Deadly Secrets, Loving Lies by Cynthia Cooke

He must be okay.
    Relief filled Genie, releasing the tension that had been banding her chest. He must be hiding somewhere. Hiding and waiting for her to return to the island, which he had to have known she’d do. Which he must have intended she do since he’d sent the necklace to her. But why just warn her and not Cat, too?
    He must not have thought anyone knew about Cat. But they had—Emerich and Cameron both.
    “Mary, one more thing. Did you leave a UPS receipt on my dad’s desk?” It wasn’t like her dad to leave her address in plain sight.
    “Receipt?”
    “For the package Dad sent me this morning.”
    Mary hesitated, obviously confused. “There was no package sent. He would have had to go to the mainland for that. He hasn’t left the house in days.”
    Genie stared at her with dawning dismay. Her father hadn’t sent the package? But who, then?
    The vision she’d seen this morning when she’d first touched the crystal swept through her mind. Her sister, Becca, laughing, her blond hair flying in the breeze .
    My God. Goosebumps broke out on her arms, because suddenly she knew what she’d been afraid to admit before. It was true!
    Becca was alive.
    And Becca had sent her that necklace. But why?
    Genie stood abruptly. If it was Becca who’d sent it, her sister must have been at the house. She’d left the receipt for Genie to find.
    Or…for Cameron’s men to find? Again, why?
    “Wait,” Mary said, and also rose from her chair. “Your father gave something to me. I don’t think he wanted those men to find it. It might help you, yes?”
    “Yes,” Genie said, and waited impatiently, shifting from one foot to the other as Mary left the room then came back with her father’s old wooden box. Genie recognized that box, but she hadn’t seen it in years. What on earth…?
    She accepted it from Mary, and cradled it in her arms. “Thanks. I-I should get back to the house. In case he comes home.” Even though they both knew that was unlikely.
    “You be careful,” Mary warned as she gave her another hug. “Promise me?”
    “I will.” Genie hugged her back, and took a last deep breath of her warm cinnamon scent.
    “And eat more. You’re getting too skinny,” Mary admonished.
    Genie smiled. “I will. I promise.”
    When they left the house, Kyle went outside first and checked for unwanted company. She knew he wouldn’t find anyone, could sense they were still safe, but she let him do his job. When he gave the signal, she hurried down the drive, anxious to get back to her father’s house and look in the box. She was tempted to set it on the ground right then and open it, but she didn’t want to take the chance until they were away from prying eyes. Such as Kyle’s, for instance. She wished she could open it without him looking over her shoulder. If her father had given it to Mary, it was because he didn’t want his pursuers to find it. Or probably Cameron and the CTA, either. Dad must have known they would come and investigate when he disappeared.
    Something was definitely going on here. And she had a sinking feeling her father knew exactly what it was.
    So, why hadn’t he told her?
    …
    Kyle bit his tongue as long as he could while walking back through the woods toward Genie’s father’s house. After everything they’d been through together, everything that had happened between them today alone, she was still keeping important things from him about her father’s disappearance and the threat to her and Cat. It was maddening.
    “What was in the UPS package?” he asked as they cautiously entered the house.
    “Nothing important.” She stepped up her pace, effectively evading him as she walked through one room after another, checking them for any changes indicating intruders.
    “You said your father sent you a package this morning. The day you were almost abducted and your father went missing. You don’t consider that important?”
    “It was just my mother’s necklace.” She pulled it out