"And you don't know they weren't."
Kayden's face went red. "You've been gone ten years, Mitch. You don't get to come back here and start making decisions about what we do with?—"
"Both of you, stop it." Cassidy's voice cut through the tension like a blade. She looked at each of us in turn. "How about we do some research? If these were stolen, maybe we can figure that out. Until then, we keep this between us. Can you do that?" Her gaze landed on Charlie.
Charlie looked at me and conflict was written all over her face. "I need to talk to the police about Doug. And when I tell them what happened, I'll have to tell them about this jewelry."
She was right. We couldn't explain Doug's behavior without revealing what he'd been after. I hated it, but there was no way around it.
"Wait a minute." Declan jabbed the table with his finger. "You said Doug was dead. How did he die?"
Everyone kept eating their dessert while I explained what had happened. Charlie didn't touch her chocolate tart, though, she looked more like she wanted to throw up.
After I described how Doug had been washed away, I said, "We can keep these jewels our secret for a day or two while we research. After that, Charlie and I have to tell the cops about Doug's death."
"The cops?" Kayden said. "You mean Bob Ackerman. Dad's mate. And then he'll ask where Dad is." He slammed his hand on the table. "You can't keep a damn secret, can you?"
I blew out an exasperated breath. "A murder isn't a secret you keep."
"Who was murdered? You said Doug let go by himself," Cassidy said.
"He did. The man in the cave was murdered."
"Oh, so the dude was murdered now?” Kayden sneered. “Did you become a detective while you were away?"
Cassidy smacked his arm. "Will you cut it out? What's wrong with you?"
"Me? Mitch comes home after ten years and thinks he can call the shots."
I cast my gaze at the ceiling, then leveled a glare at my brother. "I'm not calling the shots, Kayden. I'm just trying to do what's right."
"Right for who?" He glared at me, then at Charlie. "Right for her?"
I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to punch Kayden’s nose. Wouldn’t be the first time. Probably wouldn’t be the last. "Right for everyone," I growled at him, letting him know he was riding a fine line.
The silence stretched thin, ready to snap. Maybe coming back here hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
“I don’t get it,” Declan said. “If this guy was murdered, how did he get put in that cave? You said you had to climb out of that ravine.”
“Huh.” I nodded, glancing at Charlie. “You’re right. There must be another way into that cave.”
“Damn. Wish we’d thought that through before we risked our lives climbing out of there,” Charlie said, rolling her eyes.
“We’ll have to go check that cave out,” Cassidy said. “Maybe there’s more to be found in there.”
“No. Not until we find Dad.” Kayden glared at me.
“Speaking of Frank.” I cleared my throat. "Did anyone find out anything about him?"
“Yeah,” Declan said, and his expression suggested that he wished like hell that he hadn’t.
“What the hell, man? Why didn’t you say so?” Kayden scowled at Declan.
"Why didn’t you tell us?" Cassidy said at the same time.
Declan shrugged. "I needed all of us here for this."
A weight settled in my gut. Whatever it was, we weren’t going to like it.