Hidden Truths Read online

  “Hidden Truths”

  M/M Gay Romance Mystery

  David Horne

  © 2018

  David Horne

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is intended for Adults (ages 18+) only. The contents may be offensive to some readers. It may contain graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. May contain scenes of unprotected sex. Please do not read this book if you are offended by content as mentioned above or if you are under the age of 18.

  Please educate yourself on safe sex practices before making potentially life-changing decisions about sex in real life. If you’re not sure where to start, see here: http://www.jerrycoleauthor.com/safe-sex-resources/ (courtesy of Jerry Cole).

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images and are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.00 (2018.08.20)

  http://www.DavidHorneauthor.com

  Special thanks to the following volunteer readers who helped with proofreading: C. Robinson, Elryc Caledon, Judy M. and those who assisted but wished to be anonymous. Thank you so much for your support.

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Free Book “Princes of Westlake”

  Chapter One

  Dim light filtered down to the shady, fern covered forest floor below. Here the trees were so tall, it was impossible to tell where they stopped and the sky began without leaning back so far you almost fell over. James and Melissa had been camping in the large, redwood forest for two days now, and while everything had been mostly perfect, there was something they couldn't quite put their finger on. Well, that Melissa couldn't. James had spent most of their discussions pretending that he hadn't noticed the hairs standing up on the back of his neck now and then.

  "It's so beautiful here that you can't stand it," he teased as they hiked their way through the ferns. He stopped to make his way over a fallen log so big that getting over it took a good deal of jumping, climbing and crawling. As he helped his girlfriend get to the top, he added, "You're just used to the city with all its noise and the people. We came out here to get away from that, remember?"

  Melissa rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, I remember. I also remember-"

  Before she could finish her sentence, a loud screech filled the air, followed by what sounded like tittering.

  "Was that a bird?" Melissa whispered.

  "What else could it be?" James answered, but he was only just controlling the shake in his voice. The truth was, he knew little about the outdoors himself, except for some hiking in the hills around Las Vegas. He'd never been in a forest like this either. "Maybe we should just get to the lake and set up camp," he suggested.

  "Yeah," she agreed and the two of them continued their trek through the woods in silence.

  Intellectually, the two of them knew there were bears and mountain lions and who knew what else in the woods, but they'd seen little evidence of any animals the two days they'd been there. Even the one night they'd spent in the forest so far had seemed unnaturally quiet. They'd chalked it up to life in the city, assuming that quiet was how a forest was supposed to sound. Now, as they made their way to the lake that sat near the top of the mountain, they waited with bated breath to hear the screeching sound again, wishing very much to have the sounds of car horns and sirens back.

  The walk was short and uneventful and as the forest cleared and the shoreline of the lake appeared, all worries were forgotten, replaced by awe of its beauty. It was nearly sunset, and the oranges and purples reflected in the water below.

  "See, I told you this would be great," James reassured Melissa.

  She gave him a sassy glare and then set her pack down on the shore near a fallen tree. "Look how still the water is," she commented and looked out across it. It was a small, almost perfectly round lake, and she could see all sides from where she was standing. As she took in the sight, her smile slowly faded. She stepped back toward the forest and screamed.

  ***

  Sheriff Branch Fouche sat at his office desk, feet up, and glanced at last month's issue of his favorite outdoor magazine. Things moved slower in his hometown of Grand Arbré and he had no qualms about getting his subscription a month late. Not that it really mattered anyway; there was nothing the magazine could say he didn't already figure. He'd spent his entire life in the woods, on the water, or climbing mountains. Everyone in Grand Arbré did.

  Branch lazily turned a page, allowing the tip of his tongue to run over his teeth where something from breakfast had gotten caught and was now bugging him. He wasn't what most people thought of when they pictured a small town detective. Like Grand Arbré, Branch was small, five foot six, with thick, dark hair and big brown eyes. He was in prime shape too, though not particularly muscular. His fitness came from day to day life in the outdoors, not the gym. His short stature had helped him develop a no-nonsense, somewhat mistrustful personality, and it had helped him land the job of Sheriff, because while Grand Arbré was small, it saw more than its share of crime.

  As Branch chuckled at the latest fly-fishing tips, a tall, skinny, redheaded boy popped his head through the door. "Sheriff, I think there's something going on up at the lake."

  Branch looked up into the wide-eyed, innocent face of Dale Bucket and sighed. The young man was new to the force, barely nineteen and, instead of being excited by the prospect of doing everything he'd seen in the movies, he spent most of his time being terrified of having to leave the office.

  "There's always something going on up at the lake," the Sheriff informed him. "It's the lake," he added, a common local saying meant to explain everything out of the ordinary that happened anywhere near the area.

  "Yeah, but Rich and the guys..." Dale started.

