has his own private detective on it, and he didn’t want to get this into public hands.”
“But it’s my Mom!” I said. “I don’t care if he is worried about any public scandal. I want my mother back safe.”
“Haven,” Tristan’s voice was even-keeled, smooth and steady. “Dad is handling it the best way he knows how. Putting it into public will only motivate the kidnappers.” He looked pained. “We’ve gone through this before. If it’s made public before everything is handled, you might as well…” he didn’t finish, but I knew what he meant.
“Okay,” I said.
“Come on,” Tristan said, walking up to me to gently hold my arm. “Let’s go to your mother’s office.”
Drake joined us. “Since Haven seemed to be the last person entering and leaving her mother’s office…”
I looked at Drake and then at Tristan. “I am?”
Drake nodded.
I shook my head. “Are you saying…that I’m a suspect in my mother’s disappearance?”
Drake couldn’t look me in my eyes as he said, “Yes. The detective we hired wants to ask you some questions.”
Chapter 2
Haven
I shook my head. Was I hearing everything right?
I was now the main suspect of my own mother’s disappearance?
How could this be? I had nothing to do with the Triton’s tragic past of kidnappings, murders, and scandals.
I thought back to what I knew about it. Maybe there was a link to all of this? A clue that would tie each one to another?
First, Emma Triton, who was Terrence’s sister, was kidnapped and then murdered.
Then Rose Bradshaw, who was Terrence’s first wife and the mother of Tristan, Drake, and Dillon. She was kidnapped and then murdered.
And the Triton’s last stepmother, Penelope Hills, who died just about a year ago. Drowned in Heartbreak Falls, the waterfall, itself. She was a strong swimmer, but it was hard to swim under the falls during stormy weather. Her death was deemed an accident. But it was suspicious.
Emma Triton was Terrence’s sister. Born a Triton. Like Diamond Triton, who was the first to be kidnapped then killed…born a Triton. Then there was Rose Bradshaw…Bradshaw?
Wait. Bradshaw… as in Max Bradshaw? Was Tristan and the Twin’s mother Rose related to Max and Megan? I looked over at Max, who was looking bewildered in his chair, still tied to it by the Twins. They had taken him to Tristan’s Lair to get him to give the code to the flash drive they found in the secret lining of Megan’s mermaid purse.
“Rose…” I said to Tristan. “Your mother…she had been kidnapped before, wasn’t she?”
Tristan looked like I had just punched him. He closed his eyes and opened them. “How did you know?”
“I read something about it somewhere,” I said. “I was just looking up our Triton name out of
