Naked Games (Hard to Get 3)

“She warned you not to mess with it and you listened.” Mary shook her head. “That sounds just like you.”

Catherine laughed. “You would’ve gone right for it the first chance you got.”

Mary laughed. “Damn straight.”

“I’ll start with the desk,” Catherine said. For the next hour they searched the room. Mary had found the big white box, but it turned out to be a dead end. The only thing it contained was some of her father’s old nudie magazines. Just when Catherine was about to call it a night, Mary yelled her name.

Catherine crossed the room to where Mary knelt over the bottom drawer in her mother’s nightstand. “What’d you find?”

Mary stood and moved back a few feet before pointing to the drawer. “Uh, I think you need to see for yourself.”

Catherine’s nerves were shot and she’d had way too much wine, but the serious tone had her alert and sober in an instant. She knelt down and peered inside, afraid to get too close. As if the contents would reach out and bite her. Catherine frowned when she spotted a stack of letters addressed to her mother and a slip of folded paper sitting next to it. Catherine picked up the letters and the paper, then glanced at Mary. “It’s just sitting out in the open. It can’t be anything significant.”

“Not out in the open exactly.” She dropped down beside her and tugged on the bottom of the drawer. To Catherine’s surprise it came loose. “See? A false bottom. I found the letters under it, hidden. Pretty sneaky, really. You wouldn’t know it was there unless you were looking for it.”

Catherine stared down at the letters and felt her stomach pitch. “My mother had a secret hiding place. How is it possible that I never stumbled across this? I’ve lived in the house my entire life.”

“Well, besides the fact that you’d never snoop through your mama’s things, it would’ve been pretty hard to notice. The only reason I did was because I was looking for it.”

She held up the letters and noticed no return address. “I’m afraid to read these,” she admitted aloud.

“It’s the only way you’ll know, hon,” Mary said, placing a soothing hand on her back.

“I know.”

The slip of paper fell from her hand, and Mary picked it up and handed it to her. “Here.”

It was folded in half. With shaking fingers Catherine placed the letters on the floor beside her and began to unfold the paper. She read the faded words and slumped. “It’s just my birth certificate. It lists Jean and Russell as my parents. Nothing surprising there.”

Mary picked up one of the letters and held it out to her. “Open one of the letters, then.”

She frowned. “What if they’re from Daddy? Like love letters or something. I don’t want to read something so private.”

Mary shrugged. “You only have to read enough to find out for sure.”

Catherine was stalling and she knew it. She was afraid of what she might find—or not find. Time to face the music, she thought as she dropped the birth certificate into the drawer and took the letter from Mary. As she started to read, her heartbeat sped up. “Oh, my God.”

“What?” Mary asked as she tried to read over Catherine’s shoulder. “Who is it from?”

“My birth mother.” Catherine read the entire letter, then shook her head as if that would help clear away the shock coursing through her. “She talks about being glad that I have such kind people to raise me.”

“Damn,” Mary said in a low voice.

“Yeah.” Catherine picked up another letter. She didn’t stop until she’d read them all. After tucking the

last one back into the envelope, Catherine sat back and looked over at Mary propped up against the bed, quietly waiting.

“It was a private adoption.”

“And?”

“I have a sister. An older sister named Gracie Baron.”

“Get out! Seriously?”

“Yep. According to Bridget—that’s my mother’s name—Gracie lives in Zanesville, Ohio, with her father.”

“Her father and not your father?”