  "Rich," Branch said, a hint of contempt in his voice.

  "Yes, sir," Dale said, remembering the formalities that no one in the Sheriff's office really cared about anyway. "He tried calling." He waited as Branch snorted and then added, "He came in when they hiked down, said they found some camping gear at the lake, but there's no one up there."

  Branch cocked a curious eyebrow. He knew Rich and his gang of slackers though. "Did they bother to look around or wait and see if someone showed up?"

  "He says they fished for a little while." Another snort from the Sheriff. "No one ever came back for it and he says the camp was never even set up. It's like someone just dropped their packs and disappeared."

  At the word “disappeared” Branch looked up from his desk and squinted at his deputy. "And they left everything up there." When Dale nodded, Branch slapped his hand on his desk and then stood up. "I guess we'd better go take a look then," he said as he grabbed his coat and walked out of his office.

  "Gina," he called over. "We're heading up to the lake to take a loo
k at this abandoned campsite."

  "It's almost sunset Sheriff," Dale pointed out.

  "You're not afraid to be in the forest at night, are you?" Gina teased as she grabbed her coat and holstered the gun from her desk. Gina was the head deputy and was much more ambitious about her career than Dale was about his. She was a short, but stout woman, and most people were more afraid of her than anyone else in the Sheriff's department.

  Branch chuckled and led the way out to his SUV. He didn't figure there was any point in taking more than one vehicle and the truth was the town of Grand Arbré couldn't afford more than two Sheriff's cars anyway. He figured he might as well keep one of them new and in good working condition. The SUV was his, technically, and had been through the ringer. It had been painted black at one time, with the department logo on the side, but after years of run ins with joyriders and crashing into more than one tree, much of the paint had been scratched off, and there were dents in two of the doors and the back bumper.

  Grand Arbré Lake was only a few miles away, but it was straight up the mountain, which required driving up a series of tree lined switchbacks. It was slow going and the road had seen more than its fair share of casualties from cars that had careened off the mountain. Branch knew the road like the back of his hand, though along with all the other roads in the forest. He'd been born and raised in Grand Arbré and getting to know the woods was like a local rite of passage.

  As the sun began to set below the tree line, Branch pulled into the parking area that sat at the trail head to the lake. From there, they'd have to walk about half a mile in, through thick trees and ferns, before reaching the lake.

  "It's strange there's no vehicle here, boss," Gina pointed out as she shut the SUV doors. She glanced around, the sky getting just dark enough to need to pull out her flashlight. "You'd think, if someone was going to camp out at the lake, that they'd have parked here."

  Branch nodded and looked around himself. "Unless they hiked in from somewhere else."

  It was impossible to see past the small clearing or the road that led to it. The trees were thick and black in the dark and all they could do was hike through and see what it was that Rich and his friends had found.

  "You do realize who this report came from, right?" Gina said as they slowly made their way through the forest. "I mean, Rich could have just been trying to cause trouble," she added.

  Branch nodded, but didn't say anything. Even if it was a prank, they'd be neglecting their duty if they didn't look into it. His silence inspired his deputies to do the same, though, and the three of them made their way to the shore of the lake without saying anything else. The Sheriff was acutely aware that the forest was full of predators and other dangers, and the last thing he wanted was to be eaten by something. The area seemed eerily quiet, though, and Branch didn't like it. Quiet usually meant something had the animals frightened, something a lot more sinister than a bear.

  As they neared the lake, Branch drew his weapon and nodded for the others to do the same. When the trees cleared and they could once again see a little light in the sky, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The lake looked just as calm and serene as a postcard and there was no one there. With a breath, Branch holstered his gun again and swept his flashlight beam around.

  "Where did Rich say they found these packs?" he asked Dale.

  Dale nodded and pointed his flashlight over to a large log on the shore of the lake. The three of them continued their slow walk, lights pointed toward the ground in front of them to catch any clues or evidence. There was nothing, though, not until they came across two large hiking bags, haphazardly placed on the ground.

  "It looks like someone was tired and simply dropped them from their backs," Gina pointed out.

  "Right," Branch agreed. "But where did they go from there?" he added, sweeping his flashlight around the scene. He turned back toward the forest to see a bit of a trail. "That must be where they came in." Then he turned back toward the shore but didn't see any clues as to where the hikers could have gone from there. "Unless they went back the way they came, I don't see where they went."

  Gina knelt down to get a closer look while Dale, who'd been quiet the whole trip, simply glanced back at the ominous looking forest.

  Gina nodded. "There's no tracks along the shore." She stood up, trying to see further on. "At least not right here."

  "All right, let's see if we can pick up some tracks in the area," Branch said. "Dale, you stay here and look through the packs, see if you can find some IDs."

