Read Online Secrets Collide (Bluegrass Brothers) by Kathleen Brooks - Free Book Online Page A

language.” Gemma’s eyes misted as she remembered sitting at the dinner table having their secret conversations about school, boys, and how horrible their mom’s chicken was—all while their parents looked on in confusion. It was theirs and theirs alone. She couldn’t remember when it started; they had just always had it from the time they could talk. Gemma opened the notebook and swallowed hard. The notebook was filled with their language . . . every page and every line.
    “What the hell is all that?” Cy asked as he looked at the notebook.
    “It’s all in our secret language,” Gemma said as she shook her head.
    “Can you read it?”
    “Some of it. It’s been over ten years since we talked it, even more since we wrote it. Since high school, I think. It’s going to take me a while to go through this and try to remember all the symbols for the alphabet and for certain words.” Gemma felt crushed. From what she could see, it meant nothing. She remembered some words for her name and some other random words, but not nearly enough to translate it.
    “Don’t worry,” Cy said as he placed his hand on her knee and gave it a slight squeeze. “You’ll remember. I don’t know if I’ll be able to help, but I’ll do whatever it is you need me to do.”
    Gemma looked up from the notebook and over where Fred had curled up in the crook of Cy’s arm and fallen asleep. She felt the pressure of needing to remember the secret language pressing down on her. She needed to think about something else. That’s when she remembered the phone call from Cy’s brother. “Wait. Didn’t your brother say you were in danger at home?”
    “I was. That’s what I’m trying to figure out—how my cover was blown.” Now it was Cy’s turn to look distant as Gemma could see him thinking.
    “Well, it’s not as if you’re hiding who you are.” Gemma watched as he slowly turned to look at her. “Well, you’re not. You gave me your name right away. It would be easy for someone to make a couple of calls to find out where you were born.”
    “I didn’t use my real name.”
    “Cy isn’t your name?” Gemma asked. Who was he then?
    “Cy is my name. But my last name isn’t Davidson. It’s Davies. That simple little switch was easy to remember and enough to hide my identity. The CIA provided me with such a deep background and documents that it would be impossible to trace me back to my real identity. Instead of being from Keeneston, I was from Louisville. There were even yearbooks at the high school with my real high school pictures in them.”
    “And you have no idea who the people are who were asking about you at home?”
    “Oh, I have a very good idea. They’re the same guys who are after you.”
    “Me? Why would they want both you and me? That doesn’t make sense. Wait. Were you in the alley for a reason tonight?” Gemma buried her head in her hands. “Oh God, you are an axe murderer.”
    “I’m not an axe murderer. The guys who are after you are the same ones after me. See, one of my brothers is the sheriff of Keeneston. He busted a dog-fighting ring recently. When I looked into it, I connected it to a group known for trafficking kidnapped women. When I dug around further, I connected it to a group that sells weapons and everything else on the black market. They’re real bad people. I've caught a couple, including a group trying to sell chemical weapons out of Russia just a while ago.
    “The only connection I've found is that these men all have a Roman numeral X tattooed on their wrist. The boss man, Mr. X for lack of a better name, has never been caught on camera at any of these fights, trades, or deals. No one knows a name, a description, nothing. But Mr. X is powerful enough to have many connections in governments and law enforcement all over the world.” Cy leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees as Fred crawled over the seat and back onto her lap.
    “It sounds as if he has enough power to find out