  Dale's eyes widened and he quickly glanced around. "By myself?" he gulped.

  "We're just going a few yards away," Branch grumbled. "It's not like we're planning to walk all the way around the lake. Keep your weapon ready. Call out if anything happens." He waited for his deputy's reluctant nod and then he and Gina slowly moved forward, looking for footprints of any kind, human or animal.

  Dale watched them go for a few moments and then glanced around as he slowly knelt beside the packs. Gina was right, it looked like they'd been dropped and then never messed with. Nothing had been unpacked, no tent put up, which meant whoever they belonged to probably had nothing in the way of supplies now. He tried very hard not to think about what would make someone leave everything behind like that.

  He unzipped the first bag and saw that it was full of clothes, tent and some water and food, so he tried the small zipper in the front. Inside was a wallet, so he pulled it out and opened it. As he did so, he heard what sounded like a hiss from the woods. He gasped and quickly turned his flashlight into the trees, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. After a few seconds of waiting for his heart rate to come back down, Dale turned back to the wallet. Inside was a driver's license with the name, James Mulvaney from Las Vegas. He put the wallet down and tried the other pack, finding another license with the name, Melissa Jones, also from Las Vegas.

  A few yards away, Branch and Gina had their flashlights to the ground and slowly covered the area around the shore. Unfortunately, they hadn't found signs of anything.

  "People don't just disappear," Gina grumbled.

  Branch cocked an eyebrow and gave her a look that suggested that they both knew full well that stranger things had happened in Grand Arbré. Before either of them could say anything else though, a voice called out, filling the still night air.

  "Sheriff!" they heard Dale cry out again.

  "Shit," Branch hissed, drawing his gun as he and Gina raced back toward the log. "What is it?" he demanded as they got close and he spotted Dale kneeling at the packs.

  "I found out who the hikers are," the young man answered and held up the two driver's licenses.

  Branch pursed his lips and violently holstered his gun. "I said to call out if something happened. I thought you were being mauled by a bear or something."

  "Or had found some bodies," Gina added with a smile that was a little too enthusiastic.

  Branch reached down and took the IDs from Dale. He looked them over, shining his flashlight down from above, and frowned. "Las Vegas," he mumbled. "It's a good bet they'd never been here before. I'd say they were lost, but why would they have left their supplies here?"

  "Is it possible they went for a swim?" Gina asked cautiously. She turned toward the black water, turning her beam to look for bodies.

  Branch did the same, but he shook his head. "It's too early to think about the lake. It would be better to put some search parties together in the morning and look for them in the forest. We might as well grab the bags and call it a night for now, though."

  Once they'd gathered the bags and taken them back to the department's evidence room, the Sheriff filled out the paperwork and then locked up and went home.

  Grand Arbré was nestled into the woods at the base of the mountain. The forest was a mixture of pine, redwoods and a few cottonwood and oak trees. It stretched on for miles until finally lowering in elevation into the Sacramento Valley. The Valley was worlds away from Grand Arbré though as was anywhere bey
ond the forest really.

  Branch had a cabin and a piece of land with his own stand of trees. Many of the town's residents had chosen to cut as little of the forest as they could when they built and some of the houses had been there for generations. Though his ancestors had been in the town, which was little more than a village, since its founding, he'd moved out of the family home and built his own cabin. It was in the middle of town, but back away from the main street. He called it the best of both worlds, having some privacy, but still being nearby if there was an emergency.

  The town was mostly dark as he passed by in the SUV, with a porch light on here and there, including his. Though the village was small, it wasn't unusual for him to be gone late into the night. Grand Arbré had an unusually high crime rate for such a small place. As he drove up his drive and parked, he heard some static on his radio. He stopped and listened for a moment, hearing what he thought was an echo of a voice. A moment later, it was gone, and he shrugged and got out. Waiting for him inside the cabin was a baying noise and a stranger may have expected to be attacked when the door opened. Branch knew better and opened the door to, perhaps, the most excited beagle anyone had ever seen.

  He let the dog run out as he laughed and petted it for a moment. Then he glanced around, like some predator might come rushing to them, and ushered the dog back inside. The log cabin was small, not much more than one might use as a hunting cabin, with one room for a kitchen and living room, a bedroom that didn't hold anything but a bed, and a bathroom. Branch would have even settled for an outhouse, if he'd lived anywhere other than Grand Arbré. The one luxury he'd given himself was a screened in back porch almost bigger than the house. Though he was cautious, he didn't allow himself to live in fear. He knew the screen wouldn't be much protection from bear or human alike, but he still liked to sit outside and look into the forest at night. Sometimes in the summer when it was warm, he'd take a sleeping roll out and him and the dog would sleep out on the porch. His deputies thought he was crazy for it.